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Category: Bibliography & Reference Works

International Conference in Memory of Moritz Steinschneider

International Conference in Memory of Moritz Steinschneider

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In memory of Moritz Steinschneider’s unrivaled studies in Hebrew Bibliography and the actuality of his research 100 years after his death an International Centennial Conference will be held in Berlin (November 20-22, 2007). For the conference program, see here. Benjamin Richler and Charles H. Manekin, among others, will be presenting at the conference and Dr. Manekin will covering the conference for the Seforim blog. See also Dr. Charles H. Manekin’s earlier post (“Moritz Steinschneider’s Indecent Burial”) at the Seforim blog.

Two Links of Note

Two Links of Note

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First, just about the entire volume in memory of Dov Rappel is available for free online here. This includes articles by, inter alia, Moshe Halmish, Yosef Tabory, and Stefan Rief. Second, there is a new site which is attempting to compile a complete bibliography of books related to Jewish genealogy here. The site is run by a collector of Jewish genealogy books and hopefully he will be able to satisfy his goal.

Bibliography of English Translations of Medieval and Modern Rabbinic Bible Commentaries

Bibliography of English Translations of Medieval and Modern Rabbinic Bible Commentaries

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* Commentaries are arranged in chronological order, and then by book. For space and simplicity sake, works are identified only by their author’s and translator’s names or publishers; for further bibliographical information, copy and paste the call numbers into the JTS online catalog under “Search: Call Number begins with…” Items not (yet?) found in the JTS Library do not have call numbers associated with them and contain instead only basic bibliographic information. Only significantly lengthy (more than a chapter or…

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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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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, called Kitvei Ha’Arukh HaShulhan. So off I…

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Kuntres ‘al Inyan Shabbat HaChatuna – A “Found” Book

Kuntres ‘al Inyan Shabbat HaChatuna – A “Found” Book

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Many times the rarity of a book is due to a controversy; either because it was limited in scope, i.e. was a polemic, and thus was no need to print thousands of copies or because of bans and the like. One such book is Kuntres ‘al Inyan Shabbat HaChatuna by R. Eliezer Supino (d. 1746). Until recently, it was thought this book no longer existed. But, a single copy (Unicum) was located and it has now been reprinted. The book,…

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Rabbi Eliezer Brodt on Haggadah shel Pesach: Reflections on the Past and Present

Rabbi Eliezer Brodt on Haggadah shel Pesach: Reflections on the Past and Present

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Perhaps the topic which has engendered the most commentary in Jewish literature is the Haggadah shel Pesach. There are all kinds, in all languages, and with all types of commentary, pictures, etc. Whatever style one can think of, not one, but many Haggadahs have been written. So, whether it’s derush, kabbalah, halakha, mussar or chassidus there are plenty of Haggadahs out there. Then, there are people who specialize in collecting haggadahs although they do not regularly collect seforim. In almost…

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A Survey of Contemporary Electronic Resources: Two Hard Drives of Hebraica

A Survey of Contemporary Electronic Resources: Two Hard Drives of Hebraica

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Aside from purchasing a hard copy of a book, there are currently many other methods are available in obtaining seforim. The easiest and cheapest is the Shapell Family Digitization Project of the Jewish National & University Library, where many rare and expensive books are available for free. While this is a terrific resource if the particular book and/or edition is available, this digital project is far from comprehensive, and its purpose is not to have every (or even close to)…

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A Forgotten Work on Chanukah: חנוכת הבית

A Forgotten Work on Chanukah: חנוכת הבית

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of Jerusalem has authored articles in the journals Ohr Yisrael and Yeshurun, both familiar to many readers of the Seforim blog, and is contributing what is hoped to be the first of many guest-posts. While learning הלכות חנוכה, I noticed that the very first מגן אברהם quotes a sefer called חנוכת הבית. I had never heard of the sefer before, and I was curious about it. I asked several people about the sefer until I found someone who was familiar…

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Benjamin Richler: “Putting the Pieces Together: The ‘discovery’ of Gershon b. Meir Heilprin (Heilbronn)”

Benjamin Richler: “Putting the Pieces Together: The ‘discovery’ of Gershon b. Meir Heilprin (Heilbronn)”

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to the Seforim blog. Any typographical errors are my fault alone. — Dan Biographical blurb: Benjamin Richler was born in Montreal, graduated from Yeshiva University in 1960 and from the Hebrew University Graduate Library School in 1963. From 1965 to 1995, he served as the Librarian at the Institute of Microfilmed Hebrew Manuscripts at the Jewish National and University Library, on the Givat Ram Campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. From 1995-2005, he was the Director (now retired) of…

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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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In 2004, an anonymous book entitled Serenade the King appeared in print. 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 inserts, mostly quotations from famous rabbis emphasizing the significance of answering “Amen.” Letters of approbation (in Hebrew) from distinguished rabbis appear at the beginning of the book,…

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Auction Catalog & New Book

Auction Catalog & New Book

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Kestenbaum has put up their latest catalog for their auction of September 12 2006. It has some rather nice pieces. Just to highlight one. They have the Siddur by R. Jacob Emden. While this siddur in and of itself is somewhat rare due to the fact R. Emden self-published this, the copy Kestenbaum has is even more unique. This copy contains pages which do not appear in most of the copies. R. Emden disagrees with Maimonides regarding the purpose of…

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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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Kuntress Ha-Teshuvot Review

Kuntress Ha-Teshuvot Review

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I have previously briefly mentioned a couple of problems with the new work Kuntress Ha-Teshuvot haHadash, now I would like to give a full review. First, I am no expert in the teshuva literature, that being said I was somewhat disappointed with this book. The book first contains a long introduction into the teshuva literature in general. It discusses such topics as the importance of the literature, the pervasiveness or lack there of, as well as censorship in the teshuvot…

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R. Reuven Margulies II

R. Reuven Margulies II

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I have already discussed the most recent book of R. Margulies and provided a bibliography of his works, I now want to turn to a brief biography of him. R. Margulies was born in 1889 and was known, from the time of his youth, as extremly erudite. Although he recieved ordination, he did not become a Rabbi and instead opened a bookstore in Lemberg. It is said that although his store was always full of talmidi hakhmim it was unclear…

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R. Reuven Margulies I

R. Reuven Margulies I

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First, I want to post a bibliography of R. Margulies’s works and then I shall discuss some biogrpahical details in the next post. This bibliography is not a scientific one in that I do not attempt to list every edition. Rather, I am listing just the works and some bibliogrpahical information as I see fit. Most of this information comes from Naftali Ben Menachem’s bibliogprahy of R. Margulies’s books which was printed in Sefer Margolious. 1) Toldot Adam (Lemberg 1912)…

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