Don’t Oppress the Ger Ben Zion Katz The Torah in Motion blog by Rabbi Jay Kelman[1] discusses the daily daf as well as the parashah of the week. When reviewing Baba Metzia 59, Rabbi Kelman mentioned that the Talmud stated that there were 36 or 46 places where the Torah commands not to oppress the stranger/convert[2] (ger), but that he was not aware of any list of the verses in question. This paper is an attempt to generate such a…
Hebrew printing in Altdorf: A brief Christian-Hebraist Phenomenon By Marvin J. Heller[1] Altdorf is remembered in Jewish history, when it is recalled at all, for the small number of Hebrew, Hebrew/Latin books printed there, beginning in the seventeenth century. Our Altdorf (old village), Altdorf bei Nürnberg, Bavaria, is one of several communities so named, others elsewhere in Germany, France, Switzerland, Poland, and even one Altdorf in the United States.[2] Again, our Altdorf, with the name to distinguish it from other…
PIYYUT ON THE SURVIVAL OF THE JEWS OF BRECLAV (LUNDENBURG)[1] ON JANUARY 23, 1698 By David Roth[2] I found a printed pamphlet in the National Library of Israel[3] entitled סליחות מה שאומרים כאן ק”ק לונדענבורג בי”א טבת בכל שנה והמאורע יבואר בתוך הסליחות …, translated as “the selihoth prayers that are recited here [in] the community of Lundenberg (Břeclav), on the 11th of Teveth every year, and the event [commemorated] will be told in the selihoth”. The pamphlet was published…
Passover with Apostates: A Concert in Spain and a Seder in the Middle of the Ocean By Eliezer Wiesel Forverts (22 April 1957) [Yiddish] [Translated into English by Shaul Seidler-Feller (2018)] If someone says to you that Passover is the festival of redemption not only of a nation but of each individual, believe him; If someone explains to you that a Jew remains a Jew deep at heart, despite the masks he is often forced to wear, do not doubt him;…
Churches, Ronald McDonald, and More Marc B. Shapiro 1. In a recent post I mentioned R. Leon Modena, so let me note the following. In my article on entering churches,[1] available here, I mention that R. Modena entered churches to hear the sermons. I also quote R. Eliezer Waldenberg’s description of R. Modena as an איש הפכפך. Only after my article appeared did I find that R. Solomon Scheinfeld uses similar language in describing R. Modena[2]: הוא היה גדול בתורה וחכמת העולם, היה גאון בטבעו,…
Blood Accusation in Ragusa (Today Dubrovnik, Croatia) 1622 – A bibliographical mistake Dan Yardeni, an engineer by profession (Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, 1963), is entrepreneur specializing in cutting edge materials and materials production processes. As a sideline, he researches problems in the history of Hebrew books printing and printers. He also contributes articles to the Culture and Literature sections of Haaretz and other Israeli newspapers. This is his second contribution to the Seforim Blog. במסגרת עבודה על פרשת…
