Shnayer Leiman: In Appreciation*
Yitzhak Berger and Chaim Milikowsky
אוצר נחמד ושמן בנוה חכם
(משלי כא,כ)
In multiple ways, the above-cited biblical phrase, on which the title of this volume is based, calls to mind its distinguished honoree. For one thing, few collections of Jewish writings surpass Shnayer Leiman’s אוצר נחמד – a vast store of literary treasures that encompasses, among much else, an abundance of rare traditional classics. For … Read More...
The Twice Told Tale of R’ Yonasan Eybeshutz and the Porger[1]
Moshe Haberman
Moshe Haberman currently lives in Los Angeles and is a businessman. Originally from New York, he learned in Brisk and publishes the Torah journal Chitzei Giborim.
Introduction
The only Halachic sefer[2] published in the lifetime of R’ Yonasan Eybeshuts was the ספר כרתי ופלתי which is a פירוש on Shuchan Aruch Yoreh Deah, dealing with issues … Read More...
מנהג ה‘תשליך‘ מאת ר‘ איתם הנקין הי“ד
[הותקן לפרסום מתוך רשימה מכת“י]
.מנהג התשליך מוזכר באופן ברור לראשונה בסוף המאה ה-14, בספר המנהגים לרבי יצחק אייזיק טירנא (סוף מנהגי ראש השנה, ד“ה “ושליח צבור“): “ורגילין לילך על הנהר ולומר תשוב תרחמינו וגו‘, ורואים דגים חיים“
בסמוך לו לפניו מוזכר המנהג … Read More...
The Seforim Blog is reposting Dan Rabinowitz’s post from 2018.
Rabbi Zalman Nehemiah Goldberg Eulogizes Rabbi Shlomo Goren
Marc B. Shapiro
The recent passing of R. Zalman Nehemiah Goldberg was a great loss. It was not just a loss for one segment of the Torah world, as R. Zalman Nehemiah was unusual in that he was part of both the haredi world and the religious Zionist world. He was respected in both of these camps and spent his life teaching … Read More...
Of Twice-Told Tales and Ockham’s Razor: A Response to R. Moshe Haberman
By Elli Fischer
… Read More...Elli Fischer is an independent writer, translator, and rabbi. He is editor of Rabbi Eliezer Melamed’s Peninei Halakha series in English and cofounder of HaMapah, a project that applies quantitative analysis to rabbinic literature. He is a founding editor of The Lehrhaus, a web magazine of contemporary Jewish thought, and his writing has appeared
Parshanut in English: Rabbinic Bible Commentary in Translation
Revised updated edition
Yisrael Dubitsky
The following revises, expands upon and updates my previous effort on this forum. Originally it was meant as a ten year retrospective, to see not only which works were completed in that time span but also which commentators were first touched upon. Of course, in the course of my research, I found several errors of mine … Read More...
What Became of Tychsen?: The Non-Jewish ‘Rabbi’ and his “Congregation” of Jewish Medical Students
By Dr. Edward Reichman, MD
This essay was inspired by two recent Seforim blog posts, one on Professor Shnayer Leiman’s contributions,[1] and the other on a topic related to R’ Yonasan Eybeshutz.[2]
In November 16, 2006 an article by Dr. Shnayer Leiman appeared in the newly formed Seforim Blog entitled, “Two Cases of Non-Jews … Read More...
Rabbi Steinman and the Messiah, part 1
Marc B. Shapiro
Since in a recent post I discussed Maimonides and the Principle of the Messiah, let me add one more thing. Yet before doing so, I need to make a few preliminary comments. Many readers know about the Peleg, which has caused all sorts of problems in Jerusalem. After the passing of R. Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, the simmering dispute in the … Read More...
Some Memories of Reb Dovid Feinstein zt”l: Instead of a Hesped
By Jonathan Boyarin
Jonathan Boyarin is the Diann G. and Thomas A. Mann Professor of Modern Jewish Studies at Cornell University. His latest book is *Yeshiva Days: Learning on the Lower East Side*, available here.
My Rosh Yeshiva, Reb Dovid Feinstein zt”l, was no longer with us on Friday just before Shabbes. This morning, Sunday, we watched … Read More...
The Significance of Avraham Avinu’s Performance of the Mitzvot
By Michael Landy
Perfection for a Jew can only be realized through the performance of the mitzvot [commandments] of the Torah, which were given from G-d to Moshe on Sinai [Matan Torah]. Since man is finite, his thinking and understanding is limited and constrained to factors of time and space. Man is not capable, and it is beyond his … Read More...
Book Sale 2020
By Eliezer Brodt
This Book list of over four hundred titles, and consists of a few sections. The first batch are some of the works that were printed in the past year.
אין חכמת אדם מגעת אלא עד מקום שספריו מגיעין[1]1
ר‘ יצחק קנפנטון
(ואין ספריו מגיעין בשעת המגיפה[2])
Pandemic Bibliopenia:[3] A Preliminary Report of Disease Eradication
Rabbi Edward Reichman, MD
The number of seforim written during, about or related to the Covid 19 pandemic continues to grow at breakneck speed.[4] What has largely gone unnoticed among the other unprecedented aspects of this pandemic, is that since the … Read More...
Jacob’s Dream: Reproducing a Talismanic Illustrated Title Page
(Illustrations are from the following sources: the Edut Be Yosef, Rabot, Shivim Tekunei Zohar, and Yefeh Anaf are from the Gross Family Collection. The Minhat Shai is from Dan Rabinowitz’s personal collection, and the rest are courtesy of the internet.)
One of the earliest examples of Jewish art are the biblical paintings at the Dura Europos Synagogue, completed in 244-5 C.E. Among … Read More...
Genazym Auctions is holding an auction on December 8th and browsing the catalog (available here) one can view beautiful photos of various rare books and documents, and learn more about numerous works, events and people related to many different time periods of Jewish History from all walks of life.
Just to highlight some of the items:
The first lot is a complete set of the Hanau 1610 edition … Read More...
Rabbi Steinman and the Messiah, part 2
Marc B. Shapiro
Continued from here
1. R. Yehudah Herzl Henkin has a different perspective than what we have seen so far.[1] He rejects the notion that “waiting” for the Messiah means that one must believe that he can come at any second, for the Sages already said that the Messiah will not some at certain times. He writes:[2]
ובעיקר הענין הרביתי בראיות … Read More...
On the History of the Custom to Announce Upcoming Fasts in the Synagogue on the Shabbat Preceding the Fasts
By Ezer Diena
… Read More...About the author: Ezer Diena teaches Science and Judaics at Bnei Akiva Schools of Toronto. After studying at Yeshivas Toras Moshe for two years, Ezer received his B.Sc. in Chemistry and B.Ed. from York University. He then joined Beit Midrash Zichron Dov of Toronto, where he studied for
Anim Zemiros – A Poem for All Ages
By Rabbi Elchanan Adler
Feldheim Publishers
New York, 2020
192 pages
Reviewed by Myron Wakschlag
It is rare to find a book that is able to successfully illuminate a complex topic, yet still remain captivating and easily accessible. Rabbi Elchanan Adler’s new sefer on Anim Zemiros is just such a book. While Anim Zemiros is familiar to most people, its contents remain … Read More...
An Appreciation of HaRav Gedalia Dov Schwartz, zt”l
On Thursday, the 24th of Kislev, 5781 (December 10, 2020), Jews around the world prepared to use their Shamash candles to light their Chanukah Menorahs. On that same day, leading rabbinic representatives of Chicago’s strong and diverse Orthodox community delivered moving eulogies for a world-renowned Torah scholar: Rav Gedalia Dov Schwartz, zt”l. For 95 years, Rav … Read More...
Recent Notes On Hebrew Pronunciation
By Rabbi Avi Grossman
Edited by Mr. Jonathan Grossman
Many of the ideas discussed in this article were in my notebook for some time, and just as I was getting around to preparing them for publication, my prolific colleague Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein sent a copy of Professor Geoffrey Khan’s The Tiberian Pronunciation Tradition of Biblical Hebrew to me. After reading it and briefly corresponding … Read More...
