Texts: Underrated Yet Classical

There are some classic texts in Judaism that are powerful but nevertheless often neglected. I'm not always sure why. Dear Readers, you will probably come up with a few short lists of your own. Here are a few of mine

1. Midrashim in general. Midrash Rabbah in particular. Fortunately we often do get access to this via intermediate texts

2. The L'vushim. One of the very finest Halachic Codes has been largely neglected for centuries

3. R Hananel on Sha"s. To Rashi goes the first prize in Talmudic Parshanut. R Hananel probably is a close runner up and can be very user-friendly and occasionally highly informative

4. Perhaps the only major Rishon to miss the cut into Mikraot G'dolot is Rabbenu Bachayei al haTorah. He reviews Pardeis on the Humash, making distinctions between each approach

5. Tomer D'vorah. Better known in Kabbalistic circles, it still works in the realms of Mussar, Hashkafah, and Ahavat Yisrael
6. Siddur Avodat Yisrael by Seligmann Baer. One of the few gems admired in both Orthodox and non-Orthodox liturgical scholarship

7. Soncino Humash by Rev. A Cohen. Long overshadowed, first by the Hertz Humash then by the Artscroll Humash the commentary has a "Kitzur Mikraot G'dolot in English.

BE"H we can add more


Shalom,
RRW