The Hatam Sofer’s Retraction of his Approbation to the Pinner Talmud

The Hatam Sofer’s Retraction of his Approbation to the Pinner Talmud

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Of late, translations of the talmud have become a popular topic. [1] In the history of translations, the translation done by Dr. Efraim Pinner, is an important one for multiple reasons. Among other firsts, the Pinner translation was the first German translation of the talmud. Pinner envisioned a complete translation of the entire talmud but only one volume was produced, a translation meskhta Berachot. This edition contains multiple approbations, there is, however, one approbation does not appear in the book….

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The Saga of Publishing the Works of Rabbi Moshe Shmuel Glasner

The Saga of Publishing the Works of Rabbi Moshe Shmuel Glasner

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The Saga of Publishing the Works of Rabbi Moshe Shmuel Glasner:The Issue of Inclusion of Zionism and Rav Kook by David Glasner David Glasner, an economist at the Federal Trade Commission, is a great-grandson of Rabbi Moshe Shmuel Glasner. This is his first contribution to the Seforim blog. Many readers of the Seforim blog may be interested, perhaps even pleased, to hear about the recent publication of a new volume containing a number of works of Rabbi Moshe Shmuel Glasner…

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Review of Professor Daniel Sperber’s Netivot Pesikah

Review of Professor Daniel Sperber’s Netivot Pesikah

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Review of Professor Daniel Sperber’s Netivot Pesikah by Eliezer Brodt Professor Daniel Sperber, Modes of Decision – Methods and Approaches for Proper Halakhic Decision Making, Jerusalem, Reuven Mass, 2008, 207 pages; Hebrew. פר’ דניאל שפרבר, נתיבות פסיקה ‘כלים וגישה לפוסק ההלכה’ ירושלים, תשסח, ראובן מס, 207 עמודים Last week a new book from Rabbi Prof. Daniel Sperber arrived in stores, Netivot Pesikah. This is his third book which he authored in less than a year (see here and here for…

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A Response to Dr. Shapiro: A Defense of the Torah Temimah

A Response to Dr. Shapiro: A Defense of the Torah Temimah

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A Response to Dr. Shaprio: A Defense of the Torah Temimahby: Y. Lander (of the Ishim v’Shitot blog) I read with interest Dr. Shapiro’s recent post questioning the accuracy of R’ Baruch Epstein’s tale concerning his dialogue with the Netziv’s first wife, Rayna Batya. Dr. Shapiro points to several discrepancies in R. Epstein’s account and based on those discrepancies posits that R’ Baruch deliberately contrived the story in order to call attention to the plight of women in his time….

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Ofeq Institute and the New (English) Version of the Messilat Yesharim

Ofeq Institute and the New (English) Version of the Messilat Yesharim

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Ofeq Institute and the New (English) Version of the Messilat Yesharimby Eliezer Brodt The Messilat Yesharim, by R. Moshe Chaim Luzzato (Ramchal), is one of the foundational works of mussar. [1] The Gra, among others, praise the Messilat Yesharim.[2] As such, any addition to its oeuvre is important in its own right. The Ofeq Institute* has recently published an English translation of an alternative version of the Messilat Yesharim. This version is fundamentally different than the standard edition of Messilat…

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Mayim Hayyim, the Baal Shem Tov, and R. Meir the son of R. Jacob Emden

Mayim Hayyim, the Baal Shem Tov, and R. Meir the son of R. Jacob Emden

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Sources contemporary to the Baal Shem Tov that attest to his deeds, or that even discuss him at all, are sparse. Although some secular sources, including tax records and other documents, have recently been unearthed by academic researchers, there is a paucity of Jewish texts. Most of the “historical” record regarding the Baal Shem Tov comes from a collection of stories, Shivhei Ha-Besht.[1] That work, however, was collected much later and is less reliable than others when assessing the Baal…

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