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Category: Printing Presses & Places

The Ancillary Benefits of Non-Jews on the Hebrew Book

The Ancillary Benefits of Non-Jews on the Hebrew Book

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The Ancillary Benefits of Non-Jews on the Hebrew Book In the history of the Hebrew book, the books, like the Jews themselves, have been subject to external persecution.  Thus, some books and manuscripts have been totally lost.  On the other hand there are a few examples of books or, as we shall soon demonstrate, technices that are are a product of external influences.  Abraham Ibn Ezra had a very hard life.  In his well-known formulation that appears at the beginning…

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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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Hebrew Printing in America 1735-1926 – Review I

Hebrew Printing in America 1735-1926 – Review I

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There is a new work in Jewish bibliography focusing on American Jews. This work “Hebrew Printing in America 1735-1926: A History and Annotated Bibliography” by Yosef Goldman. (It can be obtained by contacting Y. Goldman at ygbooks -at- yahoo.com). As the subtitle states, is much more than a bibliography. This work, is at the very least the starting point for any research on American Jewery, and can be viewed as a history of American Jewry. The book includes a listing…

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Prague 1526 Haggadah

Prague 1526 Haggadah

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The first fully illustrated haggadah was the Prague 1526 haggadah. This haggadah was reprinted in 1977 by Mekor and is now available for everyone at the Jewish National University Library site here. (They have other important haggadas available for viewing including some of the earliest haggadas). The Prague haggadah is filled with fascinating and important illustrations. As we have seen previously, the Prague haggadah contained nudes, which when appropriated later were removed. This included in the haggadah context as well…

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Comparison Between De’ah veDibur and Shafan haSofer

Comparison Between De’ah veDibur and Shafan haSofer

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While I don’t have the time to go through the entire Dei’ah veDibur article and demonstrate the extant of the copying, I will provide some of the more egreious examples. Here is a quote from the Dei’ah veDibur article (in italics) with the orginal Hebrew intersperced and my commnets in bold. One should remember that the original article was written in first person. The first manuscript that the Romm family obtained was Rabbenu Chananel’s commentary which now appears alongside the…

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