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Le-Tacen Olam (לתכן עולם): Establishing the Correct Text in Aleinu

September 3, 2013 Mitchell First Comments 0 Comment

(mfirstatty@aol.com) The Jewish obligation of עולם תקון (=improving the world) is widely referred to and it is traditionally assumed that the Aleinu prayer is one of the texts upon which this obligation is based. This article will show that a very strong case can be made that the original version of Aleinu read עולם לתכן (=to establish the world under God’s sovereignty), and not עולם לתקן (=to perfect/improve the world under God’s sovereignty ). If so, the concept of עולם…

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A New Work about the Ramban’s Additions to his Commentary on the Torah

August 29, 2013 Eliezer Brodt Comments 2 comments

תוספות רמב”ן לפירושו לתורה, שנכתבו בארץ ישראל, יוסף עופר, יהונתן יעקבס, מכללה הרצוג, והאיגוד העולמי למדעי היהדות, 718 עמודים In this post I would like to explain what this work is about. One of the most important Rishonim was Rabbi Moshe Ben Nachman, famously known as Ramban. Ramban was famous for numerous reasons and has been the subject of numerous works and articles. This year alone two important works were written about him, one from Dr. Shalem Yahalom called Bein…

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R. Shlomo Yosef Zevin and the Army, and Joe DiMaggio

August 25, 2013 Marc B. Shapiro Comments 5 comments

1. There is a lot of talk these days about haredim serving in the army. Understandably, the famous essay of R. Shlomo Yosef Zevin has been cited. In this essay, R. Zevin rejects the notion that yeshiva students shouldn’t have to serve. The essay used to be found at http://www.hebrewbooks.org/32904 but it was removed, together with other “problematic” books. (You can see evidence of it having been on hebrewbooks by this archive.org snapshot of the page.) Here is the essay…

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חכמים הזהרו בציון מקורותיכם – חוסר עיון במקורות ועל ראשי תיבות

August 14, 2013 Akavia Shemesh Comments 0 Comment

לאחר שקראתי את הפוסט המעניין מאוד של פרופ’ מרק שפירו, אמרתי כי עכשו הזמן להוסיף עוד משהו בבחינת מעניין לעניין באותו עניין. מה הוא דיבר על דרכם של כותבים בדורנו, אף אני אכתוב על פרט מסויים בדרכם של הכותבים בדורנו. הפרט שאני רוצה להצביע עליו הוא שיש מחברים המציינים את המקור לדבריהם, ואף מפנים את הלומד לעיין באותו מקור, אבל הם עצמם לא עיינו באותו מקור. אילו היו מטריחים עצמם לעשות כן, היו רואים שמקור זה לא היה ולא נברא….

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Rav Shmuel ben Hofni Gaon

August 1, 2013 Yosaif M. Dubovick Comments 0 Comment

Rav Shmuel ben Hofni HaKohen, was born into an aristocratic family among the hierarchy of the Pumbadithan Yeshiva in Baghdad. His grandfather, Rav Kohen Zedek ben Yosef was appointed Gaon of Pumbaditha by the Resh Galuta, David b. Zakkai in 926. Rav Sherira, in his renowned epistle to Rav Yaakov b. Nissim of Kairouan states: “there was a disagreement between the Yeshiva’s Rabbis and Rav Mevasser HaKohen ben Rav Kimoi Gaon was appointed Gaon, with David Nasi appointing Rav Kohen…

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New Book Announcement – Seder Olam by Prof. Chaim Milikowsky

July 31, 2013 Eliezer Brodt Comments 0 Comment

סדר עולם: מהדורה מדעית, פירוש ומבוא מאת חיים מיליקובסקי, מכון יצחק בן צבי, שני חלקים, 326+711 עמודים. I am very happy to announce the publication of an important work which numerous people (myself included) have been eagerly waiting for quite some time, Professor Chaim Milikowsky of the Bar Ilan Talmud department’s critical edition of the Seder Olam. Professor Milikowsky began working on the Seder Olam over thirty years ago and completed his PhD dissertation ‘Seder Olam : A Rabbinic Chronography’…

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What is wrong with Artscroll?

July 24, 2013 Eliezer Miller Comments 0 Comment

A better question would be is what is right? The latest work produced by Artscroll in the Milstein Series is Isaiah . Written by Rabbi Nosson Scherman, the general editor of Artsrtscroll himself, it is the inaugural volume of the interpretation of the Later Prophets. Firstly, one must praise Artscroll for a completely new typesetting of the Rashi, Radak, Metzuadas David and Metzudas Zion. But to what purpose? If was to give us a clear text, has not a clearly…

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Publication of New Book, Kana’uteh de-Pinhas, by Seforim Blog Contributor, R. Bezalel Naor

July 17, 2013 Dan Rabinowitz Comments 3 comments

RABBI PINHAS HAKOHEN LINTOP (1852-1924) Pinhas Hakohen Lintop, Rabbi of the Habad community of Birzh, Lithuania, was an intimate friend and colleague of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Hakohen Kook. Their friendship began when Rabbi Kook served as Rabbi of Zoimel, Lithuania and later Boisk, Latvia, and continued even after Rav Kook immigrated to Erets Israel. What Rabbis Kook and Lintop shared in common, was the belief that the knowledge of the “inwardness of Torah” (“penimiyut ha-torah”) contained the medicine for the…

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Plagiarism, Halakhic Paradox, and the Malbim on Kohelet

July 10, 2013 Marc B. Shapiro Comments 2 comments

1. A story recently appeared alleging plagiarism in the writings of R. Yonah Metzger. Such accusations are nothing new and the topic of plagiarism in rabbinic history is of great interest to me. Many of the scholars of Jewish bibliography have also written about the phenomenon, and a good deal on the topic has appeared on the Seforim Blog. Suffice it to say that every generation has had problems in this regard, and we see even see apparent instances of…

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ביקורת ספרים: מסורת התורה שבעל פה, הרב פרופ’ שלמה זלמן הבלין

July 1, 2013 Rav Tzair (pseudonym) Comments 0 Comment

הספר “מסורת התורה שבעל פה – יסודותיה, עקרונותיה והגדרותיה” שהוציא לאור לפני כשנה הרב פרופ’ שלמה זלמן הבלין, בהוצאת מכללת אורות-ישראל, עוסק בהיבטים שונים של אחד הנושאים שמעסיקים ביותר את חיי היהודי המאמין, התורה שבעל פה. הספר מכיל חמישה עשר פרקים, חמשה מתוכם רואים אור לראשונה בספר זה, והעשרה הנותרים ראו אור בכתבי עת שונים במהלך השנים. בתור לקט כזה, הספר אינו אחיד. ישנם פרקים הכתובים בצורה אינציקלופדית (כך למשל פרק י”א שהוא למעשה הערך “תלמוד בבלי” מהאנציקלופדיה העברית), וישנם…

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Summer of 2013 Book Sale

June 17, 2013 Eliezer Brodt Comments 1 comment

This list consists of a few parts. Part one is composed of seforim and books printed by the Iggud. The rest of the list is composed of seforim and books which I came across while hunting for seforim. Many of these titles are very hard to find. Some of the prices are better than others, but all in all I think they are fair. Almost all the books are brand new or in very good shape. Also included in this…

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The Kabbalat Shabbat Memorandum by Rabbi Prof. Daniel Sperber

June 12, 2013 Daniel Sperber Comments 3 comments

acrid debate on women leading the Kabbalat Shabbat service appeared, at first, to be primarily a halachic one. But it soon overflowed into additional areas, revealing it as a clearly political polemic. Indeed, I found the whole discussion which appeared on a whole series of blogs, and a major published article, most astonishing. We are not talking about women reading the Torah and/or having aliyot. The criticisms raised against this practice I can well appreciate, though I disagree with them…

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Book week 2013

June 6, 2013 Eliezer Brodt Comments 7 comments

Eretz Yisrael. As I have written in previous years every year in Israel, around Shavous time, there is a period of about ten days called Shavuah Hasefer – Book Week (see here, here here, here here and here). 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 out just for the sales. There are places where strictly “frum” seforim are…

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Partnership Minyanim and More

May 26, 2013 Marc B. Shapiro Comments 12 comments

1. A few people have wanted me to comment on the recent debate between Rabbis Barry Freundel and Zev Farber about the so-called Partnership Minyanim in which women lead Kabbalat Shabbat. See here. The issue goes back to R. Freundel’s article in Tradition 44:2 (2011) on the topic. I was planning to respond to this article when it first appeared, and even wrote some pages, but I never completed the piece. Since the issue has once again surfaced, now is…

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Deciphering the Talmud: The First English Edition of the Talmud Revisited. Michael Levi Rodkinson: His Translation of the Talmud, and the Ensuing Controversy

May 19, 2013 Marvin J. Heller Comments 4 comments

’s new book, Further Studies in the Making of the Early Hebrew Book (Leiden, 2013), the Seforim Blog is happy to present this abridgment of chapter 13. Deciphering the Talmud: The First English Edition of the Talmud Revisited. Michael Levi Rodkinson: His Translation of the Talmud, and the Ensuing Controversy Marvin J. Heller The Talmud, the quintessential Jewish book, is a challenging work. A source of Bible interpretation, halakhah, ethical values, and ontology, often described as a sea, it is…

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