R. Isaac Arama, R. Kook, Mordecai Kaplan, and more by Marc B. Shapiro 1. In the last post I discussed R. Isaac Arama. In his Conversos, Inquisition and the Expulsion of the Jews from Spain, p. 53, Norman Roth states that Arama was not a “great scholar.” If he means to say that Arama wasn’t a great talmudist (as has been stated about Ibn Ezra and Abarbanel), then perhaps he has a point (although I am sure this would be debated). But I…
The Creative Craftsman: Adorning The Torah, One Crown At A Time By Olivia Friedman Olivia Friedman received her M.A. in Bible from the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies. Based in Chicago, she is a Judaic Studies teacher, tutor, writer, and lecturer and can be reached at oliviafried-at-gmail-dot-com. It’s not surprising that there are many overlooked biblical commentators. However, R’ Zalman Sorotzkin’s is one who ought to be rescued from relative obscurity. Sorotzkin’s biography and tumultuous history helped shape…
David Sassoon, Bibliophile Par Excellence By Dr. Pearl Herzog The article below is an annotated version of an article that appeared in the Inyan Magazine of HaModia, dated July 16, 2014. Harav Chaim Ozer Grodzinski addressed him as “Hanaggid” (The Prince).[1] The Michtav MeEliyahu (Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler) came to his home to privately tutor his only son.[2] Named after his grandfather, the founder of the Sassoon dynasty, David Sassoon was an outstanding Talmid Chochom, whose tremendous collection of sefarim and…
הרהורים בנכר (דפים מתוך פנקס מסעות) מאת: טוביה פרשל מתוך “המודיע” חנוכה תשי”ד גליון ה 1000 א. גנזי הטיבר 1 מטייל אני על גדות הטיבר. הלילה רד על רומא ואלפים כוכבים נוצצים ברקיע. בניני העיר מטילים צללים ארוכים על מימי הנהר, זרועי אור הלבנה, הזוחלים לאטם. חושך ודומיה אופפים את סמטאותיו הקטנות והעקלקלות של הגטו שעל שפת הנהר. רק פה ושם קורעת קרן אור הפורצת מאחד החלונות של הבנינים הגבוהים והצרים את האפלה. שומם מאין עובר הוא הכיכר הרחב לפני…
Chaim Miller’s Turning Judaism Outward, a comprehensive biography of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, has recently appeared. The Seforim Blog is happy to present this excerpt from pages 98-103 Some truly fascinating insights into Menachem Mendel’s inner life have surfaced recently in his correspondence with Rayatz, first published in 2010.73 The Sixth and future Seventh Rebbes were in very close contact during this period; between 1929 until 1932 alone, Rayatz penned some seventy-two letters to his son-in-law and daughter. In contrast to…
New sefer announcement: Asufah of Rabbi Shmuel Ashkenazi By Eliezer Brodt אסופה, ארבעה מאמרים מאוצרות הר”ש אשכנזי שליט”א [‘העלם דבר וטעות סופר’, ‘הגונב מן הספר’, ‘הרמב”ם כמתרגם מלשון התלמוד ללשון המשנה’, ‘מילונות עברית כיצד’?], ערך והשלים והביא לבית הדפוס, יעקב ישראל סטל, בהשתתפות אליעזר יהודה בראדט, כריכה רכה, 166 עמודים. It is with great pleasure that I announce the release of another volume of Rabbi Shmuel Ashkenazi’s work- Asufah. As I have written in the past, we are trying…
