Eliezer Brodt – Page 15 – The Seforim Blog

Review of Professor Daniel Sperber’s Netivot Pesikah

February 13, 2008 Eliezer Brodt Comments 0 Comment

Professor Daniel Sperber, Modes of Decision – Methods and Approaches for Proper Halakhic Decision Making, Jerusalem, Reuven Mass, 2008, 207 pages; Hebrew. פר’ דניאל שפרבר, נתיבות פסיקה ‘כלים וגישה לפוסק ההלכה’ ירושלים, תשסח, ראובן מס, 207 עמודים Last week a new book from Rabbi Prof. Daniel Sperber arrived in stores, Netivot Pesikah. This is his third book which he authored in less than a year (see here and here for reviews on them). Before I begin I must say at…

Read More Read More

Ofeq Institute and the New (English) Version of the Messilat Yesharim

January 30, 2008 Eliezer Brodt Comments 0 Comment

The Messilat Yesharim, by R. Moshe Chaim Luzzato (Ramchal), is one of the foundational works of mussar. The Gra, among others, praise the Messilat Yesharim. As such, any addition to its oeuvre is important in its own right. The Ofeq Institute* has recently published an English translation of an alternative version of the Messilat Yesharim. This version is fundamentally different than the standard edition of Messilat Yesharim. The standard edition is divided into chapters based upon various character traits. The…

Read More Read More

A Comprehensive (or close to it) List of New Seforim

January 2, 2008 Eliezer Brodt Comments 1 comment

In a recent Mishpacha article [November 28, 2007, ‘Seforim Supplement’, p. 48] they quote Shlomo Biegeleisen, of Biegeleisen Books, as saying that “they receive sixty new seforim every single week!” The seforim market has exploded in the past few years and continues to grow daily. While it is impossible to keep up with everything that comes out we hope to keep the readers updated from time to time with some of the interesting things that are printed. This current list…

Read More Read More

Review of R. Yosef Engel’s Tiferes Yosef

December 30, 2007 Eliezer Brodt Comments 1 comment

Tiferes Yosef, Sefer Shemos, R. Yosef Engel, ed. Friedman, Mochon Ohavei Torah, Monsey, NY, 595 pages, 2007. [845. 426.6152] About four years ago I noticed in the seforim store a sefer called תפראת יוסף. It caught my attention immediately because it said מאוצרות הגאון ר’ יוסף ענגיל זצ”ל and I am a big חסיד of R. Engel as I am sure many are. I purchased the sefer after looking at it for a few minutes being satisfied with what I…

Read More Read More

New Book List December 2007

December 13, 2007 Eliezer Brodt Comments 0 Comment

As previously mentioned before from time to time we hope to write up lists of new seforim with a short description. Here is a list of some new seforim that came out in the past few weeks [some of these seforim will be the subject of their own longer posts]. Iggeret Hamussar (Jerusalem, 2007); 269 pages. This sefer is the last will and testament of the Rambam (with nikkud) that he wrote to his son R. Avraham. This work has…

Read More Read More

The Customs Associated with Joy on Chanukah and Their More Obscure Sources

December 5, 2007 Eliezer Brodt Comments 4 comments

In previous posts we have discussed some of the customs relating to Chanukah, in this post I wanted to address those customs connected to Simcha (joy) and do so by highlighting some rather unknown sources. Amongst the topics I will discuss are eating a seudah, dairy products, sefuganiot, playing cards and dreidel. 1. Seudah R. Eliezer Ashkenazi (1512-85) writes in the introduction to his classic work on Megliat Esther, Yosef Lekakh (first printed in Cremona, 1576), the reason that only…

Read More Read More

A Review of Beis Havaad by Eliezer Brodt

November 25, 2007 Eliezer Brodt Comments 0 Comment

Beis Havaad, Le’arechat Kitvei Rabboseinu, ed. Yoel Hakoton and Eliyahu Soloveitchik, (Jerusalem, 2003); 272 pp. Beis Havaad is a collection of articles based on a series of lectures that were delivered in Yerushalayim dealing with many aspects of the proper way seforim should be published. Beis Havaad was originally intended to be a journal but, to date, no other issue has appeared. With its focus on books, it is only proper that a review of this book should appear at…

Read More Read More

R. Yehuda Hachasid & Natural Phenomenon: A Review of Amaros Tehoros

November 12, 2007 Eliezer Brodt Comments 0 Comment

In Kovetz al Yad (new series), volume 12, Professor Y. Ta-Shma published, for the first time from manuscript, a small kuntres of R. Yehuda Hachasid, that he titled Zecher Asa Lenifleosav. More recently, this article was reprinted and included in Ta-Shema’s collected writings, Kenesset Mekharim, (vol. 1, chap. 14). Two years ago, R. Yaakov Stal decided to turn this small pamphlet in to a beautifully edited book. He turned the work into a 517 page sefer! Professor Ta-Shma, for the…

Read More Read More

Towards A Reappraisal of the Recent Works of Rabbi Shelomoh Luriah (Maharshal)

November 2, 2007 Eliezer Brodt Comments 0 Comment

As previously mentioned on the Seforim blog by myself and others, our generation is privileged to something no previous generation has seen, a sheer volume of Jewish books being printed and reprinted. Many of these works are seeing print for the first time – works of Rishonim and Achronim on all sorts of topics brought to the public eye from manuscript form. Some of these printings are beautiful editions, critically edited, and even glossed with illuminating marginal annotations. Other times…

Read More Read More

Modena, Gilgul, and an Unpublished Letter

October 24, 2007 Eliezer Brodt Comments 2 comments

Someone in a comment to a recent post mentioned an article that appears in the latest issue of the journal Ets Hayyim. This journal is published by the “students and hassidim of Bobov.” [Supposedly this journal is a break-off of the excellent journal Kerem Shlomo.] The journal is comprised of what most torah journals are today, there is a section publishing manuscripts hiddushei torah, general hiddushei torah, some articles on halacha etc. In this fourth and most recent issue there…

Read More Read More

R. Yaakov Lipshitz and Heter Mechirah

October 11, 2007 Eliezer Brodt Comments 25 comments

As per Sheuy R’s request a short post on shemitah: It is virtually impossible to write up a review of the literature out there on shemitah seforim as the seforim keep on coming out. For some odd reason people out there feel this is their place to contribute to our vast torah literature. As of last shemitah in the middle of the year I inquired at a local seforim store how many books did he get on the topic of…

Read More Read More

Review of R. Yedidyah Tiyah Weil’s Levushi Badim: With An Eye Towards Yom Kippur

September 20, 2007 Eliezer Brodt Comments 0 Comment

One aspect of our rich literature that is rarely tapped into properly is the area of Sifrei Derush. We have a complete literature of seforim in this genre from Rishonim until modern times, including many styles, from all kinds of gedolim, from completely different schools countries, etc. There are Sifrei Derush strictly written according to peshat, while others deal with allegorical interpretations, Halakha, Kabbalah, Derush, Mussar and Chassidus. This area is extremely important in our quest for information in many…

Read More Read More

The Custom of Refraining from Meat on Rosh HaShana

September 9, 2007 Eliezer Brodt Comments 0 Comment

This post is an excerpt of a chapter from his upcoming book on the halachos and minhagim of Rosh HaShana. The post below deals with the statement, whose source is from R. Yosef Karo’s maggid, (known as Mishna), to refrain from eating meat on Rosh HaShana. This statement appears to be contrary to an (actual) Mishna in Chulin. R. Brodt hopes to have this book available for next year Rosh HaShana. אי-אכילת בשר בראש-השנה א. א. כשם שלכמה מן הראשונים…

Read More Read More

In Search of Memory:Towards an Understanding of Baladhur

August 31, 2007 Eliezer Brodt Comments 21 comments

In a recent post at the Seforim blog, while reviewing R. Ovadiah Yosef’s recent work, Chazon Ovadia, I wrote as follows: “R’ Ovadiah Yosef is world famous for his unbelievable memory, resulting in a tremendous bekius. I once joked that he must have had someone develop a computer program and attach it to his brain to help him retain so much information and recall it at all times.” To this, one anonymous commenter wrote as follows: “Actually, there is a…

Read More Read More

The Legend of R. Yehuda Halevi’s Death: Truth or Fiction?

July 30, 2007 Eliezer Brodt Comments 1 comment

Among the more famous kinos that we recite on Tisha B’Av is Zion Halo Tishali. This kinah was written by one of the greatest paytanim, R. Yehudah Halevi author of the classic Kuzari. This piyut is about the author’s passion to walk on the holy soil of Eretz Yisrael. In the Artscroll commentary on the kinos, R. Avraham Chaim Feuer writes an ancient manuscript states that R. Yehuda Halevi composed this kina while journeying towards Eretz Yisroel and recited it…

Read More Read More