The Seforim Blog

Maimonides on Free Will, Divine Omniscience and Repentance Ben Zion Katz The problem of reconciling the notions of man’s free will and Divine omniscience is an ancient one. As early as Mishna Avot 3:15 Rabbi Akiva states that “everything is known [by God] but permission (i.e. free will) is given [to people]”. Maimonides begins to tackle this question in his Laws of Repentance (הלכות תשובה) from Book One (The Book of Science סּפּר המדע) of the Mishnah Torah. In chapter…

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The Missing Nun Verse in Ashrei[1] Ben Zion Katz Northwestern University There are several alphabetic acrostics in the book of Psalms. These acrostics are found in Psalms 25, 34, 37, 111, 112, 119 and 145. Only three of these are complete acrostics – i.e., acrostics in which every letter of the alphabet is represented. Psalms 111 and 112 begin each half verse with the succeeding letter of the Hebrew alphabet following the psalm’s first word (Halleluyah). Psalm 119 is an…

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Shnei Zeitim: Two Olive Branches Piyut by Solomon Ibn Gabirol Translated & Annotated by Ben Zion Katz[1] Two[2] olive branches[3] cut down in the garden[4] will again produce fresh, pure olive oil[5], For the leaders of the Kohatites[6] and the Ephratites[7] will be crowned as one[8]. They will shine[9] like candles on the holy Menorah[10]- There in the camp opposite the menorah, they shined![11] The son of Ephrat[12] whose ornament[13] was cut off and then dried up[14] Has now become…

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The Breadth of Rabbinic Opinion Regarding Mosaic Authorship of the Torah in the Middle Ages By Ben Zion Katz, MD Arguably, Orthodox theology today is much narrower than what was acceptable in the Middle Ages.  For example, ArtScroll is editing Rashbam’s (Rabbi Samuel ben Meir, ca 1080 -1174) more radical comments out of their new edition of the Rabbinic Bible (Mikraot Gedolot).[1]   In this paper, I will discuss a dramatic example of Biblical exegesis, which could even be considered…

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Don’t Oppress the Ger Ben Zion Katz The Torah in Motion blog by Rabbi Jay Kelman[1] discusses the daily daf as well as the parashah of the week. When reviewing Baba Metzia 59, Rabbi Kelman mentioned that the Talmud stated that there were 36 or 46 places where the Torah commands not to oppress the stranger/convert[2] (ger), but that he was not aware of any list of the verses in question.  This paper is an attempt to generate such a…

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