At some time during the 1950's there was a case brought before a beit din, two of whose members were Rabbis Seltzer and Henkin. The case was a financial dispute regarding a hotel in the Catskills and was known as "Bloch-Finkelstein", the names of the two parties involved. R. Chaim Bloch lost and was quite upset about the whole affair. He claimed that he received an unfair hearing by the beit din and that he never had a chance. R. Bloch saw the controversy over gelatin as an opening for getting back at R.'s Seltzer and Henkin. He wrote this work in which he mounts a frontal attack on R.'s Seltzer and Henkin for their stands on the issue of gelatin, in addition to adding a few barbs here and there regarding the "Bloch-Finkelstein" court ruling.

The book is interesting not only for the merits of its halakhic analysis, but rather for the framework in which R. Bloch presents his case. In addition to saying that someone needs to undergo psychoanalysis in order to understand how a rabbi could permit the skin of a pig, he says
"לא בעד תורה מזוייפת כזו ולא בעד יהדות כזו סבלנו אלפי דורות"
("It is not for the sake of a fake Torah such as this, or a Judaism such as this, that we suffered for thousands of generations"). Things really get interesting when R. Bloch says that after he read the responsa of R. Seltzer and Henkin, to both of whose names he always appends

שליט"א, התיצב לפני כותב הטורים מורו הקדוש מהרש"ם זת"ע כמו חי בכל ממשיותו, פנים אל פנים והדברים הבאים יצאו מפיו בפקודה נמרצה למסור אותם לגאונים הענקין וזלצר ואם אפשר להודיעם ברבים -עמ' כה

R. Bloch claims that his teacher. R. Shalom Mordechai Schwadron appeared before him and told him the following. What R. Bloch now brings are no more and no less than testimonies of all of the authorities who were cited by R.'s Seltzer and Henkin, rabbinic-channeling, telling how their opinions have been misrepresented, distorted, and misunderstood by R.'s Seltzer and Henkin. After all of these rabbis have "given testimony", the שטן, "The Satan", muscles in there and "grabs the microphone" (pp. 47-48). And what does the Satan have to say? It turns out that R. Judah Leib Seltzer, who was the executive-director of Agudat HaRabbanim for some time, also went by the name of Louis Seltzer. The Satan cites the entry on "Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada (Agudath HaRabbonim)" from The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia which was written by none other than Louis Seltzer. The Satan says that everyone agrees that "Louis" is a nicer name that "Yehudah Lib", but aren't we forbidden to change our names? Weren't the children of Israel redeemed from Egypt because they didn't change their names? What is changing one's name if you are going to permit gelatin!

R. Moshe Chayim Ephraim b. Abraham Abba Bloch was a member of a family of scholars and rabbis from Delatyn and neighboring Nadworna. He was a descendant of the early Chassidic author, Moshe Chayim Ephraim of Sudilkov, a grandson of the Ba'al Shem Tov. R' Bloch studied in Yeshiva, and until World War I was a wealthy businessman in Delatyn. When the Russians invaded he moved to Vienna with his wife and children. In 1915, he was drafted into the Austro-Hungarian army, and served in the trenches for 9 months, until he succumbed to illness. On release from the hospital, he served as chaplain to the Jewish prisoners in a prisoner of war camp. R' Bloch continued to observe kashrut during his military service, despite the extreme difficulty. It was during this period that he wrote Der Golem and also a diary, published as Kriegstagebuch Eines Juden (War Diary of a Jew). In 1939 he moved to New York where he remained until his death.

A prolific writer, R. Bloch wrote: Aus Mirjams Brunnen, chassidische Erzälungen und Legenden, J. Melzer Verlag, Darmstadt, 1966, Hasidic narratives and parables; Blut und eros im jüdischen schrifftum und leben von Eisenmenger über Rohling zu Bischoff. Sensen-verlag, Vienna, 1935, blood in Jewish religion and folklore. (see Ve-da' mah she-tashiv below); Dovev sifte yeshenim. Tif''eret. New York, 1959; Even mi kir tizak, New York, 1953/4; Das geliebte Land: Sagen aus Palastina. R Löwit Verlag, Vienna, 1937, Jewish folk literature; Gemeinde der chassidim ihr werden und ihre lehre, ihr leben und ihr treiben, B. Harz, Berlin, 1920, on the Hasidic community its genesis and teachings, its manners and customs; Hekhal le-divre Hazal u-pitgamehem. Bet mishar sefarim Pardes u-bet defus Sha'ulzon, New York, 1948; Hersch Ostropoler, ein jüdischer Till-Eulenspiegel des 18. Jahrhunderts; Seine Geschichten und Streiche, B. Harz, Berlin, 1921, Jewish wit and humor; Israel der Gotteskämpfer, der Baalscham von Chelm und sein Golem. ein ostjüdisches Legendenbuch, B. Harz, Berlin, 1920, by the 16th century, golem-making was associated with 2 rabbis, R. Eliahu Baal Shem of Chelm (d. 1583) and R. Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the Maharal of Prague (d. 1609); Das jüdischer Amerika; wahrnehmungen und betrachtungen, Verlag "Das Leben" Wien-Brigittenau, 1926, Jewish America; perceptions and views; Das jüdischer Volk in seiner Anekdote; Ernstes und Heiteres von Gottsuchern, Gelehrten, Künstlern, Narren, Schelman, Aufschneidern, Schnorrern, Reichen, Frommen, Freidenkern, Täuflingen, Antisemiten, Verlag für Kulturpolitik, Berlin, 1931; El Pueblo Judio a Traves de la Anecdota : Historias serias y jocosas des devotos, ... y antisemites. Translated by Luis Blanco de Vincente. 1945. (Spanish), The Jewish People in Their Anecdotes : earnest and cheerful G-d-seekers, scholars, artists, fools, scolders, boasters. beggars, rich men, pious men, free thinkers, the baptized, antisemites, Subject: Jewish wit and humor; Kabbalistiche sagen. Im Verlag der Asia major, Leipzig, 1925, Stories about R' Isaac Luria; Kovets mikhtavim mekoriyim meha-Besht zal ve-talmidav, Hotsa'ah 'Ivrit Menorah, Vienna, 1923; Kum nv et he harim teshuvah al pesak din me agudat ha rabanim, New York, 1948/9; Masa Federbush; tokhehat megulah leha-Rav Federbush, Bronx, NY, 1959; Me'ashrim to'im u-matim, Hadar, New York, 1952/3, halacha (Jewish law), responsa; Meharsham : ha-posek ha-aharon, ve-zeh shemo be-kirvo Moh. R. Shalom Mordekhai Hakohen Shvadron, "Berzaner Rav", J. Majeski, Brooklyn, NY; Mi natan li-meshisah Yaakov ve-Yisrael le-vozezim? Bronx, NY, 1957; Ostjüdische Humor, B. Harz, Berlin, 1920, East European Jewish humor; Der Prager golem, von seiner "geburt" bis zu seinem "tod", B. Harz, Berlin, 1920, Jewish folk legend. Stories of the Maharal of Prague. By the 16th century, golem-making was associated with 2 rabbis, Eliahu Baal Shem of Chelm (d. 1583) and Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the Maharal of Prague (d. 1609; Priester der Liebe, die Welt der Chassidim, Amalthea-Verlag, Zürich, 1930 Priests who love, the world of the Hasidim; ha-Sefer ha-shahor, New York, [1954], polemic; Talmudische weisheit : altjüdische Wechselgesprache, Vienna, 1921, Talmudic wisdom: ancient Jewish discussion of commerce; Ve-da' mah she-tashiv; Reznik-Salis, New York, 1943, Appropriate replies to inquiries from the Vatican. Refutation of Erich Bischoff's charges contained in Das Blut in juedischen Schrifttum und Brauch (1929), a book which appeared to be influential in Vatican circles. (see Blut und eros im jüdischen schrifftum und leben von Eisenmenger über Rohling zu Bischoff above); Ve-hayah mahanekha kadosh, New York, 1964/5.