The Vilna Gaon, part 2 (Review of Eliyahu Stern, The Genius)

The Vilna Gaon, part 2 (Review of Eliyahu Stern, The Genius)

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The Vilna Gaon, part 2 (Review of Eliyahu Stern, The Genius) by Marc B. Shapiro Continued from here. Another reference by the Gaon to the Guide – in this case it is only attributed to him – is found in his comment to Bava Kamma 92b (commenting on (בירא דשתית מיניה לא תשדי בי קלא, which has been published in a number of different sources, most conveniently in the commentary Anaf Yosef to Ein Yaakov, Bava Kamma 92b. The Gaon quoted the Guide as saying that if you find one good thing in a…

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“Torah Study on Christmas Eve” — free Torah in Motion lecture by Dr. Marc B. Shapiro

“Torah Study on Christmas Eve” — free Torah in Motion lecture by Dr. Marc B. Shapiro

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In the spirit of inyana de-yoma, Torah in Motion is offering, free of charge, Dr. Marc B. Shapiro’s lecture on “Torah Study on Christmas Eve,” delivered on Christmas Eve, 2009. You can get it here.[1]   We invite all those who download the class to visit Torah in Motion’s website www.torahinmotion.org where over a thousand other lectures and classes are available for download (including lectures by Dan Rabinowitz, Eliezer Brodt, and Marc Shapiro’s series of over 130 classes on great rabbinic figures). We…

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Book Review: Simon Schama, The Story of the Jews: Finding the Words, 1000 BCE – 1492 CE

Book Review: Simon Schama, The Story of the Jews: Finding the Words, 1000 BCE – 1492 CE

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Review of Simon Schama, The Story of the Jews: Finding the Words, 1000 BCE – 1492 CE by Marc Saperstein Simon Schama’s The Story of the Jews, covering the period 1000 BCE to 1492 (actually 1497) CE, was for one week (October 5) at the top of the Guardian Bookshop Bestsellers list: a rare achievement for a serious book of Jewish history covering the pre-modern period. It was published in the middle of five one-hour prime-time Sunday evening BBC television presentations,…

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The Vilna Gaon, Part 1: How Modern Was He?

The Vilna Gaon, Part 1: How Modern Was He?

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The Vilna Gaon, Part 1 How Modern Was He? by Marc B. Shapiro Eliyahu Stern, The Genius: Elijah of Vilna and the Making of Modern Judaism (New Haven, 2013) Eliyahu Stern has set for himself a daunting task and argues his case with conviction. He intends to correct a widespread assumption shared not only by the general public, but by the scholarly community as well. According to this narrative, the Vilna Gaon (hereafter the Gaon) should not be seen as a traditionalist defender…

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The Identity and Meaning of Chashmonai

The Identity and Meaning of Chashmonai

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The Identity and Meaning of Chashmonai [1] By Mitchell  First (MFirstatty@aol.com)         The name Chashmonai appears many times in the Babylonian Talmud, but usually the references are vague. The references are either to beit Chashmonai, malkhut Chashmonai, malkhut beit Chashmonai, malkhei beit Chashmonai, or beit dino shel Chashmonai.[2]  One time (at Megillah 11a) the reference is to an individual named Chashmonai, but neither his father nor his sons are named.            The term…

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Lawrence Kaplan’s review of Eliyahu Stern, The Genius

Lawrence Kaplan’s review of Eliyahu Stern, The Genius

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Eliyahu Stern’s recent book on the Vilna Gaon has generated a lot of discussion. The Seforim Blog is happy to present Lawrence Kaplan’s review of the work which will be followed up by a three-part post by Marc Shapiro Eliyahu Stern, The Genius: Elijah of Vilna and the Making of Modern Judaism. New Haven: Yale University Press 2013, pp. xiv+322.* My father, of blessed memory, was an Orthodox Jew of Lithuanian descent, a “Litvak.” Though he was a businessman all…

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