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Category: Censorship & Bowdlerization

ArtScroll’s Response and My Comments

ArtScroll’s Response and My Comments

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 ArtScroll’s Response and My Comments by Marc B. Shapiro  My recent post here was more popular than my typical post. I base this statement on the fact that I received more emails from readers than usual and the post was picked up by a variety of different websites. The part dealing with the censorship of Rashbam was translated into Hebrew here (with one of the commenters calling for a herem to be placed on ArtScroll)[ and see also here. ArtScroll has now issued its response….

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Self-Censorship in the Arukh ha-Shulhan, ArtScroll’s Latest Betrayal, and Other Assorted Comments

Self-Censorship in the Arukh ha-Shulhan, ArtScroll’s Latest Betrayal, and Other Assorted Comments

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Self-Censorship in the Arukh ha-Shulhan, ArtScroll’s Latest Betrayal, and Other Assorted Comments Marc B. Shapiro 1. R. Mordechai Rabinovitch has recently published the second volume of his commentary on the Arukh ha-Shulhan, dealing with the laws of Hanukkah. I strongly encourage anyone who prepares for the holiday by studying the halakhot in the Arukh ha-Shulhan to use R. Rabinovitch’s valuable work. Interestingly, R. Rabinovitch vocalizes the work as Arokh ha-Shulhan. This is based on the fact that these words, with this vocalization, appear in Isaiah…

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Assorted Comments

Assorted Comments

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Assorted Comments Marc B. Shapiro 1. In this post I mentioned the strange comment of R. Shabbetai Bass in his Siftei Hakhamim, Exodus 33:13, Moses thought that God was joking with him.[1] A few readers emailed me that in the new Mikraot Gedolot Ha-Maor this passage has been deleted, i.e., censored. Here is how the passage looks in the first edition of Siftei Hakhamim, published in R. Bass’ lifetime.. Here is the passage as it appears in the censored Mikraot Gedolot Ha-Maor. Fortunately, the new…

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Tobacco and the Hasidim and a Comment on Artscroll

Tobacco and the Hasidim and a Comment on Artscroll

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Pursuing the Quest: Selected Writings of Louis Jacobs has just appeared. The Seforim Blog is happy to present the following excerpts from the book. (The Note on Artscroll is part of a longer article.) Tobacco and the Hasidim and a Comment on Artscroll Louis Jacobs References in literature to the use of tobacco by hasidic Jews are numerous [1]. Although there is little direct evidence to indicate how widespread it was, the references suggest it was fairly extensive. Let us…

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The Netziv, Reading Newspapers on Shabbos, in general & Censorship (part one)*

The Netziv, Reading Newspapers on Shabbos, in general & Censorship (part one)*

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 The Netziv, Reading Newspapers on Shabbos, in general & Censorship (part one)* By: Eliezer Brodt Previously, I have touched on the topic of the Netziv reading newspapers on weekdays and on Shabbos [here and here]. In this post I would like to revisit the subject, and also deal with some cases of censorship in the Netziv’s seforim.[1] I would like to stress at the outset that this is a work in progress[2] and not intended L’Halacha; each person should consult his own Rav. In 1928, R’…

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Some Notes on Censorship of Hebrew Books

Some Notes on Censorship of Hebrew Books

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Some Notes on Censorship of Hebrew Books by Norman Roth Habent sua fata libelli (Books have their fate) One of the tragedies of the Inquisition and the Expulsions – both from Spain and Portugal– which has received very little attention is the destruction and loss of Hebrew manuscripts and books. Since the printing of Hebrew books in Spain began many years before the Expulsion, this loss involved printed books as well as manuscripts. Indeed, due to these losses, since only…

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