Book Excerpt: Turning Judaism Outward by Chaim Miller

Book Excerpt: Turning Judaism Outward by Chaim Miller

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Chaim Miller’s Turning Judaism Outward, a comprehensive biography of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, has recently appeared. The Seforim Blog is happy to present this excerpt from pages 98-103  Some truly fascinating insights into Menachem Mendel’s inner life have surfaced recently in his correspondence with Rayatz, first published in 2010.73 The Sixth and future Seventh Rebbes were in very close contact during this period; between 1929 until 1932 alone, Rayatz penned some seventy-two letters to his son-in-law and daughter. In contrast to…

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What is Bothering the Aruch Hashulchan? Women Wearing Tefillin

What is Bothering the Aruch Hashulchan? Women Wearing Tefillin

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What is Bothering the Aruch Hashulchan? Women Wearing Tefillin Michael J. Broyde mbroyde@emory.edu Please note that this piece isn’t meant to be construed one way or another as the view of the Seforim Blog. Introduction In our previous article,[1] we focused on the view of the Mishnah Berurah concerning women wearing tefillin.  In this article, we focus on the Aruch Hashulchan, whose approach is also complex, reflecting the complexity of the area. The Aruch Hashulchan (OC 38:6) states: נשים ועבדים…

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A Response to Yaakov Rosenes

A Response to Yaakov Rosenes

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A Response to Yaakov Rosenes by  Menachem Lazar Menachem Lazar is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, studying applied mathematics and materials science.  He has previously served as editor of Beit Yitzchak, an annual Talmud publication of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. In a recent essay at the Seforim blog, Yaakov Rosenes provides a fascinating window into some unfortunate trends in the world of Jewish publishing.  In particular, Rosenes highlights how technology has impacted not only how seforim…

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Demythologising the Rabbinic Aggadah: Menahem Meiri

Demythologising the Rabbinic Aggadah: Menahem Meiri

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The Seforim Blog thanks Ivor Jacobs for sending us this unpublished article by his father. Demythologising the Rabbinic Aggadah: Menahem Meiri by Louis Jacobs Many of the mediaeval Jewish teachers, partly in defence of the Talmud against attack by the Karaites, partly because of their own rationalistic stance, engaged in what Marc Saperstein in a fine study [1] has called ‘decoding the Rabbis’. That is to say, passages, especially in the Talmudic Aggadah, which seemed to them offensive to reason…

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When was the Afar of the Para Adumah lost?

When was the Afar of the Para Adumah lost?

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When was the Afar of the Para Adumah lost? By Eliezer Brodt A few years ago (2009) for Parshas Chukas I posted a chapter from my sefer Ben Kesseh Le’assur about when was the Afer of the Para Adumah lost. In 2010 I reprinted the chapter with many important additions in my work Likutei Eliezer. Here is the updated chapter as it appears in my Likutei Eliezer. Eventually I will update it even more. For recent footage of a Para…

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Publish and Perish or Digital death

Publish and Perish or Digital death

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Publish and Perish or Digital death By: Yaakov Rosenes About the author: Yaakov Rosenes made Aliya from Canada after graduating from Trent Univ. and U of I Chicago Circle. In the 70’s he held various research and administrative positions at Yad HaRav Herzog, Feldheim publishers, and Machon Yerushalayim. In the 1980’s he founded the Judaica Archival Project, a Preservation and Access program for Rabbinics at JNUL. Since the 1990’s the Project has offered bibliographic and book-finding services at www.virtualgeula.com. Introduction:…

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