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Satmar From As Seen By An Insider: A Review of the New English Biography of Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum, the Satmar Rebbe

Satmar From As Seen By An Insider: A Review of the New English Biography of Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum, the Satmar Rebbe

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I recently bought the new biography of the Satmar Rebbe, called “The Rebbe. The Extraordinary Life & Worldview of Rabbeinu Yoel Teitelbaum. The Satmar Rebbe זי”ע”, by Rabbi Dovid Meisels (Canada 2011, distributed by Israel Book Shop). Rabbi Meisels is related to Rabbi Teitelbaum, and a staunch Satmar chossid, so you can be sure that the views espoused in the book are Satmar’s true opinions. I also recently bought Solomon Poll’s classic study if chassidim in Williamsburg in the 1950’s,…

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A review of some Recent Torah Journals

A review of some Recent Torah Journals

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In this post I would like to focus on some recent Torah Journals that have come out in the past few weeks. In the future I hope to return to this topic of these Journals with a more in-depth look at their goals and the history of early Journals in general in relationship to this. As many of these journals have only been distributed this week I am just offering some quick remarks on them. In general different people like…

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Review of Shaul Stampfer, Families, Rabbis & Education

Review of Shaul Stampfer, Families, Rabbis & Education

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The continuation of my last post will be ready soon, but in the meantime I am posting my short review of Shaul Stampfer’s new book. It appeared on the H-Judaic listserv, but since most readers of Seforim Blog probably did not see it, I am posting it here as well. For many years, Shaul Stampfer has been recognized as an authority in all things dealing with nineteenth-century Jewish Eastern Europe. In his newest book, we have a collection of numerous…

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R. Chaim Vital and his Unknown Work Sefer ha-Pe'ulot

R. Chaim Vital and his Unknown Work Sefer ha-Pe'ulot

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ספר הפעולות רבי חיים ויטאל, תש”ע, תלט עמודים כולל מבוא ומפתחותA few years back, in a post at the Seforim blog discussing the history of plant known as baladur, I mentioned a sefer, Refuah Ma’asiyot le-Rav Chaim Vital. At the time, I only briefly touched upon this work. What follows is a more detailed discussion of the recently published edition as well as the history and substance of the work. The author is R. Chaim Vital, the most famous student…

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Chaim Rapoport Review

Chaim Rapoport Review

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who is a frequent contributor to the Seforim blog (see here for his earlier essays at the Seforim blog). We believe that Chaim Rapoport, “The Afterlife of Scholarship: A Critical Exploration of Samuel Heilman and Menachem Friedman’s Presentation of the Rebbe’s Life,” the Seforim blog (14 June 2010), available here (http://seforimblog.com/2010/06/chaim-rapoport-review.html) greatly contributes to the growing study of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement during the latter half of the twentieth century. The Afterlife of Scholarship: A Critical Exploration of Samuel Heilman and…

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Shavuah HaSefer: A Recommended Reading List III

Shavuah HaSefer: A Recommended Reading List III

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Book week just began in Eretz Yisroel. As I wrote in previous years, in Israel, around Shavous time (some times right before some times right after), there is a period of about ten days called Shavuah Hasefer-book week. Shavuah HaSefer is a sale which takes place all across the country in stores, malls and special venues rented out for the sale. There are places where strictly “frum” seforim are sold and other places have most of the secular publishing houses….

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Censorship: The Autobiography of R. Eliyahu David Rabinowitz, ADeReT

Censorship: The Autobiography of R. Eliyahu David Rabinowitz, ADeReT

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There are a handful of rabbinic autobiographies, R. Yehuda Areyeh of Modena, Hayyei Yehudah, R. Yaakov Emden, Megillat Sefer, and a few others. One of the more recent rabbinic autobiographies is that of R. Eliyahu David Rabinowitz, otherwise known as Aderet. This work, was first published in the journal, Ha-Peles edited by Aderet’s nephew, Eliyahu Akiva Rabinowitz. Only a portion of the autobiography appears in Ha-Peles. However, the editor did give us the title of this work for posterity. Although…

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Review: Bekurim with the Gra’s Commentary

Review: Bekurim with the Gra’s Commentary

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One of the most famous gedolim who lived in the past few hundred years was R. Eliyahu of Vilna, the Vilna goan, or Gra. Gra was known for his expertise in all areas of Torah literature including all of Tanach, Bavli, Yerushlami and the rest of Chazal. Additionally, he was an expert in dikduk, Kabbalah and Halacha. Gra did not print anything in his lifetime; however, shortly after his death, his works began to be printed and have been and…

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Sefer HaNer on Mesechet Bava Kamma

Sefer HaNer on Mesechet Bava Kamma

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Not every important work written by a Rishon is blessed with popularity. While many texts were available throughout the generations and utilized to their utmost; others were relegated to obscurity, being published as recently as this century, or even this year. Nearly a month doesn’t pass without a “new” Rishon being made available to the public, and often enough in a critical edition. While each work must be evaluated on its own merit, as a whole, every commentary, every volume…

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Marc B. Shapiro – Review: Orthodox Jews in America

Marc B. Shapiro – Review: Orthodox Jews in America

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This is the first part of a four part post. It begins with a review I was asked to write that in the end was never published. The format of the review was not designed for the arcane stuff and numerous footnotes that are usual fare for the Seforim blog. Yet have no fear, these will return in parts 2-4. Jeffrey S. Gurock, Orthodox Jews in America (Indiana University Press: Bloomington and Indianapolis, 2009) Pretty much everyone has seen an…

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Review: Minhagei Lita

Review: Minhagei Lita

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Minhagei Lita, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Poliakoff, Baltimore: 2008, 116 pp. The author’s stated purpose is to “clarify for present generation the authentic customs of Lithuanian Jewry in prayer and in common Jewish practice” and highlight the Torah true approach and values that form the underpinnings” of those customs. Minhagei Lita at 3. Aside from the difficulty in determining what the author means by “common Jewish practice,” “Torah true approach” this book, unfortunately, has little value. This book, which is really…

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Shemot Hakhamim & Its Ommissions

Shemot Hakhamim & Its Ommissions

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על ספר שמות חכמים, קיצור תולדות רבותינו הראשונים, אברהם מאיר וייס, בני ברק, תשס”ט מאת עקביא שמש Abstract: A new book, a history of Rabbis and their books from the Geonic and Rishonim periods, Shemot Hakhamim, Kitzur Toldot Rabotenu ha-Rishonim, while attempting to be comprehensive falls short on that account. In particular, the failure of the author to use “academic” works diminishes the value of this book. While A. Shamesh is willing to cede that attempting to read the entire…

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