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An Obscure Chumash Changes the Sefer HaChinuch Forever

An Obscure Chumash Changes the Sefer HaChinuch Forever

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An Obscure Chumash Changes the Sefer HaChinuch Forever[1] By Eli Genauer I have a sefer in my collection with a very busy Shaar Blatt: It is a Chumash printed by Yosef, Yaakov, and Avraham Proops in Amsterdam, 1767.[2] The Chumash contains some of the normal additions, such as Targum Onkelos and Rashi, along with two additions which are indicated as being “ואלה מוסיף על הראשונים”. I would like to focus on one of these additions, the Sefer HaChinuch. Placing the…

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New Sefer Announcement

New Sefer Announcement

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New Sefer Announcement By Eliezer Brodt .מודעא לבית ישראל, ביטול מודעה, מודעה רבה, תשובות גדולי ישראל בנדון מצות מכונה בפסח, קיא + שיא עמודים, ע“י, ר‘ מרדכי קנאפפלער וישראל טרעס I am very happy to announce the republication of the original seforim published at the beginning of the Machine Matzah Controversy in Galicia in 1859.   One sefer, Modah Le’beis Yisroel is a collection of Teshuvot of those who were against Machine Matzah and the other one, Bitul Modah contains the…

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There is No Bracha on an Eclipse

There is No Bracha on an Eclipse

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There is No Bracha on an Eclipse By Rabbi Michael J. Broyde Rabbi Michael Broyde is a law professor at Emory University School of Law and the Projects Director in its Center for the Study of Law and Religion.  His most recent Torah sefer is entitled “A Concise Code of Jewish Law For Converts”.  This letter was written to someone after a shiur in 2017 on why there is no bracha on seeing a solar eclipse. 1.     You are…

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On Libraries, Bibliophiles & Images: Taj Auction 13

On Libraries, Bibliophiles & Images: Taj Auction 13

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On Libraries, Bibliophiles & Images: Taj Art Auctions 13 by Eliezer Brodt and Dan Rabinowitz Taj Art Auctions will hold its 13th auction this Sunday, April 7th (the catalog is available here). The auction contains many items worth highlighting, especially those related to historic Jewish libraries, as well as other unique books and ephemera. Recently, arguably, the most significant Jewish library reopened its doors. The National Library of Israel, housed at Hebrew University for decades, moved into its own building,…

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Lekah Tov – What’s in a Name?

Lekah Tov – What’s in a Name?

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Lekah Tov What’s in a Name? by Marvin J. Heller[1] For I give you good doctrine (lekah tov); do not forsake My Torah (Proverbs 4:2). The entitling of Hebrew books is a subject of considerable interest, varying as it does from the more common manner of labelling comparable works. Book titles generally reflect a book’s subject matter. In contrast, however, Hebrew book titles often reflect a subtle theme, considerably wide-ranging between books with a like title. This subject has been…

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Do We Cut Off or Bury One’s Head in the Sand?

Do We Cut Off or Bury One’s Head in the Sand?

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Do We Cut Off or Bury One’s Head in the Sand? Review: Elliott Horowitz, Reckless Rites: Purim and the Legacy of Jewish Violence In 2017, the erudite and eclectic scholar Elliott Horowitz unexpectedly passed away. His oeuvre is exceptionally diverse, having authored more than seventy-five articles and reviews and five books, with topics ranging from studies on Italian art, Jews and coffee, the significance of the beard among Jews, comparing and contrasting Jewish and non-Jewish biblical exegesis, and Jewish violence…

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The Paper Brigade’s Recording of Epitaphs in Vilna’s Old Jewish Cemetery: A Literary Analysis

The Paper Brigade’s Recording of Epitaphs in Vilna’s Old Jewish Cemetery: A Literary Analysis

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The Paper Brigade’s Recording of Epitaphs in Vilna’s Old Jewish Cemetery: A Literary Analysis Shnayer Leiman I. Introduction. Shortly after the Nazis captured Vilna on June 24, 1941, representatives from the “Special Detail of Reich-Administrator Alfred Rosenberg” (Einsatzstab des Reichleiter Alfred Rosenberg) arrived in Vilna. Their task was to loot the literary (and other) treasures of Vilna’s Jewish community, and to ship them to Frankfurt.[1] Under the aegis of Nazi “experts” in Jewish matters, a slave-labor unit consisting at times of some 40…

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An Unexpected Epistolary Discovery and the Shared Medical Journeys of Tuviya HaRofe and Gabriel Felix (late 17th- early 18th centuries)

An Unexpected Epistolary Discovery and the Shared Medical Journeys of Tuviya HaRofe and Gabriel Felix (late 17th- early 18th centuries)

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An Unexpected Epistolary Discovery and the Shared Medical Journeys of Tuviya HaRofe and Gabriel Felix (late 17th– early 18th centuries) Rabbi Edward Reichman, MD On January 26, 2024, I received an e-mail from an independent Italian Hebraica scholar[1] with references[2] and a bibliographical correction regarding a Seforim Blog article I had written about Rabbi Dr. Shimshon Morpurgo (1681-1740), a prominent medical graduate of Padua.[3] In the correspondence, he refers to a manuscript housed in the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) Library…

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New Seforim Lists & Seforim Sale

New Seforim Lists & Seforim Sale

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New Seforim Lists & Seforim Sale By Eliezer Brodt The post hopes to serve three purposes. One, the first section lists some new, interesting seforim, and thereby making the Seforim Blog readership aware of their recent publication. While those that sell books are seeing that book purchases keep dropping, books are still being published at full force. Second, to make these works available for purchase for those interested. Third, the last part of the list has some harder to find…

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Tikkun Olam Revisited

Tikkun Olam Revisited

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Tikkun Olam Revisited Shmuel Lesher  Shmuel Lesher is the assistant rabbi of the BAYT in Toronto, Canada. You may reach him at shmuel.lesh@gmail.com. Tikkun Olam, translated as either “healing the world” or “repairing the world” is a phrase that evokes a variety of reactions today. This two-word Hebrew phrase has become known to many even outside of the Jewish world as the Jewish term for social action. In fact, while President of the United States, Barak Obama invoked tikkun olam…

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“Praiseworthy are You Talmidei Chachamim” – Self-Definition, Torah Study, and Jewish Martyrdom

“Praiseworthy are You Talmidei Chachamim” – Self-Definition, Torah Study, and Jewish Martyrdom

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“Praiseworthy are You Talmidei Chachamim” Self-Definition, Torah Study, and Jewish Martyrdom Yaakov Jaffe There is a unique genre of video on youtube, facebook, or twitter, featuring Yeshivah students of a wide variety of ages, locations, and types of dress singing the song “Ashreichem Talmidei Chachamim” while standing or dancing around the Beit Midrash of their school or Yeshivah.  The song, often also heard at wedding, praises the portion of students of Torah scholars with the following words: Praiseworthy are you,…

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Some Highlights of the Upcoming Taj Art Auction

Some Highlights of the Upcoming Taj Art Auction

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Some Highlights of the Upcoming Taj Art Auction* With the proliferation of auction houses and the centralized platform of Bidspirit, there are auctions of Judaica and Hebraica on a weekly, if not more frequent, basis. One of the more recent entrants into this arena is Taj Art, founded in 2021 by Tomer Rosenfeld and Aron Orzel. This Sunday, December 24th, at 7 pm Israel time, Taj Art will be hosting their 11th auction, which includes some items of particular bibliographical…

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The Books of Maccabees and the Al HaNisssim prayer for Hanukah

The Books of Maccabees and the Al HaNisssim prayer for Hanukah

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The Books of Maccabees and the Al HaNisssim prayer for Hanukah. Reuven Kimelman   The Al HaNissim prayer inserted in the Amidah for Hanukah is a purposeful combination of 1 Maccabees with Rabbinic literature and liturgy. This becomes obvious upon comparing it with the less-developed version of Massekhet Sofrim20.6:[1] בהודייה והודאת פלאות ותשועת כהנים אשר עשית בימי מתתיהו בן יוחנן כהן גדול וחשמונאי ובניו וכן עשה עמנו ה’ אלהינו ואלהי אבותינו נסים ונפלאות ונודה לשמך לנצח בא”י הטוב In the…

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The Physician-Ḥaver in Early Modern Italy: A Reunion of Long Forgotten “Friends”

The Physician-Ḥaver in Early Modern Italy: A Reunion of Long Forgotten “Friends”

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The Physician-Ḥaver in Early Modern Italy: A Reunion of Long Forgotten “Friends”[1] [2]לפרסומי מילתא ולזכר עולם כתבתי Rabbi Edward Reichman, MD Introduction The Italian Early Modern Period is fertile ground for Jewish medical historical study. Its appeal lies partially in the rich lives and interests of the Jewish physicians beyond the practice of medicine alone. For example, historians have written about physician-poets[3] and physician-philosophers,[4] as well as physician-rabbis. Here I introduce a new category of hyphenated physicians that has escaped…

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Special Sale

Special Sale

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Special Sale By Eliezer Brodt פרנס לדורו, התכתבות ר’ אליעזר ליפמן פרינץ עם חכמי דורו, ההדיר וביאר מאיר הרשקוביץ, עורכת ראשית אלס בנדהיים, ערך והקדימם מבואות ר’ נריה גוטל, ירושלים תשנ”ב, 503+ 45 עמודים פרנס לדורות, ר’ אליעזר ליפמן פרינץ הגהות ומאמרות, ההדיר וביאר מאיר הרשקוביץ, עורכת ראשית אלס בנדהיים, ערך משנה ר’ נריה גוטל, ירושלים תשנ”ט, 496 +15 עמודים. About twenty years ago I discovered two remarkable seforim titled Parnas Ledoro and Parnas Ledorot in a library. Baruch hashem…

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