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Category: History

God’s Silent Voice: Divine Presence in a Yiddish Poem by Abraham Joshua Heschel

God’s Silent Voice: Divine Presence in a Yiddish Poem by Abraham Joshua Heschel

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God’s Silent Voice: Divine Presence in a Yiddish Poem by Abraham Joshua Heschel Ariel Evan Mayse joined the faculty of Stanford University in 2017 as an assistant professor in the Department of Religious Studies, after previously serving as the Director of Jewish Studies and Visiting Assistant Professor of Modern Jewish Thought at Hebrew College in Newton, Massachusetts, and a research fellow at the Frankel Institute for Advanced Judaic Studies of the University of Michigan. He holds a Ph.D. in Jewish Studies from Harvard University…

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The Yiddish Press as a Historical Source for the Overlooked and Forgotten in the Jewish Community

The Yiddish Press as a Historical Source for the Overlooked and Forgotten in the Jewish Community

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The Yiddish Press as a Historical Source for the Overlooked and Forgotten in the Jewish Community by Eddy Portnoy Eddy Portnoy is Senior Researcher and Director of Exhibitions at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. He is the author of the recently-published (and much acclaimed, and fun) book, Bad Rabbi: And Other Strange but True Stories from the Yiddish Press (Stanford, 2017), available here (https://www.amazon.com/Bad-Rabbi-Strange-Stories-Stanford/dp/150360411X). This is his first contribution to the Seforim Blog. Sanhedrin 25 has this pretty well-known,…

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The Universalism of Rav Kook

The Universalism of Rav Kook

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The Universalism of Rav Kook by Bezalel Naor Copyright © 2018 Bezalel Naor Stereotypes are difficult to overcome. Until recently, the stereotype of Rav Avraham Yitzhak Hakohen Kook (1865-1935) was of a nationalist (perhaps even ultranationalist) who lent his rabbinic aegis to the Zionist enterprise in the first third of the twentieth century. In his seminal work Orot [Lights] (Jerusalem, 1920), the very first section of the book is entitled “Erets Yisrael.” The punchline of the first chapter reads: The…

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The Rogochover and More: Excursus on Fasting

The Rogochover and More: Excursus on Fasting

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The Rogochover and More: Excursus on Fasting Marc B. Shapiro Relevant to what appeared in the last post (see note 13), I wish to mention some leniencies regarding fast days that contradict mainstream halakhah. I have also included other interesting material regarding the fast days. 1. R. Israel Jacob Fischer, dayan on the beit din of the Edah Haredit, stated that in our day all pregnant women up until the ninth month must eat on Yom Kippur פחות מכשיעור. See his haskamah to…

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A Letter Concerning Prof. Marc Shapiro’s book “Changing the Immutable”

A Letter Concerning Prof. Marc Shapiro’s book “Changing the Immutable”

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A Letter Concerning Prof. Marc Shapiro’s book Changing the Immutable By Eli Meyer Cohen כבוד… אחדשה”ט, ברצוני להעיר כמה הערות בנוגע למש”כ מרק שפירא אודות הדברים המובאים בפי’ ר’ יהודה החסיד. שלדעת גדולי פוסקי הדור ההוא הגר”מ פיינשטיין, הגרש”ז אויערבאך, הגרי”ש אלישיב והגרי”י ווייס בעל מנחת יצחק ז”ל, נדפסו שם דברי כפירה  והיות שיודע אני שבטח כבודו יערוך ביקורת כללית על ספרו, חושבני שדברים אלו יהיו לתועלת עבודתו. ראשית אציג רקע היסטורי לסיפור. הדבר קרה בשנת תשל”ו, כפי שמפורש בשני…

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Lecture Announcement – R. Yechiel Goldhaber – January 4, 2018

Lecture Announcement – R. Yechiel Goldhaber – January 4, 2018

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EDIT 1.4.2018:Unfortunately due to the inclement weather this lecture has been canceled. An update will be posted it that changes. The readership of the Seforim Blog is invited to a lecture by the noted author, Rav Yechiel Goldhaber (link), whose respected research and scholarship is well-known to Seforim Blog readers.  The shiur will be taking place Thursday, January 4, 7:30 PM at Khal Bnei Avrohom Yaakov, 2701 Avenue N, Brooklyn, NY. Rabbi Goldhaber’s speech will be delivered in English. The…

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