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Eliyahu Bachur in Isny

Eliyahu Bachur in Isny

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Dan Yardeni, an engineer by profession (Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, 1963), is entrepreneur specializing in cutting edge materials and materials production processes. As sideline, he researches problems in the history of Hebrew books printing and printers. He also contributes articles to the Culture and Literature sections of Haaretz and other Israeli newspapers. This is his first post at the Seforim blog. A little street in Tel Aviv commemorates the personality of a colorful Jewish culture hero at the…

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Review of Shaul Stampfer, Families, Rabbis & Education

Review of Shaul Stampfer, Families, Rabbis & Education

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The continuation of my last post will be ready soon, but in the meantime I am posting my short review of Shaul Stampfer’s new book. It appeared on the H-Judaic listserv, but since most readers of Seforim Blog probably did not see it, I am posting it here as well. For many years, Shaul Stampfer has been recognized as an authority in all things dealing with nineteenth-century Jewish Eastern Europe. In his newest book, we have a collection of numerous…

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Chanukah Posts & Dreidel

Chanukah Posts & Dreidel

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Today’s New York Times has an editoral discussing Chanukah customs, including dreidel. The author, Howard Jacboson, who won the 2010 Man Booker prize, isn’t a fan. His take is pretty much summed up in this quote: “How many years did I feign excitement when this nothing of a toy was produced? The dreidel would appear and the whole family would fall into some horrible imitation of shtetl simplicity, spinning the dreidel and pretending to care which character was uppermost when…

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“Whence Worry?” – On the Murky Trail Of An Aphorism

“Whence Worry?” – On the Murky Trail Of An Aphorism

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Yitzhak, of בין דין לדין [I am greatly indebted to Wolf2191 and Mississippi Fred MacDowell for reading an earlier draft of this essay and for providing numerous valuable references.] This past Rosh Ha’Shanah, my friend A.F. showed me a collection of various homilies of the Rav related to the days of Awe, “prepared, translated and edited by B. David Schreiber”. While browsing through them, I noticed the following passage: Every Jew must also ensure the continuity of future generations (45)…

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A Picture is Worth a Thousand Questions

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Questions

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Authors note: I would like to thank Dr. Peggy Pearlstein and Sharon Horowitz of the Library of Congress for their help in allowing me to assemble the various printed editions of the Talmud that I used in this article Amongst all the difficult tractates of the Talmud, Eruvin stands head and shoulders above most. The Gemara tries to describe in words what would normally take a picture to understand. Thankfully, our printed editions of Eruvin contain many diagrams, in the…

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New Writings from R Kook Part 1 by Marc B. Shapiro

New Writings from R Kook Part 1 by Marc B. Shapiro

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20 Marheshvan, 5771 I now want to return to R. Kook and discuss some of his writings that have recently appeared. This is the first of what will be a five part post. It will be followed by at least one other multi-part post also dealing with R. Kook’s new writings. For those who have never read R. Kook and don’t understand why there is such excitement every time a new collection is published, I suggest you do the following:…

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Upcoming Kestenbaum Auction

Upcoming Kestenbaum Auction

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Next week, Oct. 27, Kestenbaum & Co. is having an auction, and the catalog is availalbe online. Obviously, there are many items worth highlighting but I want to focus upon one general topic and select those lots that are relevant. The focus of this post is on translations and the vernacular. Lot 7 is the first book using Hebrew fonts to teach Hebrew to an American audience. This book, Grammar of the Hebrew Tongue, written by Judah Monis, was a…

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Shaul Magid – ‘Uman, Uman Rosh ha-Shana’: R. Nahman’s Grave as Erez Yisrael

Shaul Magid – ‘Uman, Uman Rosh ha-Shana’: R. Nahman’s Grave as Erez Yisrael

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Indiana University/Bloomington Professor Shaul Magid is the Jay and Jeannie Schottenstein Chair of Jewish Studies at Indiana University. This text below was originally a talk delivered in Winnipeg, Canada, in commemoration of the 200th yahrzeit of R. Nahman of Bratslav. A revised and expanded version will hopefully be included in Interpreting Hasidism: Essays in Hasidic Textuality from The Baal Shem Tov to the Present. Special thanks to the editors (and readers) of the Seforim blog for their gracious consideration of…

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Ariel Evan Mayse – Kindler of Hearts and Illuminator of Letters

Ariel Evan Mayse – Kindler of Hearts and Illuminator of Letters

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For my wife Adina, whose illuminating words never fail to inspire. Relatively few Hasidic masters have enjoyed the enormous and enduring popularity of Reb Levi Yitzhak ben Sara Sasha of Berdyczów (1740-1809), perhaps with the exception of the Ba’al Shem Tov himself. Beginning in the nineteenth century and continuing to the present day, written texts and oral stories have consistently portrayed Reb Levi Yitzhak as a charitable folk hero and beloved communal leader. In these traditions he is an unwavering…

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New Book On the Kashrut of Modern Etrogim

New Book On the Kashrut of Modern Etrogim

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Sukkot is fast approaching. For many this means selecting a “mehudar” etrog. Depending upon where one is this task can involve not only selecting an etrog with or without a pitum, bumpy or smoother, with or without a gartel, or a host of other considerations, but also selecting which type, Berman or Hazon Ish. Indeed, today, there are variety of types of etrogim identified by the farm or personalities that have ostensibly certified them as Kosher for use during the…

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Some Recently Published Seforim

Some Recently Published Seforim

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1. The Safari commentary, Mishnayot Mishnat Eretz Yisroel, on Meschect Yoma. This is but one of the many new volumes of this commentary that are coming out at a rapid speed. I hope they continue coming out at such speeds. 2. Zohar Amar’s Esrogei Eretz Yisroel. This volume is a continuation of his work, published last year, Arbat ha-Minim. As the title suggests, the new book focuses on the Etrog in particular and especially the various etrogim on the market…

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No Hell Below Us? The Controversy Over Rambam’s Stance On Punishment In the Afterlife

No Hell Below Us? The Controversy Over Rambam’s Stance On Punishment In the Afterlife

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סליחות: עזב-נא בן-אדם עזב-נא. עזב יקר עולם נודד נדוד. כי ערוך תפתה, בכל להב וכידוד. … עזב-נא בן-אדם עזב-נא. עזב נחת העולם הזה ושמחה. בטרם נוד רוחך, בכל פנה ורוחה. ועיניך תראינה גיהנם פתוחה. ושם תהיה נפשך שרופה וגם כסוחה. … Rabbi Natan Slifkin recently claimed: (By the way, according to Rambam, there is no such thing as Hell. People who don’t get to heaven just don’t go anywhere; they cease to exist.) This ex cathedra pronouncement notwithstanding, the matter…

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New Sefer Announcement

New Sefer Announcement

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I just printed a small sefer, Likutei Eliezer, it is 120 pages and paperback. The sefer consists of four chapters each with many parts. Although portions of each chapter appeared on the blog, each has been significantly expanded – over double the amount of new material – as well as corrections and updates. All the pieces are in Hebrew. The first chapter starts out with a discussion of various possible sources regarding the well-known custom of saying Ledovid during Elul…

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Dovid Bashevkin – Perpetual Prophecy: An Intellectual Tribute to Reb Zadok ha-Kohen of Lublin on his 110th Yahrzeit

Dovid Bashevkin – Perpetual Prophecy: An Intellectual Tribute to Reb Zadok ha-Kohen of Lublin on his 110th Yahrzeit

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Reb Zadok ha-Kohen Rabinowitz of Lublin (hereafter: “Reb Zadok”) was born in 1823 into a noted rabbinic family. From a young age, we are told, he displayed signs of astonishing genius. While many of these stories are questionable, it is evident that by the time he celebrated his bar mitzvah he was extremely thoroughly familiar with the standard rabbinic corpus and could navigate it easily. By the time he turned twenty he had already written several works on Talmudic law…

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Bein hashemashot: A Reevaluation of the Texts Part IV

Bein hashemashot: A Reevaluation of the Texts Part IV

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This is the last of four posts based on a forthcoming monograph by Dr. William Gewirtz that addresses the period of bein hashemashot, the most fundamental area of dispute in the area of zemanim. The previous post summarized the main sections of the monograph; this post summarizes some of the areas of innovation and is followed by concluding observations. Much of what was proposed tacitly made two basic assumptions:  First, both halakhic practice and its conceptualization were influenced by…

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