The Origins of Hamentashen from the Evidence of Jewish Literature: A Historical-Culinary Survey Revisited (yet again)

The Origins of Hamentashen from the Evidence of Jewish Literature: A Historical-Culinary Survey Revisited (yet again)

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Eleven years ago I wrote about the origins of Hamentashen in Jewish Literature (here). A year later I revisited the topic (here). Two years ago, I rewrote parts of it for Hebrew Kulmos magazine with some new important material. See here for previous posts on Purim and here for a Purim Round up. ויאכלו את המן: מנהג אכילת אזני המן, מקורותיו והטעמים השונים שניתנו לו מאת: אליעזר יהודה בראדט מה לנו עם אזניו של המן, ומדוע אנו מהדרים לאכלם כשהם…

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Torah Reading for Zochor and Parah

Torah Reading for Zochor and Parah

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קריאת פרשת זכור ופרשת פרה דאורייתא* מאת אליעזר יהודה בראדט ר’ אברהם גומבינר בעל ‘מגן אברהם’ נפטר בצום גדליה שנת תמ”ג ולא זכה לראות חיבורו ‘נר ישראל’, הפירוש המונומנטלי לשלחן ערוך אורח חיים, יוצא לאור בדפוס. כמה שנים לאחר מכן, בשנת תנ”ב, נדפס החיבור יחד עם ‘טורי זהב’ בדיהרן פארט ע”י המדפיס המפורסם ר’ שבתי בס בעל ‘שפתחי חכמים’. תיכף לאחר הדפסתו זכה שנכתבו ונדפסו כמה קיצורים ממנו, ביניהם גם ר’ נתן איגר בחיבורו ‘גן נטע’, פראג תנ”ה. גם זכה…

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Towards a Bibliography About Realia and Chumash, specifically relating to the Mishkan and Bigdei Kehunah

Towards a Bibliography About Realia and Chumash, specifically relating to the Mishkan and Bigdei Kehunah

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Learning Chumash and Nach is extremely important for many reasons. Over time it became a neglected subject (why is the subject of a different post IY”H) and in many circles is still true today. Sadly, many people remain with the images of the various stories from Tanach the way they heard it in their youth without a genuine understanding of the events. I strongly believe that learning Tanach properly (by both students in school and adults) could help with some…

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The Collected Writings of Moshe Reines Kickstarter

The Collected Writings of Moshe Reines Kickstarter

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Moshe Reines was a polymath: Talmudist, Hebraist, historian, investigative reporter, social commentator – a prolific and influential thinker, writer, and author. The son of Rabbi Yitzchok Yaakov Reines, Moshe Reines died tragically in 1891 at the astonishingly young age of twenty-one. The obituary which appeared in Hamagid had this to say about the young Reb Moshe z”l: “He excelled amazingly in his absolute mastery of Shas…” The volume (compiled and edited by Eliezer Brodt) awaiting printing is approximately seven-hundred pages….

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God’s Silent Voice: Divine Presence in a Yiddish Poem by Abraham Joshua Heschel

God’s Silent Voice: Divine Presence in a Yiddish Poem by Abraham Joshua Heschel

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joined the faculty of Stanford University in 2017 as an assistant professor in the Department of Religious Studies, after previously serving as the Director of Jewish Studies and Visiting Assistant Professor of Modern Jewish Thought at Hebrew College in Newton, Massachusetts, and a research fellow at the Frankel Institute for Advanced Judaic Studies of the University of Michigan. He holds a Ph.D. in Jewish Studies from Harvard University and rabbinic ordination from Beit Midrash Har’el in Israel. Ariel’s current research…

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The Yiddish Press as a Historical Source for the Overlooked and Forgotten in the Jewish Community

The Yiddish Press as a Historical Source for the Overlooked and Forgotten in the Jewish Community

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Eddy Portnoy is Senior Researcher and Director of Exhibitions at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. He is the author of the recently-published (and much acclaimed, and fun) book, Bad Rabbi: And Other Strange but True Stories from the Yiddish Press (Stanford, 2017), available here (https://www.amazon.com/Bad-Rabbi-Strange-Stories-Stanford/dp/150360411X). This is his first contribution to the Seforim Blog. Sanhedrin 25 has this pretty well-known, somewhat rambling bit about what sorts of people are trustworthy enough to serve as witnesses in court. It’s pretty…

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The Universalism of Rav Kook

The Universalism of Rav Kook

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© 2018 Bezalel Naor Stereotypes are difficult to overcome. Until recently, the stereotype of Rav Avraham Yitzhak Hakohen Kook (1865-1935) was of a nationalist (perhaps even ultranationalist) who lent his rabbinic aegis to the Zionist enterprise in the first third of the twentieth century. In his seminal work Orot [Lights] (Jerusalem, 1920), the very first section of the book is entitled “Erets Yisrael.” The punchline of the first chapter reads: The expectation of salvation (tsefiyat ha-yeshu‘ah) is the force that…

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Lecture Announcement – R. Yechiel Goldhaber – January 4, 2018

Lecture Announcement – R. Yechiel Goldhaber – January 4, 2018

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EDIT 1.4.2018: Unfortunately due to the inclement weather this lecture has been canceled. An update will be posted it that changes. The readership of the Seforim Blog is invited to a lecture by the noted author, Rav Yechiel Goldhaber (link), whose respected research and scholarship is well-known to Seforim Blog readers. The shiur will be taking place Thursday, January 4, 7:30 PM at Khal Bnei Avrohom Yaakov, 2701 Avenue N, Brooklyn, NY. Rabbi Goldhaber’s speech will be delivered in English….

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Book Launch of the Koren Rav Kook Siddur

Book Launch of the Koren Rav Kook Siddur

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Seforim Blog contributor Rabbi Bezalel Naor has just published a major work, the Koren Rav Kook Siddur. Culled from Rav Kook’s own commentary to the Siddur, Olat Re’iyah, and other writings of Rav Kook, as well as rich anecdotes transmitted by Rav Kook’s son and major disciples, The Koren Rav Kook Siddur speaks to the soul, while it connects us all to the sacred soil of the Holy Land. There will be a book launch on Sunday, January 7, 10:00…

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New Auction House – Genazym

New Auction House – Genazym

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its inaugural auction next week Monday, December 25th. The catalog is available here. The majority of the material are letters and other ephemera with a few dozen books. The books include a number with vellum bindings (71-75). Appreciation of bindings has been brought to fore with the recent wider availability of books from the Valmadonna collection after it was broken up; a collection that was known for its exquisite bindings. Books with illustrations form another group, including heretical images. The…

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Chaim Zelig Slonimsky and the Diskin family

Chaim Zelig Slonimsky and the Diskin family

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In December of 2016, Seforim blog published an article by Zerachya Licht about the Maskil Chaim Zelig Slonimsky and the Chanuka controversy he ignited. Presented here is a two part biographical monograph which focuses on Slonimsky relationship to the Diskin family. As an outcome of the above, this essay explores the Diskin family’s attitude toward Haskalah. At the end of Part I a newly discovered document which sheds light on these two topics is reproduced and transcribed. Also included are…

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At a Holiday Celebration with the Lubavitchers by Elie Wiesel (1963)

At a Holiday Celebration with the Lubavitchers by Elie Wiesel (1963)

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The Forverts (13 December 1963) [Yiddish] [Translated to English by Shaul Seidler-Feller (2017)] The “Holiday of Salvation” among the Lubavitchers. – We travel to Brooklyn the way they used to travel to see the rebbe. – The holiday of Yud Tes Kislev. – Why I like to attend when the Lubavitchers host a farbrengen. – Guests from Israel. – The miracle of joy. By Eliezer Wiesel Someone remembered: it is Yud Tes Kislev. So, who wants to visit the Lubavitchers?…

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