Akedah, Art, and Illustrations in Hebrew Books

Akedah, Art, and Illustrations in Hebrew Books

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The Akedah (binding of Isaac) is a very popular theme in the arts. It appears in music, most recently (from a decidedly Christian perspective), the critically acclaimed indie musician Sufjan Steven’s who has the song Abraham (on his Seven Swans CD). In the visual arts, numerous representations of the Akedah can be found, from Rembrandt to Chagall. Some of the earliest Jewish art also contains the Akedah. In both the Dura_Europos Synagogue and the Beth-Alpha Synagogue there are depictions of…

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New Hard Drive

New Hard Drive

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With modern day technology it is now possible to store tremendous amounts of information on hard drives. In the Jewish arena some have begun harnessing this power by placing thousands of seforim on a single hard drive. While there are others, which I hope to discuss at a later date, there is a new such hard drive. This hard drive contains 11,000 seforim and journals. These are searchable to an extent, as I will explain below. This hard drive contains…

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Ghosts, Demons, Golems and their Halachik Status

Ghosts, Demons, Golems and their Halachik Status

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One explicit mention of a ghost appears in the Talmud Ketubot 103a. The Talmud records that every week Rebbi used to return to his house after he died. The Talmud, however, does not record what Rebbi used to do when he came back. The Sefer Hassidim states that Rebbi was different than other dead people in that he was considered almost fully alive. Rebbi, according to the Sefer Hassidim, would make Kiddush for his family.[1] A much later instance of…

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Kitzur Shelah, Sabbatianism, and the Importance of Owning Old Books

Kitzur Shelah, Sabbatianism, and the Importance of Owning Old Books

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R. Jacob Emden, in his Torat haKenot claims a well known and fairly popular book is written by a Sabbatian (a follower of the false-Messiah Sabbatai Zevi). This book, Kitzur Shelah, authored by R. Yehiel Michel Epstein, which although its title implies is merely an abridged version of the Shelah (Sheni Luchot HaBrit) by R. Isaiah Horowitz, is much more than that. While the Kitzur Shelah does include some content from the larger Shelah it also includes much else which…

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Chofetz Hayyim His Death, the New York Times and Research Tools

Chofetz Hayyim His Death, the New York Times and Research Tools

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I have gotten multiple emails (and now S. has posted it on English Hebraica) in the past couple of days regarding an obituary which appeared in the New York Times for the Chofetz Hayyim. The email explains that after hearing someone mentioning the Times covered the Chofetz Hayyim’s death the person couldn’t believe it and decided to investigate the matter. He then went to the New York Public Library and poured over microfiche to finally locate the story on the…

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The RCA “Edition” (Or Lack Thereof) Siddur

The RCA “Edition” (Or Lack Thereof) Siddur

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When a Yom Tov falls out on Shabbat, we add additions to the standard Yom Tov shemonei esrei that relate to Shabbat. One of these additions is found in the V’haseanu והשיאנו blessing, where we add “elokenu v’lokei avosanu retzah bemunchatanu (אלקנו ולאקי אבותנו רצה במנוחתנו).” There is very little question about this addition is Shacharit.[1] The more complex question is the Mussaf. The reason for the complexity is that in the Shaharit there is no place where the formula…

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