Moshe Shmuel Glasner - Dor Revi'i

Rabbi Glasner's most important work is Dor Revi'i (New York: Im haSefer, 2004), a commentary on mesechet (tractate) Hullin, which largely concerns the laws of shehitah (ritual slaughter) and other aspects of Jewish dietary laws. The work undertakes a deep analysis of the laws of shehitah (ritual slaughter) in the context of a dispute between Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Yishmael at Hullin 16b-17a about the interpretation of the verses in Deuteronomy (12:20-21) which state for the first time (just prior to the entry into the promised land) an obligation to perform shehitah on hullin (animals not offered as sacrifices). R. Yishmael interprets the verse to mean that for the preceding forty years the Israelites had been forbidden to eat any animal not offered as a sacrifice. This seems (according to be the most obvious interpretation of the verses and is the one adopted by all the standard Biblical commentators). However, R. Akiva understands the verses to mean that prior to entry into the promised land the Israelites had been allowed to eat non-sacrificial meat by performing nehirah a minimal form of ritual slaughter that was superseded by the obligation to perform shehitah which had previously been reserved for sacrifices. Although all the standard commentaries interpret the verses in Deuteronomy in accord with the opinion of R. Yishmael, the Rambam in his code (Hilkhot Shehitah 4:17) rules according to the opinion of Rabbi Akiva. In Dor Revi'i, Rabbi Glasner provides a comprehensive explanation of the opinions of R. Yishmael and R. Akiva as well as the various interpreations of the dispute by Rashi, the Tosafot and the Rambam and goes on to show how this seemingly obscure dispute provides the key to understanding a whole set of apparently unrelated disputes throughout the rest of the tractate.