Review: ספר קושיות (Rabbi Yaakov Stal) By Rabbi Eliezer Brodt Recently a new sefer hit the stores called ספר קושיות. The publisher, Rabbi Yaakov Stal, is well known, having already established his name with his editions of two seforim by ר’ יהודה החסיד one called ספר גימטריאות and another called אמרות טהורות חיצוניות ופנימיות. Like his previous works, once again he has done a great job. I would like to discuss his latest book a bit. While Rabbi Stal was…
A Look at Makhon Moreshet Ashkenaz’s New Journal: YerushateinuBy Eliezer Brodt There is a new journal published by מכון מורשת אשכנז titled ירושתנו. This מכון is well known for producing some excellent works, amongst them זכרונות ומסורות על החת”ם סופר and the four volumes ofשרשי מנהג אשכנז . This journal they promise to put out once a year but only time will tell, as anyone familiar with this מכון knows; they do great work but it takes forever for the…
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 they come into a book with all sorts of preconceived notions. This was typified by Hillel Halkin’s review of Horowitz’s book. In the June 2006 issue of Commentary Magazine, Halkin reviewed Horowitz’s book. I did not bother to mention this, solely because it was painfully obvious Halkin did not read…
In the Jewish liturgy there is a fundamental question dealing with the composition of the Hebrew found therein. There are two major types of Hebrew – Rabbinic and Biblical. The question becomes which should one be using when praying. This at first blush may appear to be of minor significance, however, most controversies regarding various words throughout the prayer book can be traced to this one point. This issue of which Hebrew to follow was brought to head in the…
What follows is a list of new seforim I have recently purchased; for prior lists see the “New Books Lists” on the sidebar. 1. Indices To The Emden-Eybeschuetz Controversy Literature by Gershom G. Scholem. As the title implies, this is an index, divided by person, book, and geographic place. Additional, many of the abbreviations used (R. Emden constantly uses abbreviations, many obscure) are explained. This index was culled from Scholem’s index cards where he kept these records. The editors have…
The post below is a continuation from this prior post. America posed some unique questions regarding marriage and divorce laws. In the early period of American Jewish history, many people were not erudite. In an apparent effort to help with this deficiency, in 1901, R. Dov Baer Abramowitz published his Sefer Ketubah. This book contains tear out, pro forma ketubot. Thus, the Rabbi could just rip one out whenever he needed to. (No. 588). Another work which dealt with marriage…
