Mossad HaRav Kook 2015 sale
By Eliezer Brodt
For over thirty years, starting on Isru Chag of Pesach, Mossad HaRav Kook publishing house makes a big sale on all of their publications, dropping prices considerably (some books are marked 65 percent off). In recent years their practice has been to publish several new titles in the few weeks prior to the sale; during the rest of the year not too many titles are printed. They also reprint some of their older titles that have gone out of print. Some years important works are printed, some years not so much. In recent years one important title printed for the first time was R' Dovid Tzvi Hoffman's commentary on Chumash Shemos, translated from the original German.
What follows is a list and brief description of some of their newest titles.
א. תורת חיים- משלי, ב'חלקים תתקעז עמודים, כולל פירושים על כ"י עם מקורות והערות, של רס"ג, רש"י, ראב"ע, ר'יוסף קמחי, ר'יונה, רי"ד, רלב"ג, מאירי, ר'נחמיאש.
This work is a continuation of their excellent Toras Chaim series which is very useful. To date they have done Chumash, Avot (2 volumes), 5 Megilot (3 volumes) and Hagadah Shel Pesach.
ב. הגדה של פסח- תורת הראשונים, ר'אביגור אריאלי, פירושי הראשונים שבדפוס ושבכתבי- יד שלא נכתבו על סדר הגדה, רכד עמודים.
This work is a large collection of citations from Rishonim, related to the Hagadah but not specifically written as a Pirush on the Hagadah, such as citations from, for example, in their works on Chumash or the like. The focus of this collection is the material dealing with Peshat of the Hagadah not the Halacha aspect. I hope that eventually they will print such a collection of all such Halacha material.
ג. הכתב והקבלה, ר'יעקב צבי מקלנבורג, ב'חלקים, ביאור על חמשה חומשי תורה, ערוך ומתוקן על פי דפוס ראשון עם מבוא השלמות ומפתחות בעריכת ר'משה צוריאל, תתתרנו + 80 עמודים.
There are numerous highlights to this new edition of this classic work. Among them are the notes and many indexes all done by Rabbi M. Tzuriel. Perhaps most important is the restoration of seventy(!) pages of text found only in the first edition of this work.
ד-ה. דרשות נחלת דוד, ר'דוד טעביל ממינסק, ערוך על פי דפוס ראשון עם מקורות והערות ובתוספות כותרות משנה מאת הרב דוד רובינשטיין, שיח עמודים. דרשות בית דוד, ערוך על פי דפוס ראשון עם מקורות והערות ובתוספות כותרות משנה מאת הרב דוד רובינשטיין, תמא עמודים.
In addition to bringing back into print these two classic Derush seforim from R' Dovid Tevel, Talmid Muvhak of R' Chaim Volozhiner, This edition also abounds with useful notes, mostly pointing to comparative sources from his Rebbe and the Gra. One minor complaint is the lack of an index.
ה. תשובות הרשב"א, חלק שלישי, מסכת שבת עירובין: הרב חיים דימיטרובסקי.
This is the second volume from this series. This is part of the much anticipated work on the Rashba from Professor C.Z. Dimitrovsky z"l. However we will have to wait for a careful review from the experts on the Rashba to weigh in if this is as important as was expected.
ו-ז פירוש רלב"ג, על נביאים ראשונים ב'- כתובים, הרב יעקב לוי על פי כ"י ודפוס ראשון עם מקורו והערות. פירוש רלב"ג על איוב- משלי [איוב ע"י ר'משה צוריאל, משלי ע"י ר'יעקב לוי].
These two volumes continue the series of critical editions of the Ralbag's works. The volume on Iyuv has a partial index of the Ralbag from R' M. Tzuriel. Worth mentioning is his small newish work on the Ralbag called Otzros HaRalbag(179 pp.), not printed by Mossad HaRav Kook.
ח. תוספות רי"דעל מסכת קידושין, מהדיר: ר'דוד מצגר.
This work is based on the first edition (as no known manuscripts have survived on this Mesechtah) and includes many notes.
ט. אעברה נא, רבקה מנוביץ-מעיני, סיפורו העלום של הרב דב מעיני מצורף דיסק עם מאמרים דברי תורה וניגונים. תחקיר היסטורי שלמה טיקוצינסקי, 287 עמודים.
This biography looks very promising. It deals with R' Maayuni's tragically short life. Included are parts about life in Slabodkah, his relationship with his Rebbe Muvhack, R' Avrhom Eliyhuah Kaplan, his time in Beis Medrash Harabonim in Berlin, Yeshivas Chevron in Eretz Yisroel and more. This book was written by his daughter and Dr. Shlomo Tikochinski (expert on Slabodkah and Chevron Yeshivah). It also includes excerpts of many of his letters. In the digital world of today this volume comes with a flash drive which contains a bunch of songs composed by R' Maayuni and a volume of his correspondence (243 pp.). The digital volume includes many pieces of great interest such as a 17 page article about R' Avrhom Eliyhuah Kaplan, a letter of his to a friend written right after R' Kook famous speech at the opening of Hebrew university (anti) and a beautiful descriptive letter of R' Moshe Mordechai Epstein arrival to Yerushalayim and to Chevron [including references to the fights between the camps of R' Kook and R' Sonenfeld]. I guess the reason why this volume was not printed together with the biography was a financial issue but I would have liked for them to have printed it in hard copy (I am old fashioned).
י. תורה שבעל פה, סמכותה ודרכיה, ר'יהושע ענבל, 779 עמודים.
A table of contents of this work is available upon request. It deals with many of the "hot" and "sensitive" topics of the day. Including Chazal's knowledge of science, how to understand Chazal attitude to Aggadah and much more. I really hope to see some through reviews about this work in the future. It appears that a form of some of the material in this book originally appeared here.
יא. צהר לבראשית, ר'צבי אינפלד, ב'כרכים, ניתוח מעמיק לפרשת בריאת העולם עם ביאור נפלא לפסוקי תורה בענין זה, 987 עמודים.
Also worth mentioning in this brief survey is the English translation of The Mishlei Daat Mikrahvolume and the two volume English translation of Esther Farbstein's work on Hungarian Jewry during the Holocaust.
One last title worth mentioning is their reprint of Rav Maimon's memoirs which appear to be of interest.
A complete catalog is available upon request eliezerbrodt@gmail.com