On the Times Commonly Presented for Birkat HaL’vana: Part 1
…do this. The Shulhan Aruch thus rules that one can stick with the most inexact calculation (Orah Hayim 426:3), but the Pri M’gadim (Eshel Avraham 13 to Orah Hayim 426)…
Tobacco and the Hasidim and a Comment on Artscroll
…32, nos. 8 and 9. 25. On Hayim Halberstam as a heavy smoker, see Yosef David Weisbert, Rabenu hakadosh mizantz (Jerusalem, 1976), 197, 211, and Yosef David Weisbert, Otzar hahayim…
Some Recollections of R. Jehiel Jacob Weinberg, Love Before Marriage, and More
…R. Moses Sofer. Among other noteworthy things found in this Haggadah are an article by R. Chaim Rapoport and the Yiddish version of a few beloved Passover songs. 3. On…
Review of a new edition of the Sefer Chasidim
…vol. 2 p. 102 the end of note 1; see also Chaim Michal, Or haChaim p. 456). Abraham Epstein writes that the Sefer Chasidim doesn’t have a single author but…
Maccabean Psalms? (and more)
…not religiously problematic. Nevertheless, R. Meir Mazuz is indeed troubled by what R. Joseph Hayyim wrote.[9] He claims that the verses added to biblical books noted by R. Joseph Hayyim…
R. Hayyim Hirschensohn, Can One Kill an Am Ha’aretz on Shabbat? Physical Punishments and Lots More
R. Hayyim Hirschensohn, Can One Kill an Am Ha’aretz on Shabbat? Physical Punishments and Lots More by Marc B. Shapiro 1. In many earlier posts I have discussed R. Hayyim…
R. Reuven Margulies II
…he began publishing his own books. Many of his early books focus on hassidim. One of his early works, a biography on R. Hayyim ben Attar (Ohr haHayyim haKodesh) included…
Tarnopol: A short-lived early 19th century Hebrew press
…the seven sha’arim (seven gates) comprising Sha’arei Ziyyon. They are Tikkun Hazot based on Etz ha-Hayyim; Tikkun ha-Nefesh, to be said after Tikkun Hazot with Yedid Nefesh; Tikkun ha-Tefillah according…
Marc B. Shapiro – Clarifications of Previous Posts
…any renown in the area of saintliness. Regarding the passage from Halakhic Man quoted above, the Rav himself makes reference to R. Chaim of Volozhin’s Nefesh ha-Hayyim, and the ideology…
Upcoming Auction Review
…of R. Yeshaya Pick in this work: Some other first editions worth mentioning are, Minchas Chinuch published anonymously in 1869 (lot 35), and Nefesh HaChaim, Vilna 1824 (lot 86)….
Crafting the Commandments
…rather than commands. Supporting these with scriptural proof texts, he labels them with the solo term mitsvah, a label that he also uses to designate rabbinical directives. The scriptural mitsvot…
More on Chaim Bloch
…appear in R. Chaim Ozer’s other letters (based on Otzar ha-Hokhmah’s database, which only has the first edition of R. Chaim Ozer’s letters, not the expanded Iggerot R. Chaim Ozer.)…
Lithuanian Government Announces Construction of a $25,000,000 Convention Center in the Center of Vilna’s Oldest Jewish Cemetery
…the Gaon of Vilna to be exhumed so that his remains could be transferred to the Holy Land, R. Chaim Ozer was livid. For, explained R. Chaim Ozer, by acquiescing…
A nay bintl briv: Personal Reminiscences of Rabbis Baruch ha-Levi Epstein and Aaron Walkin from the Yiddish Republic of Letters
…years after his column on the Hafets Hayyim appeared, Rabbi Aaron B. Shurin penned another essay, entitled “The Mistake of the Austrian Emperor” and about the meaning behind the observance…
On some new seforim, Copernicus, saying Ledovid , Moses Mendelssohn and other random comments
…the sugyah of Elu Ve-elu Divrei Elokim Chayim (pp. 308-323). A few years ago I wrote a few comments (here) about Rabbi Bloch’s work against Copernicus. I recently revisited the…