R. Nathan Nata ben Moses Hannover: The Life and Works of an Illustrious and Tragic Figure by Marvin J. Heller[1] Save me, O God; for the waters have come up to my soul. I sink in deep mire (yeven mezulah), where there is no standing; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. I am weary of my crying; my throat is parched; my eyes fail while I wait for my God. Those who hate me…
Chaim Zelig Slonimsky and the Diskin family by Zerachya Licht Two years ago, the Seforim Blog published an article, written by Zecharya Licht, about the maskil, Chaim Zelig Slonimsky, and the Chanuka controversy he’d ignited. Last year, the Seforim Blog published published Part I of another article, also written by Zecharya Licht, which again focused on the above-mentioned maskil. This second article highlighted Slonimsky’s relationship with the Diskin Family. Part II of the article, which had already been published, zeroed in on Slonimsky’s relationship with R’ Binyomin Diskin of…
The Ze’enah –Re’enah and its Author Morris M. Faierstein, Ph.D. It has traditionally assumed that Rabbi Jacob ben Isaac of Yanova was the author of the Ze’enah U-Re’enah. Every edition of the Ze’enah U-Re’enah lists him as the author on the title page. Recently, this assumption has been questioned and the suggestion made that there may have been another author of this seminal work in addition to Rabbi Jacob ben Isaac. This article will consider two aspects of the Ze’enah…
Book announcement: Two books on Karlin-Stolin Chasidim By Eliezer Brodt בנימין בראון, כספינה מיטלטלת, חסידות קרלין בין עליות למשברים, 659 עמודים, מרכז זלמן שזר ר’ אברהם אביש שור, כתבים, פרקי תולדות ועיון במשנת קרלין-סטולין, תדפיסים מתוך קובץ בית אהרן וישראל, 1229 + 18 עמודים. Recently a good amount of literature devoted to Chasidim has appeared. In this announcement I am just mentioning two recent works, related specifically to Karlin-Stolin Chasidim. One is written by an academic (outsider) and one is…
The Collected Writings of Moshe Reines Kickstarter Moshe Reines was a polymath: Talmudist, Hebraist, historian, investigative reporter, social commentator – a prolific and influential thinker, writer, and author. The son of Rabbi Yitzchok Yaakov Reines, Moshe Reines died tragically in 1891 at the astonishingly young age of twenty-one. The obituary which appeared in Hamagid had this to say about the young Reb Moshe z”l: “He excelled amazingly in his absolute mastery of Shas…” The volume (compiled and edited by Eliezer…
Chaim Zelig Slonimsky and the Diskin family by Zerachya Licht 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…
