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Contributor: Eliezer Brodt

R. Chaim Vital and his Unknown Work Sefer ha-Pe'ulot

R. Chaim Vital and his Unknown Work Sefer ha-Pe'ulot

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ספר הפעולות רבי חיים ויטאל, תש”ע, תלט עמודים כולל מבוא ומפתחותA few years back, in a post at the Seforim blog discussing the history of plant known as baladur, I mentioned a sefer, Refuah Ma’asiyot le-Rav Chaim Vital. At the time, I only briefly touched upon this work. What follows is a more detailed discussion of the recently published edition as well as the history and substance of the work. The author is R. Chaim Vital, the most famous student…

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Shavuah HaSefer: A Recommended Reading List III

Shavuah HaSefer: A Recommended Reading List III

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Book week just began in Eretz Yisroel. As I wrote in previous years, in Israel, around Shavous time (some times right before some times right after), there is a period of about ten days called Shavuah Hasefer-book week. Shavuah HaSefer is a sale which takes place all across the country in stores, malls and special venues rented out for the sale. There are places where strictly “frum” seforim are sold and other places have most of the secular publishing houses….

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Review: Bekurim with the Gra’s Commentary

Review: Bekurim with the Gra’s Commentary

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One of the most famous gedolim who lived in the past few hundred years was R. Eliyahu of Vilna, the Vilna goan, or Gra. Gra was known for his expertise in all areas of Torah literature including all of Tanach, Bavli, Yerushlami and the rest of Chazal. Additionally, he was an expert in dikduk, Kabbalah and Halacha. Gra did not print anything in his lifetime; however, shortly after his death, his works began to be printed and have been and…

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Seforim for Sale, List III

Seforim for Sale, List III

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This is the third and (for now) the final list of out-of-print seforim (the two prior lists can be seen here and here). We have provided links for most of the books where a bit of information about the book can be gleaned. These books will only be available for a short bit longer. Most of the titles mentioned here are out-of-print and, for some of the listed titles, there are only a few copies available. For example, for-some of…

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Benefits of the Internet: Besamim Rosh and its History

Benefits of the Internet: Besamim Rosh and its History

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In a new series we wanted to highlight how much important material is now available online. This, first post, illustrates the proliferation of online materials with regard to the controversy surrounding the work Besamim Rosh (“BR”). [We must note at the outset that recently a program has been designed by Moshe Koppel which enables one, via various mathematical algorithims, to identify documents authored by the same author. We hope, using this program, to provide a future update that will show…

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Seforim for Sale, List II

Seforim for Sale, List II

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This is the second list of out-of-print seforim. At the end of the list I provide suggestions, divided by subject matter. Additionally, where appropriate I have provided information about specific titles. Most of the titles mentioned here are out of print and, for some of the listed titles; there are only a few copies available. For example, for-some of the titles there are only two copies available for sale while others there are many more available. Thus, these books are…

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Seforim For Sale – List 1

Seforim For Sale – List 1

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We will be introducing a new feature to the seforim blog. From time to time we will be offering some hard-to-find seforim and academic books for very reasonable prices. Most of the titles mentioned here are out of print and, for some of the listed titles, there are only a few copies available. For example, for-some of the titles there are only 5 copies available for sale while others there are many more available. Thus, these books are on a…

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Another chapter of R. Shmuel Ashkenazi’s Latest Work

Another chapter of R. Shmuel Ashkenazi’s Latest Work

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Unfortunately, the amount of responses regarding assisting the publication of R. Ashkenazi’s was underwhelming (a total of one contribution) so it is still uncertain when the seforim will actually be published. Until then – here is another chapter. For more information to contribute (any amount is extremly helpful) contact me at eliezerbrodt-at-gmail.com. למקורות הפתגם ‘ישועת ה’ כהרף עין’ בספרו איש צדיק היה (ס”ע 223) מספר שמחה רז: פעם סיפר לי (ר’ אריה לוין), כי כאשר היה מבקר את הנידונים למוות…

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Eliezer Brodt: Corrections and Clarifications

Eliezer Brodt: Corrections and Clarifications

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From time to time I get feed back about some of my previous posts some good some bad – aside from the standard criticism of poor grammar, editing or transliterating, all of which are my fault entirely. The blog does not have a full time editor (its all on a volunteer basis), and the goal of the editors, in general, is to get out posts at high speed with good content (many of which could have been printed in journals)…

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Women, Simchat Torah, and Censorship

Women, Simchat Torah, and Censorship

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A recent book, Mi-pehem, (Bnei Brak,2008), collects interviews that were conducted with various Gedolim. One interview was conducted with Rebbetzin Ginsburg the daughter of R. Yechezel Levenstein. In the course of this interview she described the Simchat Torah celebration at the Mir in Europe:אבל שמחת תורה בישיבה היה משהו מיוחד. הנשים עמדו בפינת בית המדרש מאחורי מחיצה, ומחכות בהתרגשות לתחילת ההקפות! (מפיהם, עמ’ 199). According to this interview, women in the Mir were behind the Mechetziah. But, I recall hearing…

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The Source for the Recitation of LeDovid

The Source for the Recitation of LeDovid

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This post is a followup of an earlier post which discusses the origins of reciting le-dovid hashem ori from rosh hodesh Elul through Simchat Torah. In this post I show a few early sources for saying ledovid and some reasons why some did not say it. For Profesor Leiman’s lecture on this topic see here. In my discussion of the various reasons given I deal with the various Balei Shem especially the two balei shem who share the same name,…

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אימתי פסקה טהרת אפר פרה אדומה

אימתי פסקה טהרת אפר פרה אדומה

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[1] מאמר זה [מתוך ספרי בין כסה לעשור שי”ל לפני כמה חדשים] הוא מבוסס על חומר שאספתי בס”ד במשך השנים דרך לימודי, ובנוסף לכך השתמשתי בכמה סיכומים שונים שנערכו על נושא זה, הם: ר’ זאב וואלף לייטער, שו”ת בית דוד, ירושלים תשס, סי’ סד, ובמילואים לשם; ר’ ראובן מרגליות, נפש חיה, סי’ קנט, ס”ק יג; ר’ אהרן מגיד, בית אהרן, י, ערך ‘אפר פרה’, ניו-יורק תשלה, עמ’ תרפו-תרצ; הרב דוד אברהם מנדלבוים, פרדס יוסף החדש, פרשת חוקת, בני-ברק תשנו, עמ’…

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