Editing Louis Finkelstein (section)

==Scholarship==
Even at his busiest, Finkelstein left time for scholarship. Friends said he rose every morning at 4 A.M. to study and write until he went to synagogue at 7 A.M. He was the author or editor of more than 100 books, both scholarly and popular. He described the major influences upon his scholarship as Rabbi Professors [[Solomon Schechter]], [[Louis Ginzburg]], [[Alexander Marx]] and [[Saul Lieberman]].<ref>Introduction to his edition of [[Avot of Rabbi Natan]], New York 1951.</ref>

Finkelstein authored a number of books, including ''Tradition in the Making, Beliefs and Practices of Judaism'', ''Pre-Maccabean Documents in the Passover Haggadah'', ''Introduction to the Treatises Abot and Abot of Rabbi Nathan'' (1950, in Hebrew with English summary),<ref>Hebrew: [https://web.archive.org/web/20150213005225/http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/6/6/4/2/3/0/webimg/763011013_o.jpg מבוא למסכתות אבות ואבות דרבי נתן] (Mabo le-Massektot Abot ve-Abot d'Rabbi Natan). Table of Contents in two pages: [https://web.archive.org/web/20150213005516/http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/6/6/4/2/3/0/webimg/763011019_o.jpg 1] & [https://web.archive.org/web/20150213005544/http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/6/6/4/2/3/0/webimg/763011023_o.jpg 2].</ref> ''Abot of Rabbi Nathan'', (a three volume series on the [[Pharisees]]), and ''Akiba: Scholar, Saint and Martyr''. He also edited a four volume series entitled ''The Jews: Their History, Culture and Religion'' in 1949; in 1971, it was renamed and published as three volumes, ''The Jews: Their History''; ''The Jews: Their Religion and Culture;'' and ''The Jews:'' ''Their Role in Civilization''. Among his other works were "New Light from the Prophets," published in 1969.

His major scholarly pursuits were works on the [[Pharisees]], a Jewish sect in second Temple times from which modern Jewish tradition developed, and the [[Sifra]], the oldest rabbinic commentary on the book of Leviticus, which was completed in Palestine in the fifth century. Even in his retirement he continued writing, working at the dining room table of his Riverside Drive apartment to complete several annotated volumes of the [[Sifra]].

When he became frail in his later years and had trouble walking to the synagogue, his former students turned his home into a synagogue on Saturday mornings, assembling the quorum of 10 needed for prayer. After his death in 1991 this group evolved into [[Kehilat Orach Eliezer]] (KOE), which means "Congregation of the Way of Eliezer" (Eliezer Aryeh was Louis Finkelstein's given name in Hebrew), and became notable for being a large halakhic congregation that nevertheless strives to accommodate women's participation in public prayer services as much as possible within the parameters established by Jewish law as the group understands it. It meets on Manhattan's [[Upper West Side]].<ref>See {{cite web |url=http://www.koe.org/welcome.htm |title=KOE :: Welcome Letter |accessdate=2007-02-09 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20000422005217/http://www.koe.org/welcome.htm |archivedate=2000-04-22 }}</ref> After Finkelstein's death, Rabbi Professor [[David Weiss Halivni]] served as rabbi of the congregation until emigrating to Israel in 2005.