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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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Rare Letters, Controversial & Valuable Hasidic Books – Genazym Auction

Rare Letters, Controversial & Valuable Hasidic Books – Genazym Auction

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Genazym Auction is holding an auction on March 21st that includes many important letters and manuscripts and a small number of books (download a pdf of the catalog here). Many of the books are Hasidic or owned by well-known Hasidic figures. For example, the rare first edition of the No’am Elimelekh, 1788, by R. Elimelekh of Lyzhensk (lot 13). That book, like other early Hasidic books are both fundamental to the Hasidic philosophy and theology and were controversial among those…

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New Sefer Announcement: The Collected Writings of R’ Moshe Reines

New Sefer Announcement: The Collected Writings of R’ Moshe Reines

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It is with great pleasure that I announce a sefer that I just printed, The Collected Writings of R’ Moshe Reines. ר’ משה ריינס מבחר כתבים, אוסף חיבוריו מאמרים ואגרותיו, לג+ 640 +4 עמודים The sefer will be available for purchase in the US shortly. (We will post that info soon). A PDF of some sample pages are available upon request, for more information contact me at eliezerbrodt@gmail.com. What follows is the English introduction to the book. This is an…

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Legacy Judaica Auction March 6th: A Sampling of Forgeries and other Eclectic Lots

Legacy Judaica Auction March 6th: A Sampling of Forgeries and other Eclectic Lots

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Legacy Judaica’s next auction will occur on March 6, 2018. The 220 lots include very rare books such as the first edition of the Yerushalmi and a letter from R. Tzvi Ashkenazi (Hakham Tzvi) (the entire catalog can be accessed here), there are many other interesting books and letters. Conditional marriage has been applied since at least the talmudic period if not early. The exact circumstances and necessary predicates have evolved over time and especially in the modern period when…

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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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Towards a Bibliography About Realia and Chumash, specifically relating to the Mishkan and Bigdei Kehunah

Towards a Bibliography About Realia and Chumash, specifically relating to the Mishkan and Bigdei Kehunah

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Learning Chumash and Nach is extremely important for many reasons. Over time it became a neglected subject (why is the subject of a different post IY”H) and in many circles is still true today. Sadly, many people remain with the images of the various stories from Tanach the way they heard it in their youth without a genuine understanding of the events. I strongly believe that learning Tanach properly (by both students in school and adults) could help with some…

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The Collected Writings of Moshe Reines Kickstarter

The Collected Writings of Moshe Reines Kickstarter

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Moshe Reines was a polymath: Talmudist, Hebraist, historian, investigative reporter, social commentator – a prolific and influential thinker, writer, and author. The son of Rabbi Yitzchok Yaakov Reines, Moshe Reines died tragically in 1891 at the astonishingly young age of twenty-one. The obituary which appeared in Hamagid had this to say about the young Reb Moshe z”l: “He excelled amazingly in his absolute mastery of Shas…” The volume (compiled and edited by Eliezer Brodt) awaiting printing is approximately seven-hundred pages….

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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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Lecture Announcement – R. Yechiel Goldhaber – January 4, 2018

Lecture Announcement – R. Yechiel Goldhaber – January 4, 2018

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EDIT 1.4.2018: Unfortunately due to the inclement weather this lecture has been canceled. An update will be posted it that changes. The readership of the Seforim Blog is invited to a lecture by the noted author, Rav Yechiel Goldhaber (link), whose respected research and scholarship is well-known to Seforim Blog readers. The shiur will be taking place Thursday, January 4, 7:30 PM at Khal Bnei Avrohom Yaakov, 2701 Avenue N, Brooklyn, NY. Rabbi Goldhaber’s speech will be delivered in English….

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