Chaim Rapoport – From Ma’adanei Eretz to Kitvei Ma’adanei Eretz (5704-5767)

Chaim Rapoport – From Ma’adanei Eretz to Kitvei Ma’adanei Eretz (5704-5767)

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From Ma’adanei Eretz to Kitvei Ma’adanei Eretz (5704-5767)Rabbi Chaim Rapoport (London, England) As Rabbi Eliezer Brodt has recently noted in a post at the Seforim blog the advent of the sabbatical year has been blessed with a plethora of new books and pamphlets related to the laws of shemitah. Prominent amongst these is a publication entitled Kitvei Ma’adanei Eretz on Masechet Shevi’it, from the writings of the world renowned halachic authority, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach (1910-1995), published by Zehav haAretz…

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The Animals

The Animals

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“A man enters synagogue on Yom Kippur with his dog and tells the gabbai this is a very smart dog, he can talk. “If he will talk for you,” says the man, “will you let him sit next to me?” The gabbai says “let’s hear him.” Man turns to dog and says what is on top of this building which keeps the rain out? the dog says ruf ruf. The guy says see he said it was a roof. But…

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Mad magazine and Peanuts – moralists for today?

Mad magazine and Peanuts – moralists for today?

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Mad magazine and Peanuts – moralists for today? By Dov Silberman* With all the messianic overtones that the Jewish people are regaled with over Tishrei, one beloved by Chassidim is the Zohar’s view (I, 117a) is that we are privileged to live in an era where similar results occur in both the natural and religious worlds, where “the gates of knowledge above, and the fountains of knowledge below, will be opened”. Academics and scientists are always aware that similar breakthroughs…

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Who Wrote the Mekore Minhagim?(Part II)

Who Wrote the Mekore Minhagim?(Part II)

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This is a continuation of this prior post, in order to fully understand the following it may pay to reread the older post here. Previously, I had attempted to reconstruct when Finkelstein had published his seforim and thus deduce that Finkelstein copied the Mekore Minahgim. Now, through internal evidence I can further bolster that theory and, perhaps, explain exactly what happened. Additionally, I hope to demonstrate that although Finkelstein copied, he was unaware the work Mekore Minhagim had ever been…

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R. Yaakov Lipshitz and Heter Mechirah

R. Yaakov Lipshitz and Heter Mechirah

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R. Yaakov Lipshitz and Heter Mechirahby R. Eliezer Brodt As per Sheuy R’s request a short post on shemitah: It is virtually impossible to write up a review of the literature out there on shemitah seforim as the seforim keep on coming out. For some odd reason people out there feel this is their place to contribute to our vast torah literature. As of last shemitah in the middle of the year I inquired at a local seforim store how…

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Where’s Shai Agnon?

Where’s Shai Agnon?

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In the latest issue of Yeshurun (a fuller review will be coming shortly), they published a letter from R. Y.M. Gordon to Shai Agnon. In light of this, an erudite reader, Yisroel Rottenberg, was kind enough to provide another instance where Agnon is quoted and in this instance, where Agnon’s name was then removed from a later edition. In the Pirush Ba’al HaTurim al HaTorah by Y. Reinetz, in his introduction (p. 10) he relates the well-known story that R….

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