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Guide and Review of Online Resources – 2022 – Part III

Guide and Review of Online Resources – 2022 – Part III

By Ezra Brand

Ezra Brand is an independent researcher based in Tel Aviv. He has an MA from Revel Graduate School at Yeshiva University in Medieval Jewish History, where he focused his research on 13th and 14th century sefirotic Kabbalah. He is interested in using digital and computational tools in historical research. He has contributed a number of times previously to the Seforim Blog (tag), and a selection of his research can be found at his Academia.edu profile. He can be reached at ezrabrand-at-gmail.com; any and all feedback is greatly appreciated. This post is a continuation. The first part of this post is here, the second here, and this is the third and final part.

21.Articles for popular audience

Websites with open-access articles, written for a popular audience, with relatively high scholarly standards.

General

  1. Academy of Hebrew Language .
    1. See above. Besides for a selection of scholarly articles from journals, has many articles specifically written for the website.
    2. Recommended. Focuses on Hebrew linguistics. Great resource, at a high level of scholarship, with lots of interesting articles on all topics related to Hebrew language, throughout history.
    3. Wikipedia: “The Academy of the Hebrew Language was established by the Israeli government in 1953 as the “supreme institution for scholarship on the Hebrew language in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem of Givat Ram campus.” Its stated aims are to assemble and research the Hebrew language in all its layers throughout the ages; to investigate the origin and development of the Hebrew tongue; and to direct the course of development of Hebrew, in all areas, including vocabulary, grammar, writing, spelling, and transliteration.”
  2. TheGemara.com.
    1. In English.
    2. Focuses on Talmud Bavli. Recommended. From the About Us: “We solicit original essays that are reviewed and edited by our in-house scholars, to ensure the highest academic standards as well as maximum readability for the general audience.”
  3. My Jewish Learning.
    1. Lots of good articles. However, it mostly focuses on Bible and Modern Jewish history, which are out of the scope of this guide.
  4. 929- Tanach B’yachad (929 – תנך ביחד).
    1. In Modern Hebrew. Lots of articles on Hebrew linguistics (for example: on the phraseעומד על הפרק). However, mostly focuses on Bible, which is out of the scope of this guide. And not so simple to filter for articles on Hebrew linguistics.

Newspapers and magazines

Newspapers and magazines can be a great source of scholarship, and they’re often available online. They are especially good for reviews of scholarly books, and interviews with scholars.[1] Israeli publications often have high-quality articles on Hebrew linguistics. Mostly behind paywall, with some articles not behind paywall.

Some of the best:

  1. Makor Rishon (מקור ראשון).
    1. In Modern Hebrew. Their Mussaf Shabbat (מוסף שבת) is especially good on scholarly topics.
    2. Wikipedia:
      1. “Makor Rishon is a semi-major Israeli newspaper […] Shabbat (Sabbath) – a supplement for Jewish philosophy, Judaism and literature, with an intellectual bent.”
  2. Haaretz (הארץ).
    1. In Modern Hebrew and English.[2]
    2. Available online: 4 April 1918 – 31 December 1997 (22,721 issues; 394,984 pages), at Israel National Library’s Jpress archive. However, not all pages in this date range are in fact available there.
    3. Wikipedia:
      1. “Haaretz is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English […]”
  3. Segula (סגולה).
    1. In Modern Hebrew and English.
    2. Wikipedia – Hebrew:
      1. “Segula is an Israeli monthly dedicated to history, published since April 2010. The magazine deals with the history of the people of Israel and general history, from the perspective that the people of Israel play an important part in world history and the historical processes leading humanity. The magazine is published monthly. An equivalent edition in English is published once every two months.”
  4. Tablet
    1. Wikipedia:
      1. “Tablet is an online religious magazine of news, ideas, and Jewish culture. Founded in 2009 […]”.
  5. Jewish Review of Books
    1. Wikipedia:
      1. “The Jewish Review of Books is a quarterly magazine with articles on literature, culture and current affairs from a Jewish perspective. […] The magazine was launched in 2010 […]”

Blogs

Blogs are generally not formally peer-reviewed and are generally written more informally and conversationally, but are often a great resource. With the shift from blogs to social media, many blogs have shifted to Facebook, and to a lesser extent Twitter and Reddit. (E.g., Mississippi Fred McDowel no longer posts on “On the Main Line”, but does on Facebook..) Blogs are far less active than they were. There are a lot of Facebook groups, which I’m less familiar with, and technically have to be added to and aren’t indexed by Google unfortunately (“walled gardens“, vs. “open platforms”).

  1. The Seforim Blog
  2. The Talmud Blog. Focuses on Talmud.
  3. Rationalist Judaism. Focuses on relationship of science and Judaism, besides for contemporary politics and hashkafa.
  4. Kavvanah.blog- The Book of Doctrines and Opinions
  5. Jewish Studies @ CUL . A blog affiliated with Columbia University, focused on Hebrew Bibliography.
  6. Footprints Blog – Tracing Jewish Books Through Time and Place . A blog affiliated with Columbia University, focused on Hebrew Bibliography.
  7. Safranim .
  8. Am Hasefer (עם הספר). The blog of Rambam Library of Tel Aviv, focused on Hebrew Bibliography.
  9. Hagahot. Active 2005 – 2013.
  10. Giluy Milta B’alma (גילוי מילתא בעלמא). Masthead: “We present here new and interesting findings in Hebrew Manuscripts, and Genizah- We welcome posts in Hebrew or English.”
  11. On the Main Line. Blog of “Shimon Steinmetz/ Mississippi Fred MacDowell”.
  12. English Hebraica . Another blog of “Mississippi Fred MacDowell”. Masthead: “Chronicling Jewish and Jewish themed writing in the English language prior to the 19th century. interesting biographies, diagrams, translations, transliterations and descriptions of Jewish learning and theology from primary sources.” Active 2006 – 2007. Since then posts on Facebook and Twitter.
  13. What’s Bothering Artscroll? . Another blog of “Mississippi Fred MacDowell”.  Active 2006 – 2008.
  14. Hollander Books Blog. Masthead: “A bookseller and his books, his very many books. And a few ideas.”
  15. Kol Safran. Masthead: “A librarian’s comments on books, copyright, management, librarianship, and libraries that don’t get the full article treatment.” Many posts on topics in Jewish bibliography, as well as visits to Jewish libraries.
  16. Musings of a Jewish Bookseller. Masthead: “On Jewish Books, Jewish Bookselling and Jewish Booksellers”
  17. Notrikon (נוטריקון). In Modern Hebrew. Masthead: ”A journey through the space of the written word, between books, periods and people … stops at different stations, who knows where we will end up.”
  18. Oneg Shabbat (עונג שבת). Blog of Prof. David Assaf. Many interesting posts on modern Jewish history, and on history of Hasidut.
  19. HaSafranim – Blog of Israel National Library (הספרנים – בלוג הספרייה הלאומית). In Modern Hebrew. Focuses on Hebrew bibliography, and topics related to Modern Israel.
  20. 7minim (מינים). Masthead: “This blog is intended to allow me, Tomer Persico, to comment briefly on this and that”. Has a number of posts on recent scholarly books on history of Kabbalah (though the blog mostly focuses on contemporary issues).
  21. HaZirah HaLeshonit – Ruvik Rozental (הזירה הלשונית – רוביק רוזנטל). Many posts on history of individual Hebew words, by a well-known and popular Hebrew linguist.
  22. Leshoniada (לשוניאדה). In Modern Hebrew. Focuses on Hebrew linguistics.
  23. Safa Ivrit (השפה העברית). In Modern Hebrew. Focuses on Hebrew linguistics. Not quite a blog, rather a wide range of short articles on sources of sayings and words.

22.Videos and Podcasts

YouTube has a lot of academic lectures. With the covid restrictions over the past two years, it has become especially common to live stream scholarly lectures (whether there’s a live component or not), and often the videos are then permanently publicly available on YouTube.[3]

Some channels:

  1. Academic lectures. Hundreds of lectures available. The YouTube channels seem to often be used now for live streaming of scholarly lectures:
    1. National Library of Israel.
    2. The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities.[4]
    3. Israeli university channels. For example, Hebrew University ; Bar-Ilan University.
    4. Scholarly organizations, such as Yad Ben-Zvi.
  2. Torah in Motion. A large number of lecture series. However, it mostly focuses on more modern history, contemporary theology, and on the Bible, so outside the scope of this guide. For lecture series within the scope of this guide, see for example the series with Dr. William Gewirtz, The Changing Nature of Time in Halakha, which is a four-part series that, according to the description, includes a lot of discussion of the history of the Jewish calendar.
  3. Seforim Chatter. Podcast hosted by Nachi Weinsten of Lakewood, NJ.[5] Has interviews with top scholars discussing their most interesting research. For example, some previous guests include: Seforim Blog’s Prof. Marc Shapiro; Jacob J. Schacter, and many more. Recommended. Also has an associated Twitter feed.
  4. Misfit Torah. Podcast hosted by Akiva Weisinger.
  5. Channeling Jewish History. Podcast hosted by my friend Joel Davidi.[6] Interviews many scholars, such as Seforim Blog contributor Prof. Marc Shapiro.
  6. AllDaf. A number of discussions featuring Seforim Blog’s own Rabbi Dr. Eliezer Brodt “to briefly highlight some of the Rishonim and Acharonim ‘out there’ on this masechta”, see the latest Seforim Blog post here, with links to previous.
  7. Tradition Podcast. Hosted by the editor of Tradition. Available on their YouTube channel. For example, one episode is an interview with Prof. Eric Lawee on a new book of his on Rashi’s Commentary.
  8. Am HaSefer – Rambam Library – Beit Ariela (עם הספר – ספריית הרמב”ם בית אריאלה).
  9. Endless videos and podcasts, each of which must be judged on its own. One genre is well-edited videos with graphics by unknown hosts. Another type is podcast-type interviews with well-known personalities. A majority of all of these are focused on Bible, which as mentioned in the introduction, are outside the scope of this guide. Also, many of them are focused more on drawing lessons, in the “self-help” genre, and less on pure scholarship.[7]

23.Twitter

Now requires registration (free) to view most content.

Essentially every organization focused on Jewish scholarship has a Twitter feed and a Facebook page. Most Twitter feeds and Facebook pages affiliated with organizations are focused on academic events, book launches, awards, etc., and so are less interesting for our purposes here. Here are the ones that especially caught my eye as having content relevant to this guide, especially bibliographical content.

  1. Michelle Margolis (@hchesner) / Twitter .
    1. “Judaica @Columbia @Footprints_Heb #dhjewish, VP @jewishlibraries, Jewish book history, Hebrew incunabula”
  2. Footprints Project (@Footprints_Heb) / Twitter .
    1. “Tracing Jewish books through time and place.”
  3. National Library of Israel (@NLIsrael) / Twitter .
    1. “Collecting & preserving the cultural treasures of #Israel & the #Jewish People. Opening access to millions of books, photos, recordings, maps, archives + more.”
  4. נתן הירש Nathan Hirsch (@NLITorani) / Twitter.
    1. “Contemporary Rabbinic literature”.
    2. Also on Telegram: https://t.me/s/NLITorani
    3. And on Facebook: Nathan Hirsch | Facebook
  5. DayenuPal
  6. #dhjewish – Twitter Search / Twitter

24.Facebook

  1. Norman E. Alexander Library for Jewish Studies – Home | Facebook .
    1. “The Norman E. Alexander Library for Jewish Studies at Columbia University collects Judaica and Hebraica in all formats and supports research.”

25.Forums

There are some great forums dedicated to academic Jewish Studies.

  1. Otzar HaChochma’s forum (פורום אוצר החכמה). In Modern Hebrew. Lots of really interesting discussions.
  2. Behadrei Haredim – Forum: Seforim and Sofrim (בחדרי חרדים – פורום: ספרים וסופרים). In Modern Hebrew.
  3. Judaism.stackexchange.com (Mi Yodea). In English.

26.Summary

It’s truly an exciting time to be a reader and producer of scholarship. Let me know what I’ve missed!

27.Appendix – Halacha Brura’s Indexes

28.Intro

Halach Brura’s index is broken down by topic, such as works of Hazal, commentaries on Mishnah, commentaries on Talmud, etc. With links to other websites (mentioned above in section “Primary Texts”) where PDFs can be found.

Halacha Brura has an intro on their index’s main page, worth quoting in full, as it makes a lot of points very relevant to this guide.

As throughout, the translation is mine, and I have translated loosely. The breakdown into numbered paragraphs and bolding is mine as well:

  1. “As a service to visitors to the site, the Halacha Brura Institute centralizes here links to seforim that are on the Internet at various sites, in full text, some as text and some as scans, to save the viewer the need to visit libraries.
  2. Naturally, the status and location of websites change from time to time, so some of the links may not work, and we apologize for that. Anyone who finds a link that does not work – please contact us, and we may be able to tell him what the correct link is.
  3. Warning: We have not checked the “kosherness” of the sites to which we have created links, and the user must check this himself.[8]
  4. Heads up: Many of the books here are from older editions; in the meantime better editions have appeared, which are not available as open-access online because of copyright law.
  5. We would like to thank users who know of other seforim that are online in full text to please let us know, so that we can add them to this list.
  6. The seforim appear in different formats, and we have dedicated symbols to each format, as follows […]
  7. Scans of additional books can be obtained from the Rambam Library (ספריית הרמב”ם – בית אריאלה) in Tel-Aviv – email rambaml1@gmail.com.”

29.Statistics of Halacha Brura’s index

Halacha Brura indexes seforim on the following websites, in order of number of seforim linked:[9]

  1. HebrewBooks
  2. Israel National Library
  3. Seforim Online
  4. Grimoar
  5. Sefaria
  6. Google Drive
  7. Torat Emet
  8. Wikitext
  9. Goethe University Frankfurt Library
  10. Daat
  11. JTS Library.

Based on my analysis, at least 45% of Halacha Brura’s links are to HebrewBooks. In fact, one can view Halacha Brura’s index as essentially a kind of index of HebrewBooks.

As for the links to open-access books in Israel National Library, I mentioned earlier that all these links are now broken. I described earlier best way to now find these open-access books on the website.

As of 15-Feb-22, Halacha Brura has 36 webpages of indexes,[10] and based on my rough estimate over 40,000 open-access seforim have been categorized.

30.Halacha Brura’s symbols

Halacha Brura’s system of symbols is not especially user-friendly. I have therefore rearranged their symbols in a more logical arrangement, see below.

I organized the order of the symbols based on the frequency of times the symbol appears in Halacha Brura’s index. I have also supplemented the symbols, based on other intros in the website:

  1. Major symbols:
    1. § HebrewBooks , PDF format.
    2. Israel National Library , DJVU format.
    3. Israel National Library, METS format.
    4. Daat or Israel613, PDF format.
    5. ♔ text format (=transcribed). Can be Daat, Wikitext, Sefaria, or Chabad Library, among others.
  2. Resources especially relevant for manuscripts and early printed editions of Hazal, see Halacha Brura’s index here::
    1. University library :Goethe University Frankfurt Library; Russian National Library ; Jewish Theological Seminary Library ; New York Public Library.
    2. Google Books.
    3. The Center for Jewish History.
  3. Other miscellaneous symbols, rare, only a handful of each:
    1. ⋇ – PDF format; Ξ – Seforim Online, PDF format; ਊ – Seforim Online, TIFF format; ↂ – Daat, PDF format.

31.Meta-index of Halacha Brura’s indexes

Page names are mostly taken from the webpage “headers”, with some changes.

The number after the page name refers to the number in the URL, that differentiates pages. So, for example, the number for תנ”ך וחז”ל is 0: http://www.halachabrura.org/library/library0.htm. , and for ראשונים על התורה it’s 3a: http://www.halachabrura.org/library/library3a.htm.

The names of the categories and sub-categories are generally taken directly from the webpages, with small changes where deemed to be helpful. The ordering of the webpages is mine.[11]

  1. תנך וחזל – 0

    1. תנ”ך

    2. משנה

    3. תוספתא ומסכתות קטנות

    4. תלמוד

    5. מדרשים כסדר התנ”ך

    6. מדרשים שונים

    7. זוהר

    8. ספרים חיצוניים

  2. מפרשים על התורה ראשונים – 3a

    1. ראשונים על התורה

    2. ביאורים על רש”י

  3. מפרשים על התורה אחרונים כללי – 3g

  4. מפרשים על התורה אחרונים לפי חומש ועל התרגומים – 3n

  5. מפרשים על נך – 3h

    1. נ”ך כללי

    2. לפי ספר

    3. הפטרות

  6. מפרשי המשנה ; מפרשי תלמוד בבלי ראשונים – 8

    1. מפרשי המשנה

    2. מפרשי תלמוד בבלי – ראשונים

  7. מפרשי אגדות התלמוד, ירושלמי, תוספתא, מדרשים ופרקי אבות – 8l

    1. מפרשי אגדות התלמוד

    2. מפרשי הירושלמי

    3. מפרשי תוספתא

    4. מפרשי מדרשים

    5. מפרשי מסכתות קטנות

    6. מפרשים על פרקי אבות

  8. מפרשי תלמוד בבלי אחרונים ספרים שמפרשים כמה מסכתות – 8f

  9. מפרשי תלמוד בבלי אחרונים לפי מסכתא – 8h

  10. מפרשי תלמוד בבלי אחרונים שונים – 8m

    1. חידושי סוגיות

    2. כללי התלמוד

    3. הדרנים

    4. ריאליה

    5. הלכה למשה מסיני

  11. הלכה ראשונים – 8b

    1. גאונים

    2. ספרי רש”י

    3. ספרי הלכה של שאר ראשונים

    4. ארבעה טורים

    5. שולחן ערוך

    6. מוני המצוות

  12. הלכה אחרונים כללי – 8k

  13. הלכה אחרונים על שלחן ערוך אורח חיים – 8c

  14. הלכה אחרונים על שלחן ערוך יורה דעה – 8j

  15. הלכה אחרונים על שלחן ערוך אבן העזר, חושן משפט, ונושאים שונים – 8d

    1. על אבן העזר

    2. על חושן משפט

    3. על קדשים וטהרות

    4. סת”ם

    5. הלכה ורפואה

    6. מנהגים ותקנות

    7. כהנים ולויים

    8. כללי פסיקה

    9. שיעורים וזמנים

    10. הולכי דרכים

    11. צבא

    12. ספק

    13. חזקה

    14. נשים

    15. גוים

    16. תוכחה

    17. שמירת הלשון

  16. מניין המצוות אחרונים – 8g

  17. רמבם ומפרשיו ; ושאלות ותשובות – 8a

    1. רמב”ם ומפרשיו

      1. משנה תורה

      2. ספר המצוות

      3. מורה נבוכים

      4. פירוש המשנה

      5. תשובות ואגרות

      6. חיבורים אחרים

      7. מפרשים על משנה תורה

      8. מפרשים על מורה נבוכים

      9. מפרשים על חיבורים אחרים

        1. ספר המצוות

        2. פירוש המשנה

        3. מלות הגיון

      10. דרכו של הרמב”ם

    2. שאלות ותשובות

      1. גאונים

      2. ראשונים

      3. שו”ת אחרונים ששמם כשם המחבר – לפי סדר שמו הפרטי של המחבר

  18. מחשבה ראשונים – 3

  19. מחשבה אחרונים כללי – 3j

  20. דרשות כללי – 3f

  21. דרשות לפי נושא – 3e

    1. הספדים

    2. מועדים – אגדה

    3. מועדים בהלכה ובאגדה

    4. שבת

    5. גאולה ומשיח

    6. לימוד תורה

    7. שמירת הברית והעיניים

    8. טעמי המצוות

    9. צוואות

    10. סגולות

    11. י”ג עיקרים

    12. לבר מצוה

    13. חינוך

    14. חלומות

    15. צדקה וחסד

    16. נישואין

    17. ברית מילה

    18. שמחה

    19. תפילה

    20. שמירת הלשון

    21. נגד לא-אורתודוקסים (רפורמים, משכילים, ציונים, מתבוללים, כופרים, משיחי שקר)

    22. נגד שבתאי צבי ונגד נצרות

  22. קבלה – 6

    1. כללי

    2. פירושים על הזוהר

    3. ספר יצירה ופירושים עליו

  23. שירה, סידורים, ומחזורים – 3b

    1. שירה

    2. סידורים ותפילות ופירושיהם

    3. סידורים עם שמות

    4. סידורים בלי שמות – לפי סדר שנות הדפסה

    5. מחזורים לר”ה וליו”כ ושלשה רגלים

    6. מחזורים בלי שמות לפי סדר שנות ההדפסה

    7. תפילות מיוחדות

    8. סליחות

    9. ברכת החמה – לפי סדר השנים

    10. פירושים על התפלה

    11. סידורי מקובלים

  24. חסידות כללי וברסלב – 1

    1. כללי

    2. ברסלב

    3. ר’ אשר שיק

    4. ר’ שלום ארוש

  25. חבד ספרים – 1a

    1. בעל התניא

    2. ר’ דובער

    3. הצמח צדק

    4. מהר”ש

    5. ר’ שלום דובער

    6. ריי”צ

    7. ר’ מנחם מנדל

    8. חיבורים שונים

  26. חבד כתבי עת – 1b

  27. מונקאטש וויזניץ – 2

    1. מונקאטש

    2. ויז’ניץ

  28. הגדות – 3c

    1. עם פירושים

    2. בלי פירושים

    3. לקט מקורות בעניין פסח ועוד

  29. ביוגרפיות , היסטוריה – 3d

    1. ביוגרפיות

    2. היסטוריה

    3. ביבליוגרפיה

    4. ארץ ישראל בהלכה ובאגדה

  30. נושאים שונים – 3m

    1. דקדוק ולשון

    2. טעמי נגינה

    3. המסורה בתנ”ך

    4. אסטרונומיה וחכמת העיבור

    5. לוחות שנים

    6. ספרי יובל וזכרון

    7. אנציקלופדיות וספרים המסודרים בסדר א””ב

    8. רפואה ומדע

    9. גיאוגרפיה

    10. שיעורים וזמנים

    11. גמטריא וראשי תיבות

    12. גורלות

    13. חידות

  31. כתבי עת לפי אב אד – 5

  32. כתבי עת לפי אב ה – 5a

  33. כתבי עת לפי אב ומ– 5b

  34. כתבי עת לפי אב נת – 5c

  35. שונים – 4 (“מדור זה כולל ספרים שלא היה אפשר להכניס לאחד המדורים האחרים, מפני שנושא הספר הוא ייחודי“)

  36. שפות זרות (לאעברית) ; לאאורתודוקס ; סיפורים ; כתבי יד ; הומור – 4w

    1. שפות זרות

      1. אידיש

      2. אנגלית

      3. גרמנית

      4. ספרדית

      5. צרפתית

      6. לאדינו

      7. ערבית-יהודית

      8. פרסית

      9. רוסית

      10. לטינית

      11. הונגרית

    2. לא-אורתודוקס

      1. משכילים

      2. רפורמים

      3. שבתאים

      4. קראים

      5. שומרונים

    3. סיפורים

    4. כתבי יד

    5. הומור

[1] For an interesting example of newspaper interviews and lectures on YouTube being used as evidence in scholarly discussion, see Prof. Bezalel Bar-Kochva’s critique of Prof. Rachel Elior: https://www.tau.ac.il/sites/tau.ac.il.en/files/media_server/imported/508/files/2014/10/elior-25.11.2013.pdf. However, it must be admitted that that’s an unusual case.

[2] Example of article on Hebrew linguistics, on the word “שחצן”: המילה שַׁחְצָן: מה הקשר בין אריות לנחשים וביניהם לבין יוהרה?: https://www.haaretz.co.il/magazine/the-edge/mehasafa/.premium-1.2853618

[3] As for podcasts, many podcasts are also available on YouTube. For example, see below for the podcast “Channeling Jewish History”.

[4] See here: The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities – YouTube > “Past live streams”. Recent example that showed in my email inbox of youtube being used for live streaming of a scholarly lecture:

(PDF) ‘Three Lectures on Habad Hasidism’, Schocken Institute, Jerusalem, November 8, 15, 22, 2021 (Poser + Video) | Jonatan Meir – Academia.edu

When I was sent this link, Gmail even knew to attach the YouTube preview in the email.

[5] Introduction Show, Seforimchatter, https://seforimchatter.buzzsprout.com/1218638/4587641-introduction-show, July 15, 2020, Season 1 Episode 18. (Accessed 13-Feb-22).

[6] Admin of the Facebook group “Channeling Jewish History Group”.

[7] A few examples: R’ Dr. Ari Lamm’s podcast called “Good Faith Effort”; Michael Eisenberg’s YouTube channel.

[8] The Halacha Brura indexes indeed link to a nice amount of non-Orthodox works. A dedicated sub-category for non-Orthodox writings appears at the webpage indexing eclectic works (“ספרי קודש שונים”), together with “Foreign-language”, “Stories”, “Manuscripts”, and “Humor”. It should be pointed out that many of these non-Orthodox books have been removed from HebrewBooks, and are no longer available there.

[9] My analysis. I “scraped” a few webpages of Halacha Brura via relatively simple copy-paste and text manipulation in Google Sheets, to use as a sample.

[10] The number of webpages is always going up. When I started my research, there were 33 pages. They then split the page on “Journals” into 4 pages, due to indexing hundreds of additional links.

[11] As I’ve mentioned before, this index by Halacha Brura is a work-in-progress. They are still actively spinning off new pages. Therefore, this meta-index is likely to have some out-of-date info as time goes on.




Tarnopol: A short-lived early 19th century Hebrew press

Tarnopol: A short-lived early 19th century Hebrew press
by Marvin J. Heller[1]

The blossoms have appeared in the land, The time of your song has arrived,
and the voice of the turtledove Is heard in our land.
The green figs form on the fig tree. The vines in blossom give off fragrance.
Arise, my darling; My fair one, come away!
“O my dove, in the cranny of the rocks. Hidden by the cliff.
Let me see your face, Let me hear your voice; For your voice is sweet And your face is comely.”
Catch us the foxes, The little foxes
That ruin the vineyards— For our vineyard is in blossom. (Song of Songs 2:12-15).

Tarnopol (Ternopol), a city with an established Jewish community, dates its founding to the mid-sixteenth century. The community had many positive aspects (blossoms have appeared in the land, The time of your song has arrived), and was home to a Hebrew printing press (The green figs form on the fig tree. The vines in blossom give off fragrance) for a brief time only in the early nineteenth century. Due, however, to the contentious relationship between conflicting segments of the community, that press, after publishing a variety of valuable works, was short lived and closed prematurely (The little foxes that ruin the vineyards).

Tarnopol is in Galicia, in the western Ukraine, approximately 227 miles (365 km.) from Kiev (Kyiv) and 73 miles (117 km,) from Lvov. Although there had been earlier residences in the area, credit for founding the city as a private town in 1540 is given to the Polish hetman, Jan Amor Tarnowski. Tarnowski permitted Jewish settlement almost immediately afterwards in what was his personal domain. The city charter permitted Jews to reside throughout the city, excluding the market place. Initially, the Jewish population was small, comprised of only a few dozen Jews, this based on the head tax paid, the revenues from it being, in 1564, 20 zlotys, rising to 23 the following year. Jews quickly became a majority of the population, with as many as 300 families resident there in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.[2] By 1765, the Jewish population of Tarnopol had increased to 1,246 Jews.[3]

In 1548, Tarnopol was granted the privilege of the Magdeburgian Laws, regulations concerning internal autonomy within cities and villages granted by the local ruler, developed by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (936–973). In 1566, Tarnopol received the Emporium Right, the duty of storing the merchandise of the merchants passing through the town, and the privilege of the residents of the town to be the first to purchase the merchandise. Tarnopol was fortified and strengthened during the Tartar invasions in 1575 and 1589. In 1621, it became the property of Chancellor Tomash Zamoiski.[4]

A fire in 1623 caused significant damage to the homes in the city, but Zamoiski allowed the Jews to rebuild their homes as well as a new synagogue, this constructed in citadel style, to replace the one destroyed in the fire. Jews could buy and sell goods, excepting some leather merchandise, this to protect the monopoly of Christian shoemakers. Jews could be butchers, but had to provide the owners of the city annually with ten milk stones.

Tarnopol suffered, as did Jewish communities throughout Eastern Europe, from the Chmielnicki massacres of 1648-49 (tah ve-tat) and again in 1653 from the Tartar invasions. Until the ravages of the former occurred, the Jewish community was prosperous. At that time, however, most Jews fled, those remaining being massacred. Jews participated in the defense of the city in the Cossack and Swedish wars. The city, now the property of Alexander Konyetspolski, was reconstructed, but suffered yet again in 1672 when the town’s castles and citadels were bombarded by the Turks. Towards the end of the century the community began to revive, Jewish merchants being dominant in the grain and cattle trades.[5] In 1690, Tarnopol became the private property of the Polish royal family, Subiesky, and subsequently was transferred to the noble Polish family, Pototski, remaining in their possession until 1841 when private ownership of cities was abolished.

An early rabbi in Tarnopol was R. Gershom Nahum R. Meir ben Isaac Tarnopoler, who stated that “Our community is the capital (i.e it was important).” The rabbis active in Tarnopol in the eighteenth century included R. Joshua Heschel Babad, followed by R. Jacob Isaac ben Isaac Landau. Joshua Heschel Babad’s (Babad is an acronym of Benei Av Bet Din, “children of the av bet din,” 1754-1838) itapprobations appear in several of the titles described in this article and served as rabbi of Budzanow and, from 1801, of Tarnopol. He opposed the growing circle of maskilim in Tarnopol and polemicized against their patron, Joseph Perl (below), and, in 1813, of the teaching system in the school founded by Perl where secular studies were taught.[6]

Tarnopol suffered from an outbreak of the Black Plague in 1770, suffering many deaths. Finally, in 1772, Tarnopol was annexed to Austria and from 1809 to1815 was in the possession of the Russians, returning to Austrian rule until it became part of the Western Ukrainian Republic. Its status changed yet again at the end of 1918 when it became part of independent Poland.

In the early eighteenth century Tarnopol was largely Hassidic. Nevertheless, among the significant figures in Tarnopol was Joseph Perl, a prominent Maskil, active in that movement and an opponent of Hassidus.

A Hebrew press was established in Tarnopol in 1812. At that time Nahman Pineles and Jacob Auerbach, accomplished printers, obtained permission from the Russian authorities to establish a Hebrew press, this with the condition that the books to be printed would be approved by the censor. They acquired typographical equipment from the printer Benjamin ben Avigdor and employed two workers, Mordecai ben Zevi Hirsch and Aryeh Leib ben David. Ch. Friedberg informs that this was not an auspicious time to establish a press due to the Napoleonic wars. Nevertheless, it was established with the support of Joseph Perl, who not only provided financial assistance, but also space in his school for the press. He did so in the belief that the books published by the press would be in support of the Haskalah.[7]

The Thesaurus of the Hebrew Book records twenty-two entries, from 1812-13 through 1817.[8] These works are varied. We will describe a portion of them, several in some detail, others in passing, giving a sense of the press’ output.

I

Yeshu’ot Meshiho – Printing is reported to have begun with Don Isaac ben Judah Abrabanel’s (1437-1508) Yeshu’ot Meshiho (the Salvation of His Anointed) in 1812-13.[9] Abrabanel, a noted statesman, biblical exegete, and philosopher, traced his lineage to King David. He was the grandson of Samuel and the son of Judah Abrabanel, the former an advisor to three Kings of Castile, the latter to the King of Portugal. Don Isaac Abrabanel received a thorough Jewish education, studying Talmud under R. Joseph Hayyun (d. 1497), as well as instruction in philosophy, classics, and even Christian theology, this last useful in his defense of Judaism. Abrabanel succeeded his father as treasurer to King Alfonso V of Portugal, during which time he was instrumental in redeeming Jewish captives brought to Portugal. Upon the death of Alfonso in 1481, João II (1481-95) became king of Portugal. In 1483, João accused Abrabanel of participating in a conspiracy. Forewarned, Abrabanel fled to Spain, where he served as an official in the court of Ferdinand and Isabella. In 1492, they offered him the opportunity to remain in Spain as a Jew, but he chose to go into exile and left with other Jews.[10]

A prolific author Abrabanel wrote extensive and highly regarded commentaries on books of the Bible, philosophical works, and a three-part trilogy of consolation on resurrection and redemption. Yeshu’ot Meshiho is the third part of the trilogy. The first parts are Ma’yenei ha-Yeshu’ah (Wells of Salvation), first printed in Ferrara (1551) on the book of Daniel, followed by Mashmi’a ha-Yeshu’ah (Announcing Salvation), first edition published in Salonika (1526); the trilogy is completed with Yeshu’ot Meshiho. The text addresses redemption, the Messiah, and the end of days.[11] This is recorded as the first edition of Yeshu’ot Meshiho in bibliographies, but is extremely rare and was not seen by this writer. It is recorded as an octavo.

Rosh Amanah – Our second work by the Abrabanel, also printed in 1813, is Rosh Amanah, on the principles of faith. First published in Constantinople (1505) this edition was printed in the year “[From Lebanon, my bride, with me!] Trip [look] down from Amana’s peak תשורי מראש אמנה (573 = 1813)” (Song of Songs 4:8), a reference to the principles of faith (Emunah). It was printed in quarto format (40: 30 ff.). Abrabanel completed Rosh Amanah “in Naples at the end of Marheshvan, in the year, ‘The voice of rejoicing רנה (255=November, 1494) and salvation’” (Psalms 118:15), that is, two years after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain. The verso of the title-page has an approbation from R. Joshua Heschel Babad, av bet din of Tarnopol, immediately below it is verses from Judah Abrabanel, the author’s son, and below that a statement that wherever the phrases akum or goi appears it refers to ancient idol worshippers, not to contemporary non-Jews who are upright people.

1813, Rosh Amanah

Next is Abrabanel’s introduction, in which he explains that his purpose in writing the book is twofold, to clarify the confusion resulting from the many lists on the principles of faith and to defend Maimonides from his critics, most importantly R. Hasdai Crescas (c. 1340–c. 1410–11, Or HaShem), and Joseph Albo (15th century, Ikkarim). Stylistically, Rosh Amanah follows the same format as Abrabanel’s other works, that is, he poses a series of questions which he then resolves.

There are twenty-four chapters. In the first twenty-two Abrabanel enumerates twenty-eight objections to Maimonides thirteen principles of faith, twenty taken from Crescas and Albo. Abrabanel subsequently resolves these objections, defending Maimonides from his critics, although he too, in chapter twenty-three, rejects Maimonides’ formulation of a dogma for Judaism. Rosh Amanah begins with a discussion of the thirteen principles, followed (ch. 2-5) with Crescas and Albo’s objections; then nine necessary propositions for the ensuing discussion (6-11); the refutation of the objections (12-21); criticism of Crescas’ and Albo’s formulation (22); Abrabanel’s contention that Judaism has no dogmas (23); and lastly, a discussion of the Mishnah in Sanhedrin (90a), “All Israel has a share in the world to come,” which might seem to posit a dogma for Judaism.[12]

Despite Abrabanel’s contention that Judaism has no dogmas he writes (ch 22) that if he were to, “choose principles to posit for the divine Torah I would lay down one only, the creation of the world. It is the root and foundation . . . and includes the creation at the beginning, the narratives about the Patriarchs, and the miracles and wonders which cannot be believed without belief in creation.”

Rosh Amanah has been published at least nine times to the present, excluding a questionable 1547 Sabbioneta edition, and translated into Latin by Guilielmum Vorstium (Liber de capite fidei, Amsterdam, 1638 and 1684), French by B. Mossé (Le princips de la foi, Avignon, 1884), and English twice, that is, the first five chapters by Isaac Mayer Wise (The Book on the Cardinal Points of Religion), serialized in The Israelite (Cincinnati, 1862), and more recently in its entirety as by M. Kellner (Principles of Faith, Rutherford, 1982).

Hamishah Homshei Torah – Among the other works published at this time were a Hamishah Homshei Torah, that is, a small rabbinic Bible (Mikra’ot Gedolot) with commentaries. Four volumes were published in 1813 and one volume, Bamidbar (Numbers) was published in 1814. The text of Hamishah Homshei Torah, on facing pages, is comprised of the biblical text in square vocalized letters on the right page, and below it in rabbinic letters, R. Aaron of Pesaro’s (d. 1563) Toledot Aharon, a concordance, brief citations to the places where each word or phrase in the Biblical text appear; the commentaries of Rashi; and Siftei Ḥakhamim (R. Shabbetai ben Joseph Bass, 1641-1718), a super-commentary on Rashi. On the facing page is Onkelos in square vocalized letters, the Ba’al ha-Turim (R. Jacob ben Asher, c. 1270-1340) and the continuation of Rashi and Siftei Ḥakhamim, all in rabbinic letters.

Likkuttei Shoshanah – Another very different work, published in 1813/14 is R. Samson Ostropoler of Polonnoye’s (Volhynia, (d. 1648) Likkuttei Shoshanah. Ostropoler, a kabbalist of repute, died on July 22, 1648, at the head of his community in the Chmielnicki massacres. At that time, Ostropoler assembled 300 members of his community into the synagogue and, dressed in shrouds and prayer-shawls, said selihot and prayers until they were slaughtered. R. Nathan Hannover, in Yeven Metsulah on the Chmielnicki massacres, informs that a magid (heavenly teacher) who frequently instructed Ostropoler in the secrets of the Kabbalah, warned him of the impending catastrophe, advising Ostropoler to call the community to repent, which he did but to no avail.[13] Likkuttei Shoshanah, a kabbalistic work, was published in a small format, 20 cm. (8 ff.).

II

Pa’ne’ah RazaR. Isaac ben Judah ha-Levi’s commentary on the Torah, Pa’ne’ah Raza, built upon literal interpretations (peshaṭ) intermingled with gematriot and notarikon (numerical and abbreviated letters of words) is also an 1813 publication. Isaac ben Judah ha-Levi (13th cent.) was one of the Tosafot of Sens, and a student of R. Hayyim (Paltiel) of Falaise. Printed previously in Prague (1607), this edition was published as an octavo (80: 142, [2] ff.).

1813, Pa’ne’ah Raza

The title-page informs that the contents include, in addition to Isaac ben Judah ha-Levi’s commentary the insights of many other rishonim (early sages) who are then noted, and that Pa’ne’ah Raza, is novellae on Hamishah Homshei Torah and Megillah in veiled ways. Among the many virtues that the title-page lists are insightful forms of elucidation, all desirable, sharp, sweet peshat (literal interpretations), queries and responses, and much more. Also included are words of the sages through gematriot, as given at Sinai with sound and flame.

The title-page is followed by R. Joshua Heschel Babad’s approbation and then Isaac ben Judah’s introduction. He begins that “I am the youth of my mother’s house and of my people, ‘a worm and a maggot’ (Avot 3”1), I know my place . . . ‘I am but dust and ashes’ (Genesis 18:27).” The title alludes to his name Pa’ne’ah פענח and Raza רזא, both have a numerical value of 208, the numerical value of his name, Isaac יצחק (208). He has included what he has heard from his teachers, among them Ran, R. [Joseph] of Orleans, R. Joseph Bekhor-Shor, and some sayings of R. Judah he-Hasid, in gematriot and peshat. He also names R. Eliezer of Worms and others, stating that he has noted the name of every contributor where possible; for he does not, heaven forbid, wish to take someone else’s adornment. Where he does not know the name, it is left unspecified.

R. Hayyim Joseph David Azulai (Hida, 1724-1806), notes the wonder (miracle) and foreknowledge in the heart of the author, that Pa’ne’ah Raza, the name given so many years before, standing for Isaac twice, represents both the author and, after many centuries, the editor.[14]

Although Pa’ne’ah Raza is noted for its gematriot and notarikon much of the text is literal explanations. An example is the following, from Exodus 40:35:

“And Moses was not able to enter [into the Tent of Meeting, because the cloud abode on it]. Rashi explains, “the cloud was removed and he entered and He spoke with him.” A difficulty, how if so did He speak with him. For all the days of their encampment the cloud was over it? Furthermore, if so, Aaron and his sons could not enter, in which case, how did they burn the incense, light the menorah, and arrange the lehem ha-Panim? It is possible to say that this was one (another) cloud and during the days of their encampment they were able to enter . . . and R. Eliezer of Worms explains that for one hour the cloud was on it and afterwards removed so that they could enter.

As noted above, Pa’ne’ah Raza was first published in Amsterdam in 1607. This is the third edition, followed, according to the Bet Eked Sefarim, by two additional editions, the last being Warsaw (1928). The National Library of Israel records more recent printings, the latest being Ann Arbor, Michigan (1974) and Jerusalem (2019) editions.[15]

Torat ha-Adam – A work, undated and lacking the place of printing attributed to Tarnopol, although that is uncertain, is R. Samuel ben Shalom’s Torat ha-Adam, an ethical work with kabbalistic content. It was published in c. 1813; measures 23 cm. and comprised of 28 ff.[16] At the top of the title-page is the statement, “Happy is the man who has not forgotten you, and the son of man who finds his strength in You.” The text of the title-page states that it was written by the holy man of God. All who will look into it with open eyes will see how a person has to serve the Lord with a complete and perfect service in order to acquire true completion, for this is why man was created in this world. It further informs that the author, R. Samuel ben Shalom, is a grandson of R. Moses of Ostrog, author of Arugat ha-Bosum on the Song of Songs. The title page is followed by R. Samuel’s introduction, where he writes that he entitled the book Torat ha-Adam because it is how a person should conduct himself all the days of his life in this world. Much of the text is taken from or influenced by the Mishnat Hasidim of R. Emanuel Hai Ricci.[17]

Imrei Binyamin R. Benjamin ben Meir ha-Levi of Brody’s Imrei Binyamin, discourses on the weekly Torah readings, was printed in the year “Of Benjamin he said: Beloved of the LORD, He rests securely beside Him ולבנימין[אמר] ידיד ה ישכן לבטח(574 = 1814)” (Deuteronomy 33:12). Imrei Binyamin was published as an octavo (80: [3], 92 ff.). Although the title-page describes Imrei Binyamin as being on all the weekly Torah readings the text is actually only from the beginning of Bereshit (Genesis) through be-Hukkotai (Leviticus). The title-page informs that these discourses were delivered on Shabbat by Benjamin when he was the maggid mesharim in Berdichev for seventeen years and afterwards in Brody. Imrei Binyamin was brought to press by R. Meir Eliezer ben Pinhas, the author’s grandson. He sadly begins the introduction, “I am the builder of the house of Benjamin, the father of my father.” Benjamin ben Meir had one son only, who predeceased him. In several instances, inserted between the columns of R. Benjamin’s commentary are annotations of Meir Eliezer. He hoped to publish other parts of this work but that, unfortunately, did not happen.[18]

III

Mishlei Shelomo – In 1814, the press published Menahem Mendel Lefin’s (Levin, 1749-1826) Mishlei Shelomo, a bi-lingual octavo format (80: [2], 91 ff.) Hebrew-Yiddish commentary on Proverbs. Lefin, born in Satonov, Podolia, was therefore known as Satonover, and was also referred to as Mikolayev, as he also resided in Mikolayev for an extensive amount of time; spending his last years in Brody and Tarnopol. Lefin received a traditional Jewish education, studying Talmud and rabbinic codes, but early in his life, reportedly by accident, came across and was influenced by Joseph Solomon Delmedigo’s (1591–1655) Elim, dealing with mathematics and physics, motivating him to study those subjects. Lefin subsequently went to Berlin for medical treatment where he was also influence by Moses Mendelssohn (1729–1786), becoming a strong advocate of the Haskalah.

Lefin was a prolific author, his titles including a Hebrew translation of Dr. Samuel-Auguste Tissot’s popular book on medicine; and encouraged by a friendship with Prince Czartoryski, Essai d’un plan de reforme, avant pour objet déclairerhis la Nation Juive en Pologne et de la rdresser par s4es moeurs (An essay upon a Plan of Reform with the Object to Enlighten the Jewish Nation in Poland and to Improve it in Accordance with its Customs); . Lefin’s Hebrew works include Iggrot ha-Hokkmah, Refuot ha-Am, Heshbon ha-Nefesh, which, among other ethical topics, also elaborates on Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanac, which R. Israel Salanter (1810-83), founder of the Mussar movement, considered an excellent handbook for moral development and had reprinted; a new translation of Maimonides’ More Nevuchim, this in Mishnaic Hebrew, and Alon More, Lefin’s only original work, this an introduction to the philosophy of Maimonides, and Mishlei Shelomo, all in “a delightful prose”.[19]

The brief text of the title-page of Mishlei Shelomo states that it includes a concise new commentary in Ashkenaz (Yiddish) for the benefit of our brothers Beit Yisrael in the lands of Poland. Below that is that it was printed with the permission of the censors. There are two approbations, the first from R. Joshua Heschel Babad, the second from R. Mordecai ben Eliezer Sender Margolious, av bet din, Satonov. Below the approbations is Lefin’s introduction, in which he notes that so Torah should not be forgotten from Israel, he has included commentators and transcribed books of the Bible into different languages. He notes that in later generations with the movements of Jews and forgetfulness, older commentaries are not always understood, particularly in the lands of Ashenaz. Therefore, he has undertaken to bring out a concise commentary for our brothers in those lands, beginning with Proverbs (Mishlei).

1814, Mishlei Shelomo

The text follows, comprised, on facing pages, of the text of Proverbs in vocalized square letters, below it Lefin’s commentary in rabbinic letters, on the recto page. On the verso is Lewin’s translation in square vocalized letters and below it the continuation of the commentary. Zinberg writes that Lefin disregarded the distinction between the spoken and written language, and that Ecclesiastes and Proverbs should not be translated “in the language that the market-Jewess speaks to her customer in the street.” Zinberg describes Lefin’s purpose in the translation, putting an end to the standard style of the translations of the Bible that had been dominant for hundreds of years and according to which the children in the schools had the Biblical text taught and translated to them. He wishes to give ordinary Jews , worn out with toil, the “holy books” without embroidered covers, but in the simple, weekday garment of the colloquial language, with its homely concepts and images, including its Slavisms, as it is spoken at home and in the market place. . . .Mendel Levin-Satanow did not print his translation of Proverbs in the special “women’s type” customary for Judeo-German books, but in square Hebrew letters and with vowels. Levin’s spelling is also characteristic of his translation: he writes the words mainly according to their phonetic sound. Thus we find in his work rufikh, not ruf ikh: nemtzakh, instead of nemt es aykh . . .[20]

Mishlei Shelomo was part of Lefin’s translation of the Bible into Yiddish, of which only the volumes on Proverbs and Ecclesiastes were published. He was able to publish Mishlei Shelomo with the financial aid of Joseph Perl. As noted above, Mishlei Shelomo has approbation from two av bet din. It is rare, indeed unusual, for rabbis to give approbations to books by Maskilim, especially in this case where a sponsor was Joseph Perl, who was opposed to the orthodox establishment.

Waxman observes that Lefin’s translation into the Yiddish vernacular raised the objection, “a hue and cry” among Maskilim who regarded Yiddish as a jargon and wished to reduce its use as much as possible. Tobias Gutman, another maskil, even wrote a pamphlet against Lefin, branding him a traitor to the cause of Hebrew. Leaders of the Galician Maskilim intervened and the pamphlet was not published during Lefin or Gutman’s lifetime. All of this notwithstanding, Lefin’s books were generally popular.

IV

Luach (Calendar) – Three calendars are recorded for the Tarnopol press, that is, 1813,1814, and 1815, all credited to Joseph Perl. Each calendar is octavo in format, the 1814 calendar, our subject calendar, is (80: [9], [4], 1, 11, [1] ff).

Joseph Perl (1773–1839), already noted several times in passing, was a person of import in the Haskalah. He was born in Tarnopol to Todros. a wealthy wine merchant and for a time holder of the communal concession for the tax on meat. As a young man, Perl was attracted to Hassidism, but while a partner in his father’s business he travelled to various locations where he met Maskilim, among them, in Brody, Menahem Mendel Lefin, who inspired Perl. He was deeply involved throughout his life in education, founding a moderate Haskalah school in Tarnopol, one that continued to exist until World War II. Perl served as principal of the school, which initially gave lessons in Perl’s mansion taught in German, boys learning for eight years, girls for five. An opponent of the educational system established by Perl was Joshua Heschel Babad, av bet din of Tarnopol.

1814, Luach (Calendar)

Among his activities in Tarnopol, from 1813 to 1815, was the publication of these calendars, which cited rabbinic sources and popular science. Perl became an opponent of Hassidis, which he felt had left the path of tradition, authoring several anti-Hasidic satires, beginning with Über das Wesen der sekte Chassidim (On the Essence of the Hasidic Sect), written between 1814 and 1816. Next was a Hebrew-Yiddish parody of R. Naḥman of Bratslav, entitled “The Story of the Loss of the Prince,” which mocked Hasidism. His most important work was Megaleh temirin (The Revealer of Secrets; 1819), published under the pseudonym Ovadyah ben Petaḥyah, “harshly critical of Hasidic society, its leaders, and its customs its leaders, and its customs.” Perl wrote yet additional works in the same vein.[21] The activities of Perl and his fellow Maskilim resulted in a ban on the Maskilim by the admorim R. Jacob Orenshtein of Lvov in 1816 and by R. Zevi Hirsch Eichenstein in 1822, and R. T. Israel from Rejin, nicknaming “Joseph Perl ‘the second son of Miriam’” referring to the founder of Christianity.[22]

The cover of the calendar succinctly states that it is a calendar for the year 1814 and on the verso lists the contents, that is, the calendars and other material included within the publication. This is followed by a more detailed title-page that states that it is from the year five thousand תקע”ד ([5] 574 = 1814) from the creation of the world according to the accounting of the people of Israel, followed by its contents, which include the Roman (secular) calendar, other calendars as well as other virtues such as the eastern calendar, sunset, the days (history) of the Roman state, locations where places of justice are closed, concluding that added is a luah ha-lev (heart rest) in which all who read it will find calm for his soul, and, de rigeur, with the permission of the censor.

The verso of the title-page has a list of pertinent contractions for the year 1814 and below the order of Hoshanas (prayers said on Hoshana Rabbah, the seventh day of Sukkot). This is followed by several charts for the molad (appearance of the new moon), chronology of historical events, additional calendars, customs, and customs pertaining to the year 1814, and then luah ha-lev which encompasses such subjects as hospitality, loving thy neighbor, loving Torah and wisdom, charity, honoring one’s parents, and much more. Next is a section entitled examining nature, with subheadings, encompassing such subjects as five things are said about a mad dog (Yoma 88), and concerning products such as grapes and olives. At the end are ethical parables and eleven riddles, for example. who is it that is born a few days after his mother; what is the easiest of all things to do, concluding that the answers will be given in the next calendar.

Shevah Tefillot – Another prayer book, attributed by some to Joseph Perl. It is a small work (15 cm., [40\] pp.), designed for the use of students. The title-page informs that it is “Shevah Tefillot: for the seven days of the week, as the young boys pray daily immediately when they come to learn in the Beit ha-Sefer (yeshivah) which exists to educate the Benei Yisrael (Jewish children) of Tarnopol). Immediately below it is like text in Yiddish. The following page has the verse “He who turns a deaf ear to instruction. His prayer is an abomination” (Proverbs 28:29). The text is comprised of facing pages of prayers for each of the seven days of the week in square vocalized Hebrew letters and in Yiddish in square unvocalized Hebrew. The National Library of Israel (NLI) attributes Shevah Tefillot to the Beit Sefer ha-Hinukh Na’arei Benei Yisrael (Tarnopol), that is the school faculty. The Thesaurus attributes Shevah Tefillot to both the Beit Sefer and Joseph Perl, in contrast to the NLI description which states that the author compiler is unknow. However, given Perl’s involvement with education in Tarnopol the attribution to Perl appears reasonable.

V

Sha’arei Ziyyon – A very different type of work, in contrast to the works of Maskilim, is R. Nathan Nata ben Moses Hannover’s (d. 1683) Sha’arei Ziyyon, a collection of Lurianic kabbalistic prayers, particularly for Tikkun Hazot (midnight prayers in remembrance of the destruction of the Temple and for the restoration to the Land of Israel). Hannover’s birthplace and early background are uncertain. His residence in Zaslav, Volhynia, was apparently peaceful and untroubled, but came to an end with the Chmielnicki massacres of 1648-49 (tah ve-tat), witnessed and recorded by him in Yeven Mezulah. He is reported to have learned Kabbalah with R. Samson Ostropoler of Polonnoye (Volhynia) who died in those massacres (above). In 1683, Hannover, then dayyan in Ungarisch Brod, was murdered while at prayers by a stray bullet fired by raiding Turkish troops.[23]

Hannover was the author of several other important works, among them Yeven Mezulah, which chronicles the experiences of Polish Jewry during the Chmielnicki massacres, based on first person accounts, first edition published in Venice (1653) and Safah Berurah, a popular four language, Hebrew-German-Latin-Italian,, glossary for conversation and as a guidebook for travelers consisting of 2,000 words (Prague, 1660). Another work, Ta’amei Sukkah (Amsterdam, 1652) is a discourse on the festival of Sukkot. Based on a sermon delivered in Cracow in 1646; the work is incomplete. Lack of funds prevented Hannover from publishing the entire work; therefore, he writes, he is publishing one discourse only. No other parts were ever published.[24]

Turning to Sha’arei Ziyyon, it was published in 1815 in a small format, as a 14 cm. sextodecimo (160: 132 ff.). The title is from “The Lord loves the gates of Zion (sha’arei Ziyyon) more than all the dwellings of Jacob” (Psalms 87:2). The title-page informs that Hannover relied on the works of R. Hayyim Vital (1542–1620), the foremost student or R. Isaac Luria (ha-Ari ha-Kodesh, 1534–1572), whose teachings were based on R. Shimon bar Yohai (mid-second century C.E.). The title-page is followed by a description of the seven sha’arim (seven gates) comprising Sha’arei Ziyyon. They are Tikkun Hazot based on Etz ha-Hayyim; Tikkun ha-Nefesh, to be said after Tikkun Hazot with Yedid Nefesh; Tikkun ha-Tefillah according to Kabbalah; Tikkun Kriat ha-Torah; Tikkun Kriat Shema with the appropriate kavvanot; Tikkun shel Erev Rosh Hodesh; and Tikkun Malkhut on Rosh Ha-Shanah and Yom ha-Kippurim. Omitted are the approbations and Hannover’s introduction that appeared in the first edition (Prague, 1682).

Text is generally in a single column in square vocalized letters, occasionally accompanied by commentary in rabbinic letters. This too is in contrast to the first edition which was in a single column in rabbinic type with occasional headers, and some limited text in square letters. Sha’arei Ziyyon is primarily a compilation of existing prayers assembled into one work. Prayers currently recited on special festival days, such as Ribbono shel Olam, said prior to the removal of the Torah from the Ark and the Yehi Ratzon after the priestly blessing are taken from Sha’arei Ziyyon

1815, Sha’arei Ziyyon

Gershom Scholem, in describing the influence of Kabbalah on Jewish life, writes that one of the areas in which it had the greatest influence was prayer. Sha’arei Ziyyon is among the most influential books in this sphere, expressing Lurianic doctrines “of man’s mission on earth, his connections with the power of the upper worlds, the transmigrations of his soul, and his striving to achieve tikkun were woven into prayers that could be appreciated and understood by everyone, or that at least could arouse everyone’s imagination and emotion.”[25] Sylvie-Anne Goldberg describes as Sha’arei Ziyyon “one of the most widely read books in the Jewish world.”[26] The Bet Eked Sefarim enumerates fifty-four editions through 1917.[27] The National Library of Israel records an additional twelve editions through 2019.

Likkutei Zevi – Another liturgical work is R . Zevi Hirsch ben Hayyim Wilhermsdorfer’s Likkutei Zevi, a varied prayer book. Published in 1815 it too is a 14 cm. sextodecimo (160: 102 ff.). Zevi Hirsch was a scholar and printer in Wilhemsdorf, active there for almost three decades, beginning to print in 1712 at the age of twenty-nine. He was the was the author of annotations to a Selihot (1714), Darkei No’am (1724) and Likkutei Zevi (1738) published by him in Wilhemsdorf, as well as Likkutei Naftali (Fuerth, 1769).[28]

The title-page notes that Likkutei Zevi has been printed numerous times and has added prayers for the shelosh regalim, on teshuvah. Likkutei Zevi begins with prayers in large square vocalized letters, followed by prayers in smaller square unvocalized Hebrew and includes material in rabbinic letters. The text is comprised of selections form Psalms, to be said on different occasions and times of the year, such as Hodesh Elul (hafares Nedarim), Rosh HaShanah, and Yom Kippur, Mishnayot for tractates Yoma and Sukkah with the commentary of R. Obadiah Bertinoro, brief halakhot for Sukkah, material on Pesah, Iggerot Teshuvah and Rabbenah Yonah’s Yesod ha-Teshuuvah. Likkutei Zevi has proved to be a popular work, Friedberg records this as the twenty-sixth edition of fifty-eight entries for that work in the Bet Eked Sepharim through 1875, and notes further editions with supplementary material.[29]

VI

We began by noting that the Tarnopol press of Naḥman Pineles and Jacob Auerbach published a variety of valuable works “blossoms have appeared in the land, The time of your song has arrived, and the voice of the turtledove, is heard in our land. The green figs form on the fig tree. The vines in blossom give off fragrance,” this despite being “short lived and closed prematurely.” The examples of the titles issued by the press encompass philosophic, Hassidic (Kabbalistic), and Maskilic works, many clearly designed to be of communal value, such as prayer books, calendars, Hamishah Homshei Torah, and Mishlei Shelomo, others reflecting the diverse composition of the community. The varied works include books by Don Isaac ben Judah Abrabanel, Samson Ostropoler of Polonnoye, Nathan Hannover, and Menahem Mendel Lefin, and Joseph Perl.

Pineles and Auerbach were partners in the press until 1814. After that Friedberg informs that Pineles was the sole printer. He suggests that as Tarnopol was part of the Russian domain the press omitted the place of printing from some title-pages in order to mislead the Austrian censor, citing Yeshu’ot Meshiho, Hamishah Homshei Torah, Imrei Binyamin, Torat ha-Adam, Pa’ne’ah Raza, and others as examples. With the exception of Torat ha-Adam and Likkuttei Shoshanah (below) all of the titles seen and reproduced here give Tarnopol as the place of printing, which supports Friedberg that Pineles printed copies with variant title-pages for different markets. The only problem with Friedberg’s examples is that Friedberg stated that he did not see the title-page of Yeshu’ot Meshiho but included it as an example of work with variant title-pages.[30]

 

The press ceased printing in Tarnopol in 1817 due to a boycott of the press publications by the Orthodox community for supporting the Haskalah.[31] Prior to that, according to Friedberg, on July 6, (1 Sivan) 1816, after Tarnopol had returned to Austrian rule the press published Mekor Haim (1816) as well as educational works in German. The National Library of Israel lists a small a small number of later works, such as Ibacharta Bachaim (komentarz do Szulchana Arucha) by Hayyim ben Pinchas Schachter (1838) and Ma’aseh Ninveh (Prophezeiung Obadia’s, 1848), the latter also listed by the Thesaurus. The short-lived life of the Tarnopol press and the controversy over the nature of several of its works notwithstanding, in retrospect it can be said that the Tarnopol did press publish a variety of valuable works. Given the brief life of the press and its unfortunate end we might conclude “The little foxes. that ruin the vineyards— For our vineyard is in blossom.”

1813/14 Likkuttei Shoshanah

[1] Once again, I would like to express my appreciation and gratitude to Eli Genauer for reading this article and for his general editorial suggestions. All images in this article are courtesy of the National Library of Israel excepting Likkuttei Shoshanah, which is courtesy of the Library of Agudas Chassidei Chabad Ohel Yosef Yitzhak.

[2] Nathan Michael Gelber and Aharon Weiss. “Tarnopol,” Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. 19, pp. 516-518; Joseph Jacobs, Schulim Ochser, Jewish Encyclopaedia, vol. 12 pp. 63-64

[3] Jonathon Meir, “”Ternopil,” YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe 2 (New Haven & London, 2008), 855-56.

[4] Francine Shapiro,  Project Coordinator, “Tarnopol,” Encyclopedia of Jewish Communities in Poland, Volume II (Ternopil, Ukraine), Translation of “Tarnopol” chapter from Pinkas Hakehillot Polin by translated by Shlomo Sneh with the assistance of Francine Shapiro, pp. 234-51, published by Yad Vashem, Jerusalem. https://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/pinkas_poland/pol2_00234.html. The following description of Tarnopol is based on this Pinkas.

[5] “Tarnopol,” The Encyclopedia of Jewish life Before and During the Holocaust, editor in chief, Shmuel Spector; consulting editor, Geoffrey Wigoder; foreword by Elie Wiesel II (New York, 2001), III pp. 1291-93.

[6] Joshua Heschel Babad subsequently served briefly in Lublin (1828), but was compelled to leave the city because of his dispute with the Mitnaggedim there. He returned to Tarnopol serving there for almost forty years, until 1837. In 1830, Babad became ill and, in 1838, was replaced as rabbi, by the Maskil Shelomoh Yehudah Rapoport (Shir). Babad’s responsa, Sefer Yehoshu’a (Zolkiew, 1829), on Shulḥan Arukh, was considered a basic halakhic work. (Josef Horovitz, “Babad,” Encyclopedia Judaica, vol. III: vol. 3: pp. 14-15; Haim Gertner, “Babad Family,”; Yivo Encyclopedia, vol. I: pp. 102-03

[7] Ch. Friedberg: History of Hebrew Typography in Poland from its beginning in the year1534 and its development to the present. . . . Second Edition Enlarged, improved and revised from the sources (Tel Aviv, 1950), 148-49 [Hebrew].

[8] Yeshayahu Vinograd, Thesaurus of the Hebrew Book. Listing of Books Printed in Hebrew Letters Since the Beginning of Printing circa 1469 through 1863 II.(Jerusalem, 1993–95), 340-41 {Hebrew].

[9] Friedberg, History of Hebrew Typography, reports that the copy he saw lacked a title-page. He attributes this to the conditions described above.

[10] Benzion, Netanyahu, Don Isaac Abravanel: Statesman & Philosopher, (Philadelphia, 1972), var. cit.

[11] Ch. B. Friedberg, Bet Eked Sepharim, (Israel, n.d.), yod 1061 [Hebrew].

[12] M. Gaster, “Abravanel’s Literary Work,” in Isaac Abravanel. Six Lectures, ed. J. B. Trend and H. Loewe (Cambridge, 1937), pp. 48-49; and Menachem Marc Kellner, ed. and tr. Principles of Faith (Rosh Amanah) (Rutherford, 1982), pp. 11-50.

[13] Ada Rapoport-Albert, “Shimshon ben Pesaḥ of Ostropolye,” YIVO Encyclopedia 2: 1710.

[14] Hayyim Joseph David Azulai, Shem ha-Gedolim haShalem with additions by Menachem Mendel Krengel II (Jerusalem, 1979), p. 134 pe no. 123 [Hebrew].

[15] Ch. Friedberg, Bet Eked Sefarim, (Israel n.d.), pe 575 [Hebrew].

[16] National Library of Israel; Vinograd, Thesaurus of the Hebrew Book, II, 340: 7. In contrast to the two previous citations Friedberg, Bet Eked Sefarim tav records Torat ha-Adam as Tarnopol, 1812

[17] Courtesy of Virtual Judaica.

[18] Bidspirit, Winners lot 102 (January 18, 2021). Imrei Binyamin had an estimated auction price of $300-500, price realized $130. Another copy, Moreshet lot 032 (August 26, 2020), was placed on auction, estimate $350. Not sold. Virtual Judaica (September 19, 2017), estimate $200-500, price realized $100.

[19] Meyer Waxman, A History of Jewish Literature (Cranbury, 1960), vol. III pp. 142-44; Israel Zinberg, A History of Jewish Literature translated by Bernard Martin, VI (Cleveland, 1972-78), pp. 275-280

[20] Zinberg, vol. IX, p.216.

[21] Jonatan Meir, “Perl, Yosef,” YIVO Encyclopedia, vol. 1342-44.

[22] Francine Shapiro, Project Coordinator, “Tarnopol,” Encyclopedia of Jewish Communities in Poland, p.5.

[23] Concerning Hannover see Marvin J. Heller, “R. Nathan Nata ben Moses Hannover: The Life and Works of an Illustrious and Tragic Figure,” Seforim.blogspot.com, December 28, 2018, reprinted in Essays on the Making of the Early Hebrew Book, (Brill, Leiden/Boston, 2021) pp. 256-72.

[24] Concerning other such small books published as a prospective for larger unpublished see Marvin J. Heller, “Books not Printed, Dreams not Realized,” in Further Studies in the Making of the Early Hebrew Book (Brill, Leiden/Boston, 2013), pp. 285-303.

[25] Gershom Scholem, Kabbalah (NewYork, 1973), p. 193.

[26] Sylvie-Anne Goldberg, Crossing the Jabbok: Illness and death in Ashkenazi Judaism in Sixteenth through Ninteenth-Century Prague (Berkeley, 1996), p. 88.

[27] Friedberg, Bet Eked Sefarim, shin 2148. Given all of those editions it should be noted that the Bet Eked Sefarim does not include the Tarnopol edition, which, if it did, would be the thirty-ninth printing or Sha’arei Ziyyon.

[28] Concerning Zevi Hirsch ben Hayyim and his press in Wilhermsdorf see Marvin J. Heller, Printing the Talmud: A History of the Individual Treatises Printed from 1700 to 1750 (Brill, Leiden, 1999), pp. 118-52; Moshe N. Rosenfeld, Jewish Printing in Wilhermsdorf. A Concise Bibliography of Hebrew and Yiddish Publications, Printed in Wilhermsdorf between 1670 and 1739, Showing Aspects of Jewish Life Also seen Mittelfranken Three Centuries Ago Based on Public and Private Collections and Genizah Discoveries. With an Appendix ‘Archival Notes’ by Ralf Rossmeissl (London, 1995), var. cit.

[29] Friedberg, Bet Eked Sefarim, lamed 645.

[30] Friedberg, History of Hebrew Typography, op. cit.

[31] Gelber and Weiss, EJ, op. cit.




Book Week Sale 2022

Book Week Sale 2022

By Eliezer Brodt

This Book list of one Hundred twenty-five titles, is a collection from many different companies. Most of these titles were printed in the past few years and are not found in regular stores.

  1. Almost all the books are either brand new or in good shape.
  2. Email your order to eliezerbrodt@gmail.com. I will than send you a bill based on what is available. Payment is with Pay Pal or Chase QuickPay, but other arrangements can be made.
  3. Shipping is not included in the price; that depends on the order and size of the book.
  4. All books will be air mailed out after I receive payment.
  5. There are other shipping possibilities available depending on the quantity of books ordered.
  6. Most of the titles are only available at these prices for the next week.
  7. Feel free to ask for details about any specific book on the list, or for books not found on the list, such as here.
  8. All questions should be sent to me at eliezerbrodt@gmail.com
  9. Part of the proceeds of this sale will be going to help support the efforts of the Seforim Blog.
  10. Enjoy!

סטים

  1. חמדת ימים ד’ חלקים, דפוס צילום מקור, חדש $80
  2. רמב”ן דפוס ראשון, דפוס צילום מקור $70 חדש
  3. פחד יצחק סט, אנציקלופדיה $150
  4. דקדוקי סופרים כולל מסכת גיטין, סט חדש $175
  5. אוצר הגאונים סט $165
  6. זכור לאברהם, (תשפ”ב), ג’ חלקים [ניתן לקבל תוכן] כולל המון כ”י ועוד, $48

מדרשיםגאוניםראשונים פיוטים

  1. המשנה לפי כתב יד קאופמן, קדשים וטהרות, ג, $48
  2. שולמית אליצור ומיכאל רנד (עורכים), רבי אלעזר בירבי קליר: פיוטים ליום כיפור, $40
  3. שולמית אליצור ומיכאל רנד (עורכים), רבי אלעזר בירבי קליר: פיוטים לראש השנה, מהדורה שנייה, $35
  4. מדרש אגדה בראשית, על פי כ”י, מהדיר: עזרא קהלני, $30
  5. ילקוט מדרשים, כרכים ה-ט, כל כרך [הרב דשא], $19 כל כרך
  6. סידרה חדשה ‘ליקוטי מדרשים’ א-ג, ג’ חלקים מהדורה מצומצמת, כריכה רכה [הרב דשא], $10
  7. ילקוט תלמוד תורה, חלק א, [בראשית, נח] נדפס לראשונה מכתב יד, מבעל התורת המנחה, תלמיד הרשב”א, מהדורה מצומצמת, כריכה רכה, $10
  8. ארנון עצמון, בניי, היו קורין פרשה זו: עריכה ומשמעות בפסיקתא דרב כהנא, $29
  9. רלב”ג, מלחמות השם, המאמר החמישי, החלק השני והחלק השלישי, והמאמר השישי, חלק שני, $25
  10. תשובות המהר”ם מרוטנברג וחבריו, שני כרכים, עמנואל שמחה (מהדיר)  מהדורה שנייה, $65
  11. ספר הנר עירובין, $19
  12. רבינו יהונתן מלוניל, מסכת בבא קמא, מהדיר: פרופ’ שמא פרידמן,$19
  13. אורחות חיים, ב, לרבנו אהרן הכהן מלוניל, מכתב יד , $21
  14. אורחות חיים, א, לרבנו אהרן הכהן מלוניל, מכתב יד $21
  15. אורחות חיים, פסח, הגדה של פסח, לרבנו אהרן הכהן מלוניל, מכתב יד , $19
  16. הלכות ראו \ הלכות פסוקות, מכון אהבת שלום, ויד הרב ניסים, מהדיר: יוחנן ברויאר, כח+290 עמודים, $22
  17. דרשות תלמיד הרא”ש על התורה, מכתב יד, בעריכת פר’ יעקב שפיגל, $21
  18. פירוש רבינו זכאי על הרי”ף, גיטין, $20
  19. רבי זכריה בן סרוק, פרוש מגילת אחשורוש, מהדורה שניה [מהדיר: יהונתן בנחיון], $20
  20. מדרש קהלת רבה, ב, ז-יב \ קהלת זוטא ז-ט, מהדיר: פר’ ראובן קיפרווסר, $27
  21. מורה נבוכים, ג, חלקים ע”י, יוחאי מקבילי, הלל גרשוני ויחיאל קארה, [מצוין], $90
  22. אוצר הגאונים חולין חלק א, $31
  23. אוצר הגאונים, עבודה זרה, $24
  24. מירה בלברג, פתח לספרות חז”ל, $22
  25. רם בן שלום, יהודי פרובנס: רנסנס בצל הכנסייה, $29
  26. גליונות הירושלמי של רבי שאול ליברמן – שלושה כרכים, בעריכת פר’ משה עסיס 2564 עמודים, $113

דקדוקמסורה ועוד

  1. מנחת שי על חמישה חומשי תורה  מהדורה שנייה, איגוד, $50
  2. הנוספות למנחת שי  מהדורה שנייה, איגוד, $34
  3. ספר אגרון לרס”ג, $20
  4. מכלול, רד”ק, מכון שלמה אומן, על פי כתבי יד, תתקלא עמודים, $26
  5. יהונתן וורמסר, דקדוק עברי באשכנז בראשית העת החדשה תורת הלשון של ר’ זלמן הענא, $23
  6. טעמי המקרא, הורית הקורא, מקור, $34
  7. פרופ’ אהרן דותן, עיונים בלשון המקרא ובמסורה, $23
  8. יואל אליצור, שמות מקומות קדומים בארץ ישראל השתמרותם וגלגוליהם, מהדורה שלישית מתוקנת’ $32
  9. מיכאל ריזייק, בית יעקב בבית עם לועז: תולדות העברית באיטליה, $34
  10. יוסף עופר, המסורה למקרא ודרכיה, $25

אחרונים

  1. אדר”ת, שו”ת מענה אליהו, $19
  2. ר’ מיכאל טירני, תלמיד הרחמ”ל, משנת צדיקים [הלכות מילה], משנת חסידים [ה’ פדיון הבן], מכתב יד, תקט עמודים, $22
  3. מעבר יבוק, אהבת שלום דפוס חדש עם מפתחות חדשות, $22
  4. תורת המנהגים, מנהגי קושטא, שד עמודים, $17
  5. שו”ת רבינו יוסף אבן ציאח, מכתב יד, [תקופת הבית יוסף], $26
  6. הרב ריינס, וזה דבר השמיטה, מכתב יד $18
  7. ר’ עובדיה זכאי, ספר בקרבך קדוש, ניתוח קיצור קיבה בהלכה, [Stomach stapling], 350 עמודים, $21
  8. ספר הזכרונות, לר’ שמואל אבוהב, $18
  9. דרך חיים לר’ מנחם די לונזאני, $20 [מצוין]
  10. שו”ת תורה לשמה, $20
  11. ר’ מנשה גראסבערג, דגל מנשה, כולל מכתבים מכתב יד [בעריכת ר’ משה היבנר], $10
  12. ר’ גרשון ולדנברג, בניינה של אשה, תבנית הגוף בדברי חכמים ובפירושי הראשונים, 169 עמודים [מצוין]
  13. איה מקום כבודו, איתור מקום המקדש בימינו מחקרים עיונים ופולמוסים, 566 עמודים [מעניין], $24
  14. חסדי אבות, פירוש מסכת אבות לרבי דוד פרווינצאלו, מכתב יד, בעריכת פר’ יעקב שפיגל, $21
  15. ר’ שמריה שמעריל ברנדריס, עיון תפילה, תלמיד של ר’ אפרים זלמן מרגליות, [מצוין], $19
  16. תלמוד מסכת הוריות כת”י פאריש רש”י ותוס’ ראש מכתב יד, $20
  17. מנחת סוטה, שיטה על מסכת סוטה, $21
  18. ר’ שלמה סיריליאו, תלמוד מסכת עדיות, $22
  19. ר’ יצחק סילבר, אין עוד מלבדו, בעניני הכשפים והשדים, ושאר כחות הנעלמים והסגוליים… וענין הע”ז… עד דורינו…. כישוף, עין הרע ועוד, 660 עמודים, $21

מחקר ועוד

  1. מאיר רפלד, המהרש”ל וספרו ים של שלמה, 288 עמודים, $20
  2. ר’ משה הלל, חזון טברימון, תעודות מזויפות מבית היוצר של האחים טולידאנו מטבריה [ניתן לקבל התוכן]
  3. ר’ משה הלל, מסכת תמורות, תולדות ר’ מרדכי גירונדי מפאדובה, לקורות הרבנות והקהילות באיטליה בתקופת האמנציפציה וההשכלה [ניתן לקבל התוכן]
  4. שד”ל, אוהב הגר, על תרגום, $32 [ניתן לקבל התוכן]
  5. זהר עמר, ספר הרפואות של אסף הרופא, $28
  6. אריה מורגנשטרן, משיח בן יוסף ובניין ירושלים מחוץ לחומות, מיסטיקה ריבלינית ומציאות היסטורית [שוב על קול התור], $35
  7. רוני רייך, יום ביומו: חיי היום־יום של היישוב היהודי בארץ ישראל בשלהי ימי הבית השני לאור הממצא הארכיאולוג, $30
  8. בתוך מערבולת הימים: משה פראגר היסטוריון שואה חרדי / מלי איזנברג, $30
  9. עדו רכניץ, מדינת התורה הדמוקרטית, עיון במשנתם המדינית של הריא”ה הרצוג, הרא”י וולדינברג, והר”ש גורן
  10. מבוא לראבי”ה $34
  11. שרגא אברמסון, במרכזים ובתפוצות בתקופת הגאונים $32
  12. יעקב שפיגל, עמודים בתולדות הספר העברי, הדר המחבר, $25
  13. יעקב אלבוים, להבין דברים חכמים, $18
  14. כתבי עזריה מן האדומים, בעריכת ראובן בונפיל, $18
  15. דברי יוסף ר’ יוסף סמברי, $20
  16. מן הגנזים, א-טו, כל כרך $16
  17. ר’ יעקב הלל, גבורת האר”י, $16
  18. ר’ יעקב כולי, משנה כסף על רמב”ם מדע, $17
  19. זהר עמר, בעקבות תולעת השני הארץ ישראלית, 14$
  20. זהר עמר, חמשת מיני דגן, $19
  21. זהר עמר, הארגמן, $19
  22. בתורתו של ר’ גדליה $28
  23. פירוש שד”ל על התורה, 5 חלקים על פי כ”י, כולל הרבה הוספות$65
  24. פירוש שד”ל על נ”ך, 5 חלקים על פי כ”י, כולל הרבה הוספות$70
  25. שד”ל, הויכוח, ויכוח על חכמת הקבלה ועל קדמות ספר הזוהר, וקדמות הנקודות והטעמים, כרמל, 41+142 עמודים, $24
  26. ישראל תא-שמע, הנגלה שבנסתר, $20
  27. יובל הררי, חרבא דמשה, $27
  28. יעקב מאיר, דפוס ראשון: מהדורת התלמוד הירושלמי ונציה רפ״ג 1523 וראשית הדפוס העברי [מצוין], $25
  29. רועי גודלשמידט, דורשי רשומות: רטוריקה, עריכה, למדנות ומעמדות חברתיים בספרות הדרוש במזרח אירופה, $30
  30. מגלי טמירין, תנועת ההשכלה היהודית בגליציה: היסטוריה, ספרות הגות וזיכרון, $32
  31. מרדכי סבתו, תלמוד בבלי, מסכת סנהדרין פרק שני, $30
  32. מנחם לורברבוים, לפני היות החסידות, $28
  33. אהרן איתן, חרדיות ישראלית: אידיאולוגיה, ריאליה, זכויות אדם, $23
  34. ורב יעבוד צעיר; מיתוסים וסמלים בין יהדות ונצרות – שי לישראל יעקב יובל, $27
  35. ישי רוזן צבי, עדי אופיר, מגוי קדוש לגוי של שבת – האחר של היהודים: קווים לדמותו, $25
  36. מכילתא ג, $15
  37. מכילתא ב, $15
  38. מכילתא א, 15$ [כולל חיבור שלם של ר’ יוסף אביב”י על קול התור ] [מצוין]
  39. מעגל טוב, יומן מסע של החיד”א, חלק א, מהדיר: ר’ אסף רביב, כולל הקדמה, 37 עמודים, + 275 עמודים. כולל שלל תמונות, מפות, אנשים, מקומות, כתבי ידות, יותר מאלף הערות שוליים, חלק אחד בשם ‘פלס מעגל’, הכולל ידיעות חשובות על האישים אשר עמם נפגש החיד”א, המאורעות השונים אשר פגש בדרכו, כתבי היד אשר ראה ועוד ועוד. וחלק שני בשם ‘המליץ בינותם’, יבאר את סגנונו של המליצי של הרב, ומראה מקומות לכל מטבעות לשונו במרחבי התנ”ך וספרות חז”ל, $42
  40. ר’ יעקב ישראל סטל, סְגֻלָּה: גליון לתורה ולתעודה המופיע מעת לעת – אסופת גליונות 25-01, 414 עמודים,כריכה רכה, [מהדורה מודפסת של גליונות ‘סגולה’], $12
  41.  ר’ יעקב ישראל סטל , גנזי תפילין: אסופת גנזים מתורתם של ראשונים בענייני מצוַת תפילין, 74 עמודים, כריכה רכה, $8
  42.  ר’ יעקב ישראל סטל, (מהדיר), ארבע דרשות נישואין: לאחד מחכמי ביזנטיון הקדמונים, 98 עמודים, כריכה רכה, $8
  43. נתן שיפריס, שי”ר חדש: שלמה יהודה רפפורט: רבנות, השכלה, לאומיות, $27
  44. איל לוינסון, ויגדלו הנערים: מגדר ומיניות באשכנז בימי הביניים, $23
  45. נועם זדוף, גרשם שלום, $21
  46. ראובן גפני, פותח סידור: מסע בעולמם של סידורים ארץ ישראל בעת החדשה, 288 עמודים, $23
  47. יפה זלכה, פרקי מועד באגדת הירושלמי, $19
  48. עמנואל אטקס, הציונות המשיחיות של הגאון מווילנה: המצאתה של מסורת [מומלץ], $24
  49. נגה רובין, באבע מעשיות – אגדות חז”ל בתרגומים לספרי מוסר ביידיש במאות השש עשרה-שמונה עשרה, $23
  50. יעקב ברנאי, ספרדים, אשכזים, מערבים – לתולדות היישוב הישן במאות ה-18-19, $37
  51. מרדכי פכטר, חבורות וחיבורים – עיונים בספרות המוסר הקבלית של חכמי צפת במאה הט”ז, $33
  52. מרדכי פכטר, שורש האמונה הוא שורש המרי – עיונים בקבלה, חסידות ומשנת הרב קוק, $37
  53. משה חלמיש, סדר יומו של מקובל, $31
  54. כף הקטורת, פירוש קבלי לספר תהילים לרבינו יוסף טאיטאצאק, $56
  55. יהודה ליבס, לצבי ולגאון, משבתי צבי אל גאון מווילנא, 408 עמודים, $30
  56. משה חלמיש, הריטואל הקבלי – שילוב של הגות ומעשה, $24
  57. יעקב ברנאי: שבתאות – היבטים היסטוריוגרפיים, $37
  58. משה חלמיש, לקט פתגמים וילקוט מאמרים, $37
  59. רפאל שוחט, שיחות ר’ חיים מוולוזין עם תלמידי הישיבה, 274 עמודים, $37
  60. הלל צייטלין, געגועים ליופי, שלש מסות, בעריכת יונתן מאיר ולי ברטוב, $25
  61. הלל צייטלין, בחביון הנשמה, שלש מסות, בעריכת יונתן מאיר ושמואל גלובר-זמרה, $25
  62. בעקבות משיח, אוסף מקורות בענין שבתאות, מאת גרשום שלום, עם תיקונים והשלמות מיונתן מאיר, $29
  63. ר’ אהרן שמואל תמרת, תהו ובהו, $25
  64. הרב זייני, עץ ארז חלק ז, 400 עמודים , $19




Book week 2022

Book week 2022

By Eliezer Brodt

Book week just began in Eretz Yisrael. Continuing with my now fifteenth year tradition B”h, every year in Israel, around Shavuos time, there is a period of about ten days called Shavuah Hasefer – Book Week.

Many of the companies offer sales for the whole month. Shavuah HaSefer is a sale which takes place all across the country in stores, malls and special places rented out just for the sales. There are places where strictly “frum” seforim are sold and other places have most of the secular publishing houses. Many publishing houses release new titles specifically at this time.

In my lists, I sometimes include an older title, from a previous year, if I just noticed the book. As I have written in the past, I do not intend to include all the new books. Eventually some of these titles will be the subject of their own reviews. I try to include titles of broad interest. As this list shows although book publishing in book form has dropped greatly worldwide, Academic books on Jewish related topics and Seforim are still coming out in full force. Note: Just because a book is listed below does not mean its on sale.

The second section below are titles that were printed in the past year, on a wide range of topics. These items are not specifically on sale at this time or easy to find. In addition, this is not an attempt to include everything or even close to that.

The purpose of the list is to help Seforim Blog readership learn about some of the seforim and Books that have been published in the past year.

To receive a PDF of the sale catalogs of Mechon Yerushalayim, Zichron Ahron, Ahavat Shalom and other non-academic distributors, e-mail me at Eliezerbrodt-at-gmail.com.

In the lists below I have not included everything found in these catalogs as some items are not out yet and are coming out shortly. Others items I have not seen yet so I have not mentioned them as I try to only list items I have actually seen.

A second purpose of this list is, to make these works available for purchase for those interested. As in previous years I am offering a service, for a small fee to help one purchase these titles (or titles of previous years). For more information about this email me at Eliezerbrodt-at-gmail.com.

Part of the proceeds will be going to support the efforts of the the Seforim Blog.

מגנס

  1. יעקב מאיר, דפוס ראשון: מהדורת התלמוד הירושלמי ונציה רפ״ג 1523 וראשית הדפוס העברי [מצוין]
  2. מחקרי ירושלים בספרות עברית – פעמי שולמית: מחקרי שירה ופיוט לכבוד שולמית אליצור
  3. ארנון עצמון, בניי, היו קורין פרשה זו: עריכה ומשמעות בפסיקתא דרב כהנא
  4. קובץ על יד, כרך כז
  5. רועי גודלשמידט, דורשי רשומות: רטוריקה, עריכה, למדנות ומעמדות חברתיים בספרות הדרוש במזרח אירופה
  6. מגלי טמירין, תנועת ההשכלה היהודית בגליציה: היסטוריה, ספרות הגות וזיכרון
  7. יוסף עופר, המסורה למקרא ודרכיה
  8. בלהה שילה, השבה והחמצה: תום התקופה האירופית של ייווא
  9. ערן ויזל, כוונת התורה וכוונת הקורא בה: פרקי התמודדות
  10. שולמית אליצור ומיכאל רנד (עורכים), רבי אלעזר בירבי קליר: פיוטים ליום כיפור
  11. שולמית אליצור ומיכאל רנד (עורכים), רבי אלעזר בירבי קליר: פיוטים לראש השנה, מהדורה שנייה
  12. צבי מזא”ה, על הסיבובים של כדורי השמים: גלגוליה של המהפכה הקופרניקאית
  13. שמחה קוגוט, המקרא בין טעמים לפרשנות [דפוס שלישי]
  14. המוות והפילוסופיה של ההלכה
  15. מדרש אגדה בראשית, על פי כ”י, מהדיר: עזרא קהלני
  16. יהושע בלאו, מצב המחקר של קשרי הערבית וספרותה עם הספרות העברית בימי הביניים

 מהדורה שנייה, איגוד

  1. תשובות המהר”ם מרוטנברג וחבריו שני כרכים, עמנואל שמחה (מהדיר)
  2. מנחת שי על חמישה חומשי תורה
  3. הנוספות למנחת שי

 Littman

  1. Haym Soloveitchik, Rupture and Reconstruction: The Transformation of Modern Orthodoxy
  2. Daniel Lasker, Karaism: An Introduction

ביאליק

  1. רלב”ג, מלחמות השם, המאמר החמישי, החלק השני והחלק השלישי, והמאמר השישי, חלק שני
  2. יהונתן וורמסר, דקדוק עברי באשכנז בראשית העת החדשה תורת הלשון של ר’ זלמן הענא
  3. פרופ’ אהרן דותן, עיונים בלשון המקרא ובמסורה
  4. מרדכי סבתו, תלמוד בבלי, מסכת סנהדרין פרק שני
  5. מנחם לורברבוים, לפני היות החסידות
  6. אהרן איתן, חרדיות ישראלית: אידיאולוגיה, ריאליה, זכויות אדם

בר אילן

  1. אוריאל סימון, דיוקן של פרשן, אבן עזרא
  2. אבישר הר־שפי, הסיפור הפועל: עיונים חדשים בסיפור החסיד
  3. ברכי אליצור, דיוקן בשביל הדורות: דמויות מקראיות מהתנ״ך ועד לספרות חז״ל
  4. תמיד הונגרים: יהודי הונגריה בתמורות העת החדשה
  5. רבקה קדוש, סיפורי הרב יוסף חיים מבגדאד
  6. קובי בן ארי, רועי צאן ונוודים בארץ ישראל, היבטים כלכליים והתיישבותיים בתקופה הרומית־ביזנטית
  7. חנן חבר, חסידות, השכלה, ציונות
  8. יצחק ש’ פנקובר, מנחם בן-ישר, המקרא בפרשנות חז”ל – יונה
  9. מיכל אוחנה, עיונים בהגותו של ר׳ שאול סיררו: פרק בתולדות ההגות היהודית בפאס
  10. אברהם שמש, ריח שדה: בשמים מהצומח ומהחי בספרות הברכות – תרבות חומרית, היסטוריה והלכה
  11. סידרא לג
  12. רועי הורן, הבעל שם טוב וקבלת האר”י, כוונות ויחודים להמתקת הדינים שמסר מחולל החסידות לתלמידיו
  13. עלי ספר ל-לא: שם לשמואל – מחקרים בתולדות הספר העברי לזכרו של ר’ שמואל אשכנזי
  14. בד”ד, לו
  15. דעת, צ
  16. יצחק הרשקוביץ, פנים במחשבת ההלכה, פעמי תחייה הלכתית במשנתו של הרב ד”ר מרדכי פוגלמן
  17. דוד ליטמן ויוסף פנטון, אלף שנות גלות במע’רב: יהודים תחת שלטון האסלאם, מקורות ומסמכים (997-1912)

כרמל

  1. אליהו אשתור, תולדות היהודים במצרים ובסוריה, תחת שלטון הממלוכים, דפוס צילום, ג’ חלקים
  2. ורב יעבוד צעיר; מיתוסים וסמלים בין יהדות ונצרות – שי לישראל יעקב יובל
  3. גליונות הירושלמי של רבי שאול ליברמן – שלושה כרכים, בעריכת פר’ משה עסיס 2564 עמודים
  4. יוסף פונד, דגל לקטנים – עיתונות הילדים של אגודת ישראל
  5. גרשום שלום, שבתי צבי והתנועה השבתאית בימי חייו (שני כרכים)
  6. אפרים חמיאל, הויית החכמה וגידולה – פרקי מחקר ופרשנות
  7. חגי שטמלר, שמונה איגרות מהרב צבי יהודה קוק – על היסטוריוסופיה, פילוסופיה, תיאולוגיה וציונות
  8. ישי רוזן צבי, עדי אופיר, מגוי קדוש לגוי של שבת – האחר של היהודים: קווים לדמותו

אקדמיה ללשון העברית

  1. יואל אליצור, שמות מקומות קדומים בארץ ישראל השתמרותם וגלגוליהם, מהדורה שלישית מתוקנת
  2. המשנה לפי כתב יד קאופמן, קדשים וטהרות, ג
  3. מיכאל ריזייק, בית יעקב בבית עם לועז: תולדות העברית באיטליה

בן צבי

  1. גנזי קדם יז
  2. ספונות כז
  3. דב הכהן, אוצר הספרים בלאדינו, 1490-1960 ביבליוגרפיה מחקרים מוערת
  4. רונית שושני, טעמי המקרא במסורת הבבלית
  5. יהושע גרנט, אזכרה מזמור, מזמורי תהילים בפיוטי יוסף אביתור 
  6. נוה שלום, פירוש על תפסיר רב סעדיה גאון, רב עמרם קרח (מחבר), נחם אילן הקדמה, מבוא ועוד

מרכז זלמן שזר

  1. מנשה ענזי, הצנעאנים: יהודים בתימן המוסלמית, 1872-1950
  2. דורון לופז, יהודה השבויה: רומא והיהודים לאחר החורבן
  3. נתן שיפריס, שי”ר חדש: שלמה יהודה רפפורט: רבנות, השכלה, לאומיות
  4. איל לוינסון, ויגדלו הנערים: מגדר ומיניות באשכנז בימי הביניים
  5. נועם זדוף, גרשם שלום

הרצוגתבונות

  1. ראובן גפני, פותח סידור: מסע בעולמם של סידורים ארץ ישראל בעת החדשה, 288 עמודים
  2. ובחג השבועות – קובץ מאמרים על חג השבועות
  3. אביחי צור, השורש הנעלם – על ר’ צדוק הכהן מלובלין (3 כרכים)
  4. יפה זלכה, פרקי מועד באגדת הירושלמי
  5. נגה רובין, באבע מעשיות – אגדות חז”ל בתרגומים לספרי מוסר ביידיש במאות השש עשרה-שמונה עשרה
  6. משנת ארץ ישראל, ספראי, סוטה
  7. משנת ארץ ישראל, ספראי, גיטין
  8. משנת ארץ ישראל, ספראי, קידושין
  9. נטועים, כב

קורןמגיד

  1. יונתן גרוסמן, תורת הקרבנות
  2. Moshe Sokol, The Snake at the Mouth of the Cave
  3. Rabbi Eitam Henkin, Studies in Halakah and Rabbinic History
  4. Dr. Eddie Reichman, The Anatomy of Jewish Law
  5. Dov Zakheim, The Prince and the Emperors – The Life and Times of Rabbi Judah the Prince
  6. Nishmat Ha-Bayit, Edited by Rabbi Yehuda & Rabbanit Chana Henkin
  7. Daniel Chertoff, Palestine Posts: An Eye witness Account of the Birth of Israel

אידרא

  1. יעקב ברנאי, ספרדים, אשכזים, מערבים – לתולדות היישוב הישן במאות ה-18-19
  2. מרדכי פכטר, חבורות וחיבורים – עיונים בספרות המוסר הקבלית של חכמי צפת במאה הט”ז
  3. מרדכי פכטר, שורש האמונה הוא שורש המרי – עיונים בקבלה, חסידות ומשנת הרב קוק
  4. ציפי קויפמן, טבילה בשכינה עיונים חדשים בחקר החסידות
  5. יעקב קולר, המשיחיות היהודית בעידן האמנציפציה

בלימה

  1. בעקבות משיח, אוסף מקורות בענין שבתאות, מאת גרשום שלום, עם תיקונים והשלמות מיונתן מאיר
  2. ר’ אהרן שמואל תמרת, תהו ובהו
  3. Jonatan Meir & S. Yamamoto, Gershom Scholem and the Research of Sabbatianism

בית מדרש לרבנים JTS

  1. מדרש קהלת רבה, ב, ז-יב \ קהלת זוטא ז-ט, מהדיר: פר’ ראובן קיפרווסר

ידיעות ספרים

  1. בשובך לציון, הרב אהרון ליכטנשטיין והרב יהודה עמיטל, שיחות ליום העצמאות וליום ירושלים
  2. מגלת קהלת, אביגדור שנאן
  3. מורה נבוכים, ג’ חלקים ע”י, יוחאי מקבילי, הלל גרשוני ויחיאל קארה, [מצוין]
  4. ר’ ברנדס, המקף והאליפסה
  5. ר’ חיים סבתו, טוב עין, שיעורים
  6. יונתן גרוסמן, יוסף – סיפורם של חלומות

חבד

  1. ר’ יקותיאל פרקש, כללי הפוסקים וההוראה משו”ע אדמו”ר הזקן – מהדורה חדשה
  2. ר’ ניר הלוי גורביץ, חקרי הלכה ומנהג, ב’ חלקים
  3. ר’ ניר הלוי גורביץ, חקרי הלכה ומנהג חלק ג
  4. ר’ גורארי’, אהלי ליובאוויטש, חלק ב
  5. הנ”ל, חקרי מנהגים כרך ו
  6. חיים גראביצר, גלגולו של חסיד

רזייני

  1. אוצר הגאונים חולין חלק א’
  2. הרב זייני, עץ ארז חלק ז, 400 עמודים 
  3. הרב זייני, ישועת ה’, בענין אמירת הלל וברכת שהחיינו ביום העצמאות

אהבת שלום

  1. שו”ת זרע אמת, א-ג לרבי ישמעאל הכהן אב”ד מודנא
  2. ר’ מיכאל טירני, תלמיד הרחמ”ל, משנת צדיקים [הלכות מילה], משנת חסידים [ה’ פדיון הבן], מכתב יד, תקט עמודים
  3. שו”ת הוד יוסף להבן איש חי
  4. מן הגנזים טו
  5. מעבר יבק
  6. תורת המנהגים, מנהגי קושטא, שד עמודים
  7. שו”ת רבינו יוסף אבן ציאח, מכתב יד, [תקופת הבית יוסף] 

מכון ירושלים

  1. תשובות ר’ חיים ולואזין,
  2. שיח יצחק חגיגה

זכרון אהרן

  1. שו”ת דבר שמואל, כולל ספר הזכרונות, זכרון אהרן
  2. שו”ת שבות יעקב, ג’ חלקים, זכרון אהרן

מכון שלמה אומן

  1. מכלול, רד”ק, מכון שלמה אומן, על פי כתבי יד, תתקלא עמודים
  2. סמ”ג לאוין א-קכו, עם מבוא מקיף ומתוקן ומדור שינויי נוסחאות מתוקן, פורמט חדש, 1100 עמודים
  3. סמ”ג עשיין, א-פא, עם מבוא מקיף ומתוקן ומדור שינויי נוסחאות מתוקן, פורמט חדש, 1000 עמודים

שאר ספרים שיצאו שונות

ראשונים

  1. אורחות חיים, ב, לרבנו אהרן הכהן מלוניל, מכתב יד
  2. ר’ יהודה זייבלד, (עורך) ספר גנוזות הרמב”ם ובית מדרשו – שבת ועירובין
  3. חידושי הר”י מלוניל, מסכת בבא מציעא
  4. שרידים מפירוש הר”ש משאנץ למשניות אהלות, מכתב יד שמצא פר’ דב זלוטניק בתוך כריכת ספר, בעריכת דוד קירשנבוים, 37 עמודים
  5. דרשות תלמיד הרא”ש על התורה, מכתב יד, בעריכת פר’ יעקב שפיגל 
  6. פירוש רבינו זכאי על הרי”ף, גיטין
  7. רבי זכריה בן סרוק, פרוש מגילת אחשורוש, מהדורה שניה [מהדיר: יהונתן בנחיון]

אחרונים

  1. ר’ רפאל יצחק מאייו, שו”ת שפת הים
  2. שו”ת שאגת אריה, החדשות, מכון משנת ר’ אהרן 
  3. ר’ צבי הירש ליברמאן, חמדת צבי
  4. שו”ת בית יעקב [מצוין]
  5. ליקוטי ר’ יצחק מפוניבז’
  6. ר’ שמרי’ יצחק בלאך, דברי שמריהו יצחק, תולדות, אגרות, כתבי יד, [תרכ”ג-תרפ”ד]
  7. ר’ זאב אלטשולר, אבני קודש, (שיר השירים), אבן פינה (מגילת רות), בית נאמן בעניני אמונה (מכתב יד) [נדפס לראשונה שקלוב תקנ”ד]

הלכה

  1. יד אהרן, על טור ובית יוסף, מהדורה חדשה
  2. ספר פוע”ה כרך ד – גינקולוגיה, מחלות, חברה ומחקר
  3. עמק ברכה, לאביו של השל”ה, דפוס חדש, תתרח עמודים
  4. ר’ נריה גוטל, ממשפטי המלוכה, אחריות לאומית כשיקול פסיקה, 316 עמודים
  5. ר’ יואל שילה, בינה הגיגי, 650 עמודים
  6. המדריך לכהנים לשמירת קדושתם בארץ ישראל
  7. ר’ שלמה שיינמן, אוצר תפילין דר”ת
  8. ר’ אליקום דבורקס, נתיבי המנהגים, בעניני תעניות הציבור והיחיד
  9. ר’ מנחם בלומענפרוכט, חלב טריפה
  10. ר’ שמחה ולדנברג, בינת שמחה, אורח חיים, כולל הערות על המשנה ברורה, תיד עמודים
  11. ר’ משה אהרן פייאצה, אורה שמחה, דיני ומנהגי פורים
  12. הרב ריינס, וזה דבר השמיטה, מכתב יד
  13. תורת יהונתן, שביעית 
  14. ר’ יוסף ענגיל, אוצרות יוסף שביעית
  15. ר’ עקיבא ויספלד, חוקים ומשפטים, ב, ירושת שררה, [מעניין]
  16. ר’ יגאל אלון, משפטי הנפש, מחלות נפש לאור ההלכה, תקמד עמודים
  17. רבי שריה דבליצקי, תיקון חצות \ תנאים טובים \ דיני תפילת הדרך
  18. חזון עובדיה, שמיטה
  19. ר’ אורי סדן, אורות החושן, עבודה וקבלנות
  20. משנה ברורה, חלק א, אליבא דהלכתא, 1104 עמודים
  21. ר’ משה ידלר, מאור השבת, ה, בישול ופתיחות אריות ובקבוקים, תתקסט עמודים [מלא חומר חשוב]
  22. ר’ דוד יוסף, הלכה ברורה, חלק יח-יט
  23. ר’ אברהם כץ, הבדלת מראש, חלק ב, סעודה שלישית הבדלה ומוצאי שבת
  24. ר’ אברהם כץ, תחנונים ידבר רא”ש, תחנון, קריאת התורה, יארצייט
  25. ר’ עובדיה זכאי, ספר בקרבך קדוש, ניתוח קיצור קיבה בהלכה, [Stomach stapling], 350 עמודים
  26. ר’ חיים פרקש, נקדש את שמך, שמות קדש וחול ושמות המסופקים בתורה ובנביאים ובכתובים, תקמא עמודים 
  27. ר’ שריה דבליצקי זצ”ל, קיצור הלכות מועדים, שבועות, משוש כל הארץ, אחר כתלנו, תיקון ליל שבועות, רסה עמודים
  28. ר’ ירחמיאל פריד, אמת וצדק, על שו”ע הלכות גירות, תקכד עמודים
  29. ר’ ינון בר כוכבא, זית רענן, שיעור כזית, מש”ס פוסקים והמציאות
  30. ר’ איתם הנקין, הי”ד, לכם יהיה לאכלה, כולל הוספות ותיקונים מכתב יד
  31. ר’ משה קוטקס, מדריך לקבר כהלכה, דירוג וסגי הקבורה בליווי תמונות

קבצים

  1. זכור לאברהם ג’ חלקים [ניתן לקבל תוכן] כולל המון כ”י ועוד
  2. מכילתא ג
  3. קובץ חידושי תורה אהל רחל, ד, מתורתו של מרן הגאון רבי שלמה פישר זצוק”ל
  4. ישורון מג
  5. ישורון מד
  6. תחומין מא
  7. משביר, ז
  8. משביר, ח
  9. היכל הבעש”ט, מב
  10. קובץ בית יוסף אסופה מכתבי יד ממרן רבינו עובדיה יוסף… ומאמרים… ע”פ דרכו, גליון מז, תרנג עמודים
  11. עץ חיים, לז
  12. דיני ישראל, לו-לז
  13. שנתון משפט העברי, לא

תפילה

  1. סידור דובר שלום מרבי יצחק אליהו לנדא, המגיד מוילנא, אלף ולו עמודים, כולל פירוש שלו על הגדה של פסח ומסכת אבות
  2. ר’ שמריה שמעריל ברנדריס, עיון תפילה, תלמיד של ר’ אפרים זלמן מרגליות, [מצוין]
  3. שלמה ברק, סדר בסידור
  4. ר’ יאיר שאקי, סידור ארץ ישראל
  5. מקורי התפילה חלק ג
  6. סידור הגר”א, בנגלה ובנסתר, מכון הגר”א
  7. סידור הגר”א בנגלה ובנסתר, המתוקן והמהודר, נערכו ונסדרו ע”י הגאון ר’ נפתלי הרץ הלוי, ועוד

תולדות

  1. מבוא לתלמוד, ארטסקרול, כולל אגרת ר’ שרירא גאון ועוד
  2. ר’ אהרן גאטעהרער, הקדמות הרמב”ם ליד החזקה, עם ביאור, אגרות רב שרירא גאון עם הערות, ק’ זכרון לראשונים לר’ צדוק הכהן, רנא עמודים
  3. הרמ”ק בספרי תלמידיו ובני דורו, 112 עמודים
  4. מעגל טוב, יומן מסע של החיד”א, חלק א, מהדיר: ר’ אסף רביב, כולל הקדמה, 37 עמודים, + 275 עמודים. כולל שלל תמונות, מפות, אנשים, מקומות, כתבי ידות, יותר מאלף הערות שוליים, חלק אחד בשם ‘פלס מעגל’, הכולל ידיעות חשובות על האישים אשר עמם נפגש החיד”א, המאורעות השונים אשר פגש בדרכו, כתבי היד אשר ראה ועוד ועוד. וחלק שני בשם ‘המליץ בינותם’, יבאר את סגנונו של המליצי של הרב, ומראה מקומות לכל מטבעות לשונו במרחבי התנ”ך וספרות חז”ל.
  5. מעגל טוב, מכון המאור, כולל הרבה חומר חשוב מכת”י
  6. מאיר רפלד, המהרש”ל וספרו ים של שלמה, 288 עמודים
  7. גאון ישראל, על ר’ שלמה זלמן אויערבאך זצ”ל, 1021 עמודים
  8. אביר הרועים, ר’ עובדיה יוסף, חלק ג
  9. ר’ צבי ירבוב, שגדל בתורה, על ר’ חיים קניבסקי זצ”ל
  10. היומן – על ר’ אברהם דוב אויערבאך זצ”ל
  11. קונטרס אביר הרועים על הבעל שם טוב
  12. אוצר הגדולים, מהדורה חדשה, ד’ חלקים
  13. שיחות החפץ חיים, דרכיו נמוקיו ושיחותיו, מחיי אבא
  14. שמואל פינקל, גיבורי כוח נשכחים, מזכרת בתיה שדה קרב קדום על נשמת ארץ ישראל [מצוין]
  15. רבינו שלמה קורח, יחידי סגולה
  16. רבנו, א-ד על ר’ צבי יהודה קוק

מחקר

  1. ר’ משה הלל, חזון טברימון, תעודות מזויפות מבית היוצר של האחים טולידאנו מטבריה
  2. ר’ משה הלל, מסכת תמורות, תולדות ר’ מרדכי גירונדי מפאדובה, לקורות הרבנות והקהילות באיטליה בתקופת האמנציפציה וההשכלה [ניתן לקבל התוכן]
  3. שד”ל, אוהב הגר, על תרגום
  4. זהר עמר, ספר הרפואות של אסף הרופא
  5. אריה מורגנשטרן, משיח בן יוסף ובניין ירושלים מחוץ לחומות, מיסטיקה ריבלינית ומציאות היסטורית [שוב על קול התור]
  6. רוני רייך, יום ביומו: חיי היום־יום של היישוב היהודי בארץ ישראל בשלהי ימי הבית השני לאור הממצא הארכיאולוג
  7. בתוך מערבולת הימים: משה פראגר היסטוריון שואה חרדי / מלי איזנברג
  8. כתבי יד מארם צובה – ד”ר מיכאל ריגלר
  9. עדו רכניץ, מדינת התורה הדמוקרטית, עיון במשנתם המדינית של הריא”ה הרצוג, הרא”י וולדינברג, והר”ש גורן
  10. גדעון כ”ץ, בדממה וקול, ליבוביץ בהקשר ישראלי
  11. ברכיהו ליפשיץ, מתנות שקיומן לאחר מיתה, בין קניין לבין התחייבות

שאר ספרים

  1. ר’ יצחק רצאבי, ספר ביצי נעמיות בבתי כנסיות
  2. ר’ חיים דוב לימאן, אוצר פנינים, ב’ חלקים, 1707 עמודים, מלא חומר מעניין
  3. ר’ מרדכי ציון, הלכות מצוה טאנץ
  4. ר’ מנשה גראסבערג, דגל מנשה, כולל מכתבים מכתב יד [בעריכת ר’ משה היבנר]
  5. ספרי זוטא, נשא בהעלותך עם פי’ באר אש, מנחת אש, לר’ אהרן שליו, תשט עמודים
  6. ספר גורלות החול חלק ב, מכתב יד, רבינו יהודה אלחריזי, קלב + 83 עמודים
  7. ספר גורלות החול חלקים ג-ה
  8. ר’ אפרים פישל הערשקאוויטש, שמע אפרים, בראשית, תקסט עמודים
  9. שיח דבר, אגרות ומכתבי תורה בין… מרן… הגאון רבי חיים קנייבסקי… והגאון רבי דוב לנדו, תעח עמודים
  10. ר’ יעקב זשוראוועל, מנחה קטנה, על מצות דרבנן, צא עמודים
  11. ר’ יצחק פוס, חמודי יצחק, בראשית, תתסד עמודים
  12. ר’ ישעיה רומאנין [מבני החבורה של ישיבת הרחמ”ל], מוסר מלכים, שסב +מב עמודים
  13. ר’ אליהו נאה, חקר מנהגי הנישואין, מקורות טעמים, רכד עמודים
  14. דרכי מרן, ר’ יוסף קארו, על כללי השו”ע והרמ”א, תתקסג עמודים
  15. תרגם מנחם על אונקלוס, ב’ חלקים
  16. מתורתו של הצפנת פענח על התורה והמועדים, עם פרקי תולדותיו, רמד עמודים
  17. ר’ אוריאל מקסימוב, יום השישי, ביאורים ועיונים בשער הכוונות של האריז”ל, חלק הכנת לשבת קודש, תעג עמודים
  18. ר’ נחמיה גבאי, עבר הירדן, בענין גבולות הארץ
  19. ר’ חיים חנון, צורת הארץ, צורת הארץ בליווי מפות…
  20. ר’ דניאל רובין, מראה המסעות
  21. ר’ עזריה אריאל, טהרת ישראל, חלק ב על טהרות
  22. אנציקלופדיה תלמודית, כרכים מז-מח
  23. דרשות נודע ביהודה, ב’ חלקים, כולל דרשות מכתב יד [מצוין]
  24. דרשות מחצית השקל [כולל דרשה לראש השנה]
  25. דרוש תפלת ישרים, לר’ יעקב עמדין
  26. ר’ יוסף אליהו מייערס, ציורי הרמב”ם למסכת מדות
  27. ר’ יהודה לנדי, שלש ארצות לשביעית תחומים וגבולות, מהדורה מתוקנת [מצוין]
  28. משניות שביעית, עם אנציקלופדיה הלכתית חקלאית, מכון התורה והארץ, 355 עמודים
  29. ר’ גרשון ולדנברג, בניינה של אשה, תבנית הגוף בדברי חכמים ובפירושי הראשונים, 169 עמודים [מצוין]
  30. איה מקום כבודו, איתור מקום המקדש בימינו מחקרים עיונים ופולמוסים, 566 עמודים [מעניין]
  31. לא בשמים היא, לבאר גודל המצוה לש העסק בפנימיות התורה, ומתי ואיך אפשר לעסוק בסודות התורה, קסג עמודים
  32. המערה – מקיף ומלבן בייחודיות מעשה רשב”י במערה, ובו התבארו בס”ד 70 קושיות חזקות על המעשה ועל כל קושיא תירוצים רבים ונפלאים ענייני רשב”י ההילולא, והעליה מירונה.
  33. ר’ שרגא פייבל שטרנפלד, פרשת סוטה, רמב”ם הלכות סוטה, תלט עמודים
  34.  ר’ חיים הדרי, קול בהדר, שיחות עומק ורוחב בתנך
  35. ר’ אליהו גרנצייג, מקרא העדה דברים א
  36. ר’ יהודה לינצ’נר, שרשי לשון הקודש
  37. ר’ מאיר מאזוז, שמות ב’ כרכים
  38. הנ”ל, שו”ת בית נאמן, ב
  39. הנ”ל, דרכי העיון, מהדורה רביעי
  40. ר’ אשר דוד מייערס, מלאכת בגדי כהונה
  41. ר’ יצחק פרוינד, עבודת אהרן, בענייני המשכן וכליו והעובדים בו
  42. ר’ יוסף תירשום, שושן יסוד העולם, מכתב יד
  43. חפץ חיים עם שיעורי ר’ הלל זקס
  44. חסדי אבות, פירוש מסכת אבות לרבי דוד פרווינצאלו, מכתב יד, בעריכת פר’ יעקב שפיגל
  45. ר’ יעקב העבר, לב אבות על פרקי אבות
  46. ר’ יצחק סילבר, אין עוד מלבדו, בעניני הכשפים והשדים, ושאר כחות הנעלמים והסגוליים… וענין הע”ז… עד דורינו…. כישוף, עין הרע ועוד, 660 עמודים 
  47. צרי היגון, לרבנו שם טוב בר יוסף אבן פלקירא, קיב עמודים
  48. ר’ אליהו אלימלך, ארון הברית
  49. ר’ הירש מבוא תורה שבעל פה
  50. גידולי תרומה על ספר התרומות, שער מה, שמיטת כספים ופרוזבול, כולל שו”ת של המחבר
  51. ר’ חיים סלומון, שבילי טהרות, בדיני טומאת מת כולל דיני אהלות המצויים בזמנינו
  52. פתח האהל, ממזרח שמש, קובץ מאמרים, בענין קו התאריך
  53. סידרה חדשה ‘ליקוטי מדרשים’ א-ג, ג’ חלקים מהדורה מצומצמת, כריכה רכה [הרב דשא]
  54. ילקוט תלמוד תורה, חלק א, [בראשית, נח] נדפס לראשונה מכתב יד, מבעל התורת המנחה, תלמיד הרשב”א, מהדורה מצומצמת, כריכה רכה
  55. ר’ אליהו כהן, מנחת אליהו, ספר שיטות וכללי הפוסקים וש”ת סביב תורת הקבלה
  56. תרגום אונקלוס, ויקרא
  57. פירוש הגר”א על כמה אגדות
  58. רזא דמהימנותא עם פירוש רזא דארמונ”י

ספרי ריעקב ישראל סטל

  1. סְגֻלָּה: גליון לתורה ולתעודה המופיע מעת לעת – אסופת גליונות 25-01, 414 עמודים,כריכה רכה, [מהדורה מודפסת של גליונות ‘סגולה’]
  2. גנזי תפילין: אסופת גנזים מתורתם של ראשונים בענייני מצוַת תפילין, 74 עמודים, כריכה רכה
  3. ארבע דרשות נישואין: לאחד מחכמי ביזנטיון הקדמונים, 98 עמודים, כריכה רכה.




Psalms 117:1-2: Why Are the Goyim Praising God?

Psalms 117:1-2: Why Are the Goyim Praising God?[1]

By Mitchell First
MFirstAtty@aol.com

 

In Hallel, has only two verses:

1) Praise Hashem all goyim; Laud him all the umim.

2) For his ḥesed is great?[2] עלינו and the emet of Hashem is forever, Halleluyah.

Why are the nations of the world to be praising God? Because his ḥesed is great on the Israelites? Does this make sense? I first read about this interpretive issue in Rabbi Hayyim Angel’s excellent article in Through an Opaque Lens (2006). I am writing this article to collect more sources and expand the discussion. I will also offer a different solution than the various solutions proposed by Rabbi Angel.

Admittedly it is possible to read the two verses as independent of one another. But in the simplest reading they are connected by that explanatory word כי (=for) and the author is asking the nations of his time to praise God because of the extravagant ḥesed that God has provided to the nation of Israel.

A Sage in the Talmud (Pes. 118b) realizes this difficulty and reads the verse as follows: “Praise Hashem all nations”- for the great acts and wonders which God does for the nations; how much more so should we praise Him, for his chesed is great on us…” In other words, this Sage suggests that the second part of the verse refers to Israelites praising God, even though that is not mentioned in the verse.?[3]

How do our commentaries deal with our issue?

Rashi writes that we should reinterpret the word כי so that it instead means “even though.” This drastically changes the meaning of the verse. R. Angel explains: “Rashi intimates that the nations are generally unhappy about God’s distinctive relationship with Israel. The Psalmist…calls to the nations to rise above their initial antagonism.”

It is true that כי has multiple meanings and “even though” is one of them. But this is still far from a plain sense reading of the verse.

Rashbam has an interesting approach to our verse (found in his comm. to Deut. 32:43). The nations are being told to believe in and praise God. If they do, he will give them great ḥesed just like he gave to Israel. This is clever but it does not read well into the verse.

Radak solves the difficulty a different way. The verse is talking about the messianic era. He cites Tzefaniah 3:9: “Then I will turn to the peoples…that they may all call the name of Hashem to worship Him with one shoulder.”?[4] Radak adds that the nations did not believe that God could liberate the Israelites from being subjugated. On seeing that he did, they will praise him.

Malbim suggests a specific context for the psalm. In the late 8th century BCE Sancheriv exiled the Israelites and exiled non-Israelites with them. Eventually, God will return the Israelites together with these non-Israelites. Since God’s rescue of the Israelites will benefit these non-Israelites, they will praise him. There are of course no clues to any of this in these two verses.

The Daat Mikra commentary (composed by Amos Chacham) takes the approach that when Israel is downtrodden, the nations mock the God of Israel. See, e.g., Ps. 115:2: “Why should the nations say now: ‘Where is their God?’.” Conversely, when Israel is succeeding, the nations are impressed and praise him. It cites Ezekiel 36:23: “I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am Hashem… when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.” Thus, Daat MIkra interprets the background to Psalms 117:1-2 to be that the nations have seen that God saved Israel.

Another approach is to deny the legitimacy of the question. It seems that there are many other verses in the book of Psalms where the nations of the world are called upon to praise God for saving Israel. This approach is taken by R. Feivel Meltzer in his Pnei Sefer Tehillim (1982), p. 332.?[5]

For example, at Ps. 98: 2-4, we have: “Hashem has made His salvation known and revealed His righteousness to the nations. He has remembered His love and his faithfulness to Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Shout for joy to Hashem all the earth…”

Also, at Ps. 100:1-3: “Make a joyful sound to Hashem, all the lands.  Serve Hashem with gladness. Come before His presence with singing.  Know that Hashem is God: it is He that made us, we are His,?[6] we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.”

Finally, there is the approach that the word aleinu in the phrase: “For his ḥesed is great aleinu“ is broad enough to include the ḥesed performed for non-Israelites as well. In the time of the Rishonim, R. Moshe Ibn Gikatilah took this approach.?[7] In more modern times, among those who took this approach are Rav S.R. Hirsch and the Iyun Tefillah commentary in the Siddur Otzar Ha-Tefillot.?[8]

This is a simple way to read the phrase, but is this approach a sensible approach? Here is the weakness with it. If ḥesed is being performed for Israelites and non-Israelites- for example, God provides rain– why would the goyim praise the God of Israel? If the goyim are living in proximity to the Temple, we could understand that they would praise the God of Israel. But if the goyim are living anywhere else, it is hard to imagine that they would think that the God that they are supposed to praise is the God of Israel.?[9] It seems evident that it is only ḥesed performed for Israelites that will trigger the goyim to praise the God of Israel.

I would like to offer a different approach, one that is not mentioned by Rabbi Angel.?[10]

I know from my own extensive writings on the acrostics in the book of Psalms that the fifth book (chaps. 107-150) dates to the early Second Temple period. (Probably the fourth book does too.) See my Esther Unmasked (2015), pp. 207-230.?[11] With this background, we can suggest that the author of chapter 117 viewed the Jewish worship in the Temple as beneficial to all the nations. That is why he may be asking the nations to praise God for his goodness to the people Israel. God let the people of Israel rebuild their Temple.

Something like this approach is mentioned in the Soncino: “If, as the modern commentators hold, it is of post-exilic date, it proves that universalism was strong in the heart of the Jews when they were struggling to rebuild a national life, and that this task was undertaken in no chauvinist spirit.” I am sure that others prior to the Soncino suggested something like this as well.

I have also thought of a way that could help us decide whether “For his ḥesed is great aleinu“ includes ḥesed to non-Israelites and I have not seen the following argument elsewhere.

We can look at the rest of the verse: “and the emet of Hashem is forever…” “Emet” has two possible meanings here: “truth” or “trustworthiness.” Many give it a truth-related meaning here.?[12] But I think that it is more likely that it means “trustworthiness.” Let us look at Psalm 100. Psalm 100 ends: “Ki tov Hashem le-olam ḥasdo ve-ad dor va-dor emunato.” This verse is somewhat similar to 117:2, just that it has the word emunato, instead of emet. This suggests that “trustworthiness” is the meaning of the emet of 117:2.?[13] A reference to God’s trustworthiness seems to me to be more suggestive of keeping promises to Israelites than it is of keeping promises to both Israelites and non-Israelites.

——

I will close with the fascinating (and obviously homiletical) interpretation of R. Isaac of Volozhin (d. 1849). I will present it the way it is summarized in the ArtScroll Tehillim commentary, in the comments to Psalms 117:2: “Once, a Russian prince asked Rav Yitzchak (Reb Itzaleh) of Volozhin to explain why non-Jews instead of Jews, are expected to praise God for his kindness to Israel. Rav Yitzchak replied without hesitation: ’You princes plan countless anti-Semitic schemes with which to destroy us, but our Merciful God always manages to foil your plots. Your secret councils are so well guarded that we Jews don’t even realize all the ways in which you intended to harm us, nor how God has saved us. Only you gentiles see clearly how God’s kindness to us was overwhelming?[14]; therefore only you can praise him adequately!’ ”?[15]

[1] I would like to thank Sam Borodach for reviewing the draft of this article.

[2] The implication of gavar here is that the esed is so great that it is beyond measure. We see this from Psalm 103:11. See the Soncino and Daat Mikra there. I have seen the suggestion that because God’s esed to Israel has been so great and beyond measure, the Psalmist believes that Israel cannot adequately discharge its responsibility to praise God by itself. He therefore invites the rest of the world to praise God as well.

[3] See also Midrash Tehillim 117:2 which splits our two verses into three different voices.

[4] The last two words are a metaphor for “together;” i.e., joined by a single yoke.

[5] He cites the earlier scholar Yechezkel Kaufmann who takes this approach and who laughs at those who think that 117:1-2 is an anomaly.

[6] I am translating according to the kri, not the ketiv.

[7] He is cited in Ibn Ezra. He writes that God’s esed to all is that he keeps us alive and sustains us.

[8] P. 447. I am sure that others took this approach in modern times as well. This approach to verses 117:1-2 is also perhaps implicit at Midrash Tehillim 117:1 in the statement by R. Tanchum about rainfall: “rainfall brings joy to the entire world.” See Rabbi Angel’s article.

[9] A few centuries later, there were Gentiles known as “Godfearers” who lived close and far and who feared and praised the God of Israel. But there is little evidence that the book of Psalms is dated later than the Persian period and there is no evidence for Gentile “Godfearers” as early as the Persian period unless one gives this meaning to the “yirei Hashem” mentioned at Psalms 115:11, 118:4, and 135:19.

The Soncino commentary to 115:11 observes that many modern expositors understand the “yirei Hashem” references to be to “pious Gentiles who come to worship in the Temple.” But the Daat Mikra commentary mentions several possible interpretations: 1) Israelites who took on extra stringencies, 2) another term for all Israelites, 3) converts, and 4) asidei umot ha-olam. Another suggestion is that ”yirei Hashem” are Israelites who serve God out of fear, in contrast to “Beit Aharon,” Israelites who serve God out of love. See The Complete ArtScroll Siddur, p. 635 (citing Maharal). I thank Michael Alweis for pointing out the interpretive issue of “yirei Hashem” to me.

[10] Of course, his article was limited to responses by traditional Orthodox sources.

[11] The title of the article I am referring to here is: “The Pe/Ayin Order In Ancient Israel and Its Implications for the Book of Tehillim.”Earlier than this, I had similar shorter articles in Biblical Archaeology Review (July-Aug. 2012) and in Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 38 (2014). Basically I concluded that the acrostics in the first book of Psalms (chapters 1-41) were composed with the older pe preceding ayin order and that the ayin preceding pe order (reflected in the acrostics of the fifth book) did not begin to be used in ancient Israel until the post-exilic period. (The acrostics in the book of Psalms are only found in the first and fifth books.) See in particular the Daat Mikra commentary to Psalms 34:18, n. 9. (Psalms 34:16-18 makes much better sense assuming an original pe preceding ayin order.)

Although Bava Batra 14b attributes the book of Psalms to David and others who lived earlier than him, Shir Ha-Shirim Rabbah 4:4 preserves the views of both Rav and R. Yochanan that Ezra was one of the ten figures involved in the composition of Psalms. A similar passage is found at Kohelet Rabbah 7:19. Also, the scholar Avi Hurvitz has shown that the Hebrew of the fourth and fifth books of Psalms is later than that of the earlier books. (Note that the word Halleluyah is only found in the fourth and fifth books.) In modern times, Malbim (intro. to Psalms) and Daat Mikra (intro. to Psalms, pp. 13 and 47) are willing to accept that parts of Psalms date to the early Second Temple period. The commentary of Rashbam on most of Psalms (discovered in the 1990’s in a library in Russia, but not yet fully published) takes this position as well. (For the passages, see the 1997 article by I. Ta-Shema in Tarbitz 66, p. 418. When Ta-Shema wrote his article, the identity of the author of this commentary was not yet known.) It bears emphasizing that at Psalms 126:1 we have the phrase “shivat Tziyon” and at 137:1 we have the phrase “al naharot Bavel sham bakhinu.” See also R. Hayyim Angel, Vision from the Prophet and Counsel from the Elders (2013), pp. 210-18.

[12] See, e.g., the 1917 Jewish Publication Society of America translation (included at the top in the Soncino): “And the truth of the Lord endureth forever.”

[13] At Psalms 146:6, we have ha-shomer emet le-olam. Here too emet seems to have a trust-related meaning. See Daat Mikra.

[14]  In their translation in this work, ArtScroll translates the ki gavar phrase as “For His kindness to us was overwhelming.” That is why this phrase is used here. But see n. 2 above.

[15] The commentary is getting this story from iddushei HaGriz HaLevi on the Torah, Yitro 18:10. See similarly the Iyun Tefillah commentary in the Siddur Otzar Ha-Tefillot, p. 447.

—–

Is there any possibility that our two-verse chapter is only the remnant of a larger lost psalm? Daat Mikra rejects this. It points out that that there are three psalms that only have three verses: 131, 133 and 134. It admits that there are some Masoretic texts which join chapter 117 with either 116 or 118. But the texts that are generally more reliable (including the Aleppo Codex) have 117 as a separate chapter. In the Septuagint, it is also a separate chapter. Also, there is a Halleluyah at the end of 116 and another one at the end of 117. These words always indicate either a beginning or end of a chapter. Daat Mikra nevertheless concludes that Psalm 117 serves as an introduction to Psalm 118. This may be another way to determine the meaning of the aleinu of 117:2. But I will leave this potential direction to others.




How Jews of Yesteryear Celebrated Graduation from Medical School: Congratulatory Poems for Jewish Medical Graduates in the 17th and 18th Centuries: An Unrecognized Genre

How Jews of Yesteryear Celebrated Graduation from Medical School:
Congratulatory Poems for Jewish Medical Graduates in the 17th and 18th Centuries:
An Unrecognized Genre

Rabbi Edward Reichman, MD

Edward Reichman, Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, is the author of The Anatomy of Jewish Law: A Fresh Dissection of the Relationship Between Medicine, Medical History and Rabbinic Literature (Published by Koren Publishers/OU Press/YU Press, 2022), as well as the forthcoming, Pondering Pre-Modern(a) Pandemics in Jewish History: Essays Inspired by and Written during the Covid-19 Pandemic by an Emergency Medicine Physician (Shikey Press).

Prelude

    As the season of graduation is upon us, I thought to look for a copy of the Hebrew poem I received upon my graduation from medical school. My search however was in vain, as I ultimately realized that no such sonnet was ever composed. When I graduated medical school some years ago, my parents, a”h, were overjoyed. They purchased me a copy of the Physician’s Prayer of Maimonides [1] (which still hangs on my wall) from the then-popular olive wood factory on the bustling Meah Shearim Street in Jerusalem. My extended family, friends, classmates, and mentors shared in my accomplishment, but no tangible expression of their happiness was forthcoming (nor did I expect one). At that time, the notion of someone authoring a poem in honor of my graduation, was, suffice it to say, nowhere to be found in the gyri of my cerebral cortex, with which I had become intimately familiar from my neuroanatomy lectures.

    My transient memory, or more aptly, history lapse may perhaps be forgiven, as I currently spend a portion of my life in Early Modern Europe, immersed in the world of Jewish medical history. It is in this period where we will find the origins of my (only partially misguided) poetic yearnings.

Introduction

    This year I discovered an account of a poem in honor of the graduation of an 18th century Jewish medical student. It appeared some fifty years ago in the pages of Koroth, a journal of Jewish medical history.[2] The poem is housed in the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana in the Netherlands, part of the Library of the University of Amsterdam. The article, written by the late Professor Joshua Leibowitz, grandfather of the academic field of Jewish medical history, and founding editor of Koroth, discusses the poem’s author, Isaac Belinfante, a poet, bibliophile, and preacher at the Ets Haim Synagogue in Amsterdam, and provides a transcription and commentary of the poem.

    As to the date of the poem, Leibowitz suggests around 1770.[3] About the recipient, whose name appears in the text of the poem, Leibowitz was unable to identify additional biographical information.

    Leibowitz’s most astonishing observation, however, was that “what we have before us is an occasional poem dedicated to a topic not found in Hebrew literature, the graduation of a physician.” This was the first and only poem of this type Leibowitz had encountered.[4]

    Here we revisit this poem and reclaim the lost identity of its recipient, solving one seemingly insignificant historical mystery. In the process, however, we discover that Leibowitz’s observation was profoundly mistaken, though by no fault of his own. This poem is in fact part of a much larger story in Jewish literary and medical history, one that can only now be adequately explored. We reveal an entire genre of literature in Jewish history that has gone largely unrecognized and underappreciated.

Section 1- Solving a 150-year-old Mystery

    Isaac Belinfante was a prominent personality and prolific poet in eighteenth century Amsterdam. He penned poems for friends, preachers, fellow poets, and as far as we know, only one poem for a graduating physician, Moses Rodrigues.

    Until today, the identity of Rodrigues and his medical institution has remained unknown.

The Date of the Poem

    Leibowitz writes that, “The external evidence would favour a date round about the year 1770, as most of the printed poems of Isaac Belinfante appeared at this time.” In fact, we needn’t seek external sources. An examination of the original manuscript reveals the date at the very bottom of the page.[5]

 

 

 

 

    The “A” is assumedly for annum, and the Hebrew year 5529 corresponds to 1768 or 1769. As we shall see, it refers to the latter. Leibowitz was off by only one year. I suspect he viewed a reproduction of the document, and the bottom of the page, which included the date, was simply left off the copy. Had he viewed the original, this notation would have surely not escaped his keen eye.

The Institution and Identity of the Graduate

    The text of the poem does not explicitly mention the institution. The physical presence of the poem in the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana in Amsterdam might reflect that the recipient was Dutch or that he graduated from a Dutch university. The author of the poem lived in Amsterdam and the last name of the recipient, Rodrigues, was common in 18th century Amsterdam. However, based on the description of the graduation ceremony in the text of the poem, as well as other factors, Leibowitz writes that “we are inclined to suppose that Dr. Rodrigues obtained his degree abroad, possibly in Padua, as most of the Dutch Jewish physicians in the 17th and 18th centuries bore foreign diplomas.”[6]

Below is the relevant verse:

    The mention of the student’s rejoicing upon exiting the “house of the argument” is clearly a reference to the room where the graduation dissertation/disputation was held. The verse concludes with a description of the placing of a hat (biretta) on the graduate’s head and a ring on his finger. These are known features of the graduation ceremony from the University of Padua,[7] with which Leibowitz was quite familiar.[8]

    There is a spectacular illustration of this ceremony, which has gone unnoticed, found in the diploma of a Jewish medical graduate of Padua from 1687, Moses Tilche.[9]

    However, these elements were not necessarily unique to Padua. Indeed, while disputations were a prominent feature of most European universities, starting from the late fifteenth century (at least), the disputationes before obtaining a doctorate had fallen into disuse in Padua.[10] Leibowitz was not aware of this. The other graduation features were also not unique to Padua and were found in the commencement ceremonies of other European universities. Leibowitz believed this poem to be a unicum, and as such, he had no basis for comparison, or reference points to identify the institution.

    As for the graduate himself, Rodrigues is found nowhere in Friedenwald’s classic work,[11] nor in Nathan Koren’s expansive biographical index of Jewish physicians.[12] Moreover, despite the proliferation of online resources and databases, a Google search yields no results.

    Let us consider Leibowitz’s suggestion that Rodrigues was a graduate of a foreign medical school, such as Padua. Modena and Morpurgo compiled a comprehensive list, based on extensive archival research, of the Jewish students who attended the University of Padua from 1617-1816.[13] There is no Rodrigues listed among the students who either matriculated or graduated from the University of Padua.

    If Rodrigues did not attend Padua, perhaps he trained in Germany, as by this time Jews were widely accepted into German universities.[14] A review of these records again reveals no Moses Rodrigues. He is likewise not found amongst the of Jewish physicians in Poland at the time.[15]

    Having ruled out a foreign institution, we return to the land of the poem’s origin. Komorowski lists the graduation and dissertation of a Moses Rodrigues from Leiden in 1788,[16] but this is some twenty years after our poem was written. Perhaps a relative.

    This brings us to the work of Hindle Hes, who authored a monograph focusing exclusively on the Jewish physicians in the Netherlands.[17] Indeed, it is Professor Leibowitz who suggested to Hes the subject of her study.[18] (Perhaps he had hoped to resolve Rodrigues’ identity.) Hes lists a Mozes Rodrigues who graduated the University of Utrecht July 7, 1769,[19] the year of Belinfante’s poem. This aligns with the recipient of our poem. Rodrigues’ dissertation is pictured below.

    Moses Rodrigues hailed from Madrid and trained and practiced as a surgeon in Paris prior to his stay in Amsterdam. He later completed a medical degree in the University of Utrecht.20 In the University of Utrecht student registry,[21] he is listed as Moseh Rodrigues, Hyspanus, Chirurgus Amstelodamensis (surgeon from Amsterdam), reflecting that he had already been a practicing surgeon. The other students in the registry have no such descriptor, only their names appearing.

    In the four-page introduction to his Latin dissertation,[22] Rodriguez notes that he had been a practicing surgeon for twenty-seven years prior to obtaining his medical degree. Unfortunately, he provides little other personal biographical information. What would compel a practicing surgeon to obtain an additional medical degree later in life? The content of the introduction provides possible insight. At this stage of history, surgery and medicine were unique disciplines with very different training and focus. Surgeons rarely attended universities. Rodrigues strongly advocates for the synthesis and unity of surgical and medical training.

It is one thing, moreover, that I thought it best to advise publicly in this work, namely, that twin arts are by the worst design and custom and are descended from the same father from the intimacy by which they are tied together. I am pointing to the medical and surgical art, which they distinguish with differences in various places, so that the first is concerned with curing internal diseases, the second in curing external diseases. What a distinction, since I see it extended beyond what is equal, as if these parts of medicine were to be separated rather than to be joined together! I wish to subject this work to this admonition, and to prove my endeavors in promoting both arts to good and fair readers, because, when I shall have attained it, I shall seem to have rendered to me the most beautiful fruit of design or of labor.[23]

    Formal university training in medicine would surely advance this objective. It is also possible that despite his years of experience, Rodrigues needed a formal degree to procure a higher-level position in the Netherlands.[24]

    The content of Belinfante’s poem further corroborates our identification.[25]

    In describing the medical practice of Rodrigues, Belinfante invokes distinctly surgical practices. The graduate is described as healing every “netah,” traumatic injury (from the word nituah, anatomy, or in today’s usage, surgery), as well as “one struck from a flying arrow.”[26] He seals the “mouth” of every wound and closes every opening. There are references to his treatment of afflictions of the skin and bone, as well as punctured, mauled or amputated limbs, all the domain of the barber-surgeon. This description would not have been applicable to a typical medical graduate or practitioner of medicine, but was clearly relevant to Moses Rodrigues, a practitioner of surgery. As mentioned above, Rodrigues was identified as a practicing surgeon in his matriculation record. He is also so identified on the cover page of his dissertation.

    While Hes makes no mention of any poem, it is unlikely she would have come across this lone leaflet buried in the archives of the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana.

    In sum, we have conclusively proven that Moseh Rodrigues, graduate of Utrecht in 1769, is the recipient of Belinfante’s ode. While there is satisfaction in the historical restoration of this one obscure poem, it pales in comparison to the discovery revealed in the next section.

Section 2- An Update to Leibowitz’s Observation- Congratulatory Poems in Honor of Jewish Medical Graduates

    In 1971, Leibowitz was compelled to write an article on the Rodrigues poem owing to his belief in the utter novelty of a sonnet for a Jewish medical graduate in the 18th century. How novel indeed was such an enterprise?

    In the last fifty years, a number of similar poems have come to light. Experts in Jewish Renaissance poetry have written about them;[27] bibliophiles, collectors and libraries own them; Jewish medical historians have footnoted them,[28] but I suspect none of them appreciates the extent of the proverbial forest.

    In the course of my research in the field of Jewish medical history, I have taken note of these poems, the majority of which were written for graduates of the University of Padua.

    Italian Hebrew poetry from the Renaissance and Early Modern Period, often in broadside form, has been and remains an eminently collectible category. These poems, written for a variety of occasions including weddings and funerals, are often part of larger manuscript and book collections of bibliophiles, and while some remain in private hands, many have landed in major institutions.[29] Among these collections, we find poems written for medical graduates of Padua.[30] Thus far, I have identified a record of one hundred poems,[31] mostly in Hebrew, written for sixty five medical graduates, all from the University of Padua during the 17th to early 19th centuries.[32]

    Similar poems can also be found for Jewish graduates in the Netherlands and Germany, though in smaller numbers.[33] The timeline of their appearance mirrors the transition of Jewish medical training from Padua to the Netherlands to Germany.[34]

    Though Leibowitz had no access to other poems, his conjecture was Padua as the student’s place of graduation.[35] While the recipient of that particular poem happened to be a Dutch university graduate, Leibowitz’s instincts were essentially correct. We now know that this genre of poetry for the Jewish medical student, in particular in Padua, was quite common.

Below I provide some observations of the congratulatory poetry for Jewish medical graduates.

Graduates of the University of Padua[36]

    Padua was the first university to allow Jews to formally train in medicine, and for a number of centuries, it was the only one. It is thus in association with the University of Padua that we find the earliest and most plentiful examples of our genre of poetry.

Chronological Span

    The poems range primarily from the 1620’s to the 1780’s, with some outliers expanding the dates from 1600 to 1836. One of the earliest examples is a poem written by Rabbi Yehuda Aryeh De Modena for the graduate David Loria.[37] The original, likely in the author’s hand, resides in the Bodleian Library.[38]

Format

    While the majority of the Padua poems are found in broadside format, some are found in book form, and others in manuscript. The broadside below, in honor of the graduate Jacob Coen (1691), is a typical example.[39]

Authors

    The authors include mentors, fellow students or recent graduates, family members, and poets (e.g., Simha Calimani and Isaiah Romanin). Some of the prominent personalities included among the authors are Rabbi Yehuda Arye de Modena, Rabbi Moshe Hayyim Luzzatto (Ramal), Rabbi Solomon Marini, and Rabbi Isaac Hayyim Cantarini. The example below, written by Ramal in honor of the graduation of Emanuele Calvo (1724),[40] is one of at least eight poems he authored for Padua graduates.[41]

Recipients

    For most of the graduates for whom we possess poems, we have only one example. A number of students however received multiple poems. For example, Joseph Hamitz (Padua, 1623) received eleven poems; Salomon Lustro (Padua, 1697)- eight; Shemarya (Marco) Morpurgo (Padua- 1747)- four. Below is a manuscript copy of a poem by Shabbetai Marini[42] in honor of Lustro. Marini, a fellow alumnus of Padua from 1685, and author of a number of graduate poems, also translated Ovid’s Metamorphosis into Hebrew.[43]

Numbers and Percentage of Students

    What percentage of medical graduates received congratulatory poems? Modena and Morpurgo list a total of 325 Jewish medical graduates from 1617-1816. We have a record of poems for sixty students in this period. We thus have poems for around 20% of the medical graduates from over a 200-year period. These are only the poems of which we are aware. As these poems were typically produced as ephemeral broadsides, there are certainly poems that have not survived. The actual percentage of student poems is thus likely higher.

Location

    The poems and broadsides derive primarily from the following institutions- the National Library of Israel (NLI),[44] the Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS), the Valmadonna Trust,[45] the British Library, the Bodleian Library, and the Kaufmann Collection at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Hungary.[46] In a number of cases, a copy of the same poem is found in more than one library. There are likely poems in both private and public hands that have not yet surfaced.

Congratulatory Poems from Netherlands and Germany

    While the lion’s share of congratulatory poems are connected to Padua, there are examples from other countries as well. In the mid-seventeenth century, universities in the Netherlands (Utrecht, Franeker, Leiden) began accepting Jewish medical students. I have begun exploring the dissertations of Jewish medical graduates of the Netherlands and their value for the study of Jewish medical history. A comprehensive study remains a desideratum. The poems from the Netherlands, and from Germany as well, are not found in broadside form, but rather appended to the medical student dissertations. In Padua there were no dissertations within which to append poems, thus the poems were issued as broadsides. The broadside form was also used for other types of poetry in Italy at this time. Below is an example of a poem for a graduate of the University of Leiden, one of the premier medical schools in the world at this time. Salomon Gumpertz graduated Leiden in 1684 with the following dissertation.

    Appended to the dissertation is a poem written by his relative and fellow graduate, Phillip Levi (AKA Yehoshua Feibelman).

    While there is no poem at the end of Levi’s own dissertation, there is a short prayer in Hebrew composed by Levi himself to celebrate the completion of his medical studies.[47]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blessed is the Lord who has not withheld his kindness from me and has bestowed upon me kindness and wisdom to learn the discipline of medicine. I hope that God will grant me blessing and success in my efforts and the scattered people of Israel from the four corners of the earth should be gathered, our exile should come to a speedy end, and God should send us to our land through the aegis of our Messiah speedily in our days, Amen.

    The Leiden University Senate was less than enamored by Levi’s addition and despite his graduation with honors censured him for concluding with a prayer insulting Christianity. The prayer ends with a plea to God to hasten the end of the exile by bringing “our Messiah” speedily in our days. The Senate added a warning as well for any future Jewish students to abstain from similar expressions.[48]

    We also find poems attached to medical dissertations of Jewish students in 18th century Germany. However, while in the Netherlands there were only three of four major universities where Jews attended, with Leiden being the most common, in Germany, there were many universities that opened their doors to Jews in the 18th century and onwards.[49] A proper study of the congratulatory poetry for Jewish medical graduates in Germany would be more challenging. Below is one example, a poem in honor of the graduation of Jonas Jeitteles[50] by Avraham HaKohen Halberstadt.

    Jonas was the Chief Physician of the Jewish community of Prague. In 1784, Joseph II granted Jonas and “his successors” the right to treat patients “without consideration of their religion.” He is best remembered for his campaign supporting Edward Jenner’s smallpox vaccination, for which he received the approbation of Rabbi Mordechai Banet.

Congratulatory Poems for Jewish Medical Graduates- A Genre Whose Time has Come

    Even today, manuscripts or books hidden for centuries are occasionally discovered and brought to light.[51] In this case however, it is not one item, nor even one genizah or repository that we have revealed, rather, recently discovered and previously unidentified items in collections across the world that constitute, in their aggregate, a unique genre of poetry. Imagine that just fifty years ago the founder of the field of Jewish medical history was aware of only one example.

    The collection of Jewish medical graduate poems as a whole merits recognition as a unique entity and awaits comprehensive cataloging and research.[52] To be sure, the concept of congratulatory poetry written upon completion of academic study, including medical education,[53] was not limited to Padua, nor was it limited to Jewish students. There was a broader practice of writing congratulatory poems, often in Greek or Latin, at the end of academic dissertations.[54] Nor was the use of the Hebrew language for this poetic expression restricted to the Jewish community. There was even a practice by non-Jews, typically Christian Hebraists, to write congratulatory poems in Hebrew.[55] Comparison of these different bodies of literature will surely be the substance of future dissertations, but there is no doubt that our genre will have a unique place in history.

    Jews throughout history were often restricted in their choice of professions, limited to money lending or medicine. Though allowed to become physicians, Jews were barred by papal decree from obtaining a university education. It was around the 16th century that the first academic institution, the University of Padua officially accepted Jewish students. Next would be universities in the Netherlands, starting in the mid-17th century, followed by Germany in the early 18th century and others. It is in this historical context that the congratulatory poems for Jewish medical students evolved. The collective community elation at the newly allowed entrance into the world’s leading academic institutions is reflected in these sonnets.

Conclusion

    Writing in 1971 about a manuscript of a poem he had recently discovered, Leibowitz claimed that the congratulatory poem for Jewish medical graduates was “a topic not found in Hebrew literature.” We now know just how untrue this statement is. It is not only “found in Hebrew literature,” but it was a common practice spanning over two hundred years and multiple countries. More examples will surely be discovered. While extensive research has been done for the Paduan poems, more work is needed to explore and identify the poems from graduates of the Netherlands, Germany,[56] and other countries.[57]

    For a variety of reasons, the unique genre of poetry for the Jewish medical graduate has all but disappeared in the modern era. This at least partially reflects the dissipation of the novelty of the concept of the university-trained Jewish physician. While arguably a positive trend, it nonetheless behooves us to restore this underappreciated genre to its rightful glory. Though I hesitate to call for a resurrection of the enterprise, partially due to my personal literary ineptitude, at the very least a recollection of the practice would serve to imbue today’s Jewish medical graduates with a renewed sense of pride and historical perspective.

 

[1] This prayer of a “renowned Jewish physician in Egypt from the 12th century” was first published anonymously in German in 1783 in Deutches Museum 1 (January-June, 1783), 43-45. On the history of the dissemination, attribution and authorship of this prayer, see J. O. Leibowtz, Dapim Refuiim 1:13 (March, 1954), 77-81; Fred Rosner, “The Physician’s Prayer Attributed to Moses Maimonides,” Bulletin of the History of Medicine 41:5 (1967), 440-457. Below is a picture (taken by the author) of a letter written by the Chief Rabbi of England, Rabbi J. H. Hertz, to Sir William Osler about the prayer.

 

[2] J. O. Leibowitz, “An 18th Century Manuscript Poem by I. Belinfante Honouring a Medical Graduate,” Koroth 5:7-8 (February, 1971), 427-434 (Hebrew) and LI-LIV (English).

[3] My summary of Leibowitz’s assessments is a composite of both the Hebrew and English versions of the article, which contain different information.

[4] As a footnote, he adds that he later discovered one additional poem of this type by Ephraim Luzzatto in honor of Barukh Ḥefetz (AKA Benedetto Gentili). This poem is published in Luzzatto’s collection of poetry. See Meir Letteris, ed., Ephraim Luzzatto, Eleh Bene ha-Ne’urim, (Druck und Verlag des Franz Edlen von Schmid: Wien, 1839), 43-44 (poem no. 27).

[5] Hs. Ros. Pl. B-23;L. Fuks, Catalogue of the Manuscripts of the Biblioteca Rosenthaliana University Library (Leiden, 1973), no. 317. I thank Rachel Boertjens, Curator of the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana, for kindly providing me a copy of the poem.

[6] For a discussion about a physician from Amsterdam who obtained a foreign diploma, see E. Reichman, “The ‘Doctored’ Medical Diploma of Samuel, the Son of Menaseh ben Israel: Forgery of ‘For Jewry’,” Seforim Blog (link), March 23, 2021. Since the publication of this article, I discovered a record of Samuel’s matriculation at the University of Leiden Medical School on July 1, 1653 (along with his cousin Josephus Abarbanel), thus further buttressing my theory that his Oxford diploma is genuine and that he had received medical training elsewhere prior to obtaining his diploma from Oxford in 1655.

[7] The ceremony also included the symbolic opening and closing of a book to reflect the transmission of knowledge, as well as the placement of a wreath, and a kiss on the graduate’s cheek.

[8] Joshua Leibowitz, “William Harvey’s Diploma from Padua, 1602,” Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences 12 (1957), 395.

[9] Gross Family Collection, Israel. I thank William Gross for graciously providing me a copy of the diploma. On the diplomas of the Jewish graduates of the University of Padua, see E. Reichman, “Confessions of a Would-be Forger: The Medical Diploma of Tobias Cohn (Tuvia Ha-Rofeh) and Other Jewish Medical Graduates of the University of Padua,”in Kenneth Collins and Samuel Kottek, eds., Ma’ase Tuviya (Venice, 1708): Tuviya Cohen on Medicine and Science (Jerusalem: Muriel and Philip Berman Medical Library of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2021), 79-127.

[10]  Personal correspondence with Francesco Piovan, Chief Archivist, University of Padua (March 18, 2022). The rare disputationes that were offered were only oral, and these were for Paduan citizens who wished to be admitted into a Collegium after their doctorate.

[11] Harry Friedenwald, Jews and Medicine (Johns Hopkins University Press: Baltimore, 1944).

[12] Nathan Koren, Jewish Physicians: A Biographical Index (Israel Universities Press: Jerusalem, 1973).

[13] Abdelkader Modena and Edgardo Morpurgo (with editing and additions done posthumously by Aldo Luzzatto, Ladislao Munster and Vittore Colorni), Medici E Chirurghi Ebrei Dottorati E Licenziati Nell Universita Di Padova dal 1617 al 1816 (Bologna, 1967). While there have been some subsequent additions, this work, based on extensive archival research, remains the definitive reference on the Jewish medical students of Padua. It was published in Italy just four years before Leibowitz’s article was released, and he may not have yet been familiar with it.

[14] On the Jews in German medical schools, see Louis Lewin, “Die Judischen Studenten an der Universitat Frankfurtan der Oder,” Jahrbuch der Judisch Literarischen Gesellschaft 14 (1921), 217-238; Idem, “Die Judischen Studentenan der Universitat Frankfurt an der Oder,” Jahrbuch der Judisch Literarischen Gesellschaft 15 (1923), 59-96; Idem, “Die Judischen Studenten an der Universitat Frankfurt an der Oder,” Jahrbuch der Judisch Literarischen Gesellschaft 16 (1924), 43-87; Adolf Kober, “Rheinische Judendoktoren,Vornehmlich des 17 und 18 Jahrhunderts, ”Festschriftzum 75 Jährigen Bestehen des Jüdisch-Theologischen Seminars Fraenckelscher Stiftung, Volume II, (Breslau: Verlag M. & H. Marcus, 1929), 173-236; Idem, “Judische Studenten und Doktoranden der Universitat Duisberg im 18 Jahrhundert,” Monatsschrift für Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judentums Jahrg. 75 (N. F. 39), H. 3/4 (March/April 1931), 118-127; Monika Richarz, Der Eintritt der Juden in die akademischen Berufe: Judische Studenten Und Akademiker in Deutschland 1678-1848 (Schriftenreihe Wissenschaftlicher Abhandlungen Des Leo Baeck: Tubingen, 1974); Wolfram Kaiser and Arina Volker, Judaica Medica des 18 und des Fruhen 19 Jahrhundertsin den Bestanden des Halleschen Universitatsarchivs (Wissenschaftliche Beitrage der Martin Luther Universitat Halle-Wittenberg: Halle, 1979); M. Komorowski, Bio-bibliographisches Verzeichnisjüdischer Doktoren im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert (K. G. Saur Verlag: Munchen, 1991); Eberhard Wolff, “Between Jewish and Professional identity: Jewish Physicians in Early 19th Century Germany-The Case of Phoebus Philippson,” Jewish Studies 39 (5759), 23-34.John Efron, Medicine and the German Jews (Yale University Press: New Haven, 2001); Wolfram Kaiser,“ L’Enseignement Medical et les Juifs a L’Universite de Halle au XVIII Siecle” in Gad Freudenthal and Samuel Kottek, Melanges d’Histoire de la Medicine Hebraique (Brill: Leiden, 2003), 347-370; Petra Schaffrodt, Heidelberg-Juden ander Universitat Heidelberg: Dokumente aus Sieben Jahrhunderten (Ruprecht Karls Universitat Heidelberg Universitatsbibliothek, August, 2012); Steffi Katschke, “Jüdische Studenten an der Universität Rostock im 18. Jahrhun-dert. Ein Beitrag zur jüdischen Bildungs-und Sozialgeschichte,” in Gisela Boeck und Hans-Uwe Lammel, eds., Jüdische kulturelle und religiöse Einflüsse auf die Stadt Rostock und ihre Universität (Jewish cultural and religious influences on the city of Rostock and its university) (Rostocker Studien zur Universitätsgeschichte, Band 28: Rostock 2014), 29-40; Malgorzata Anna Maksymiak and Hans-Uwe Lammel, “Die Bützower Jüdischen Doctores Medicinae und der Orientalist O. G. Tychsen,” in Rafael Arnold, et. al., eds., Der Rostocker Gelehrte Oluf Gerhard Tychsen (1734-1815) und seine Internationalen Netzwerke (Wehrhahn Verlag, 2019), 115-133.

[15] N. M. Gelber, “History of Jewish Physicians in Poland in the 18th Century,” (Hebrew) in Y. Tirosh, ed., Shai li-Yesha‘yahu, (Tel Aviv: Ha-Merkaz le-Tarbut shel ha-Po‘el ha-Mizraḥi, 5716), 347–37.

[16]  Komorowski, op.cit., 68.

[17] Hindle Hes, Jewish Physicians in the Netherlands (Van Gorcum: Assen, 1980), 140.

[18] Hes, op.cit., XI.

[19] Hes gleaned her information from an article by David Ezechial Cohen, the Dutch physician and medical historian.

De Amsterdamasche Joodsche Chirurgijns” N.T.v.G. 74 I. (May 3, 1930), 2234-2256, esp. 2252. On Cohen, see Hes, op.cit., 26. Cohen authored a number of articles in the Netherlands Journal of Medicine on the history of Jewish surgeons and physicians in Amsterdam.

[20] Album studiosorum Academiae rheno-traiectinae MDCXXXVI-MDCCCLXXXVI. Accedunt nomina curatorum etprofessorum per eadem secula (Rijksuniversiteit te Utrecht, 1886), 164.

[21] This is not noted by either Hes or Cohen.

[22] De Indicationibus pro re Nata Mutandis, University of Utrecht (July 7, 1769).

[23] Translation by Demetrios Paraschos.

[24] “Although Jews with foreign degrees were permitted to engage in medicine as general practitioners, tolerance was not extended to tertiary education.” George Weisz and William Albury, “Rembrandt’s Jewish Physician Dr. Ephraim Beuno (1599-1665): A Brief Medical History,” Rambam Maimonides Medical Journal 4:2 (April 2013), 1-4.

[25] The second and third stanzas from the original alongside Leibowitz’s transcription.

[26] Line 3 of stanza 2 is an allusion to Tehillim, Chap. 91.

[27] See, for example, Devora Bregman Tzror Zehuvim(Ben Gurion University: Be’er Sheva, 1997), 200 and idem,Shevil haZahav (Ben Gurion University: Be’er Sheva, 1997), 186.

[28] See Abdelkader Modena and Edgardo Morpurgo, Medici E Chirurghi Ebrei Dottorati E Licenziati Nell Universita Di Padova dal 1617 al 1816 (Bologna, 1967).

[29] The institutions include the National Library of Israel (NLI), the Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS),the Valmadonna Trust, the British Libraryand the Kaufmann Collection at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Hungary. The Valmadonna Trust poems were recently integrated into the NLI, and a number of medical poems are featured in S. Liberman Mintz, S. Seidler-Feller, and D. Wachtel (eds.), The Writing on the Wall: A Catalogue of Judaica Broadsides from the Valmadonna Trust Library (London, 2015).

[30] The medical poems are sometimes found hidden and unidentified, together with other Italian occasional poems written for weddings, memorials, or other assorted events. See, for example, the previously unidentified poem written in honor of Abram Macchioro’s graduation from Padua in 1698, which is buried in a large collection of miscellaneous poems (NLI, system n. 990001920200205171, folio 19r).

[31] In book, manuscript and broadside form.

[32] Edward Reichman, “Congratulatory Poems for the Jewish Medical Graduates of the University of Padua,” forthcoming. Only a few of these poems are not extant.

[33] These are not found in broadside form.

[34] See Edward Reichman, “The Mystery of the Medical Training of the Many Isaac Wallichs: Amsterdam (1675),Leiden (1675), Padua (1683) and Halle (1703),” Hakirah 31 (Winter 2022), 313-330.

[35] Returning to the poem briefly, despite being the beneficiaries of a database of sorts, we would not be in any better position today to identify Rodrigues’ institution from internal evidence of the poem alone. While many of the Padua poems share a similar form, they come in many different varieties of size and style. While this poem has certain similar features and conforms to the general style of some of the extant poems of Padua, this alone is not dispositive. Several of the Padua poems mention the university explicitly, but inconsistently; thus, absence of its mention does not preclude the poem’s association with Padua. See, for example, the poem written by Isaiah Roman in in honor of the graduation of Yisrael Gedaliah Cases in 1733 (JTS Library Ms. 9027 V5:26). As to whether the poem’s location in the Netherlands presents a challenge for positing a Paduan origin, suffice it to say that of all extant Padua poems for Jewish medical students, a sum total of one is found in Italy (the poem for Samuele Coen 1702). The others can be found in libraries in Israel, America, England, and Hungary, though I have yet to locate as ingle Padua poem in the Netherlands. Leibowitz’s instincts however were correct, and by pure statistics alone, not knowing the identity of the student, the odds would certainly favor a Paduan source. Fortunately, this entire exercise is rendered moot once the identity of the student has been revealed.

[36] What follows is drawn from my forthcoming work on the congratulatory poems from Padua.

[37] On Loria, see Edward Reichman, “From Graduation to Contagion: Jewish Physicians Facing Plague in Padua, 1631” The Lehrhaus (link), September 8, 2020.

[38] MS. Michael 528, 60 recto, number 341.This poem was published in Simon Bernstein, Divan of Rabbi Yehuda Arye MiModena (Hebrew) (Philadelphia, 1932), n. 79.I thank Sam Sales, Superintendent, Special Collections Reading Rooms, Bodleian Library for his assistance and graciousness in locating and providing copies of this manuscript.

[39] This copy is from the JTS Library, Ms. 9027 V5:5. Another copy is found in the British Library, The Oriental and India Office Collections, Shelfmark 1978.f.3.

[40] JTS Library, Ms. 9027 V5:8. See Y. Zemora, Rabi Moshe Ḥayyim Luzzatto, Sefer HaShirim (Mosad HaRav Kook: Jerusalem, 5710), 10-11.

[41] The other graduates are Elia Consigli (1723), Elia Cesana (1727), Jacob Alpron (1727), Marco Coen (1728), Yekutiel Gordon (1732), Israel Gedalya Cases (1733), and Salomon Lampronti, (1734). On the relationship between Luzzatto and the medical students of Padua, see, for example, Morris Hoffman, trans., Isaiah Tishby, Messianic Mysticism: Moses Hayim Luzzatto and the Padua School (Oxford: The Littman Library, 2008).

[42]  On Marini, see M. Benayahu,“Rabbi Avraham Ha-Kohen Mi-Zanti U-Lehakat Ha-Rof ’im Ha-Meshorerim Be-Padova,”Ha-Sifrut26 (1978): 108-40, esp. 110-111.

[43] See Jacob Goldenthal, Rieti und Marini: Dante und Ovid in Hebräischer Umkleidung (Vienna: Gerold, 1851); Laura Roumani,“Le Metamorfosidi Ovidio nella traduzione ebraica di Shabbetay Hayyim Marini di Padova” [Ovid’s Metamorphoses translated into Hebrew by Shabtai Ḥayim Marini from Padua] (PhD diss., University of Turin, 1992); idem, “The Legend of Daphne and Apollo in Ovid’s Metamorphoses Translated into Hebrew by Shabbetay Ḥayyim Marini” [in Italian], Henoch (Turin University) 13 (1991): 319–335.

[44] The NLI also has reference and reproductions of many of the poems found in the other collections.

[45] See S. Liberman Mintz, S. Seidler-Feller, and D. Wachtel (eds.), The Writing on the Wall: A Catalogue of Judaica Broadsides from the Valmadonna Trust Library (London, 2015).

[46] Prior to their landing in these major libraries and institutions, many of these poems belonged to private collectors including Moses Soave, David Kaufmann and Meir Beneyahu.

[47] See Hes, op.cit., 95.

[48] Philip Christiaan Molhuysen, Bronnen tot de geschiedenis der Leidsche Universiteit 1574-1811 (s-Gravenhage: M. Nijhoff, 1916-1923), vol. 4, p. *194, entry for June 5, 1684.

[49] Examples include Heidelberg, Geissen, Berlin,Duisberg, Halle, Butzow, Rostack, Gottingen, Frankfurt, and Erlangen.

[50] See the biography of Jonas Jeitteles by his son, Yehuda ben Jona Jeitteles, Bnei haNe’urim (Prague 1821).

[51] See David Israel, “Newly Discovered Jewish Genizah in Cairo Grabbed by Egyptian Government” Jewish Press Online (March 24, 2022). Time will tell what hidden gems this cache will reveal. See also, for example, Edward Reichman, “The Discovery of a Hidden Treasure in the Vatican and the Correction of a Centuries-Old Error,” the Seforim Blog (link), January 11, 2022.

[52] The Valmadonna Trust Library, now incorporated into the National Library of Israel, began the process, and identified a separate category of broadside poems honoring Jewish medical graduates. See The Writing on the Wall, op.cit., 166-169.

[53] See Jaap Harskamp, Disertatio Medica Inauguralis… Leyden Medical Dissertations in the British Library 1593-1746 (Catalogue of a Sloane-inspired Collection) (London: Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, 1997), 270, where the author lists all the medical dissertations from the University of Leiden housed in the British Library collection that contain congratulatory poetry. There are hundreds on this list alone, and this does not include other Dutch universities.

[54] Bernhard Schirg, Bernd Roling, and Stefan Heinrich Bauhaus, eds., Apotheosis of the North: The Swedish Appropriation of Classical Antiquity around the Baltic Sea and Beyond (1650 to 1800) (De Gruyter: Berlin, 2017),64ff. As dissertations were not typically required for graduation at the University of Padua, the congratulatory poems were usually produced as separately published broadsides. However, I have as yet to find poetry written for non-Jewish medical graduates of the University of Padua.

[55] Andrea Gotz, “A Corpus of Hebrew-Language Congratulatory Poems by 17th-Century Hungarian Peregrine Students: Introducing the Hebrew Carmina Gratulatoria (HCG) Corpus and its Research Potentials,” Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Philologica 11:3 (2019), 17-32; Jozsef Zsengeller, “Hebrew Carmina Gratulatoria from Franeker by Georg Martonfalvi and His Students,” Reformatus Szemle 114:2 (2021), 125-158.We rarely find these for medical dissertations. One example is the poem by György Magnus, found in the dissertation of Sámuel Kochmeister, “De Apoplexia,” from 1668, submitted at Wittenberg. I thank Andrea Gotz for this reference.

[56] As opposed to the case of Padua, where the poetry was published as ephemeral broadsides, and one can never know how many poems did not survive the test of time, poems found in association with dissertations are more likely to endure. Copies of student dissertations, wherein the poetry would be found, are typically preserved in university archives. We can therefore get a better idea of the true prevalence of this genre of poetry in the Netherlands and Germany. From a comprehensive review of the Jewish student dissertations, we will learn the percentage of Jewish students for whom poems were written, the language and quality of the poetry, and the identification of the authors. Moreover, these dissertations also often contain introductions, acknowledgments, and other appended material, which represent an untapped source of historical and genealogical information.

[57] Other universities opened to Jewish students in the 18thcentury, including Jagalonian University, and the universities of Pest, Lemberg, Prague, Vienna, and Warsaw, for example. Universities in Odessa and Kiev were only established in the mid to late 19thcentury. I have yet to find poems for graduates of these institutions.