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New volume of Mekhilta Journal Announcement

February 14, 2021 Eliezer Brodt Comments 0 Comment

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 of this volume are available for purchase through me (while the limited edition lasts) and will help support the efforts of the Seforim Blog. Contact me at Eliezerbrodt@gmail.com For sample pages contact me…

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What if the Maharal of Prague Had Access to Leipzig 1 and Other Manuscripts?

February 12, 2021 Eli Genauer Comments 6 comments

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 incorrect, they ascribed the statement to a טעות סופר. Knowing that Rashi really did write these words might have changed their approach to this Pasuk. שמות כ”ג (יט) רֵאשִׁ֗ית בִּכּוּרֵי֙ אַדְמָ֣תְךָ֔ תָּבִ֕יא בֵּ֖ית ה’ אֱלֹקיךָ לֹֽא־תְבַשֵּׁ֥ל…

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Tzevi Hirsch of Nadworna’s Sefer Alpha Beta

February 11, 2021 Marvin J. Heller Comments 6 comments

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 Abraham’s numerous acts of kindness, and moral principles and commandments are a primary component of the taryag (613) mitzvot. Subsequent ethical works are…

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Rav Gorelick, the Rav, and Revision by Omission

February 7, 2021 Yaacov Sasson Comments 45 comments

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. As a refresher, Or Yisrael (Num. 50, Tevet 5768, p. 39) published a summary of a shiur given by Rav Mordechai Leib Gorelick (son of Rav Yerucham), regarding the publication of the Talmud with translation and elucidation (presumably referring to Artscroll)….

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The Medical Training and Yet Another (Previously Unknown) Legacy of Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski, zt”l

February 2, 2021 Edward Reichman and Menachem Butler Comments 22 comments

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 at The Julis-Rabinowitz Program on Jewish and Israeli Law at Harvard Law School. He is an Editor at Tablet Magazine and a Co-Editor at the Seforim Blog. On erev Shabbat Shira last…

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More on “New Notes Added in the Koren Talmud”

February 1, 2021 Shalom Z. Berger Comments 2 comments

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 Blog post, Chaim Katz pointed out that the new English edition included some additional notes based on Rav Kook’s Ein Aya, and I responded…

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Picturing Pandemic Prayer

January 29, 2021 Edward Reichman Comments 6 comments

(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 page below: This largely forgotten prayer recited upon seeing one recently recovered from illness derives from the…

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Is there a rotten apple in the Tu-BeShevat Fruit Basket?

January 27, 2021 Dan Rabinowitz and Eliezer Brodt Comments 3 comments

[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 Tu-beShevat as a holiday and eating fruit and other rituals. Thus, an article in Ha’aretz trumpets, “The New Year for the Trees, Isn’t it for Sabbatai Zvi.”…

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Igrot Shmuel: Possible Second printing sign up

January 22, 2021 Eliezer Brodt Comments 0 Comment

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, in 3 volumes, 1800 pages titled, Igrot Shmuel. A mere four to five days after its release to our great surprise and joy…

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Four Perplexing Words in Rashi

January 20, 2021 Eli Genauer Comments 10 comments

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 (Brooklyn 1994) adds the words “מופתי שנים, רבות שלשה” in brackets at the beginning. The words appear without any type of parentheses in Mikraot Gedolot HaBahir 2005….

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WHEN HISTORY IS HIS STORY A Review of R. Dovid Kamenetsky’s “Rabeinu Chaim Ozer: Raban Shel Kol B’nei Ha’golah”

January 17, 2021 Jonah Steinmetz Comments 57 comments

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 telling stories, the prolific historical fiction novelist, E.L. Doctorow responded, “The historian will tell you what happened. The novelist will tell you what it felt like.” Doctorow’s assessment is unsurprisingly insightful, highlighting the benefits and drawbacks of both…

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Book Announcement-Sale: Iggrot Shmuel, by Rabbi Shmuel Ashkenazi

January 10, 2021 Eliezer Brodt Comments 3 comments

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’ יעקב ישראל סטל A few months ago, right after Rabbi Shmuel Ashkenazi was niftar I, along with my friend Menachem Butler, initiated a campaign to raise funds to publish R. Ashkenazi’s letters. Baruch HaShem, and thanks to the help of some readers, enough money was raised to go to print…

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The Haftarah of Parashat Shemot

January 7, 2021 Eli Duker Comments 11 comments

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, is the haftarah used in the “Emet” piyyut of R’ Shemuel Hashelishi and in the “Zulat” piyyut of R’ Yehuda Beirabbi Binyamin, and is listed in the Seder Hatefillot in Rambam’s Yad Hahazakah as well as in the Siddur of R Shlomo Beirabbi Natan. This haftarah, an extremely graphic and difficult prophecy, was chosen because…

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Rabbi Steinman and the Messiah, part 3

January 6, 2021 Marc B. Shapiro Comments 67 comments

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 than that of R. Hayyim was offered by R. Menahem Mendel of Rimanov. He thought that it would be good if Jews, even…

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Recent Notes On Hebrew Pronunciation

January 4, 2021 Avi Grossman Comments 21 comments

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 with the author, I concluded that it was time to release this article. Professor Khan invites the yeshiva world to read his book, available…

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