The Writings of R. Hayyim Dov Ber Gulevsky – Part I By Marc B. Shapiro In honor of Dan Rabinowitz, in appreciation of his commitment to the free and open exchange of ideas. In a previous post I mentioned the new writings of R. Kook and also the works of R. Hayyim Dov Ber Gulevsky. I would like to speak about both of them before returning to my discussions of Judaism and Christianity. Let me begin with R….
One of the more interesting pioneers of the haskalah movement was R. Shelomo Zalman Hanau (Katz). Hanau’s works mainly concern grammar and, in that vein, corrections to the siddur. Hanau’s first book, Binyan Shelomo, Frankfort A.M., 1708 was published when he was 21. This book focuses on grammar, but, as we have already discussed, was important in the development of the Siddur. (Additionally, see S.’s recent post on Hanau here.) This book is now up for auction, however, I must…
Twenty-Five Years at the Valmadonna Trust Library by Pauline Malkiel Librarian – Valmadonna Trust Library (London, England) When I first walked into the library in May 1982 I was struck initially by the smell of leather, then by the rows upon rows of fine bindings in burgundies, browns, beiges and creams packed neatly and tastefully on elegant open wooden shelves. Looking more closely I began to identify groupings: 16th century Italian locations with exciting names like Riva di Trento, Sabbionetta and Ferrara; whole…
The Ancillary Benefits of Non-Jews on the Hebrew Book In the history of the Hebrew book, the books, like the Jews themselves, have been subject to external persecution. Thus, some books and manuscripts have been totally lost. On the other hand there are a few examples of books or, as we shall soon demonstrate, technices that are are a product of external influences. Abraham Ibn Ezra had a very hard life. In his well-known formulation that appears at the beginning…
“בין דַּם לדָּם” by Eli Meir Cohen . In the upcoming Krias Hatorah in Parshat Shoftim and Parshat Ki Savo there are a number of instances where the meaning of a phrase changes completely based on the pronunciation of a single word – דם – with either a Komatz or Patah. Until recently, most Chumashim and Tikunim which generally followed the famous Yaakov Ben Hayyim 1525 edition of Mikraot Gedolot published in Venice that printed a seemingly inconsistent pattern in…
אימתי פסקה טהרת אפר פרה אדומה מאת: אליעזר יהודה בראדט[1] א. כבר הבאנו לעיל[2] את דברי התלמוד ירושלמי המוסר את אזהרת רב חייא לתלמידו רב: "רבי חייא רובא מפקד לרב: אין את יכיל מיכול כל שתא חולין בטהרה – אכול, ואם לאו – תהא אכיל שבעה יומין מן שתא"[3]. ושם גם נתבאר, שרובם של הראשונים הבינו, כי רב חייא הזהיר את תלמידו על אכילת חולין בטהרה, וכפשטות לשון הירושלמי. אולם עדיין לא נתברר כיצד סבר הרב שתלמידו יכול לעמוד במטלה זו?…