A Source for Rav Kook’s Orot Hateshuva Chapters 1 – 3

A Source for Rav Kook’s Orot Hateshuva Chapters 1 – 3

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A Source for Rav Kook’s Orot Hateshuva Chapters 1 – 3 By Chaim Katz, Montreal Rav Kook begins the first chapter of his Orot Hateshuva [1] as follows: We find three categories of repentance: 1) natural repentance 2) faithful repentance 3) intellectual repentance. את התשובה אנו מוצאים בשלש מערכות: א) תשובה טבעית, ב) תשובה אמונית, ג) תשובה שכלית He defines natural repentance: (תשובה טבעית) הגופנית סובבת את כל העבירות נגד חוקי הטבע, המוסר והתורה, המקושרים עם חוקי הטבע. שסוף כל…

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The Strange Shape of the Marcheshet Pan

The Strange Shape of the Marcheshet Pan

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                             The Strange Shape of the Marcheshet Pan                                                              By Eli Genauer “The underlying basis of our work is that pictures are an organic part of the commentary, and it possible that Rashi even allowed himself to limit his explanatory words when a picture was available to the reader. This is in the sense of “a picture is worth a thousand words”. The picture is an integral…

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There is No Bracha on an Eclipse

There is No Bracha on an Eclipse

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There is No Bracha on an Eclipse By Rabbi Michael J. Broyde Rabbi Michael Broyde is a law professor at Emory University School of Law and the Projects Director in its Center for the Study of Law and Religion.  His most recent Torah sefer is entitled “A Concise Code of Jewish Law For Converts”.  This letter was written to someone after a shiur on why there is no bracha on seeing a solar eclipse. 1.      You are correct that I…

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A Final Note Regarding Rav Simcha Zelig Reguer’s Position on Opening a Refrigerator on Shabbat

A Final Note Regarding Rav Simcha Zelig Reguer’s Position on Opening a Refrigerator on Shabbat

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A Final Note Regarding Rav Simcha Zelig Reguer’s Position on Opening a Refrigerator on Shabbat  By Yaacov Sasson The purpose of this note is to establish conclusively that Rav Simcha Zelig Reguer, the Dayan of Brisk, never permitted opening a refrigerator on Shabbat when the light inside will go on. I was deeply disappointed to read Rabbi Michael Broyde’s response[1] to my “Note Regarding Rav Simcha Zelig Reguer’s Position on Opening a Refrigerator on Shabbat.”[2] In short, R. Broyde has…

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The Babylonian Geonim’s Attitude to the Talmudic Text

The Babylonian Geonim’s Attitude to the Talmudic Text

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The Attitude of the Babylonian Geonim to the Talmudic text By Dr. Uzy Fuchs A few weeks ago we mentioned here that the Seventeenth World Congress of Jewish Studies took place at the Mount Scopus Campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Over the next few months we will be posting written transcriptions of some of the various presentations (we hope to receive additional ones). The first in this series is from Dr. Uzy Fuchs dealing with the Babylonian Geonim’s attitude to the Talmudic text, the…

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Review of My Father’s Journey by Sara Reguer

Review of My Father’s Journey by Sara Reguer

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Review of My Father’s Journey by Sara Reguer (Academic Studies Press, 2015)   By Moshe Maimon About a year ago, Seforim Blog readers were informed by Prof. Marc Shapiro of the publication of Sara Reguer’s book My Father’s Journey, and they were further advised that this book would be of great value to anyone interested in the history of the yeshiva movement and Eastern European orthodoxy (see here). The following review illustrates the contribution the book indeed makes to these fields…

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