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Category: Biography

Charles H. Manekin — Moritz Steinschneider’s Indecent Burial

Charles H. Manekin — Moritz Steinschneider’s Indecent Burial

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Moritz Steinschneider’s Indecent BurialCharles H. ManekinUniversity of Maryland, College Park / Bar Ilan University Over a century has passed since the death of Moritz Steinschneider, the great orientalist, bibliographer, and historian of Jewish literature and culture. When Steinschneider died in 1907 at the age of 91, he was recognized by many as the greatest Jewish scholar of the previous century. His scholarly output numbered over fourteen hundred publications, ranging from short notices to books of over a thousand pages, a…

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Mayer I. Gruber — How Did Rashi Make a Living?

Mayer I. Gruber — How Did Rashi Make a Living?

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How Did Rashi Make a Living?[1] Mayer I. Gruber Professor in the Department of Bible Archaeology and the Ancient Near East Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheva, Israel It has long been taken for granted that Rashi engaged in viticulture, which is to say, the cultivation of vineyards and the preparation and sale of wine made from the grapes he cultivated.[2] However, in 1978 the question of how Rashi made a living was reopened by Haym Soloveitchik.[3] Indeed, Soloveitchik asserted:…

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The Legend of R. Yehuda Halevi’s Death: Truth or Fiction?

The Legend of R. Yehuda Halevi’s Death: Truth or Fiction?

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The Legend of R. Yehuda Halevi’s Death: Truth or Fictionby Eliezer Brodt Among the more famous kinos that we recite on Tisha B’Av is Zion Halo Tishali. This kinah was written by one of the greatest paytanim, R. Yehudah Halevi author of the classic Kuzari. This piyut is about the author’s passion to walk on the holy soil of Eretz Yisrael. In the Artscroll commentary on the kinos, R. Avraham Chaim Feuer writes an ancient manuscript states that R. Yehuda…

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Iggeres Ha’Mussar: The Ethical Will of a Bibliophile

Iggeres Ha’Mussar: The Ethical Will of a Bibliophile

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Iggeres Ha’Mussar: The Ethical Will of a Bibliophileby Eliezer Brodt A few days ago, the sefer Iggeres Ha’mussar from R. Yehudah Ibn Tibbon, was reprinted. What follows is a short review of this beautiful work. R. Yehudah Ibn Tibbon was born in 1120. Not much is known about him but from this work one learns a few more things about him, he was a doctor, close to the Ba’al Ha’meor (pp. 50, 63). R. Yehudah appears to have been working…

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god or God: A Review of Two Works on the Names of God

god or God: A Review of Two Works on the Names of God

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god or God: A Review of Two Works on the Names of GodEliezer Brodt Last week I picked up a new sefer titled Nekadesh es Shimcha. What caught my attention was that it included not only Nekadesh es Shimcha but also the work Meleches haKodesh from R. Eleazar Fleckeles (most well-known for his Teshuva m’Ahava). What follows is a short biography of R. Fleckes, a review of Meleches haKodesh, and a review of the new sefer – Nekadesh es Shimcha….

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The Other Works of R. Yehiel Mihel Epstein, Author of the Arukh HaShulhan

The Other Works of R. Yehiel Mihel Epstein, Author of the Arukh HaShulhan

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A Review of: Kitvei Ha’Arukh HaShulhanEliezer Brodt Almost every Friday morning, I get a call from a fellow seforim addict asking me what’s new on the market. The past few weeks, he had been complaining to me that the market is dry, and nothing of note has been put out. Yesterday, he told me that finally one interesting thing came out the night before: a collection of the writings R. Yehiel Mihel Epstein (1829-1908), the author of the Arukh HaShulhan,…

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