Jacob ben Elhanan Heilbronn – A Multi-faceted Erudite Scholar
By Marvin J. Heller[1]
Jewish history and literature is replete with individuals of stature, men of repute, leaders in their generation, whose memory has not fared well over time. Their reputations and accomplishments notwithstanding, they are not well remembered today, excepting in rabbinic or academic circles. This is, of course, not only a Jewish phenomenon, but our concern is with one … Read More...
Daf Yomi: Seforim on Chagigah
By Eliezer Brodt
Daf Yomi just began learning Masseches Chagigah. Earlier this week I had a conversation with Rabbi Moshe Schwed of All Daf.
The purpose of the conversation was to briefly highlight some of the rishonim and acharonim “out there” on this messechtah, adding some tidbits of interest about them. We recorded it and it’s available for viewing here and here.
It … Read More...
The Image of the Menorah in the Early Printed Hebrew Book
By Dan Rabinowitz
The menorah is one of the most recognizable Jewish symbols. Today it has been adopted by the State of Israel as her official symbol, and throughout history there are numerous examples of its use. Coins, headstones, paintings and synagogue walls etchings, lamps, mosaics, manuscripts, and books, all provide examples of the widespread usage and mediums. Many … Read More...
Armin Wilkowitch about Shabbes Shekolim in his youth in Russia
by Gabriel Wasserman and Phillip Minden
Shabbes Shekolim (Shabbat Sheqalim) is the first of the four special Sabbaths in or near the month of Adar, when special passages are read from the Torah. In addition to the special readings from the Torah, Ashkenazic Jewry has distinguished these four Sabbaths with the inclusion of special piyyutim in the Sabbath service; these … Read More...
Book Announcements: Five recent works
By Eliezer Brodt
This post serves a dual purpose; first, to describe some new, very interesting seforim and thereby making the Seforim Blog readership aware of their recent publication. Second, to make these works available for purchase for those interested.
Part of the proceeds will be going to support the efforts of the Seforim Blog.
Contact me at Eliezerbrodt@gmail.com for more information about purchasing or … Read More...
Appreciations of Gedolei Yisroel
By Avraham Willner
From conversation with Harav Shmaryahu Shulman zt’l. Rav in Jersey City and Norwich Ct. Member of the Agudas Harabbonim. Author of Be’er Sarim, Ohr Layesharim and more.
In previous posts, I focused on anecdotes, thoughts and quotes I heard Rav Shulman repeat on occasion from the vast array of Gedolei Yisroel with whom he was privileged to share a close relationship. Presented here … Read More...
Torah Genius, Infallibility and Augmented Intelligence
by Avinoam Fraenkel
For details of Avinoam Fraenkel’s new book, Shomer Emunim: The Introduction to Kabbalah, and his previous two-volume Nefesh HaTzimtzum, see here.
To view his series of short Shomer Emunim Kabbalah explainers, that introduce the basic concepts of Arizal’s Kabbalah in the context of contemporary science and technology, see here.
This essay explores the nature of Torah genius, … Read More...
Daf Yomi: Seforim on Yevamos and R’ Eliyhau Gutmacher
By Eliezer Brodt
Daf Yomi just began Yevomos Masseches. This week I had a conversation with Rabbi Moshe Schwed of All Daf. The purpose of the conversation was to briefly highlight some of the rishonim and acharonim “out there” on this messechtah, adding some anecdotes of interest about them.
It is available for viewing here and here:
A few … Read More...
Talmud Batra, R. Yudel Rosenberg, R. Mordechai Elefant, and Sexual Abuse
Marc B. Shapiro
1. Recently an amazing book was published. It is called Talmud Batra Uktzin and is authored by Rabbi Yisrael Netanel Rubin. Just like R. Gershon Henoch Leiner, the Radziner Rebbe, published a “Gemara” on tractates Kelim and Ohalot (Sidrei Taharot), and R. Shlomo Goren published a “Gemara” on tractate Mikvaot, Rubin has … Read More...
Mavericks, Mystics, & False Messiahs: Episodes from the Margins of Jewish History by Rabbi Pini Dunner (Toby Press, 2018)
Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein
The first chapter of this book sets the tone by introducing the reader to the oft-retold story of the famous 17th century false Messiah, Shabbetai Tzvi (1626–1676), and how he and his handler Nathan of Gaza bamboozled much of world Jewry. As the story … Read More...
Guide and Review of Online Resources – 2022 – Part I
By Ezra Brand
… Read More...Ezra Brand is an independent researcher based in Tel Aviv. He has an MA from Revel Graduate School at Yeshiva University in Medieval Jewish History, where he focused his research on 13th and 14th century sefirotic Kabbalah. He is interested in using digital and computational tools in historical research. He has contributed a number of times
New Seforim Lists & Book Sale
By Eliezer Brodt
This is a new series which I hope to post monthly.
The post (and series) hopes to serve a few purposes. It has a list of about one hundred items. The first section lists some new interesting seforim and thereby making the Seforim Blog readership aware of their recent publication. Second, to make these works available for purchase for those interested. … Read More...
The Recently Published Photographs of Rav Yisrael Salanter: Real or Imaginary?
By Shnayer Leiman
As early as 2006, and continuing through 2022, a flurry of photographs, purporting to bear the likeness of Rav Yisrael Salanter, have either appeared in print or have been posted on the Internet (see below, section II). While the publication of these photos certainly attests to his abiding influence well into the 21st century, their … Read More...
Some Notes on Verifying the Authenticity of the Alleged Rav Yisrael Salanter Photographs
By Shnayer Leiman
There are some who claim that the photographs of R. Yisrael Salanter’s sons can be used for the likeness of their father, since we have testimony that the sons looked almost exactly like their father. Let us examine the evidence.
1. Aside from the 3 published photographs of R. Yisrael’s son R. Yitzchak (see … Read More...
… Read More...“Contemporary Rabbis don’t bother to interrogate the sources of law and custom; instead, their purpose is to traffic in chumrot and create new prohibitions. They are unable to appreciate their hypocrisy … on the one hand, they roar like a lion against those who are open to change and the reformists, that one cannot alter an iota from what the kadmonim imposed, while on the other hand, casually discard
By Eliezer Brodt
Earlier this week I had a conversation with Rabbi Moshe Schwed of All Daf, about the Hagadah. Topics included: how many Hagadas there are in existence, various works on the development on the Pesach Seder, and seforim devoted to the Halachos of the Seder, by Rishonim and Achronim. It concluded with a short … Read More...
Eruv Tavshilin: A Scribal Error or Deliberate Reformation?
by: Dan Rabinowitz
The Washington Haggadah was written by the scribe Joel ben Simon, and is currently housed at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., and is available online in a beautiful digital copy. Joel produced the Haggadah in the late 15th century. As so much of the core Hebraica collection at the Library of Congress, the manuscript was sold by … Read More...
New seforim lists, Seforim sale, Highlights of the Mossad HaRav Kook Sale.
By Eliezer Brodt
This is a the second in a new series which I hope to post monthly.
The post (and series) hopes to serve a few purposes. It has a list of about one hundred items. The first section lists some new interesting seforim and thereby making the Seforim Blog readership aware of their recent publication. Second, … Read More...
Legacy Judaica‘s Spring auction is on May 8, 2022. The catalog includes some especially rare first editions, Siddur ha-Shelah, (no. 119), Mesilat Yesharim (no. 45), a volume of the Bomberg edition of the Talmud (lot 10), and some other items of interest.
Sefer Evronot, Offenbach, 1722, (lot no. 63) is an unusual Hebrew book because it includes paper cut-outs that are reattached to the book and form … Read More...
Guide and Review of Online Resources – 2022 – Part II
By Ezra Brand
… Read More...Ezra Brand is an independent researcher based in Tel Aviv. He has an MA from Revel Graduate School at Yeshiva University in Medieval Jewish History, where he focused his research on 13th and 14th century sefirotic Kabbalah. He is interested in using digital and computational tools in historical research. He has contributed a number of times