Book Review: Pischei Tefilah u-Mo’ad by Y. S. Spiegel
…article related to Purim is a very comprehensive discussion on cross-dressing on Purim and other happy occasions throughout the year. He prints in this collection a Derasha of a talmid…
Judah Wistinetzky and Mishloach Manot to his American friends
…America 1735-1926: A History and Annotated Bibliography (see Seforim blog reviews here and here). In honor of Purim 5767 [2007], Ari has recently written about Judah Wistinetzky (1844-1908) and the…
Tussle Over Horowitz’s Book
As I mentioned before, Elliott Horowitz wrote an excellent book on Purim and its connection with violence. But, as some are wont to do, instead of reading a book objectively…
Do you recall Hrubieszow? Hrubieszow, Home to an Active Early Nineteenth Century Hebrew Press
…David u-Malchus Shaul is a Yiddish translation, retitled. This version, that is the Yiddish translation, has been described as “part of the traditional Purimshpil (“Purim play”) in many Lithuanian and…
Lekah Tov – What’s in a Name?
…is a subject of considerable interest, varying as it does from the more common manner of labelling comparable works. Book titles generally reflect a book’s subject matter. In contrast, however,…
PIYYUT ON THE SURVIVAL OF THE JEWS OF BRECLAV (LUNDENBURG) ON JANUARY 23, 1698
…to fast half a day, and to celebrate the other half of the day, a construct commonly referred to as a “Purim”. Note that this is the day after a…
R. Isaac Arama, R. Kook, Mordecai Kaplan, and more
…65. [5] See Abraham Epstein, Mi-Kadmoniyot ha-Yehudim, pp. 117 n. 2, 120. [6] See R. Yehiel Goldhaber’s Purim 5773 article, “Bitul ha-Ra ha-Nif’al bi-Yemei ha-Purim,” p. 2 [7] See Senior Sachs’ introduction to Yehiel…
The Pew Report and the Orthodox Community (and Other Assorted Comments), part 2
…that sex is forbidden on Hanukkah and Purim and any day that you don’t recite tahanun (!).[37] בחנוכה ופורים נראה דאסור וכ”ש שאר ימים שאין נופלין על פניהם בהם דאסור…
Response to Criticism Part 4; Rabbi Zvi Yehuda and the Hazon Ish
…well. Furthermore, all sorts of phony stories about “yeshuos” are included in these appeals. However, I don’t recall ever seeing such a blatant falsehood as what appeared right before Purim…
Legacy Judaica Spring 2021 Auction
…Chaim Volozhin to do so. About Item #18 Messechtas Purim see our discussion earlier on the blog here. Item #25 is Peirush Megilas Achashverosh, Venice 1565. The description states: R….
The Rogochover and More
…Kanievsky. Derekh Sihah (Bnei Brak, 2004), 487. [6] R. Abraham Weinfeld, Lev Avraham, no. 98. [7] See R. Chaim Rapoport, “Sipurim Temuhim . . .,” Hearot u-Veurim 33:2 (2013), pp. 55-67, for an excellent discussion of the…
The Anatomy of an Auction: A Previously Undissected Body of Literature on the History of the Jews and Postmortem Dissection
…miraculously persuaded the Venetian government to subdue the outburst. The Jews of Padua declared the 10th day of Elul as their Second Purim in gratitude for their miraculous salvation. This…
Israel ben Shabtai [Hapstein]. ‘Avodat Yisrael – Book review by Bezalel Naor
…[Esther 3:8]. The Rabbis, of blessed memory, commented on the word ‘yeshno,’ that Haman alleged ‘their God is asleep.’” (Rabbi Hayyim Vital, Sha’ar ha-Purim, beginning chap. 5) The Holy Maggid…
Afikoman – “Stealing“ and Other Related Minhagim
…discuss Yetzias Mitzrayim.[55] And as far as the argument that stealing is never permitted, Rabbi Weingarten points to Hilchos Purim, in which we find that some level of damage is…
Who can discern his errors? Misdates, Errors, Deceptions, and other Variations in and about Hebrew Books, Intentional and Otherwise: Revisited
…Rabbenu Baḥya (Jerusalem, 1970) edited and with annotations by R. Hayyim Dov Chavel (1906–1982). Among the essays in Kad ha-Kemaḥ is one entitled Kippurim, on Yom Kippur. Part of that…