The Seforim Blog – Page 131 – All about Seforim – New and Old, and Jewish Bibliography

R. Shmuel Ashkenazi: "Gaon" Equals 60?

February 22, 2010 admin Comments 0 Comment

"Gaon" Equals 60? (Another chapter of R. Shmuel Ashkenazi's Latest Work) Unfortunately, the amount of responses regarding assisting the publication of R. Ashkenazi's was underwhelming (a total of one contribution) so it is still uncertain when the seforim will actually be published. Until then – here is another chapter. For more information to contribute (any amount is extremly helpful) contact me at eliezerbrodt-at-gmail.com. גאון בגימטריא ששים א. גאון = 60 כתב ר' זכריה סימנר בספר זכירה, שהדפיס בשנת תסט בהמבורג…

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Review: Kehilot Hungary

February 14, 2010 admin Comments 0 Comment

Rabbi Baruch Oberlander is the rabbi in Budapest, Hungary, since 1989, and is the editor of Tel Talpiot. He has published many articles in the journal Ohr Yisroel and is the world's leading expert on the forged Yerushalmi Kodashim. כיצד כותבים את ההיסטוריה של יהדות הונגריה בישראל?הרב ברוך אבערלאנדעראב"ד בבודאפשט, הונגריה קהילות הונגריה – הקהילות החרדיות בהונגריה – תש"ד, מאת פרופ' שלמה שפיצר, מכון ירושלים, תשס"ט, 466 עמודים. החשיבות של כתיבה היסטורית נכונהכתיבה מדוייקת של דברי ימי הימים של עם ישראל חשובה…

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Bein hashemashot: A Reevaluation of the Texts

February 3, 2010 admin Comments 1 comment

Bein Hashemashot: A Reevaluation of the Textsby: Dr. William GewirtzThis is the first of a sequence of posts, from a draft of a forthcoming monograph by Dr. William Gewirtz that addresses the period of bein hashemashot. Each post very briefly summarizes about 20 pages of the monograph containing 4 – 6 critical pages. Those wishing the entire section can download the associated PDF file. The monograph addresses the period of bein hashemashot, the most fundamental area of dispute in the…

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Moshe Idel — Kabbalistic Manuscripts in the Vatican Library

January 31, 2010 admin Comments 2 comments

Professor Moshe Idel is Max Cooper Professor in Jewish Thought, Department of Jewish Thought at Hebrew University, Jerusalem, and Senior Researcher at the Shalom Hartman Institute. This post at the Seforim blog by Prof. Moshe Idel, about Kabbalah manuscripts kept in the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (Vatican Library), is an expansion of remarks delivered at the February 2009 symposium hosted at the National Library of Israel, in Jerusalem, to honor the publication of the catalog by Benjamin Richler, ed., Hebrew Manuscripts in the…

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Tu be-Shevat Sabbatianism

January 29, 2010 admin Comments 0 Comment

See here for our earlier post discussing the potential linkage between Tu be-Shevat (or Tu B’Shevat)customs and Sabbatianism. See here, here, and here for other customs that may have similar likages. And, finally, see here for a collection of articles on Sabbatianism generally.

R. Flensberg, Donkeys, Antelopes and Frogs

January 29, 2010 admin Comments 0 Comment

R. Flensberg , Donkeys, Antelopes and Frogs Recently, a book, Aggadata de-Ve Rav, Machon Limud Aggadah, Ashdod, 2010, pp. 50, 176, 56, collecting various works attempting to explain the difficult and, on their face, rather odd stories (aggadot) that appear in Baba Batra (73a-74) many of which involve odd animals do odd things. In addition to these passages, there is another odd passage in Bechorot (7b) which also involves an animal, a donkey also engaging in odd behavior. This passage…

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