Jews, Baseball, and The Yiddish Press

Jews, Baseball, and The Yiddish Press

Jews, Baseball, and The Yiddish Press By Eddy Portnoy Dr. 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. This is his second contribution to the Seforim Blog. His previous essay, “The Yiddish Press as a Historical Source for the Overlooked and Forgotten in the Jewish Community,”…

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כעומד לפני השכינה בשעת ער לערנט: Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein on the Divide Between Traditional and Academic Jewish Studies

כעומד לפני השכינה בשעת ער לערנט: Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein on the Divide Between Traditional and Academic Jewish Studies

כּעומד לפֿני השכינה בשעת ער לערנט: Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein on the Divide Between Traditional and Academic Jewish Studies By Shaul Seidler-Feller Shaul Seidler-Feller strives to be a posheter yid and an oved Hashem; the rest is commentary. This is his third contribution to the Seforim blog; for his previous articles, see here and here. This post has been generously sponsored le-illui nishmat Sima Belah bat Aryeh Leib, z”l. Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein enthusiasts might be surprised to learn that there was…

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Birchas Ha-ilanos in Nissan

Birchas Ha-ilanos in Nissan

Birchas Ha-ilanos in Nissan By Eliezer Brodt The Following article originally appeared in Yeshurn 32 (2015) [Eventually it will be updated]. For another part of this series see here. הלכות ברכת הראייה במסגרת הספר ‘מעגל טוב‘ לחיד“א (ג)1 ברכת האילנות אליעזר יהודה בראדט ברכה האילנות בניסן2 ביומנו ‘מעגל טוב’ כתב החיד”א ביום א’ בניסן תקל”ז: “וברכתי ברכת אילנות”3. בשנת תקל”ח כתב בכ”ט בניסן: “ואחר מנחה ברכתי ברכת אילנות בגן”4. ביומנו גם רשם בשנת תקמ”ח: “ברכתי ברכת אילנות שילהי ניסן בפיזא”5….

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Rare Letters, Controversial & Valuable Hasidic Books – Genazym Auction

Rare Letters, Controversial & Valuable Hasidic Books – Genazym Auction

Genazym Auction is holding an auction on March 21st that includes many important letters and manuscripts and a small number of books (download a pdf of the catalog here).  Many of the books are Hasidic or owned by well-known Hasidic figures.  For example, the rare first edition of the No’am Elimelekh, 1788, by R. Elimelekh of Lyzhensk (lot 13).  That book, like other early Hasidic books are both fundamental to the Hasidic philosophy and theology and were controversial among those opposed to…

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New Sefer Announcement: The Collected Writings of R’ Moshe Reines

New Sefer Announcement: The Collected Writings of R’ Moshe Reines

New Sefer Announcement by Eliezer Brodt It is with great pleasure that I announce a sefer that I just printed, The Collected Writings of R’ Moshe Reines. ר’ משה ריינס מבחר כתבים, אוסף חיבוריו מאמרים ואגרותיו, לג+ 640 +4 עמודים The sefer will be available for purchase in the US shortly. (We will post that info soon). A PDF of some sample pages are available upon request, for more information contact me at eliezerbrodt@gmail.com. What follows is the English introduction…

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Legacy Judaica Auction March 6th: A Sampling of Forgeries and other Eclectic Lots

Legacy Judaica Auction March 6th: A Sampling of Forgeries and other Eclectic Lots

Legacy Judaica‘s next auction will occur on March 6, 2018.  The 220 lots include very rare books such as the first edition of the Yerushalmi and a letter from R. Tzvi Ashkenazi (Hakham Tzvi) (the entire catalog can be accessed here), there are many other interesting books and letters. Conditional marriage has been applied since at least the talmudic period if not early.  The exact circumstances and necessary predicates have evolved over time and especially in the modern period when marriage and…

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