Rabbi Steinman and the Messiah, part 3
Marc B. Shapiro
Continued from here
1. In the last post I wrote: “R. Hayyim Soloveitchik is reported to have said that if the messianic era will bring even one Jewish death, then he doesn’t want it, and if we had a choice in the matter the halakhah would require us to reject the Messiah in such a circumstance.” A perspective quite different … Read More...
The Haftarah of Parashat Shemot[1]
By Eli Duker
The Babylonian haftarah for Parashat Shemot was from Ezekiel 16: “Hoda’ et yerushalayim.”
The haftarah appears in at least six fragments from the Cairo Geniza,[2] is the haftarah used in the “Emet” piyyut of R’ Shemuel Hashelishi[3] and in the “Zulat” piyyut of R’ Yehuda Beirabbi Binyamin,[4] and is listed in the Seder Hatefillot in Rambam’s Yad Hahazakah as well … Read More...
Book Announcement-Sale: Iggrot Shmuel, by Rabbi Shmuel Askenazi
By Eliezer Brodt
אוצר כתבי ר‘ שמואל אשכנזי, אגרות שמואל, אלף חסר תליסר מכתבי תורה וחכמה, א, תש“ב–תשל“ה; ב, תשל“ו– תשנ“ה; ג, תשנ“ו–תשס“ט, 1781 עמודים, הובא לדפוס בתוספות מפתחות מפורטים על ידי ר… Read More...
WHEN HISTORY IS HIS STORY
A Review of R. Dovid Kamenetsky’s “Rabeinu Chaim Ozer: Raban Shel Kol B’nei Ha’goleh” *
(Vol. 1, Hebrew, 671 pages)
Rabbi Jonah Steinmetz is a fellow in the Wexner Kollel Elyon and director of Asicha Seminars, an online learning program for women. This is Jonah’s first contribution to the Seforim Blog.
OF HISTORY AND STORY
When asked to describe the difference between recording history and … Read More...
Four Perplexing Words in Rashi
By Eli Genauer
Shemot Perek 11, Pasuk 9:
(ט) וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל-מֹשֶׁה, לֹא-יִשְׁמַע אֲלֵיכֶם פַּרְעֹה–לְמַעַן רְבוֹת מוֹפְתַי, בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם׃
Al HaTorah (based on the manuscript Leipzig 1) records Rashi’s comment on למען רבות מופתי as follows:
רש“י: למען רבות מופתי – מכת בכורות, וקריעת ים סוף, ולנער את מצרים.
Here is Leipzig 1:
Artscroll Sapirstein edition … Read More...
Update about Igrot Shmuel: Possible Second printing sign up
By Eliezer Brodt
Less than two weeks ago I announced the publication of R’ Shmuel Ashkenazi’s monumental collection of letters, Igrot Shmuel (see here). I would like to follow up with a small update about the project.
After a long wait of about 12 years, we were privileged to bring to print approximately one thousand letters of R’ Shmuel Ashkenazi, … Read More...
Is there a rotten apple in the Tu-BeShevat Fruit Basket?
By Dan Rabinowitz and Eliezer Brodt
[This post is heavily updated from an earlier Seforim Blog post – here]
Some claim that the origins of the custom to celebrate Tu-beShevat as a holiday that includes eating fruits and other rituals, is Sabbatean. In the main, this assertion is based upon identifying the work Hemdat Yamim as the source for
Picturing Pandemic Prayer
Edward Reichman
(with invaluable assistance and inspiration from Menachem Butler and Sharon Liberman Mintz)
Among the precious items recently offered by Sotheby’s at its auction of important Judaica (December 17, 2020) was a richly illustrated miniature book of prayers written and illustrated by Nathan ben Samson of Meseritch, 1728 (here). Nestled among the spectacular illustrations and prayers reflecting all aspects of life we find the … Read More...
More on “New Notes Added in the Koren Talmud”
Shalom Z. Berger
In what seems like another lifetime but was just over a year ago, the Jewish world celebrated the 13th Daf Yomi Siyum HaShas. The beginning of the 14th cycle led to a revisiting of the Koren Talmud Bavli that had appeared in print for the first time in concert with the previous cycle. In a Seforim … Read More...
The Medical Training and Yet Another (Previously Unknown) Legacy of Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski, zt”l
by Edward Reichman and Menachem Butler
… Read More...Rabbi Dr. Edward Reichman is a Professor of Emergency Medicine and Professor in the Division of Education and Bioethics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He writes and lectures widely in the field of Jewish medical ethics.
Mr. Menachem Butler is Program Fellow for Jewish Legal Studies
Rav Gorelick, the Rav, and Revision by Omission
By: Yaacov Sasson
Many readers of the Seforim Blog no doubt remember Dr. Shapiro’s post from 2009, in which he documented a back-and-forth from the pages of the journal Or Yisrael, regarding whether Rav Yerucham Gorelick zt”l taught Gemara at Yeshiva University.[1] As a refresher, Or Yisrael (Num. 50, Tevet 5768, p. 39) published a summary of a shiur given by … Read More...
Tzevi Hirsch of Nadworna’s Sefer Alpha Beta
by Marvin J. Heller[1]
By the riches of the sea they will be nourished, and by the treasures concealed in the sand. (Deuteronomy 33:19).
Sefer Alpha Beta (1799) Nowy Dwor
Courtesy of the National Library of Israel
A primary component of the corpus of Hebrew literature is ethical works. The Torah is replete with examples of virtuous deeds, such as the patriarch … Read More...
“What if the Maharal of Prague Had Access to Leipzig 1 and Other Manuscripts?”
On Shemos 23:19 – Rashi on ראשית בכורי אדמתך
By Eli Genauer
Summary: There is a statement in Rashi which appears in the overwhelming majority of early Rashi manuscripts, and in early printed editions. But because Gur Aryeh and others did not have access to these manuscripts, and because they felt that what Rashi said was … Read More...
New volume of Mekhilta Journal Announcement
By Eliezer Brodt
מכילתא, כתב עת לתורה ולחכמה, ר‘ עדיאל ברויאר, יעקב ישראל סטל ומשה דוד צ‘צ‘יק (עורכים), גליון ב, כסלו תשפ“א, 323 עמודים
Volume two of the new Journal Mekhilta just came out. Similar to the first issue it has an all-star lineup of writers on great topics.
Copies … Read More...
Depression Angles
By William Gewirtz
Introduction:
Depression angles measure the level of darkness or illumination prior to sunrise and, in a parallel fashion, after sunset.
There are two halakhic disagreements that might appear to relate to the use of depression angles. First, there is a long-standing argument about what defines the transition from one day to the next and what is (merely) an indicator that the transition has occurred. Some … Read More...
The Physicians of the Rome Plague of 1656, Yaakov Zahalon and Hananiah Modigliano
Reclaiming a Long-Lost Role and the
Only Known Example of Father and Son Diplomas
By Edward Reichman
Ellen Wells of the Smithsonian Libraries wrote,[1] “The plague of Rome of 1656 was one of the best recorded medical events of the 17th century. It was referred to in most major political and ecclesiastical histories, in diplomatic … Read More...
No, Achashverosh Never Served a Stable-Boy
Yaakov Jaffe
Writings about Purim from virtually every stripe make reference to a well-known myth that Achashverosh, King of Persia, rose to power from being a former stable-boy. A simple google search yields dozens of online results for this myth, some in passing and others expanded,[1] some academic[2] and others some more traditional;[3] some on blogs and others in books.[4] Yet, it seems that … Read More...
Rambam The Poet?
Ovadya Hoffman
Most readers are familiar with the general character and productivity of Maimonides, I will therefore keep the preamble to a minimum. The indelible legacy left by Maimonides is that of a legalist and thinker, not of a poet or a preacher. That’s not to say that Maimonides lacked the poetic skill. In fact, even from his purely legal works one can detect his elegant tongue … Read More...
A Comment of Rashi Found Only in “Defusim Me’Ucharim”
On Shemot 31:15
By Eli Genauer
Summary:
… Read More...We find a lengthy comment attributed to Rashi which is only found in what is termed “Defusim Me’Ucharim”. The comment first appears in the Sefer Yosef Da’at (Prague 1609) who attributes it to a D’fus Yashan and a Klaf Yashan Noshan. I did not find it in any of the over 60 manuscripts I
New Sefer Announcement
By: Eliezer Brodt
פירוש התורה לרבינו אברהם בן הרמב“ם, ספר בראשת, תרעח עמודים
פירוש התורה לרבינו אברהם בן הרמב“ם, ספר שמות, תתלב עמודים
מאמר על הדרשות ועל האגדות לרבינו אברהם בן הרמב“ם, מעיתיק השמועה, [בירורים בתולדות חכמי התלמוד] צז+צ עמודים
Recently the second volume of R. Avraham b. HaRambam’s perush on Chumash Shemot was released (832 pp.). This new edition … Read More...