The Primacy of Law in Love

Making the case for the observance of the laws of taharat ha-mishpaha (laws of nidda and mikve) was, on first impression, Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm’s goal in the publication of A Hedge of Roses in 1966. Looking back over a half-century later, this book’s relevance and necessity has been questioned over the years: Does its content land well on modern ears? In light of the uptick in taharat ha-mishpaha observance, is such a volume still necessary? Yoetzet Halacha Tova Warburg Sinensky analyzes A Hedge of Roses in the context of Rabbi Lamm’s other publications, and shows how this work—which appears to be a polemic advancing observance of hilkhot nidda—is essentially a philosophical treatise about how Jewish law serves to protect loving relationships, including, but not limited to, the marital union.

Read Tova Warburg Sinensky’s “Expanding the Hedge: The Primacy of Law in Love” – now open-access from TRADITION’s Rabbi Norman Lamm Memorial Volume.

Order your copy of the Rabbi Norman Lamm Memorial Volume.