Rabbi Adam Mintz: Rabbi Henkin and The First Heter Agunot in America

Rabbi Adam Mintz: Rabbi Henkin and The First Heter Agunot in America

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Rabbi Henkin and The First Heter Agunot in AmericaBy Adam Mintz The tragedy of the agunah, the woman who is unable to receive a get from her husband, has plagued the Jewish people since time immemorial. Rabbis and scholars throughout the centuries have contended with this issue in an attempt to free agunot to remarry. In the United States this issue was first formally addressed following World War I. European Jews soldiers, fighting on both sides of the war, were…

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C.D. Ginsburg: Demuto Shel ha-Meshumad

C.D. Ginsburg: Demuto Shel ha-Meshumad

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OnTheMainLine has an informative post about C.D. Ginsburg, with links to some of the latter’s publications, and includes a stellar picture of the famous apostate. For his The Massorah Compiled from Manuscripts, Lexically and Alphabetically Arranged, see I, II, III, IV, V, VI [PDF].

R. Avraham ben haGra: A Victim of Plagiarism?

R. Avraham ben haGra: A Victim of Plagiarism?

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R. Avraham ben haGra: A Victim of Plagiarism? In several previous posts at the Seforim blog, I have discussed instances of plagiarism and, in this post, I would like to mention one of the more famous instances of plagiarism within Jewish literature. To be clear, the issues of plagiarism under discussion lack any ambiguity, these discussed are limited to when the entire book is republished with the only difference being the authors name at the beginning. One of the smaller…

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House of Goldman Rare Books [est. 1978]

House of Goldman Rare Books [est. 1978]

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The famed and prestigious Goldman Rare Books [est. 1978] has announced their new web-presence, where remarkable items from their collection of Hebraica & Judaica — including: American Judaica, Amsterdam, Bible, Children, Early Printing, Ephemera, German Judaica, Haskalah, Judeo Arabic, Liturgy, Manuscripts, Miscellaneous, Old Yiddish, Periodicals, Rabbinics and Yiddish — are now available for viewing and purchase at GoldmanRareBooks.com.

Judah Wistinetzky and Mishloach Manot to his American friends

Judah Wistinetzky and Mishloach Manot to his American friends

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Ari Kinsberg is one of the great young scholars of American Jewish History (under 40), as he has spent several years researching and editing the two-volume magisterial Hebrew Printing in America 1735-1926: A History and Annotated Bibliography (see Seforim blog reviews here and here). In honor of Purim 5767 [2007], Ari has recently written about Judah Wistinetzky (1844-1908) and the latter’s Ayelet ha-Shahar, given as mishloach manot gift to his friends. For those of us who have not yet seen…

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Eliezer Brodt – The Origins of Hamentashen in Jewish Literature

Eliezer Brodt – The Origins of Hamentashen in Jewish Literature

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The Origins of Hamentashen in Jewish Literature:A Historical-Culinary SurveyBy Eliezer Brodt I. Introduction As Jews, most of our holidays have special foods specific to them; and behind each culinary custom, lays enveiled the reasoning behind them. Shavuot brings with it a vast array of customary dairy delicacies – in some parts of the world, cheesecake is practically obligatory – not to mention different customs in regard to how and when to eat them. Rosh Hashanah in renowned for the different…

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