The Pitfalls of Disagreeing with the Gra
…in the history of the Jewish book to be published in recent memory. Dr. Yaakov Shmuel Spiegel (who has a terrific Hebrew Wikipedia entry here)has published two volumes of Amudim…
A Printing Mistake and the Mysterious Origins of Rashbi’s Yahrzeit*
…Meron (1966). See also David Tamar, Eshkolet Tamar, pp. 116-120]. See also R. Shelomo Joseph Zevin, Moadim Bahalcha pp. 359-64; Shmuel Ashkenazi, Avnei Chain pp. 103-11. For more recent collections…
Kosher Tube: TV Series on the 13 Principles
…R. Yedidiah Solomon Norzi to establish a correct text? Does he not know that as we speak, the Yemenite text is not identical to the Ashkenazic and Sephardic texts? I…
The “Doctored” Medical Diploma of Samuel, the Son of Menasseh Ben Israel: Forgery or “For Jewry”?
…with Griffith’s analysis assume the answer to be a resounding yes, some even labelling it a “brazen” forgery.[33] There is no evidence of any suspicion of the document’s veracity during…
Saul Lieberman and his Ketubah, Driving on Shabbat, an Unusual Marriage Practice, Girls born on Friday, and More
…Isaac Raphael Ashkenazi (1826-1908), the rav of Ancona, writes that the practice of his city is to record the girls who are born on Friday, and he thinks this is…
Birds’ Heads, Romaine Lettuce, and the Art of Reading a Haggadah
…much scholarship. Medieval Jewish and Christian artists often employed similar pictorial conventions; when similarities are observed, scholars have typically identified the Christian source, labeled the Jewish version as dependent, and…
Rambam’s Response to the Inclusion of Chicken, Duck and Quail in Qaraite Cuisine
…careful to conceal his view: I conjectured further that Maimonides deliberately withheld the scriptural designation from certain commandments that had been labeled as scriptural in the ShM (=Sefer…
Hebrew Printing in Lissa (Leszno), A Brief (Perchance) Transitory Moment
…these works were most often read by the less educated and women. They were clearly meant for an Ashkenazi audience, for books in Vaybertaytsh were certainly not directed or intelligible…
Daily Birkat Cohanim in the Diaspora
…did it on Shabbatot and festivals, (R. Moshe HaCohen, Brit Kehunah, Orah Hayyim, pp.101-102, and note 30). Thus, there are several precedants for this practice. However, the Ashkenazi Rema, R….
‘Masa’ot Yerushalayim’ and the ‘Sabba Kaddisha’ R. Shlomo Eliezer Alfandari
…Munkacz; R. Chaim Elazar Shapira, who was largely responsible for bringing this sage to the attention of the greater public especially in Europe among the Ashkenazim. This also was used…
Halakhah and Haggadah – Manuscript Illustrations and their Halakhic and Customary Significance
…viewed here. In this post we will focus upon the some of the Halachik implications of these illustrations. In many Ashkenazic manuscripts, the Passover illustrations begin chronologically earlier than the…
The Haftarot in the1806 Lopez Calendar
…on it was the practice in Algiers, as well as the practice among most Ashkenazim, and in Italy and Yemen 4:1-23 Miketz I Kings 3:15-28 Found in some Ashkenazi Humashim…
Keter Shem Tov: A Study in the Entitling of Books, Here Limited to One Title Only
…the title comes from the author’s name, Shem Tov. A small portion of ibn Gaon’s Keter Shem Tov was printed previously (ff. 41b-44a), in R. Jehiel ben Israel Luria Ashkenazi’s…
Rabbi Yitzhak Hutner’s View of Torah Im Derekh Eretz and a Hidden Haskamah Rediscovered
Rabbi Yitzhak Hutner’s View of Torah Im Derekh Eretz and a Hidden Haskamah Rediscovered Shmuel Lesher Shmuel Lesher is the assistant rabbi of the BAYT (Toronto). He can be reached…
New Book Announcement: Some New Works by Professor Yaakov Shmuel Spiegel
New Book Announcement: Some New Works by Professor Yaakov Shmuel Spiegel By Eliezer Brodt עמודים בתולדות הספר העברי, הדר המחבר, 521 עמודים וישמע קולי, 385 עמודים I am very happy…