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

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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עקידת יצחק בראי הלכה

עקידת יצחק בראי הלכה

עקידת יצחק בראי הלכה מאת יחיאל גולדהבר There have been numerous articles and even entire books about the Akedah. Here is a new  collection of material on the subject from Rabbi Yechiel Goldhaber. הניצוץ הפנימי המתנצנץ ובוער בלב כל נפש ישראל פנימה, ייסודו ומקורו מאותו עמוד לבת אש קודש שיקד והאיר את העולם ואת העולמות כולם, נשגב ונעלם מהשגת אנוש, טמיר ומכוסה אף משרפי מעלה ומלאכי מרום. רשפיה רשפי אש, מעמד העקידה הקדושה שעקד אברהם את יצחק בנו יחידו לה’….

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Hot Tears For A Close Friend: Rabbi Eitam Henkin HY”D

Hot Tears For A Close Friend: Rabbi Eitam Henkin HY”D

Hot Tears For A Close Friend: Rabbi Eitam Henkin HY”D by Rabbi Yechiel Goldhaber translated by Daniel Tabak I shall never forget when I first met Rabbi Eitam Henkin HY”D three years ago. At the time I had begun preparing a study on the parting of minds in the kollels of the Old Yishuv in Jerusalem 150 years ago. I managed to get my hands on a lot of rare sources, but the morass of material only beclouded the depths…

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David Assaf – A Farewell to Eitam Henkin

David Assaf – A Farewell to Eitam Henkin

A Farewell to Eitam Henkin by David Assaf Professor David Assaf is the Sir Isaac Wolfson Chair of Jewish Studies, the Chair of the Department of Jewish History, and the Director of the Institute for the History of Polish Jewry and Israel-Poland Relations, at Tel-Aviv University. A Hebrew version of this essay appeared at the Oneg Shabbat blog (6 October 2015) (http://onegshabbat.blogspot.co.il/2015/10/blog-post.html), and was translated by Daniel Tabak of New York, with permission of Professor David Assaf. This is his…

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Avunculate Marriage in the Bible

Avunculate Marriage in the Bible

Avunculate Marriage in the Bible By Reuven Chaim (Rudolph) Klein Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein is the author of the Lashon HaKodesh: History, Holiness, & Hebrew [available here]. His book is available online and in bookstores throughout the world. Rabbi Klein published articles in various journals including Jewish Bible Quarterly, Kovetz Hamaor, Kovetz Chitzei Gibborim, and Kovetz Kol HaTorah. He studied at premier Yeshivas including the Mir in Jerusalem and BMG in Lakewood. He was most recently a fellow at the Tikvah Institute for Yeshiva Men (Summer 2015)…

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Rambam’s Response to the Inclusion of Chicken, Duck and Quail in Qaraite Cuisine

Rambam’s Response to the Inclusion of Chicken, Duck and Quail in Qaraite Cuisine

Rambam’s Response to the Inclusion of Chicken, Duck and Quail in Qaraite Cuisine By Tzvi H. Adams In “Waiting Six Hours for Dairy- A Rabbanite Response to Qaraism” (here) I posited that Rabbeinu Chananel initiated the practice of waiting six hours between meat and dairy in order to protect Rabbanite values. This association was inspired by Dr. Bernard Revel’s studies of  Rabbanite leaders’ efforts to counter sectarian influences during the early Middle Ages[1], as well as a shiur by Rabbi…

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