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New Auction House – Genazym

New Auction House – Genazym

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its inaugural auction next week Monday, December 25th. The catalog is available here. The majority of the material are letters and other ephemera with a few dozen books. The books include a number with vellum bindings (71-75). Appreciation of bindings has been brought to fore with the recent wider availability of books from the Valmadonna collection after it was broken up; a collection that was known for its exquisite bindings. Books with illustrations form another group, including heretical images. The…

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Chaim Zelig Slonimsky and the Diskin family

Chaim Zelig Slonimsky and the Diskin family

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In December of 2016, Seforim blog published an article by Zerachya Licht about the Maskil Chaim Zelig Slonimsky and the Chanuka controversy he ignited. Presented here is a two part biographical monograph which focuses on Slonimsky relationship to the Diskin family. As an outcome of the above, this essay explores the Diskin family’s attitude toward Haskalah. At the end of Part I a newly discovered document which sheds light on these two topics is reproduced and transcribed. Also included are…

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At a Holiday Celebration with the Lubavitchers by Elie Wiesel (1963)

At a Holiday Celebration with the Lubavitchers by Elie Wiesel (1963)

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The Forverts (13 December 1963) [Yiddish] [Translated to English by Shaul Seidler-Feller (2017)] The “Holiday of Salvation” among the Lubavitchers. – We travel to Brooklyn the way they used to travel to see the rebbe. – The holiday of Yud Tes Kislev. – Why I like to attend when the Lubavitchers host a farbrengen. – Guests from Israel. – The miracle of joy. By Eliezer Wiesel Someone remembered: it is Yud Tes Kislev. So, who wants to visit the Lubavitchers?…

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Review of Kedushat Aviv: Rav Aharon Lichtenstein zt”l on the Sanctity of Time and Place

Review of Kedushat Aviv: Rav Aharon Lichtenstein zt”l on the Sanctity of Time and Place

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(Translated by David Strauss) Rav Elyakim Krumbein studied with Rav Soloveitchik at YU and made aliya in 1973. He has been a ram at Yeshivat Har Etzion since 1981 and heads its Tochnit Bekiut. He also served as a Pedagogic Advisor at Herzog College. Rav Krumbein’s guides for self-study on the Bavot, Ketubot and other tractates are widely used by Yeshiva students, and he has also written two volumes of study guides on Gittin and Kiddushin entitled Sho’el K’inyan. He…

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New Book Announcement – נשמת הבית

New Book Announcement – נשמת הבית

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נשמת הבית, שאלות שנשאלו ליועצות ההלכה של מדרשת נשמת בנושאי היריון, לידה, הנקה ואמצעי מניעה בליווי הדרכה מעשית והסברים ונספחים רפואיים, 367 עמודים Nishmat Habayit is a collection of 63 she’elot uteshuvot on Pregnancy, Birth, Nursing, and Contraceptives. Each question has a short answer, as a yoetzet halacha would addresses the woman with the question, followed by a more extensive halachic discussion. The questions were selected from among tens of thousands in Nishmat’s Taharat Hamishpacha database. The responses were authored…

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Ancient Jewish Poetry & the Amazing World of Piyut: Interview with Professor Shulamit Elizur

Ancient Jewish Poetry & the Amazing World of Piyut: Interview with Professor Shulamit Elizur

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explores the Cairo Genizah and other obscure places for hidden gems BY BATSHEVA SASSOON Just as the mountains surround Jerusalem, so G-d surrounds his people, from now to all eternity —Tehillim 125:2 This piece originally appeared in14 TISHREI 5778 // OCTOBER 4, 2017 // AMI MAGAZINE #337 Thanks to Ami for permission to publish this here.This version is updated with a few corrections and additions Inside the Old City of Jerusalem one cannot see the mountains that surround it, only…

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Lecture Announcement: Rabbi Yechiel Goldhaber

Lecture Announcement: Rabbi Yechiel Goldhaber

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The readership of the Seforim Blog are invited to two lectures by the noted author, Rav Yechiel Goldhaber (link), whose respected research and scholarship is well-known to Seforim Blog readers. 1) The first shiur that will be taking place is this Thursday, November 2, 7:30 PM at 1454 54th Street, Brooklyn, NY. Rabbi Goldhaber’s speech will be delivered in Yiddish. The subject of this shiur is “Orthodox and Rabbinic Responses to the Balfour Declaration.” This lecture is dedicated לזכר נשמת…

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Hasidism in America

Hasidism in America

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There is a tape of R. Joseph B. Soloveitchik in the 1950s saying that there is no real Hasidism in the United States. He says that he saw real Hasidism in Warsaw, and America does not have it. When the Rav made this statement, I think most non-hasidim would have agreed that Hasidism did not have any real future in the United States. The 1950s was a time when the focus was on the melting pot. In such an era,…

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The Mysteries of Hoshana Rabbah

The Mysteries of Hoshana Rabbah

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This article originally appeared last year in Ami Magazine (2016) This version has a many updates and corrections. I hope to revisit this subject shortly. The sources of our Yomim Tovim are relatively easy to find, as one simply locates the relevant pesukim or Gemara and starts from there. However, one Yom Tov does not have such a starting point: Hoshana Rabbah. Its roots and numerous customs are shrouded in mystery. This article is an attempt to shed a bit…

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‘אֲשֶׁר שַׂמְתִּי עֲרָבָה בֵיתוֹ’ ו’לֶחֶם לַנְּעָרִים’ – השימוש המִשני בערבות הלולב וההושענות למנהג איטליה הקדום

‘אֲשֶׁר שַׂמְתִּי עֲרָבָה בֵיתוֹ’ ו’לֶחֶם לַנְּעָרִים’ – השימוש המִשני בערבות הלולב וההושענות למנהג איטליה הקדום

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השימוש המִשני בערבות הלולב וההושענות למנהג איטליה הקדום* “…The aravot, with which they observed the commandment of lulav, or the ‘ritual of the aravah’ (on Hoshana Rabah), would be discarded after their use. However, the German sages, as a token of their love for mitzvot, were wont to keep them in order to perform future mitzvot, such as for burning chametz or baking matzot on erev Pesach. The German custom has a Talmudic basis, that if an object is used…

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The Strange Shape of the Marcheshet Pan

The Strange Shape of the Marcheshet Pan

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“The underlying basis of our work is that pictures are an organic part of the commentary, and it possible that Rashi even allowed himself to limit his explanatory words when a picture was available to the reader. This is in the sense of “a picture is worth a thousand words”. The picture is an integral part of the written book, no less important than the words.” Dr Ezra Chwat Department of Manuscripts, National Library of Israel Giluy Milta B’Almah Blog…

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There is No Bracha on an Eclipse

There is No Bracha on an Eclipse

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Rabbi Michael Broyde is a law professor at Emory University School of Law and the Projects Director in its Center for the Study of Law and Religion. His most recent Torah sefer is entitled “A Concise Code of Jewish Law For Converts”. This letter was written to someone after a shiur on why there is no bracha on seeing a solar eclipse. 1. You are correct that I said that I thought there was no bracha on an eclipse. I…

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