Article – Page 8 – The Seforim Blog

“Ha’Rotzeh Lichanek, Hitaleh B’Ilan Gadol”: Notes on some Literary forgeries of Jewish works in the the Late Modern Period (1756-1965)

November 11, 2022 admin Comments 6 comments

“Ha’Rotzeh Lichanek, Hitaleh B’Ilan Gadol”: Notes on some Literary forgeries of Jewish works in the the Late Modern Period (1756-1965) By Ezra Brand Ezra Brand is an independent researcher based in Tel Aviv. He has an MA from Revel Graduate School at Yeshiva University in Medieval Jewish History, where he focused his research on 13th and 14th century sefirotic Kabbalah. He is interested in using digital and computational tools in historical research. He has contributed a number of times previously to…

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Hebrew Printing in Lissa (Leszno), A Brief (Perchance) Transitory Moment

October 27, 2022 admin Comments 1 comment

Hebrew Printing in Lissa (Leszno), A Brief (Perchance) Transitory Moment By Marvin J. Heller[1] Jewish history is replete with cities, locations, that in their time were centers of Jewish life, replete with communal activities and prominent sages, but sadly, are poorly recalled today, if at all, except in academic and historical circles. One such location is Lissa, Leszno in Polish. Given its relative prominence, Lissa is unusual in that, unlike many similar locations, it was not home to a prominent…

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Poetry and Wordplay in the Book of Kohelet

October 7, 2022 admin Comments 7 comments

Poetry and Wordplay in the Book of Kohelet By Joseph Wertzberger[1] Sefer Kohelet, the Book of Kohelet, was written approximately 700-600 BC according to Rabbinic sources,[2] and is dated to somewhere between that time and the early to mid-third century BC by academic sources.[3] Its wisdom is traditionally attributed to King Solomon.[4] The book is part of ancient Hebrew wisdom literature, and is known for its existential, philosophic lessons and motifs. But alongside that also, the book is suffused with…

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Renewal of the Hakhel Ceremony in Jerusalem and New York

September 30, 2022 admin Comments 9 comments

Renewal of the Hakhel Ceremony in Jerusalem and New York[1] By Aaron R. Katz A graduate of the University of Chicago Law School and a musmach of RIETS, Aaron is the Associate Director, Private Equity and M&A Finex at WTW Israel. He lives with his wife and four children in Mishkafayim, Ramat Bet Shemesh. As we come to the final days of the Shmitah year, preparations will soon begin for the Zecher LeHakhel events that will occur starting with the…

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A Desperate Plea for Help on Behalf of Vilna’s Old Jewish Cemetery

September 23, 2022 admin Comments 1 comment

A Desperate Plea for Help on Behalf of Vilna’s Old Jewish Cemetery in 1919 By Shnayer Leiman Recently, a brief study was posted online on Meir Zelmanovich, the custodian of Vilna’s old Jewish cemetery, who died a martyr’s death in 1920.[1] Here, we wish to add Zelmanovich’s only published writing, a Yiddish letter that appeared in Vilna’s יידישע צייטונג [Yidishe Tsaytung], on Monday, December 15, 1919.[2] The letter will appear below both in the original Yiddish and in an annotated…

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Rashi Devarim 26:17-18….. הֶאֱמַ֖רְתָּ and הֶאֱמִֽירְךָ֣

September 18, 2022 admin Comments 4 comments

Rashi Devarim 26:17-18….. הֶאֱמַ֖רְתָּ and הֶאֱמִֽירְךָ֣ Eli Genauer Rashi provides two explanations for a word in the Torah. Some scholars maintain that Rashi was not the source of the second explanation, rather it was derived from a “Taus Sofrim”. A close look at the manuscript witnesses reveals that the second explanation most likely did originate with Rashi. Devarim 26 17. אֶת־ה’ הֶאֱמַ֖רְתָּ הַיּ֑וֹם לִהְיוֹת֩ לְךָ֨ לֵֽאלֹֹֹֹֹקים וְלָלֶ֣כֶת בִּדְרָכָ֗יו וְלִשְׁמֹ֨ר חֻקָּ֧יו וּמִצְוֺתָ֛יו וּמִשְׁפָּטָ֖יו וְלִשְׁמֹ֥עַ בְּקֹלֽוֹ׃ 18. ה’ הֶאֱמִֽירְךָ֣ הַיּ֗וֹם לִהְי֥וֹת לוֹ֙…

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The Meaning of the Word Eduyos in מסכת עדיות

August 9, 2022 admin Comments 22 comments

The Meaning of the Word Eduyos in מסכת עדיות David S Farkas Mr. Farkas received his rabbinic ordination from Ner Israel Rabbinical College in 1999. He lives with his family in Cleveland, Ohio, where he serves as Senior Corporate Counsel for one of the largest energy distribution companies in the United States. Masechet Eduyos is a unique volume of the Talmud. It is the only halachic tractate not confined to a single defined area of law. It is, rather, a…

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On the Ger Tzedek of Vilnius

July 18, 2022 admin Comments 31 comments

On the Ger Tzedek of Vilnius By Yosef Vilner This year the holiday of Shavuot occurred right after Shabbat. There were many meals and lively conversations around the table. During one these talks my daughter mentioned a story she read in a weekly supplement to the Hebrew edition of the Orthodox Jewish newspaper Hamodia. The story was about Polish nobleman Graf Potocki, a convert to Judaism who was convicted of apostacy by the Catholic Church and burned alive at the…

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Rashi BaMidbar 22:9- “Taut Sofrim” or “Agadot Chalukot?”

July 14, 2022 admin Comments 5 comments

Rashi BaMidbar 22:9- “Taut Sofrim” or “Agadot Chalukot?” By Eli Genauer Summary: Here we find polar opposite approaches to a Stirah in Rashi’s commentary to the Torah. One approach maintains that Rashi used two different Midrashic sources for his contradictory comments, and the other solves the Stirah by saying that one of the comments attributed to Rashi is actually a Taut Sofrim. There is a very perplexing verse towards the beginning of Parshat Balak: ט:וַיָּבֹא אֱלֹקים אֶל-בִּלְעָם וַיֹּאמֶר מִי הָאֲנָשִׁים…

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Tarnopol: A short-lived early 19th century Hebrew press

June 29, 2022 admin Comments 6 comments

Tarnopol: A short-lived early 19th century Hebrew press by Marvin J. Heller[1] The blossoms have appeared in the land, The time of your song has arrived, and the voice of the turtledove Is heard in our land. The green figs form on the fig tree. The vines in blossom give off fragrance. Arise, my darling; My fair one, come away! “O my dove, in the cranny of the rocks. Hidden by the cliff. Let me see your face, Let me…

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Psalms 117:1-2: Why Are the Goyim Praising God?

June 16, 2022 admin Comments 11 comments

Psalms 117:1-2: Why Are the Goyim Praising God?[1] By Mitchell First MFirstAtty@aol.com In Hallel, has only two verses: 1) Praise Hashem all goyim; Laud him all the umim. 2) For his ḥesed is great?[2] עלינו and the emet of Hashem is forever, Halleluyah. Why are the nations of the world to be praising God? Because his ḥesed is great on the Israelites? Does this make sense? I first read about this interpretive issue in Rabbi Hayyim Angel’s excellent article…

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How Jews of Yesteryear Celebrated Graduation from Medical School: Congratulatory Poems for Jewish Medical Graduates in the 17th and 18th Centuries: An Unrecognized Genre

May 29, 2022 admin Comments 2 comments

How Jews of Yesteryear Celebrated Graduation from Medical School: Congratulatory Poems for Jewish Medical Graduates in the 17th and 18th Centuries: An Unrecognized Genre Rabbi Edward Reichman, MD Edward Reichman, Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, is the author of The Anatomy of Jewish Law: A Fresh Dissection of the Relationship Between Medicine, Medical History and Rabbinic Literature (Published by Koren Publishers/OU Press/YU Press, 2022), as well as the forthcoming, Pondering Pre-Modern(a) Pandemics in Jewish…

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Eruv Tavshilin: A Scribal Error or Deliberate Reformation?

April 21, 2022 admin Comments 1 comment

Eruv Tavshilin: A Scribal Error or Deliberate Reformation? by: Dan Rabinowitz The Washington Haggadah was written by the scribe Joel ben Simon, and is currently housed at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., and is available online in a beautiful digital copy. Joel produced the Haggadah in the late 15th century. As so much of the core Hebraica collection at the Library of Congress, the manuscript was sold by Efraim Deinard to the Library probably around 1916. (Deinard was one of…

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Kitniyot and Mechirat Chametz: Paradoxical Approaches to the Chametz Prohibition

April 12, 2022 admin Comments 20 comments

“Contemporary Rabbis don’t bother to interrogate the sources of law and custom; instead, their purpose is to traffic in chumrot and create new prohibitions. They are unable to appreciate their hypocrisy … on the one hand, they roar like a lion against those who are open to change and the reformists, that one cannot alter an iota from what the kadmonim imposed, while on the other hand, casually discard the kadmonim whenever the achronim create new chumrot and they fight…

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Some Notes on Verifying the Authenticity of the Alleged Rav Yisrael Salanter Photographs

April 11, 2022 admin Comments 14 comments

Some Notes on Verifying the Authenticity of the Alleged Rav Yisrael Salanter Photographs By Shnayer Leiman There are some who claim that the photographs of R. Yisrael Salanter’s sons can be used for the likeness of their father, since we have testimony that the sons looked almost exactly like their father. Let us examine the evidence. 1. Aside from the 3 published photographs of R. Yisrael’s son R. Yitzchak (see “The Recently Published Photographs of R. Yisrael Salanter”), the only other extant sketch…

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