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כעומד לפני השכינה בשעת ער לערנט: Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein on the Divide Between Traditional and Academic Jewish Studies

כעומד לפני השכינה בשעת ער לערנט: Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein on the Divide Between Traditional and Academic Jewish Studies

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posheter yid and an oved Hashem; the rest is commentary. This is his third contribution to the Seforim blog; for his previous articles, see here and here. This post has been generously sponsored le-illui nishmat Sima Belah bat Aryeh Leib, z”l. Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein enthusiasts might be surprised to learn that there was a time when the rosh yeshivah, zts”l, lectured publicly in Yiddish. I myself had no idea that this was the case until my dear friend, Reb Menachem…

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Birchas Ha-ilanos in Nissan

Birchas Ha-ilanos in Nissan

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The Following article originally appeared in Yeshurn 32 (2015) [Eventually it will be updated]. For another part of this series see here. הלכות ברכת הראייה במסגרת הספר ‘מעגל טוב’ לחיד”א (ג)1 ברכת האילנות אליעזר יהודה בראדט ברכה האילנות בניסן2 ביומנו ‘מעגל טוב’ כתב החיד”א ביום א’ בניסן תקל”ז: “וברכתי ברכת אילנות”3. בשנת תקל”ח כתב בכ”ט בניסן: “ואחר מנחה ברכתי ברכת אילנות בגן”4. ביומנו גם רשם בשנת תקמ”ח: “ברכתי ברכת אילנות שילהי ניסן בפיזא”5. וכן בשנת תקמ”ט: “ברכת האילנות סוף ניסן”6….

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The Origins of Hamentashen from the Evidence of Jewish Literature: A Historical-Culinary Survey Revisited (yet again)

The Origins of Hamentashen from the Evidence of Jewish Literature: A Historical-Culinary Survey Revisited (yet again)

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Eleven years ago I wrote about the origins of Hamentashen in Jewish Literature (here). A year later I revisited the topic (here). Two years ago, I rewrote parts of it for Hebrew Kulmos magazine with some new important material. See here for previous posts on Purim and here for a Purim Round up. ויאכלו את המן: מנהג אכילת אזני המן, מקורותיו והטעמים השונים שניתנו לו מאת: אליעזר יהודה בראדט מה לנו עם אזניו של המן, ומדוע אנו מהדרים לאכלם כשהם…

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Torah Reading for Zochor and Parah

Torah Reading for Zochor and Parah

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קריאת פרשת זכור ופרשת פרה דאורייתא* מאת אליעזר יהודה בראדט ר’ אברהם גומבינר בעל ‘מגן אברהם’ נפטר בצום גדליה שנת תמ”ג ולא זכה לראות חיבורו ‘נר ישראל’, הפירוש המונומנטלי לשלחן ערוך אורח חיים, יוצא לאור בדפוס. כמה שנים לאחר מכן, בשנת תנ”ב, נדפס החיבור יחד עם ‘טורי זהב’ בדיהרן פארט ע”י המדפיס המפורסם ר’ שבתי בס בעל ‘שפתחי חכמים’. תיכף לאחר הדפסתו זכה שנכתבו ונדפסו כמה קיצורים ממנו, ביניהם גם ר’ נתן איגר בחיבורו ‘גן נטע’, פראג תנ”ה. גם זכה…

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God’s Silent Voice: Divine Presence in a Yiddish Poem by Abraham Joshua Heschel

God’s Silent Voice: Divine Presence in a Yiddish Poem by Abraham Joshua Heschel

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joined the faculty of Stanford University in 2017 as an assistant professor in the Department of Religious Studies, after previously serving as the Director of Jewish Studies and Visiting Assistant Professor of Modern Jewish Thought at Hebrew College in Newton, Massachusetts, and a research fellow at the Frankel Institute for Advanced Judaic Studies of the University of Michigan. He holds a Ph.D. in Jewish Studies from Harvard University and rabbinic ordination from Beit Midrash Har’el in Israel. Ariel’s current research…

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The Yiddish Press as a Historical Source for the Overlooked and Forgotten in the Jewish Community

The Yiddish Press as a Historical Source for the Overlooked and Forgotten in the Jewish Community

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Eddy Portnoy is Senior Researcher and Director of Exhibitions at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. He is the author of the recently-published (and much acclaimed, and fun) book, Bad Rabbi: And Other Strange but True Stories from the Yiddish Press (Stanford, 2017), available here (https://www.amazon.com/Bad-Rabbi-Strange-Stories-Stanford/dp/150360411X). This is his first contribution to the Seforim Blog. Sanhedrin 25 has this pretty well-known, somewhat rambling bit about what sorts of people are trustworthy enough to serve as witnesses in court. It’s pretty…

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The Universalism of Rav Kook

The Universalism of Rav Kook

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© 2018 Bezalel Naor Stereotypes are difficult to overcome. Until recently, the stereotype of Rav Avraham Yitzhak Hakohen Kook (1865-1935) was of a nationalist (perhaps even ultranationalist) who lent his rabbinic aegis to the Zionist enterprise in the first third of the twentieth century. In his seminal work Orot [Lights] (Jerusalem, 1920), the very first section of the book is entitled “Erets Yisrael.” The punchline of the first chapter reads: The expectation of salvation (tsefiyat ha-yeshu‘ah) is the force that…

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Chaim Zelig Slonimsky and the Diskin family

Chaim Zelig Slonimsky and the Diskin family

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In December of 2016, Seforim blog published an article by Zerachya Licht about the Maskil Chaim Zelig Slonimsky and the Chanuka controversy he ignited. Presented here is a two part biographical monograph which focuses on Slonimsky relationship to the Diskin family. As an outcome of the above, this essay explores the Diskin family’s attitude toward Haskalah. At the end of Part I a newly discovered document which sheds light on these two topics is reproduced and transcribed. Also included are…

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At a Holiday Celebration with the Lubavitchers by Elie Wiesel (1963)

At a Holiday Celebration with the Lubavitchers by Elie Wiesel (1963)

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The Forverts (13 December 1963) [Yiddish] [Translated to English by Shaul Seidler-Feller (2017)] The “Holiday of Salvation” among the Lubavitchers. – We travel to Brooklyn the way they used to travel to see the rebbe. – The holiday of Yud Tes Kislev. – Why I like to attend when the Lubavitchers host a farbrengen. – Guests from Israel. – The miracle of joy. By Eliezer Wiesel Someone remembered: it is Yud Tes Kislev. So, who wants to visit the Lubavitchers?…

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Hasidism in America

Hasidism in America

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There is a tape of R. Joseph B. Soloveitchik in the 1950s saying that there is no real Hasidism in the United States. He says that he saw real Hasidism in Warsaw, and America does not have it. When the Rav made this statement, I think most non-hasidim would have agreed that Hasidism did not have any real future in the United States. The 1950s was a time when the focus was on the melting pot. In such an era,…

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The Mysteries of Hoshana Rabbah

The Mysteries of Hoshana Rabbah

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This article originally appeared last year in Ami Magazine (2016) This version has a many updates and corrections. I hope to revisit this subject shortly. The sources of our Yomim Tovim are relatively easy to find, as one simply locates the relevant pesukim or Gemara and starts from there. However, one Yom Tov does not have such a starting point: Hoshana Rabbah. Its roots and numerous customs are shrouded in mystery. This article is an attempt to shed a bit…

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‘אֲשֶׁר שַׂמְתִּי עֲרָבָה בֵיתוֹ’ ו’לֶחֶם לַנְּעָרִים’ – השימוש המִשני בערבות הלולב וההושענות למנהג איטליה הקדום

‘אֲשֶׁר שַׂמְתִּי עֲרָבָה בֵיתוֹ’ ו’לֶחֶם לַנְּעָרִים’ – השימוש המִשני בערבות הלולב וההושענות למנהג איטליה הקדום

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השימוש המִשני בערבות הלולב וההושענות למנהג איטליה הקדום* “…The aravot, with which they observed the commandment of lulav, or the ‘ritual of the aravah’ (on Hoshana Rabah), would be discarded after their use. However, the German sages, as a token of their love for mitzvot, were wont to keep them in order to perform future mitzvot, such as for burning chametz or baking matzot on erev Pesach. The German custom has a Talmudic basis, that if an object is used…

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