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Category: Censorship & Bowdlerization

I See Dead People

I See Dead People

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Mary Roach in her excellent book “Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers” discusses some of the facinating facts relating to dead bodies. However, she does not discuss some of the more interesting Jewish incidents of dead bodies. The first is the fairly well known story of R. Yehuda Aszod (1794-1866). R. Aszod’s grandson wrote a biography of his grandfather. Portions of this biography are included in R. Aszod’s commentary on the Torah, Divre Mahri. “My grandfather never allowed for…

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Censored Texts – Website

Censored Texts – Website

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There is an interesting post, in Hebrew, on Hydepark, which has a list of censored texts. Although the list is not complete, (for more examples see my article in the latest issue of Hakirah), it still is rather good. There are also numerous other gems on the site for those that take the time.

Differences btwn the “Improved” Making of a Godol and the Original

Differences btwn the “Improved” Making of a Godol and the Original

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As previously mentioned at the Seforim blog, Rabbi Nathan Kamenetsky’s Making of a Godol has been reprinted in an “improved” edition. In the new edition there are a few significant changes, which appear to have been done to appease those that originally banned the original. It is fairly easy to find these changes with the help of the index in the “improved” edition. Here are some of the highlights of these changes: First Edition (“FE”) – Also like my father,…

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“Improved” Making of a Godol

“Improved” Making of a Godol

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R. Nathan Kamenetsky has republished the first volume of his book, “Making of a Godol.” This new edition is labeled “Improved Edition.” The reasons for the improvements are well-known. The original edition was placed under a ban due to perceived slights in the honor of certain Gedolim. In this new edition, there is a helpful index which shows what exactly has been improved upon. According to the index only one story has been removed in it’s entirety. That story, in…

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New Book Censored

New Book Censored

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R. Elijah haBahur’s Sefer haTishbi has just been republished. The Sefer haTishbi is a dictionary devoted to words that do not appear in R. Nathan of Rome’s Orukh. This particular reprint contains many important additions. It contains Solomon Buber’s biography on R. Elijah as well as an extensive introduction on the various editions and the importance of the Sefer haTishbi. Furthermore, it contains several commentaries, some published for the first time. It contains the commentary of R. Menhem Shmuel Hirschtik,…

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