The Vilna Gaon, part 2 (Review of Eliyahu Stern, The Genius)
…ineligible for Israeli government money. Most disappointing in this matter is R. Chaim Kanievsky who seems to think that Torah Judaism has the equivalent of a papacy, and he can…
Breaching the Walls of History with Postscript
…ha-shemad while the family testimony remembers Chaim as the copyist. Perhaps both brothers participated, or Raphael handled the checkout while Chaim copied the passage. Or perhaps the family misremembered which…
Caught in the Act: An Unknown Admission of Plagiarism
…of the approbations he received on a different work, Kiyum ha-Olam, for Hayyim ha-Nitzchim, including an approbation from R. Abraham Isaac Kook. Indeed, we know that Hayyim ha-Nitzchim must have…
The Custom of Reciting l’Dovid HaShem Ori
…that in the manuscript from which R. Hayyim Kohen’s comments were published that manuscript contains nothing about l’Dovid haShem instead, it appears the publisher inserted into the R. Hayyim’s work….
Hatikvah, Shir HaMa’alot, & Censorship
…sing this song, even though R. Hayyim declared it was improper to do so. Thus, R. Weinfeld’s proof is no longer a proof, but if R. Hayyim is correct in…
Do you recall Hrubieszow? Hrubieszow, Home to an Active Early Nineteenth Century Hebrew Press
…David, both from Hrubieszow, Isaac ben David from Łaszczów, Hayyim ben Eliezer from Zhovkva, Israel ben Raphael, Menachem Mendel ben Baruch, Pesach Joseph from Łęczno, and Eliezer Segal, perchance from…
Was Professor Saul Lieberman “Orthodox” or “Conservative”? [1]
…at JTS should be sh’lomei emunei yisrael and that the students and graduates should beshomrei torah u-mitzvot ka-rauy v’khayaut.” Lieberman did not care about labels but rather about substance, and in this…
The Valmadonna Broadside Collection: a Review Essay
…controversy between R’ Shlomo Ganzfried and the R’ Chaim Halberstamm, the Divrei Chaim. In his work Ohali Shem on Gittin, R’ Ganzfried took issue with some legal rulings of the Divrei Chaim….
What is Bothering the Aruch Hashulchan? Women Wearing Tefillin
…(OC 17:2) or various kabbalists (cited by the Klaf Hachaim 38:9) who limit it to women who cannot have children and do not menstruate. These halachic authorities are trying to…
The Jewish Reaction to the Livorno Earthquake of January 27, 1742
…§41). [4] Here is an article by N. Sakalov in his HaAsif on the prolific Landshut. [5] At the around the same time and place, the Ohr HaChaim was being…
Towards a Bibliography of seforim related to Shavous and Megilas Rus (new and old)
…the first being Invei Hagefen first printed in 1863, the second being Rishon Mekor Hachaim first printed in 1697. He also reprinted some Teshuvos and articles related to Shavous from…
A Quotation Fabrication: What the Rema did Not Say on Wearing Leather Shoes on Yom Kippur
…I Hungary. A student of Rav Moshe (“Maharam”) Shick, a cousin of Rabbi Shlomo Tzvi Shick) parenthetically quotes that the Pri Eitz HaChaim quotes the AriZal gave a kabbalistic reason…
R. Yudel Rosenberg, R. Mordechai Elefant, and Sexual
…p. 219 Robinson discusses the letter of R. Hayyim Hezekiah Medini that Rosenberg included in his Sha’arei Zohar Torah. The letter of Rabbi Medini as published by Yudel Rosenberg has…
Kosher Tube: TV Series on the 13 Principles
…I refer to in this note. Yet matters are actually more complicated than this. R. Chaim Rapoport informs me that the Chabad practice is to write with an aleph. Furthermore,…
Parshanut in English: Rabbinic Bible Commentary in Translation
…5 vols. Proverbs (1993) 2 vols. Ruth (1985) Song of Songs (1988) Ecclesiastes (1986) Lamentations (1986) Esther (1978) Or ha-Hayim [= Hayyim ben Moses Attar, 1696-1743] Torah Munk (1995) 5…