Assorted Comments
…as the Satmar philosophy. 5. The internet is an amazing thing. Yechezkel Moskowitz, who listened to my Torah in Motion classes on R. Hayyim Hirschensohn, asked me where he was…
R. Nathan Nata ben Reuben David Tebele Spira and his Works: Among them Ma’amar Yayin ha-Meshummar, on the Prohibition against Drinking Stam Yeinam (gentile wine), and Contemporary Books on that Subject
…introduction, writes that Tuv ha-Aretz is based on the writings of R. Isaac Luria (ha-Ari), R. Hayyim Vital (including the tikkun from his Etz Hayyim, with glosses from the author),…
Leket Yosher – A Closer Appraisal in Light of a Recent Controversy
…Orach Hayyim and Yoreh Deah are extant. While it appears that there was a third part on Even haEzer which is no longer extant, it is unclear whether there ever…
Censorship in the Sefer Chofetz Chaim?
Censorship in the Sefer Chofetz Chaim? (Another chapter of R. Shmuel Ashkenazi’s Latest Work) Unfortunately, the amount of responses regarding assisting the publication of R. Ashkenazi’s work was underwhelming (we…
Lag B’Omer through the eyes of a Litvak in 1925
…descriptions available is found in a letter written by a student of R. Chaim Ben-Attar (1696-1743) in which he writes that R. Chaim went to Meron the day after Purim…
Using the works of Shadal and R. N. H. Wessely
…few more names toRabbi Posen’s list of people who used Shadal. Shoel Umeshiv[3], R. Yosef Zechariah Stern[4], R. Pesach Finfer[5], Dikdukei Sofrim[6], Seridei Eish[7], R. Chaim Heller[8], R. Kalman Kahana[9],…
Hirschian Humanism After the Holocaust: An Analysis of the Approach of Rabbi Shimon Schwab
…believed, “Elu ViElu divrei Elokim hayim” – These and those are the words of the Living God.[23] Both the “Torah Only” approach of the majority of gedolei yisrael, and the…
Interesting Legacy Judaica Auction lots
…from rabbinical luminaries, R. Yosef Dov Solovetchik (Beis ha’Levi) (lot 198), R. Yitzhak Ze’ev Solovetchik (Brisker Rav) (lot 199), R. Hayim Ozer (lot 172), R. Kook (lot 183), R. Henkin,…
The History behind the Ashkenazi/Sephardi divide concerning lighting Chanukah candles
…of how lighting Chanukah candles has been practiced and attempt to explain why in fact Ashkenazim and Sephardim do as they do. The Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 671:2) records the…
New Book: The Living Tree: Studies in Modern Orthodoxy by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin
…Karo and the Rema – seem to imply a more monistic halakhic approach. A ringing defense of pluralism is to be found in the words of Rabbi Chaim ben Rabbi…
ArtScroll’s Response and My Comments
…printing the dagesh should be removed. If ArtScroll is looking for something to censor in the newly released volume, Or ha-Hayyim to Ex. 31:16 probably fits the bill. In this controversial passage Or ha-Hayyim states that…
The Future of Israeli Haredi Society: Can The Written Word Offer Some Insight? (And Assorted Other Comments)
…his own understanding, while only in the notes does he reveal the authorities who disagree. (R. Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg defends the Minhat Hinnukh‘s position in his Mishmeret Hayyim, vol. 1, pp. 125-126. But…
Apostates and More, Part 2
…he was forced out of his rabbinic position. There is a good deal online about Zion, and entries in English and Hebrew on Wikipedia. Rabbi Hayyim Asher Hoffmann was another…
Eliezer Brodt: The Chanukah Omission
…back. In 1891, Chaim Slonimski wrote a short article in Hazefirah (issue #278) questioning why there is no mention in Sefer Hasmonaim and Josephus of the miracle of the oil…
Teffilah Zakah: History of a Controversial Prayer
Teffilah Zakah: History of a Controversial Prayer* Yom Kippur has many unique prayers, many of them have been added through the centuries. For instance, R. Hayyim Yosef Dovid Azulai (Hida)…