The Identity of an unknown Yiddish Prayer Book (From Zürich to Zürich)

The Identity of an unknown Yiddish Prayer Book (From Zürich to Zürich)

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Moshe Rosenfeld has published books on Jewish printing in Augsburg, Wilhermsdorf and Karlsruhe as well as articles on Fuerth and Sulzbach prints. His most recent publication is the biography ‘The Rav of Fuerth’, highlighting Rav Dovid Kahana Spiro szl (1901-1970). His contact information is mnrosenfeld@gmail.com Yiddish printed books are the stepchildren of Hebrew bibliography. We have systematic bibliographies of Hebrew books from nearly 500 years ago, amongst the authors are non-Jews like Gessner[1a], Bartolocci [1b] and Wolf . To single…

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The Illusory Portrait of R. Yom Tov Lipmann Heller: Deceptive Art and Jewish Images in Vienna

The Illusory Portrait of R. Yom Tov Lipmann Heller: Deceptive Art and Jewish Images in Vienna

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For if I am deceived, I am. for he who is not, cannot be deceived; and if I am deceived, by this same token I am. Wolfgang Kemp after St Augustine of Hippo (Epigraph to Rembrandt Hoogstraten: Colour and Illusion) On October 8, 2024, Vienna’s Museum of Fine Arts, the Kunsthistorisches Museum, opened the exhibit “Rembrandt – Hoogstraten Colour and Illusion.” The museum’s permanent collection features remarkable works by Rembrandt, including a self-portrait and a now-confirmed portrait of his son,…

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Sale: Sefer on the Manna

Sale: Sefer on the Manna

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This week, we read Parshas Beshalach, and one of its key sections focuses on the Manna. As is well known, we live in a generation where there’s an explosion of information, and it’s simply impossible to know or read it all. Countless seforim have been written on virtually every topic, and the subject of the Manna is no exception. In an upcoming podcast (to be released this week) from my Musings of a Book Collector Series, IY”H, I will delve…

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New Books from Kodesh Press

New Books from Kodesh Press

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The Seforim Blog is proud to announce the publication of our frequent contributor Mitchell First’s newest book From Eden to Exodus: A Journey into Hebrew Words in Bereshit and Shemot. It comprises short essays on the parshas in Bereshit and Shemot, mostly related to words. Here is the table of contents: Available for purchase from Kodesh Press here I would also like to point out two other special recent new books from Kodesh Press: Rabbi Gil Student’s Articles of Faith:…

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Half Faith, Half Heresy: Between S.Y. Agnon and Gershom Scholem

Half Faith, Half Heresy: Between S.Y. Agnon and Gershom Scholem

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The bonds of friendship between S.Y. Agnon and Gershom Scholom are well documented in their writings and in the copious scholarship on the celebrated Nobel laureate and the revered professor of Jewish mysticism. In this context, the interview that Dan Miron conducted with Scholem about Agnon (broadcast on Israeli television in February 1981, a year before Scholem’s death) is noteworthy. The recording (part 1 not preserved; part 2 and 3 available) and the transcript of the interview (in Hebrew or…

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‘And Moses Hid His Face’: Isaac Abarbanel and Maimonides on the Nature of Prophecy

‘And Moses Hid His Face’: Isaac Abarbanel and Maimonides on the Nature of Prophecy

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Eric Lawee is a full professor in the Department of Bible at Bar-Ilan University, where he teaches the history of Jewish biblical scholarship. His *Rashi’s Commentary on the Torah: Canonization and Resistance in the Reception of a Jewish Classic* (2019), published by OUP, won the 2019 Jewish Book Award in the category of Scholarship of the Jewish Book Council (Judges’ Remarks below) and was finalist for a Jordan Schnitzer Book Award of the Association for Jewish Studies in 2021. He…

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A World War II Liberator’s Letter to his Hometown Rabbi

A World War II Liberator’s Letter to his Hometown Rabbi

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I recently realized that this year, January 26th will correspond to the 26th of Teves. That date marks the tenth Yahrtzeit of a remarkable man — who lived through some extraordinary experiences exactly eighty years ago. I had the honor of knowing Mr. Charles Press (1920 – 2015) for the last eight years of his life. However, others in Harrisburg, PA (where I served as a pulpit Rabbi from 2007 – 2016) enjoyed his friendship for over nine decades. Over…

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Announcement: Musings of a Book Collector podcast

Announcement: Musings of a Book Collector podcast

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As a curator of knowledge, I enjoy sharing content for people to read, learn, and enjoy. A few years ago, I was privileged to explore another avenue for sharing information by recording an experimental podcast with Rabbi Moshe Schwed on the All-Daf platform. I have come to realize that the podcast format helps me immensely, as it requires me to compile and organize my research, and it enables me to “test it out” before publication—a” Pilpul Chaverim” of sorts. I…

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April Fools! Tracing the History of Dreidel Among Neo-Traditionalists and Neo-Hebraists

April Fools! Tracing the History of Dreidel Among Neo-Traditionalists and Neo-Hebraists

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These explanations [for playing with the sevivon] are far from reality. Why do no sources dating from the Maccabean period, and only in the last few hundred years, mention playing sevivon? If “Hakhamim” decreed it, or it was the custom in ancient times, of if “Beis Din shel Hashmonaim” established it, why is it not mentioned for all these generations? Yitzhak Tesler, “Ha-Dreidel (Sevivon) be-Chanukah: Mekoroseha, Ta’amyah, u-Minhagyah,” Or Yisrael, 14 (1999), 50. I have seen a toy in London…

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Rabbi Yitzhak Hutner’s View of Torah Im Derekh Eretz and a Hidden Haskamah Rediscovered

Rabbi Yitzhak Hutner’s View of Torah Im Derekh Eretz and a Hidden Haskamah Rediscovered

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Shmuel Lesher is the assistant rabbi of the BAYT (Toronto). He can be reached at shmuel.lesh@gmail.com *Thanks to my father-in-law, Rabbi Hanan Balk, for sharing many of the works used to research this topic with me from his vast and eclectic personal library. Thank you to Rabbi Dr. Jacob J. Schacter, Rabbi Moshe Lieber, Rabbi Daniel Korobkin, Ezer Dienna, and Rabbi Ken Stollon for greatly improving this article. Thank you to Simmy Zieleniec for connecting me with the Levi family….

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Two Books by R. Bezalel Naor, R. Meir Simhah of Dvinsk, Michael Lerner, and More

Two Books by R. Bezalel Naor, R. Meir Simhah of Dvinsk, Michael Lerner, and More

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1. R. Bezalel Naor is well known for his enormous contributions to what we can call “Rav Kook Studies”. His outstanding translations and analysis have cemented his reputation as one of the leading interpreters of Rav Kook, as well as the most prolific writer on Rav Kook in English. I personally owe a great debt to Naor, as can seen in my forthcoming book on Rav Kook (though I suspect he will reject some of my readings). Yet many are…

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Disputatious Divorces: Public Controversies over Gitten and Couple Relations

Disputatious Divorces: Public Controversies over Gitten and Couple Relations

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God said “It is not good that man be alone: I will make him a helper, a counterpart to him. Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and clings to his wife, so that they become one flesh. (Genesis 2:18, 24) As a rose among the thorns, so is my beloved among the young women. As an apple tree among the forest trees, so is my beloved among the young men (Song of Songs 2:2,3). A man takes…

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The Origin and Evolution of a “Rashi Yashan”- In Praise of Artscroll Rashi Breishit 12:2 – “ואעשך לגוי גדול”

The Origin and Evolution of a “Rashi Yashan”- In Praise of Artscroll Rashi Breishit 12:2 – “ואעשך לגוי גדול”

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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 וּמְמַעֶטֶת אֶת הַמָּמוֹן וּמְמַעֶטֶת אֶת הַשֵּׁם, לְכָךְ הֻזְקַק לִשְׁלֹשָׁה בְּרָכוֹת הַלָּלוּ, שֶׁהִבְטִיחוֹ עַל הַבָּנִים וְעַל הַמָּמוֹן וְעַל הַשֵּׁם: Comment…

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The Anatomy of a Mystery: Kohanim, Dissection, and Medical Training Throughout History

The Anatomy of a Mystery: Kohanim, Dissection, and Medical Training Throughout History

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In September of 2024, I accidentally opened the portal to a priestly mystery. While searching for references to the first Jewish students to attend the University of Gottingen Medical School, I came across an antisemitic work published in 1753 about the general dishonesty of Jews and Jewish oaths. Therein were a few disparaging references to Jewish physicians, one of whom was named Lehmann Isaac Kohen. A parenthetical footnote,3 likely precipitated by the student’s last name, caught my attention. The author…

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Yaakov Mark and Two Episodes from Vilna’s Great Synagogue Related to Yom Kippur

Yaakov Mark and Two Episodes from Vilna’s Great Synagogue Related to Yom Kippur

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David Livni was born in Vilna in 1870. He was educated in traditional Orthodox schools and joined the proto-Zionist Hovevi Tzion movement. In 1906, he and his wife and five children moved to Israel. The children were among the first students of Herzliya Gymnasium, and David was one of the founders of Tel Aviv and its Great Synagogue. He served on its board until he fell out with its leadership regarding financial matters. Construction of the synagogue began in 1920….

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