Not many people today are familiar with the name of Rabbi Dr
Charles Chavel. So who was he? Born in Ciechanow, Poland in 1906, he moved to
the United States in 1920, receiving semicha in 1929 and a doctorate from the
University of Chicago in 1928. A communal rabbi and later a dayan, R' Chavel was chief
editor of the journal HaDarom from 1957 until his death in 1982. A
recipient of the Rabbi Kook Jewish Book Prize, he moved to Jerusalem where he
joined the Board of Directors of Mossad HaRav Kook.
The Encyclopedia of Torah Thoughts, published in
1980, is one of R’ Chavel’s most significant works. Its title is misleading,
since it is not an encyclopedia at all. Rather, it is an annotated English
translation of Rabbenu Bachya ben Asher’s monumental Kad HaKemach—a set of 60
discourses, arranged in alphabetical order, that sought to embrace every aspect
of Jewish life as it was seen from the perspective of 13th century
Spain. As such, it complements his translations of the works of Rambam.
This remarkable book, part of the Marvin N. Hirschhorn
collection, can be found on the shelves of Beit Knesset Hanassi, where you are
welcome to peruse it.
