Bein hashemashot: A Reevaluation of the Texts Part IV
…undoubtedly have reached a radically different conclusion. R. Willig expresses a similar point, albeit less directly. (This issue was raised directly in a recent sefer by R. D. Heber, Shaarei…
Some More Assorted Comments, part 1
…raise themselves in holiness at the expense of their wives.[19] R. Yitzhak Abadi’s new sefer, Or Yitzhak vol. 2, has just appeared, and he too deals with this issue. (For…
A Comment of Rashi Found Only in “Defusim Me’Ucharim”
…is termed “Defusim Me’Ucharim”. The comment first appears in the Sefer Yosef Da’at (Prague 1609) who attributes it to a D’fus Yashan and a Klaf Yashan Noshan. I did not…
Sale: Databases of Hebrew Books
As in past years, in honor of Shavua ha-Sefer, there is a 30% sale on electronic databases of Hebrew books, including Otzar ha-Chochmah ver. 8, Otzrot ha-Torah ver. 6, Bar…
An Unpublished 1966 Memorandum from Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan Answers Questions on Jewish Theology
…Ogren, ed., Kabbalah in America: Ancient Lore in the New World (Leiden: Brill, 2020), 211-232, available here. See also Tzvi Langermann, “‘Sefer Yesira,’ the Story of a Text in Search…
Review: Bekurim with the Gra’s Commentary
…recall any sefer that shows such meticulous preparation for publication. One can see how much the editor R. Frankel believes in the importance of his project. It is printed on…
“Is taking my husband not enough?” (Gen 30:15)
…and believed that Esau was the firstborn, when in reality Jacob was already the true firstborn. Only then did a lightbulb go off in twenty-two-year-old Leah’s head (Sefer ‘Olam Rabba,…
Seforim for Sale, List III
…it’s about $5 a sefer (on average size seforim, some of the books are over sized so they cost a little more to mail). If one buys 5 seforim the…
Mehalekhet Bi-Darka – A Review Essay
…“Sefer Ha-Hayyim” which she copies and compounds an inaccuracy found in Golinkin’s work. In several instances Peuterkovsky quotes excerpts from sources which are misleading. Thus, she quotes short passages in…
Abraham Menahem ben Jacob ha-Kohen Rapa mi-Porto (Rapaport) Ashkenazi: A Renaissance Rabbi of Interest
…Jews in Eastern Europe, Gershon David Hundert, ed. I (New Haven & London, 2008), pp. 129-30; Abraham Meir Habermann, “Rabi Shabetai Meshorer Bas (ha-bibliyografi ha-‘ivri ha-rishon),” in Anshe sefer ve-anshe…
R. Hayyim Hirschensohn, Can One Kill an Am Ha’aretz on Shabbat? Physical Punishments and Lots More
…Recanati records that some did think that he would be obligated to sacrifice a limb. See Sefer Recanati (Petrokov, 1894), no. 470. Radbaz’s responsum is actually in response to what…
More on Chaim Bloch
…it has למדו תינוקות, which means “taught children”. See also Dikdukei Soferim, Sanhedrin 96b. 21 To give just one, here is a page from R. Nissim Gaon’s Sefer ha-Mafteah to…
Seforim for Sale, List II
…has to be done Via Pay Pal. Shipping is available, it’s about $5 a sefer (on average size seforim, some of the books are over sized so they cost a…
על הספר מגילת פלסתר
על הספר מגילת פלסתר[1] מאת עקביא שמש א. סקירה קצרה על הספר עיקרו של ספר זה הוא דיון בספר מגילת ספר לר’ יעקב ב”ר צבי עמדין (ריעב”ץ). כידוע ספר מגילת…
Kabbalah Books Online
I am not sure why but it appears that a website in Czech (?) contains numerous Kabbalah seforim in their entirety free. These include the literature from Sefer Yetzirah, Zohar,…