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Category: Book History

Shnayer Leiman on “A Puzzling Passage in a Book Intended for Jewish Children”

Shnayer Leiman on “A Puzzling Passage in a Book Intended for Jewish Children”

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A Puzzling Passage in a Book Intended for Jewish Children, with a Tentative Bibliography of ספרי קודש that Treat the Mitzvah of Answering “Amen” Shnayer Leiman   In 2004, an anonymous book entitled Serenade the King appeared in print.[1] Addressed primarily to a young audience, it is an anthology of inspirational stories that focus on one teaching only: the importance of answering “Amen.” The stories are accompanied by photographs of the great Jewish sages mentioned in them, and by short…

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Kitzur Shelah, Sabbatianism, and the Importance of Owning Old Books

Kitzur Shelah, Sabbatianism, and the Importance of Owning Old Books

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R. Jacob Emden, in his Torat haKenot claims a well known and fairly popular book is written by a Sabbatian (a follower of the false-Messiah Sabbatai Zevi). This book, Kitzur Shelah, authored by R. Yehiel Michel Epstein, which although its title implies is merely an abridged version of the Shelah (Sheni Luchot HaBrit) by R. Isaiah Horowitz, is much more than that. While the Kitzur Shelah does include some content from the larger Shelah it also includes much else which…

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Tikkun Soferim – Later Amendations to the Torah?

Tikkun Soferim – Later Amendations to the Torah?

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For the full recovery of HaRav R. J. Wasserstein I heard a very interesting speech this weekend [which S. had previously discussed here as well], and I have decided to expand some on it. In this weeks Torah reading we were treated to a rather strange occurrence. Although, throughout the Torah, there are words read different than they are written, at least in the Torah (Nakh provides plentiful examples of significantly altered words), these are minor corrections. Most of these…

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A Flat or Round Earth and the Zohar

A Flat or Round Earth and the Zohar

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The Babylonian Talmud (“BT”) clearly held the Earth was flat. R. Azariah de Rossi, in his Me’or Enayim devotes more or less a chapter to understanding the view of the BT on this issue. De Rossi explains that there a various passages in the BT which assume a flat earth. For instance, De Rossi quotes the BT Baba Basra “the world is like an exadera [three sides are closed] and the north side is open. When the sun reaches the…

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R. Shabbtai the Bassist, the First Hebrew Bibliographer

R. Shabbtai the Bassist, the First Hebrew Bibliographer

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The JNUL has just put up the first Hebrew bibliography, Siftei Yeshenim. This work is written by R. Shabbtai Bass. R. Shabbtai is perhaps most well known for his commentary on Rashi ‘al haTorah titled Siftei Hakhamim. R. Shabbtai was born in 1641 in Kalisz, Poland. When he was 14, both his parents were killed in a pogrom by the Cossacks. R. Shabbtai went to Prague. It was in Prague where he would gain his last name and begin his…

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Hebrew Printing in America 1735-1926 – Review II

Hebrew Printing in America 1735-1926 – Review II

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The post below is a continuation from this prior post. America posed some unique questions regarding marriage and divorce laws. In the early period of American Jewish history, many people were not erudite. In an apparent effort to help with this deficiency, in 1901, R. Dov Baer Abramowitz published his Sefer Ketubah. This book contains tear out, pro forma ketubot. Thus, the Rabbi could just rip one out whenever he needed to. (No. 588). Another work which dealt with marriage…

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