Eliezer and Joseph ben Naphtali Hertz Treves: Hebrew Publishers, briefly, in the Mid-Sixteenth Century

Eliezer and Joseph ben Naphtali Hertz Treves: Hebrew Publishers, briefly, in the Mid-Sixteenth Century

Eliezer and Joseph ben Naphtali Hertz Treves: Hebrew Publishers, briefly, in the Mid-Sixteenth Century[1] Marvin J. Heller A Hebrew press was briefly active in Thiengen (Tiengen) in 1560. The publishers, from the distinguished rabbinic Treves family, were Eliezer and Joseph ben Naphtali Hertz Treves. The brothers only published six (possibly seven) books before being forced to close by a meeting of the leaders, both Protestant and Catholic, of the Swiss Confederation in June 1560, who feared that they were about…

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Reading Over the Brisker Rav’s Shoulder

Reading Over the Brisker Rav’s Shoulder

The Jewish Review of Books recently published its Fall issue, which features several excellent articles, including a discussion of the recently published Chaim Grade novel. Below is a reprint of an article from their Summer issue, “Golden Ledgers” by Dan Rabinowitz, with a short postscript. Seforim Blog readers can get a 50% discount on a subscription to the Jewish Review of Books by using this link.  Golden Ledgers by: Dan Rabinowitz To get to the Judaica Research Centre archives in…

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Eli Genauer: The Evolution of a “רש״י ישן” as Presented by Artscroll Rashi Breishit 12:2 – “ואעשך לגוי גדול”

Eli Genauer: The Evolution of a “רש״י ישן” as Presented by Artscroll Rashi Breishit 12:2 – “ואעשך לגוי גדול”

The Evolution of a “רש״י ישן” as Presented by Artscroll Rashi Breishit 12:2 – “ואעשך לגוי גדול” Eli Genauer The term “רש״י ישן” in printed editions often appears after a comment recorded in parentheses. An example of this is Rashi in Breishit 12:2. Here is how it looks in the first edition of the Artscroll Stone Chumash printed in November 1993 Rashi’s comments are recorded as follows Comment #1 ואעשך לגוי גדול. לְפִי שֶׁהַדֶּרֶךְ גּוֹרֶמֶת לִשְׁלֹשָׁה דְבָרִים, מְמַעֶטֶת פְּרִיָּה וּרְבִיָּה…

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Eli Genauer: Breishit 9:18 – Noach’s Family or Noach’s Drunkenness?

Eli Genauer: Breishit 9:18 – Noach’s Family or Noach’s Drunkenness?

Breishit 9:18 – Noach’s Family or Noach’s Drunkenness? Eli Genauer   וַיִּֽהְי֣וּ בְנֵי־נֹ֗חַ הַיֹּֽצְאִים֙ מִן־הַתֵּבָ֔ה שֵׁ֖ם וְחָ֣ם וָיָ֑פֶת וְחָ֕ם ה֖וּא אֲבִ֥י כְנָֽעַן׃ “The sons of Noach who came out of the ark were Shem, Cham, and Yefet; and Cham was the father of Canaan.” Rashi: וחם הוא אבי כנען. לָמָּה הֻצְרַךְ לוֹמַר כָּאן? לְפִי שֶׁהַפָּרָשָׁה עֲסוּקָה וּבָאָה בְּשִׁכְרוּתוֹ שֶׁל נֹחַ שֶׁקִּלְקֵל בָּה חָם וְעַל יָדוֹ נִתְקַלֵּל כְּנַעַן, וַעֲדַיִן לֹא כָתַב תּוֹלְדוֹת חָם, וְלֹא יָדַעְנוּ שֶׁכְּנַעַן בְּנוֹ – לְפִיכָךְ הֻצְרַךְ לוֹמַר…

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Depicting Difference: The Tower of Babel and the Language of Sacred Art

Depicting Difference: The Tower of Babel and the Language of Sacred Art

Depicting Difference: The Tower of Babel and the Language of Sacred Art “For form is only the manifestation, the shape of content.” Ben Shahn, The Shape of Content, p. 72 Genesis chapter 11 presents the narrative of the Tower of Babel, detailing how, contrary to the divine directive to disperse and populate the earth, the descendants of the flood’s survivors congregated in a single city and commenced construction of a substantial tower. God intervened to prevent further cooperation among them…

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Reflections & Two Hespedim: R’ Eliyahu Greensweig & R’ Dovid Kamenetsky

Reflections & Two Hespedim: R’ Eliyahu Greensweig & R’ Dovid Kamenetsky

Reflections & Two Hespedim: R’ Eliyahu Greensweig & R’ Dovid Kamenetsky By Eliezer Brodt A few months ago, I launched my new podcast, Musings of a Book Collector, a deep dive into the world of rare and fascinating Jewish books (information can be found here). Some episodes are available to enjoy for free (here and here), while exclusive content is reserved for subscribers. You can also purchase individual episodes here. Any form of Sponsorship is helpful and appreciated (here). Over…

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