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Genre: Response & Rejoinder

R. Hayyim Soloveitchik’s Attitude Towards Girsaot: A Response to Dr. Marc Shapiro

R. Hayyim Soloveitchik’s Attitude Towards Girsaot: A Response to Dr. Marc Shapiro

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R. Hayyim Soloveitchik’s Attitude Towards Girsaot A Response to Dr. Marc Shapiro Elisha Friedman R. Hayyim Soloveitchik earned his towering stature in Jewish intellectual history for his revolutionary methodology of Talmudic analysis, but scholars have also noted another aspect of his insights, which is a disinterest, bordering on disregard, for textual veracity. In general, traditional Talmudists were not overly concerned with bibliographic issues and girsaot (textual variants), but even within this tradition R. Hayyim stands out as extreme. One of…

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Breaching the Walls of History with Postscript

Breaching the Walls of History with Postscript

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Breaching the Walls of History By Dan Rabinowitz This essay first appeared in the Jewish Review of Books (Spring 2026) and is republished here. Its postscript appeared in the magazine’s Substack newsletter, which you can subscribe to here. Last December, on the eighth day of Hanukkah, the American haredi newspaper of record Yated Ne’eman published a long, impassioned article titled “Ufortzu Chomos Migdolai Vetimu Kol Hashmanim,” by Rabbi Michoel Sorotzkin. The Hebrew title is from the fifth stanza of the…

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Quiz Answers; Response to Criticism; Rav Schwab Writes to the Rogochover

Quiz Answers; Response to Criticism; Rav Schwab Writes to the Rogochover

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Quiz Answers; Response to Criticism; Rav Schwab Writes to the Rogochover Marc B. Shapiro 1. Let me begin with the riddles from my last post here. A. Where do we find that Shammai not only disagrees with Beit Shammai, but also agrees with Beit Hillel? B. In the days of the tannaim a certain item was unquestionably muktzeh. However, in the post-talmudic period, some hold that this item is no longer muktzeh. What item am I referring to? Provide the…

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Final Response

Final Response

 Final Response By Marc B. Shapiro In response to Rabbi Herschel Grossman’s strong criticisms of my Limits of Orthodox Theology, I wrote four responses on the Seforim Blog. You can view them here, here, here, and here. I then stopped responding even though there are still many criticisms I could have commented on. Readers can compare Grossman’s arguments with my replies and draw their own judgment. Grossman has recently responded to my posts and offered further criticisms in an article published in Dialogue. See here. I do…

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R. Yudel Rosenberg, R. Mordechai Elefant, and Sexual

R. Yudel Rosenberg, R. Mordechai Elefant, and Sexual

R. Yudel Rosenberg, R. Mordechai Elefant, and Sexual Abuse Marc B. Shapiro 1. Many readers of the Seforim Blog are aware of R. Yudel Rosenberg, the fascinating talmid chacham and posek who for some reason was also drawn to forgeries. Ira Robinson has recently authored a complete biography of Rosenberg, A Kabbalist in Montreal: The Life and Times of Rabbi Yudel Rosenberg. This wonderful book is certainly deserving of a complete review on the Seforim Blog, but here I would…

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Response to Criticism Part 4; Rabbi Zvi Yehuda and the Hazon Ish

Response to Criticism Part 4; Rabbi Zvi Yehuda and the Hazon Ish

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 Response to Criticism Part 4; Rabbi Zvi Yehuda and the Hazon Ish Marc B. Shapiro Continued from here. 1. In Limits,p. 14 n. 55, I write I should call attention to a significant philosophical and halakhic point which appears to have gone unnoticed. The Vilna Gaon (R. Elijah b. Solomon Zalman (1720-97) apparently believed that the First and Second Principles are the only true Principles in Judaism. According to him, one who believes in God’s existence and unity, despite his other…

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