19th century Eastern Europe was a terrible time for the Jewish people, but it saw an outpouring of new books on Halacha – mainly in response to the challenges of the times. The two reigning giants were the Aruch Ha Shulchan and the Mishnah Brurah, and Rabbi Wein explores the different ways they tried to keep the average Jew from falling to assimilation.

• how Chassidus and the yeshiva movement gave rise to new seforim
• electricity – is it fire or something else?
• violation of Shabbos in Europe and America
• women’s hair coverings
• the lasting impact of both seforim