Daf HaYomi: Seforim on Masseches Rosh Hashanah

Daf HaYomi: Seforim on Masseches Rosh Hashanah

Comments 5 comments

Daf Yomi: Seforim on Masseches Rosh Hashanah By Eliezer Brodt Daf Yomi just started learning Masseches Rosh Hashanah this week. This past Monday evening I had a conversation with Rabbi Moshe Schwed of All Daf. The purpose of the conversation was to briefly highlight some of the Rishonim and Achronim “out there” on this Messechtah, adding some tidbits of interest about them. We recorded it and it’s available for viewing here or here. It’s only half an hour long. Many…

Read More Read More

Book Announcement: Mitchell First’s, “Links to Our Legacy: Insights into Hebrew, History, and Liturgy”

Book Announcement: Mitchell First’s, “Links to Our Legacy: Insights into Hebrew, History, and Liturgy”

Comments 1 comment

Book Announcement: Links to Our Legacy: Insights into Hebrew, History, and Liturgy by Mitchell First By Eliezer Brodt The Seforim Blog is proud to announce the publication of our frequent contributor Mitchell First’s newest book Links to Our Legacy: Insights into Hebrew, History, and Liturgy (236 pp.) Mitchell First’s 66 short articles address interesting questions about the Hebrew language, Jewish history, and liturgy. For example: • On Hebrew language: insights into the original meanings of the words chamushim, totafot, kohen, minchah,…

Read More Read More

In Praise of the Soncino Talmud

In Praise of the Soncino Talmud

Comments 134 comments

In Praise of the Soncino Talmud By David S Farkas* Not long ago one of our local schools hosted a Giveaway day in its library, making many of the older seforim in its considerable collection free to a good home. As expected, the local citizenry plundered and pillaged, carrying off large numbers of books, many still in quite good condition. I was only able to attend towards the end, “after the last of the gleaners had gone.”[1] Only a few…

Read More Read More

Which Direction is North?, Geographical Mistakes, and our Woke Universities

Which Direction is North?, Geographical Mistakes, and our Woke Universities

Comments 41 comments

Which Direction is North?, Geographical Mistakes, and our Woke Universities Marc B. Shapiro 1. Numbers 34:15 states: “Two and a half tribes have taken their inheritance on the side of the Jordan by Jericho, to the front, eastward.” Rashi comments: קדמה מזרחה: אל פני העולם שהם במזרח, שרוח מזרחית קרויה פנים ומערביות קרויה אחור לפיכך דרום לימין וצפון לשמאל This passage is translated as follows in ArtScroll’s Sapirstein edition: To the Front, Eastward: This means to the front of the world, which…

Read More Read More

Zafenat Pane’ah—A Further Example in the Titling of Hebrew Books

Zafenat Pane’ah—A Further Example in the Titling of Hebrew Books

Comments 11 comments

Zafenat Pane’ah—A Further Example in the Titling of Hebrew Books by Marvin J. Heller[1] Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zafenat Pane’ah and he gave him Asenath daughter of Poti-phera, chief of On, for a wife. Thus Joseph emerged over the land of Egypt (Genesis 41:45). Zafenat: Zafenat Pane’ah. This name means decipherer of the cryptic (revealer of secrets). There is nothing similar to pane’ah in Scripture (Rashi). The titling of Hebrew books is a beguiling subject. It has been addressed in…

Read More Read More

Sukkah 4a “What’s Wrong with This Picture?”

Sukkah 4a “What’s Wrong with This Picture?”

Comments 3 comments

Sukkah 4a “What’s Wrong with This Picture?” By Eli Genauer This post is is l’zecher nishmas my uncle and rebbe, Rabbi Sam Genauer ZT”L whose yahrtzeit is the second day of Av. Rabbi Genauer was a talmid of Rabbi Moshe Soloveichik at RIETS. מסכת סוכה ד׳ עמוד א׳ The maximum height of a Sukkah is twenty Amot. The Gemara discusses a situation where the Sukkah is slightly more than twenty Amot high and one builds a raised platform inside the…

Read More Read More