The Seforim Blog – Page 12 – All about Seforim – New and Old, and Jewish Bibliography

Book Announcement: Words for the Wise: Sixty-Two Insights on Hebrew, Holidays, History and Liturgy by Mitchell First

November 6, 2022 admin Comments 0 Comment

Words for the Wise: Sixty-Two Insights on Hebrew, Holidays, History and Liturgy by Mitchell First By Eliezer Brodt The Seforim Blog is proud to announce the publication of our frequent contributor Mitchell First’s newest book Words for the Wise: Sixty-Two Insights on Hebrew, Holidays, History and Liturgy (264 pp.). Words for the Wise contains 62 short articles address interesting questions about the Hebrew language, Jewish history, and liturgy. For example: On Liturgy, 8 articles, including the origin of and insights…

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Hebrew Printing in Lissa (Leszno), A Brief (Perchance) Transitory Moment

October 27, 2022 admin Comments 1 comment

Hebrew Printing in Lissa (Leszno), A Brief (Perchance) Transitory Moment By Marvin J. Heller[1] Jewish history is replete with cities, locations, that in their time were centers of Jewish life, replete with communal activities and prominent sages, but sadly, are poorly recalled today, if at all, except in academic and historical circles. One such location is Lissa, Leszno in Polish. Given its relative prominence, Lissa is unusual in that, unlike many similar locations, it was not home to a prominent…

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Poetry and Wordplay in the Book of Kohelet

October 7, 2022 admin Comments 7 comments

Poetry and Wordplay in the Book of Kohelet By Joseph Wertzberger[1] Sefer Kohelet, the Book of Kohelet, was written approximately 700-600 BC according to Rabbinic sources,[2] and is dated to somewhere between that time and the early to mid-third century BC by academic sources.[3] Its wisdom is traditionally attributed to King Solomon.[4] The book is part of ancient Hebrew wisdom literature, and is known for its existential, philosophic lessons and motifs. But alongside that also, the book is suffused with…

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A Review of Parashas Hamelech – Al Mitzvas Hakhel, by Rabbi Moshe Parnes

October 3, 2022 admin Comments 12 comments

A Review of Parashas Hamelech – Al Mitzvas Hakhel, by Rabbi Moshe Parnes Reviewed by: Rabbi Moshe Maimon, Jackson, NJ Sefer Parashas Hamelech on the mitzvah of Hakhel offers a unique and illuminating contribution on one of the lesser-studied mitzvos of the Torah. It fits the modern genre of encyclopedias on arcane subjects, while also combining elements of older and more established trends in Torah publications, weaving it all together in deft scholarly fashion. It is both an exhaustive accumulation…

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Renewal of the Hakhel Ceremony in Jerusalem and New York

September 30, 2022 admin Comments 9 comments

Renewal of the Hakhel Ceremony in Jerusalem and New York[1] By Aaron R. Katz A graduate of the University of Chicago Law School and a musmach of RIETS, Aaron is the Associate Director, Private Equity and M&A Finex at WTW Israel. He lives with his wife and four children in Mishkafayim, Ramat Bet Shemesh. As we come to the final days of the Shmitah year, preparations will soon begin for the Zecher LeHakhel events that will occur starting with the…

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A Desperate Plea for Help on Behalf of Vilna’s Old Jewish Cemetery

September 23, 2022 admin Comments 1 comment

A Desperate Plea for Help on Behalf of Vilna’s Old Jewish Cemetery in 1919 By Shnayer Leiman Recently, a brief study was posted online on Meir Zelmanovich, the custodian of Vilna’s old Jewish cemetery, who died a martyr’s death in 1920.[1] Here, we wish to add Zelmanovich’s only published writing, a Yiddish letter that appeared in Vilna’s יידישע צייטונג [Yidishe Tsaytung], on Monday, December 15, 1919.[2] The letter will appear below both in the original Yiddish and in an annotated…

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