The Seforim Blog – Page 162 – All about Seforim – New and Old, and Jewish Bibliography

Jay R. Berkovitz — The Napoleonic Sanhedrin: Halachic Foundations and Rabbinical Legacy

September 24, 2007 admin Comments 1 comment

In earlier post at the Seforim blog, Dan Rabinowitz reviewed the Jay R. Berkovitz’s book מסורת ומהפיכה-תרבות יהודית בצרפת בראשית העת החדשה, which discusses French Jewry and specifically the changes and challenges of modernity. On a similar topic, included in a CCAR Journal symposium marking the 200th anniversary of the “Assembly of Jewish Notables,” is Jay R. Berkovitz, “The Napoleonic Sanhedrin: Halachic Foundations and Rabbinical Legacy,” CCAR Journal: A Reform Jewish Quarterly 54:1 (Winter 2007): 11-34, available (for free) online…

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Review of R. Yedidyah Tiyah Weil’s Levushi Badim: With An Eye Towards Yom Kippur

September 20, 2007 admin Comments 0 Comment

Review of R. Yedidyah Tiyah Weil’s Levushi Badim:With An Eye Towards Yom Kippur By Rabbi Eliezer Brodt One aspect of our rich literature that is rarely tapped into properly is the area of Sifrei Derush. We have a complete literature of seforim in this genre from Rishonim until modern times, including many styles, from all kinds of gedolim, from completely different schools countries, etc. There are Sifrei Derush strictly written according to peshat, while others deal with allegorical interpretations, Halakha,…

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Teffilah Zakah: History of a Controversial Prayer

September 19, 2007 admin Comments 1 comment

Teffilah Zakah:History of a Controversial Prayer* Yom Kippur has many unique prayers, many of them have been added through the centuries. For instance, R. Hayyim Yosef Dovid Azulai (Hida) has a longer viduy. Another such addition is the prayer known as Teffilah Zakah. In this prayer the person enumerates and connects their various sins with various acts and asks for forgiveness. Additionally, the person forgives any who have caused them pain or harmed them. This prayer was popularized by R….

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Of Tahanun and Yarhrzeit bukhs

September 19, 2007 admin Comments 0 Comment

A fascinating anecdote in a recently published biography of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel struck me as very worthy of sharing with the readers of the Seforim blog: [Heschel] confided to Samuel Dresner that in his daily devotions he did not recite the Tahanun prayer, a confession of sin and supplication that was usually omitted only on the Sabbath and festivals. Heschel explained that it was a Hasidic custom to omit these woeful entreaties on the Yahrzeit (anniversary of death) of…

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Candles on Yom Kippur: Reinstating a Lost Minhag

September 18, 2007 admin Comments 4 comments

The Physical and Spiritual Light of Yom Kippur:Reinstating a Lost Minhag to Enhance the Spirituality of Today’s Synagogue by: Rabbis Aaron Goldscheider & Barry Kornblau* Introduction “Or Zarua la’tzadik – Light is sown for the righteous.” Each year, we begin our Yom Kippur prayers with these repeated, resounding words which Aruch Hashulchan tells us refer to “great matters that are beyond explanation.” If there is one evening of the entire Jewish year when we most seek the great, inexplicable light…

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Two Links of Note

September 17, 2007 admin Comments 16 comments

First, just about the entire volume in memory of Dov Rappel is available for free online here. This includes articles by, inter alia, Moshe Halmish, Yosef Tabory, and Stefan Rief. Second, there is a new site which is attempting to compile a complete bibliography of books related to Jewish genealogy here. The site is run by a collector of Jewish genealogy books and hopefully he will be able to satisfy his goal.