An Unpublished 1966 Memorandum
from Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan Answers Questions on Jewish Theology
Marc B. Shapiro and Menachem Butler
… Read More...Professor Marc B. Shapiro holds the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Chair in Judaic Studies at the University of Scranton, and is the author of many books on Jewish history and theology. He is a frequent contributor at the Seforim blog.
Mr. Menachem Butler is Program Fellow for Jewish Legal Studies at
Abraham Menahem ben Jacob ha-Kohen Rapa mi-Porto (Rapaport) Ashkenazi: A Renaissance Rabbi of Interest[1]
by Marvin J. Heller
… Read More...R. Abraham Menahem ben Jacob ha-Kohen Rapa mi-Porto (Rapaport) is a sixteenth century rabbi of particular interest. An intriguing, eclectic, and erudite figure, his life encompasses events that effected mid-century Jewry, recorded in his work. His books, two only published, are varied and unusual, one due to its subject matter, cryptography, the
The “Doctored” Medical Diploma of Samuel, the Son of Menasseh Ben Israel:[1] Forgery or “For Jewry”?
Rabbi Edward Reichman, MD
Menasseh ben Israel is a prominent figure in Jewish history known for his role in the return of the Jews to England in the time of Oliver Cromwell, as well being the first to establish a Hebrew printing press in Holland.[2] Menasseh had two sons and a daughter. His son … Read More...
Hirschian Humanism After the Holocaust:
An Analysis of the Approach of Rabbi Shimon Schwab
By Rabbi Shmuel Lesher
… Read More...Rabbi Shmuel Lesher is a Machon Beren Kollel fellow at RIETS / Yeshiva University. Prior to completing his rabbinic ordination at RIETS, Rabbi Lesher studied at the Mirrer Yeshiva in Jerusalem and Yeshiva of Greater Washington in Silver Spring, Maryland. Rabbi Lesher lives in Washington Heights, with his wife Leora and their
Book Announcement: New Work on the Kabbalah of the Ramban
By Eliezer Brodt
פירושי וחיבורי תלמידי הרשב“א על קבלת הרמב“ן, תש“ט עמודים, מוסד הרב קוק
One of the most important classical commentaries on the Torah is that of R. Moses Nachmanides, Ramban (See here). In addition to his more straightforward comments, the commentary contains significant kabbalisitic ones as well. Usually, these … Read More...
Response to Criticism Part 4; Rabbi Zvi Yehuda and the Hazon Ish
Marc B. Shapiro
Continued from here.
1. In Limits,p. 14 n. 55, I write
… Read More...I should call attention to a significant philosophical and halakhic point which appears to have gone unnoticed. The Vilna Gaon (R. Elijah b. Solomon Zalman (1720-97) apparently believed that the First and Second Principles are the only true Principles in Judaism. According
Shlomo Yosef Zevin and Yeshiva Students being Drafted to the Army, Views of Women, and More
Marc B. Shapiro
1. In an earlier post I wrote about R. Shlomo Yosef Zevin and the famous essay about how yeshiva students need to serve in the army, an essay which is widely attributed to him. See here. In the post I cited important information uncovered by David Eisen that complicates the … Read More...
Legacy Judaica Spring 2021 Auction
By Dan Rabinowitz and Eliezer Brodt
Legacy Auction Judaica is holding its Spring auction on May 30th (link) and it provides us the opportunity to discuss some interesting bibliographical and historical books and items.
Item #7 is the first edition of Charedim printed in 1601. This is the first appearance of R. Elazar Azkiri’s song Yedid Nefesh in print. For a full discussion … Read More...
The Meaning of Ayelet Ha-Shaḥar at Tehillim 22:1
By Mitchell First
MFirstAtty@aol.com
The phrase השׁחר אילת is found at Tehillim 22:1. The entire verse reads: “la-menatzeaḥ al ayelet ha-shaḥar mizmor le-David.” What is the meaning of השׁחר אילת ? This is the only time this phrase appears in Tanakh. Its meaning is so unclear that Radak offers five interpretations!
Literally, השׁחר אילת means: “doe of the dawn.” A … Read More...
Book Announcement: New edition of the Seder Hadorot
By Eliezer Brodt
ר’ יחיאל היילפרין, סדר הדורות, מאנסי תשפא, חלק שני: סדר התנאים והאמוראים, ב’ חלקים, [אות א, 820 עמ’\ אותיות ב-ט, 717 עמ’]
This post serves a dual purpose; first, to describe in some detail a new edition of a very important work: Seder Hadorot, and thus make the Seforim Blog readership aware of its recent … Read More...
Book Week 2021
By Eliezer Brodt
Book week just began in Eretz Yisrael. Continuing with my now fourteenth year tradition, every year in Israel, around Shavuos time, there is a period of about ten days called Shavuah Hasefer – Book Week.
Many of the companies offer sales for the whole month. Shavuah HaSefer is a sale which takes place all across the country in stores, malls and special places rented … Read More...
Book Week Sale 2021
By Eliezer Brodt
This Book list of over four Hundred titles, from many different companies. I have attempted to put them in some sort of categories to make it easier to use. Most of these titles were printed in the past five-six years and are not found in regular stores.
An Illustrated Life of an Illustrious Renaissance Jew Rabbi Doctor Shimshon Morpurgo (1681-1740)
By Rabbi Edward Reichman, MD
Shimshon (AKA Samson or Sanson) Morpurgo is a classic Italian Renaissance personality- physician, rabbi, liturgist/poet, author. Born in 1681 in Gradisca d’Isonzo, close to Gorizia, Morpurgo was brought by his father to Venice as a young boy. He spent his entire life in Italy, training to be a rabbi and physician, practicing … Read More...
Rav Shmuel Ashkenazi: a Hidden Genius
By Eliezer Brodt
This Monday night is the first yahrzeit marking the passing of a unique Talmid Chacham, R’ Shmuel Ashkenazi of Yerushalayim, at the age of ninety-eight. R’ Shmuel was one of the hidden giants of the seforim world, in both ultra-orthodox and academic circles. I had the Zechus to learn much from him and in this article, I wish to describe this … Read More...
Sukkah 4a “What’s Wrong with This Picture?”
By Eli Genauer
This post is is l’zecher nishmas my uncle and rebbe, Rabbi Sam Genauer ZT”L whose yahrtzeit is the second day of Av. Rabbi Genauer was a talmid of Rabbi Moshe Soloveichik at RIETS.
מסכת סוכה ד׳ עמוד א׳
The maximum height of a Sukkah is twenty Amot. The Gemara discusses a situation where the Sukkah is slightly more than twenty … Read More...
Zafenat Pane’ah—A Further Example in the Titling of Hebrew Books
by Marvin J. Heller[1]
Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zafenat Pane’ah and he gave him Asenath daughter of Poti-phera, chief of On, for a wife. Thus Joseph emerged over the land of Egypt (Genesis 41:45). Zafenat: Zafenat Pane’ah. This name means decipherer of the cryptic (revealer of secrets). There is nothing similar to pane’ah in Scripture (Rashi).
The titling … Read More...
Marc B. Shapiro
1. Numbers 34:15 states: “Two and a half tribes have taken their inheritance on the side of the Jordan by Jericho, to the front, eastward.”
Rashi comments:
קדמה מזרחה: אל פני העולם שהם במזרח, שרוח מזרחית קרויה פנים ומערביות קרויה אחור לפיכך דרום לימין וצפון לשמאל
This passage is translated as follows in ArtScroll’s Sapirstein
In Praise of the Soncino Talmud
By David S Farkas*
Not long ago one of our local schools hosted a Giveaway day in its library, making many of the older seforim in its considerable collection free to a good home. As expected, the local citizenry plundered and pillaged, carrying off large numbers of books, many still in quite good condition. I was only able to attend towards the end, “after … Read More...
Book Announcement: Links to Our Legacy: Insights into Hebrew, History, and Liturgy by Mitchell First
By Eliezer Brodt
The Seforim Blog is proud to announce the publication of our frequent contributor Mitchell First’s newest book Links to Our Legacy: Insights into Hebrew, History, and Liturgy (236 pp.)
Mitchell First’s 66 short articles address interesting questions about the Hebrew language, Jewish history, and liturgy. For example:
• On Hebrew language: insights … Read More...
Daf HaYomi: Seforim on Masseches Rosh Hashanah
By Eliezer Brodt
Daf HaYomi just started learning Masseches Rosh Hashanah this week. This past Monday evening I had a conversation with Rabbi Moshe Schwed of All Daf. This is the third one I had with him of this kind (earlier we discussed Masseches Shekalim [here] and Masseches Yoma [here]).
The purpose of the conversation was to briefly … Read More...
