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Category: Biography

A Half Slave, Ber Oppenheimer, the Reliability of R’ Shlomo Sofer, and Other Comments

A Half Slave, Ber Oppenheimer, the Reliability of R’ Shlomo Sofer, and Other Comments

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A Half Slave, Ber Oppenheimer, the Reliability of R’ Shlomo Sofer, and Other Comments By Brian Schwartz When I was in my early yeshiva years studying tractate Shabbos, I came across a Rashba which I found to be most intriguing.  During its discussion of the first mishna, the gemara in Shabbos 4a makes the statement, “וכי אומרים לו לאדם חטא כדי שיזכה חבירך,” which means, “do we really say to a person, ‘sin in order that your friend should merit?’” A notion which suggests that a person should…

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Lag B’Omer through the eyes of a Litvak in 1925

Lag B’Omer through the eyes of a Litvak in 1925

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Lag B’Omer through the eyes of a Litvak in 1925[*] By Shimon Szimonowitz Dov Mayani (1903-1952) A Static and Evolving Chag Lag B’Omer has infiltrated Jewish culture as a bona fide holiday. While the day is celebrated throughout the Jewish world, it tends to take on added significance in Eretz Yisrael. This age-old disparity has seen a little easement, probably as a result of enhanced communication between the Promised Land and the rest of the world, but the difference is…

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The 1908 Student Strike at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary: A Newly Discovered Document

The 1908 Student Strike at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary: A Newly Discovered Document

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The 1908 Student Strike at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary: A Newly Discovered Document By Eli Genauer I would like to thank Dr Zev Eleff for his invaluable assistance in helping me frame this article. I would also like to thank Sharon Horowitz of the Library of Congress for providing research assistance. The Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS), present day Yeshiva University, was officially founded on March 20, 1897. RIETS was the first unequivocally Orthodox Jewish seminary on American…

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Dr. Shlomo Sprecher ז”ל: In Memoriam

Dr. Shlomo Sprecher ז”ל: In Memoriam

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Dr. Shlomo Sprecher ז”ל: In Memoriam אין חכמת האדם מגעת אלא עד מקום שספריו מגיעין, ולכן ימכור אדם כל מה שיש לו ויקנה ספרים, כי דרך משל מי שאין לו ספרי התלמוד אי איפשר לו להיות בקי בו, וכמו כן מי שאין לו ספרי הרפואה א”א להיות בקי בה. דרכי התלמוד לר’ יצחק קנפאנטון A person’s wisdom reaches only as far as his library. Therefore, a person should sell everything he owns and acquire books. For example, one who doesn’t own a…

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New book announcement; He-Gedolim

New book announcement; He-Gedolim

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New book announcement; He-Gedolim By Eliezer Brodt הגדולים: אישים שעיצבו את פני היהדות החרדית בישראל, בעריכת בנימין בראון, נסים ליאון, קובץ מאמרים לכבוד פרופ’ מנחם פרידמן ובהשראתו, מגנס מכון ון ליר, 968 עמודים The Gdoilim:  Leaders Who Shaped the Israeli Haredi Jewry, Edited by Benjamin Brown, Nissim Leon, The Hebrew University Magnes Press, Van Leer Institute, 968 pages For the most part, academic books are not found or read in regular “layman” or Chareidi circles, nor are those types of…

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Dean of Historians of Jewish Philosophy: Necrology for Professor Arthur Hyman (1921-2017)

Dean of Historians of Jewish Philosophy: Necrology for Professor Arthur Hyman (1921-2017)

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Dean of Historians of Jewish Philosophy: Necrology for Professor Arthur Hyman (1921-2017). By Warren Zev Harvey Warren Zev Harvey is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem where he has taught since 1977. He studied philosophy at Columbia University, writing his PhD dissertation under Arthur Hyman. He has written prolifically on medieval and modern Jewish philosophers, e.g. Maimonides, Crescas, and Spinoza. Among his publications is Physics and Metaphysics in Hasdai Crescas (1998). He…

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