Announcement – Lecture by Rabbi Yechiel Goldhaber at the Sprecher home

Announcement – Lecture by Rabbi Yechiel Goldhaber at the Sprecher home

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The readership of the Seforim Blog is invited to a shiur that will be taking place Sunday November 29 at 8:00 PM. The shiur will be given by the noted scholar and author Rav Yechiel Goldhaber of Eretz Yisroel (link). He has authored many wonderful articles and works on a wide range of topics most notably Minhagei Kehilos about customs, and Kunditon (link) about the Titanic, and the Cherem on Spain.  The subject of the Shiur is על חרדים ויום…

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Maimonides and Prophecy, R. Pinhas Lintop, R. José Faur, and More Examples of Censorship

Maimonides and Prophecy, R. Pinhas Lintop, R. José Faur, and More Examples of Censorship

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Maimonides and Prophecy, R. Pinhas Lintop, R. José Faur,  and More Examples of Censorship by Marc B. Shapiro 1. In my last post here I discussed whether Maimonides believed that the entire people of Israel experienced prophecy at Mt. Sinai. I neglected to refer to Hilkhot Yesodei ha-Torah 8:3, which states: לפי שנבואת משה רבנו אינה על פי האותות כדי שנערוך אותות זה לאותות זה, אלא בעינינו ראינוה ובאזנינו שמענוה כמו ששמע הוא This is one of those passages that presents problems for the interpreter, since what…

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Finders Keepers? The Itinerant History of Strashun Library of Vilna, Pt I

Finders Keepers? The Itinerant History of Strashun Library of Vilna, Pt I

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Finders Keepers? The Itinerant History of Strashun Library of Vilna by Dan Rabinowitz             Since the 1990s, the issue of reparation of items looted by the Nazis has become a high-profile issue, with numerous successful attempts at reuniting owners with their stolen possessions. The recent movie, Monuments Men, fictionalized the Allies’ post-war efforts that led to the locating some of these looted treasures. While some of the best-known examples of these recovered treasures are related to art, gold, or Swiss…

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נוסח סליחות אשכנזי מודפס ארבע עשרה בלתי ידוע

נוסח סליחות אשכנזי מודפס ארבע עשרה בלתי ידוע

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נוסח סליחות אשכנזי מודפס ארבע עשרה בלתי ידוע – דוד חיים רוט לפי פרופ’ דניאל גולדשמידט ז”ל,[1] יש שלש עשרה נוסחאות מודפסים של סליחות אשכנזים: אשכנז הכללי (פפד’מ), עלזאס, פיורדא-נירנברג, וורמייזא, פלאס, שוואבין-שוויץ, קוילן, אשכנזים שבאיטליה (כל הנ’ל הם שייכים לנוסח אשכנז המערבי), ליטא, פולין, בהמן, פוזנא, ובית כנסת הישן בפראג (ששייכים למנהג המזרחי).[2],[3] בדרך כלל, אצל אשכנזים, נהוג לומר סליחות שונות בכל יום, ובכל הנוסחאות הנ”ל, יש סדר שונה לכל יום של ימי אלול וימי התשובה, וכן לשחרית, מוסף,…

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

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

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  A Note Regarding Rav Simcha Zelig Reguer’s Position on Opening a Refrigerator on Shabbat By Yaacov Sasson The purpose of this note is to correct an error that appeared in a widely-read journal nearly 25 years ago; the error is of sufficient consequence that it necessitates a correction, even after so many years. In their article, “The Use of Electricity on Shabbat and Yom Tov”, by Rabbis Michael Broyde and Howard Jachter (Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society, No….

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Assorted Comments on R. Jacob Emden, Ashkenazic Views of Sephardic Gedolim, and More

Assorted Comments on R. Jacob Emden, Ashkenazic Views of Sephardic Gedolim, and More

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Assorted Comments on R. Jacob Emden, Ashkenazic Views of Sephardic Gedolim, and More by Marc B. Shapiro 1. Since I have discussed R. Jacob Emden in many posts, let me add the following. If you examine Emden’s Birat Migdal ha-Oz you find that he refers to himself as הסריס. Here is the Berditchev 1836 edition of the work, p. 135a.[1] I think all would agree that this is a strange title to give oneself. In this work, p. 116a, he also calls himself שלו….

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