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Important New Book from the Ba’alei haTosafot

Important New Book from the Ba’alei haTosafot

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What follows is a press release from Ofeq Institute regarding their new book תוספות ר”י הזקן ותלמידו וראשוני בעלי התוספות על מסכת שבת Tosafot R. Isaac b. Samuel of Dampierre (Ri the Elder) and early Tosafists on tractate Shabbat edited for the first time from MS Guenzburg, Mos 636 with references, notes and comments by Rabbi Avraham Shoshana Rabbi Yehuda Amitai Shoshana Volume I Introduction · Chapters 1-6 · Indices This is a unique collection of the early Tosafists, a…

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New Or Yisrael

New Or Yisrael

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There is a new volume of the journal Or Yisrael (no. 47) out. First, it includes a back and forth on the issue of who wrote the Mekore Minhagim. It also includes an very interesting article discussing whether there is any rhyme or reason to the order of the Mesechtot haShas. Additionally, it includes a couple of articles discussing wheat for Pesach from Arizona(?). On the Pesach front there is also an article on whether one can eat maror on…

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Haggadah and the Mingling of the Sexes

Haggadah and the Mingling of the Sexes

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I have previously attempted to highlight some of the intricacies and history of illustration in haggadahs. While many of the illustrations which appear in the haggadah are directly related to the text of the haggadah, some also pre-date the haggadah and seder service. That is, although searching for hametz (leaven) happens the night prior to the seder service many times an illustration of cleaning out the hametz and, in turn, searching for it, appears in many haggadahs. Another such illustration…

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Rabbi Eliezer Brodt on Haggadah shel Pesach: Reflections on the Past and Present

Rabbi Eliezer Brodt on Haggadah shel Pesach: Reflections on the Past and Present

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Perhaps the topic which has engendered the most commentary in Jewish literature is the Haggadah shel Pesach. There are all kinds, in all languages, and with all types of commentary, pictures, etc. Whatever style one can think of, not one, but many Haggadahs have been written. So, whether it’s derush, kabbalah, halakha, mussar or chassidus there are plenty of Haggadahs out there. Then, there are people who specialize in collecting haggadahs although they do not regularly collect seforim. In almost…

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New Books from Mossad ha-Rav Kook AND Marc Shapiro lecture (online)

New Books from Mossad ha-Rav Kook AND Marc Shapiro lecture (online)

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The rumour that we’ve all been waiting for has been confirmed! Mossad ha-Rav Kook is publishing volume eight of Prof. Daniel Sperber’s Minhagei Yisrael and also reprinting the late Prof. Meir Hershkovics’ biography of Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Chajes (Maharetz Chajes); both will be available next week in Jerusalem. Copies of these volumes will be available at Mossad ha-Rav Kook (02-652-6231) starting the end of this week and should be arriving in America at Biegeleisen in Boro Park (718-436-1165) within a…

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Pesach Journals, Had Gadyah, Plagiarism & Bibliographical Errors

Pesach Journals, Had Gadyah, Plagiarism & Bibliographical Errors

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Two journals have put out special collections devoted to Pesach. The first, Moriah, has continued their holiday specific journals and collected their third volume of articles devoted to Pesach. Yeshurun, for the first time has also collected choice articles related to a specific holiday and published a volume devoted to Pesach as well. Yeshurun’s effort, being their first, is the focus of this post. This volume is much smaller than their typical volumes. Usually, each volume of Yeshurun is huge…

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A Behind the Scenes Look at the Banning of HaGaon

A Behind the Scenes Look at the Banning of HaGaon

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It appears that at least one controversial book can not escape being criticized even after a significant passage of time. In this case, R. Dov Eliach’s book the R. Elijah, Gaon of Vilna, published five years ago and, at the time, subject to some harsh criticism, is the subject of a new magazine – אמת מול שקר (Truth Against Lies) published by “the Institute for Truth and Faith.” That is, the entire purpose of this magazine is to disproving and…

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Eliezer Brodt: Review of Halikhot Shlomo, by R. Shlomo Zalman Auerbach

Eliezer Brodt: Review of Halikhot Shlomo, by R. Shlomo Zalman Auerbach

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There is a well known joke which claims that some gedolim have actually been “writing from their graves.” The most famous person to be “guilty” of this charge is R. Moshe Sofer (Hatam Sofer) as he printed nothing in his lifetime and yet we have volumes and volumes of his Torah on literally every area and – to this day – they continue to be published. Obviously, all of this material has come to light through his own notes and…

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Second Annual Dr. Asher Siev Memorial Lecture at YU

Second Annual Dr. Asher Siev Memorial Lecture at YU

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The Second Annual Dr. Asher Siev Memorial Lecture will be delivered by A Non-Orthodox Traditional Approach: Reflections on the Authority of the Moroccan Rabbinate Dr. Marc B. Shapiro (University of Scranton) Tuesday, March 20th 8:00 PM Rubin Shul – Yeshiva University Wilf Campus Refreshments will be served Sponsored by the Torah u-Madda Lecture Series, Center for Jewish Future For more information, please contact mbutler@yu.edu Dr. Marc B. Shapiro is the Harry and Jeannette Weinberg Chair in Judaic Studies and director…

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Marc B. Shapiro: Obituary for R. Yosef Buxbaum zt”l

Marc B. Shapiro: Obituary for R. Yosef Buxbaum zt”l

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The Torah world lost a very important figure earlier this month, with the passing of R. Yosef Buxbaum at age 62. In fact, I can’t think of anyone, in the entire history of Torah publishing, who achieved as much as he. There is a lot that can be said about Rabbi Buxbaum, but for the purposes of the Seforim blog his relevant achievement is the founding, and directing for many years, of Machon Yerushalayim. While at one time Mossad ha-Rav…

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Rabbi Adam Mintz: Rabbi Henkin and The First Heter Agunot in America

Rabbi Adam Mintz: Rabbi Henkin and The First Heter Agunot in America

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The tragedy of the agunah, the woman who is unable to receive a get from her husband, has plagued the Jewish people since time immemorial. Rabbis and scholars throughout the centuries have contended with this issue in an attempt to free agunot to remarry. In the United States this issue was first formally addressed following World War I. European Jews soldiers, fighting on both sides of the war, were among those killed in battle. As soldiers are generally young, they…

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C.D. Ginsburg: Demuto Shel ha-Meshumad

C.D. Ginsburg: Demuto Shel ha-Meshumad

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OnTheMainLine has an informative post about C.D. Ginsburg, with links to some of the latter’s publications, and includes a stellar picture of the famous apostate. For his The Massorah Compiled from Manuscripts, Lexically and Alphabetically Arranged, see I, II, III, IV, V, VI [PDF].

R. Avraham ben haGra: A Victim of Plagiarism?

R. Avraham ben haGra: A Victim of Plagiarism?

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In several previous posts at the Seforim blog, I have discussed instances of plagiarism and, in this post, I would like to mention one of the more famous instances of plagiarism within Jewish literature. To be clear, the issues of plagiarism under discussion lack any ambiguity, these discussed are limited to when the entire book is republished with the only difference being the authors name at the beginning. One of the smaller and lesser known Midrashim is one titled Midrash…

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House of Goldman Rare Books [est. 1978]

House of Goldman Rare Books [est. 1978]

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The famed and prestigious Goldman Rare Books [est. 1978] has announced their new web-presence, where remarkable items from their collection of Hebraica & Judaica — including: American Judaica, Amsterdam, Bible, Children, Early Printing, Ephemera, German Judaica, Haskalah, Judeo Arabic, Liturgy, Manuscripts, Miscellaneous, Old Yiddish, Periodicals, Rabbinics and Yiddish — are now available for viewing and purchase at GoldmanRareBooks.com.