Dan Rabinowitz — “The Custom of Reciting l’Dovid HaShem Ori”
From last year (with a small update) at the Seforim blog, Dan Rabinowitz’s “The Custom of Reciting l’Dovid HaShem Ori.”
Barukh Dayan Ha-Emet: Rabbi Dr. Noah Rosenbloom
For those who have not seen the obituary notice in the New York Times (Aug 14, 2007; B6), the Seforim blog records the passing of Rabbi Dr. Noah Rosenbloom, a pulpit rabbi for over fifty years and longtime faculty member at Yeshiva University’s Stern College for Women. He was the author of Luzzatto’s Ethico-Psychological Interpretation of Judaism: A Study in the Religious Philosophy of Samuel David Luzzatto (New York: Yeshiva University, 1965); Tradition in an Age of Reform: The Religious…
Charles H. Manekin — Moritz Steinschneider’s Indecent Burial
Moritz Steinschneider’s Indecent BurialCharles H. ManekinUniversity of Maryland, College Park / Bar Ilan University Over a century has passed since the death of Moritz Steinschneider, the great orientalist, bibliographer, and historian of Jewish literature and culture. When Steinschneider died in 1907 at the age of 91, he was recognized by many as the greatest Jewish scholar of the previous century. His scholarly output numbered over fourteen hundred publications, ranging from short notices to books of over a thousand pages, a…
Mayer I. Gruber — How Did Rashi Make a Living?
How Did Rashi Make a Living?[1] Mayer I. Gruber Professor in the Department of Bible Archaeology and the Ancient Near East Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheva, Israel It has long been taken for granted that Rashi engaged in viticulture, which is to say, the cultivation of vineyards and the preparation and sale of wine made from the grapes he cultivated.[2] However, in 1978 the question of how Rashi made a living was reopened by Haym Soloveitchik.[3] Indeed, Soloveitchik asserted:…
Upcoming Auction and Catalog
Asufa is having an auction next week on Monday Aug. 13, the catalog is available online here or in the US at Biegeleisen books in NY.
The Unintended Perils of Plagiarizing
While we have previously discussed several instances of plagiarism, I wanted to discuss one more which is interesting in its irony. Originally printed in Vienna, in 1820, Hut HaMeshulash b’Sha’arim, was reprinted in 1998. This sefer is actually three-seforim-in-one arranged based on the order of the parshiyot. The three are from a grandfather, father and son. They are, respectively, Sha’ar Asher by R. Asher Lemel HaLevi, chief rabbi of Eisenstadt; Sha’ar HaMayim by his son-in-law, R. Jehiel Mihel, also the…