The Seforim Blog – Page 178 – All about Seforim – New and Old, and Jewish Bibliography

Hillel Noach Magid Steinschneider’s Ir Vilna

February 6, 2007 admin Comments 0 Comment

Hillel Noach Magid Steinschneider’s Ir Vilnaby Dan Rabinowitz Vilna being one of the most important cities in Jewish history has a fair amount written about it. One of the classic works discussing the history and persons of Vilna is that of Hillel Noach Magid Steinschneider‘s Ir Vilna. This book was originally published in 1900 by the Romm press. This was only the first volume and Steinschneider envisioned publishing a second volume in short time, however, due to financial constraints he…

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Library of Siddur (Prayer) For Sale

February 2, 2007 admin Comments 0 Comment

A library of approximately 1,700 books all either prayer books themselves or books about prayer are for sale. These include סדורים ,קינות ,תיקון ליל שבעות as well as some manuscripts. The date range of the books range from ש’s (1540) until recent. Additionally, there are Slavita and Zhitomer prints as well. As this entire collection is devoted to a single subject – prayer, it is somewhat unusual and important. For more information (there is a complete catalog of all the…

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Goldschmidt Machzorim On Sale

January 31, 2007 admin Comments 0 Comment

Magnes Press is having a sale on the Goldschmidt Yom Tov Machzorim (edited by Yonah Frankel). The sale price is $43 for all three – Pesach, Shavout, and Sukkot. They can be purchased here.

Marc B. Shapiro: “Mi-Yosef ad Yosef Lo Kam ke-Yosef”

January 29, 2007 admin Comments 0 Comment

Seforim blog contributor Dr. Marc B. Shapiro, professor of Judaic Studies at the University of Scranton, has just published a review essay (“Mi-Yosef ad Yosef Lo Kam ke-Yosef”) in English of the following three books Hayyav, Mishnato u-Mahalkhav ha-Politiyim shel ha-Rav Ovadiah Yosef by Zvi Aloush and Yossi Elituv (Ben Porat Yosef: Or Yehudah, 2004); Maran Ovadiah Yosef: Ha-Biographyah by Nitzan Chen and Anshil Pepper (Jerusalem, 2004); Mi-Maran ad Maran: Mishnato ha-Hilkhatit shel ha-Rav Ovadiah Yosef by Binyamin Lau, (Tel…

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Review: Jay Berkovitz’s”Rites and Passages: The Making of Jewish Culture in Modern France” (Hebrew)

January 29, 2007 admin Comments 0 Comment

Merkaz Zalman Shazar has published Jay Berkovitz’s book מסורת ומהפיכה-תרבות יהודית בצרפת בראשית העת החדשה discussing French Jewry and specifically the changes and challenges of modernity. This book is an expanded version of the English Rites and Passages: The Beginnings of Modern Jewish Culture in France, 1650-1860 (UPenn Press) which is available at the previous link and here. Both versions are invaluable for viewing French Jewry and France gernally, a county typically neglected in milieu of Jewish history which tends…

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Uncensored Books (Dr. Marc B. Shapiro)

January 25, 2007 admin Comments 54 comments

Uncensored Books Marc B. Shapiro Dan Rabinowitz has provided many examples of censorship in seforim (examples which I look forward to using – with acknowledgment of course – in my own forthcoming book on the subject). What I would like to call attention to are two examples where the publishers would have certainly censored these texts had they known who was being discussed. Presumably, what I mention now has already been pointed out to them and will be excised…

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