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Tag: Eliezer Brodt

Towards a Bibliography About Realia and Chumash, specifically relating to the Mishkan and Bigdei Kehunah

Towards a Bibliography About Realia and Chumash, specifically relating to the Mishkan and Bigdei Kehunah

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Learning Chumash and Nach is extremely important for many reasons. Over time it became a neglected subject (why is the subject of a different post IY”H) and in many circles is still true today. Sadly, many people remain with the images of the various stories from Tanach the way they heard it in their youth without a genuine understanding of the events. I strongly believe that learning Tanach properly (by both students in school and adults) could help with some…

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The Collected Writings of Moshe Reines Kickstarter

The Collected Writings of Moshe Reines Kickstarter

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Moshe Reines was a polymath: Talmudist, Hebraist, historian, investigative reporter, social commentator – a prolific and influential thinker, writer, and author. The son of Rabbi Yitzchok Yaakov Reines, Moshe Reines died tragically in 1891 at the astonishingly young age of twenty-one. The obituary which appeared in Hamagid had this to say about the young Reb Moshe z”l: “He excelled amazingly in his absolute mastery of Shas…” The volume (compiled and edited by Eliezer Brodt) awaiting printing is approximately seven-hundred pages….

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The Mysteries of Hoshana Rabbah

The Mysteries of Hoshana Rabbah

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This article originally appeared last year in Ami Magazine (2016) This version has a many updates and corrections. I hope to revisit this subject shortly. The sources of our Yomim Tovim are relatively easy to find, as one simply locates the relevant pesukim or Gemara and starts from there. However, one Yom Tov does not have such a starting point: Hoshana Rabbah. Its roots and numerous customs are shrouded in mystery. This article is an attempt to shed a bit…

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Some New books

Some New books

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This week is the Seventeenth World Congress of Jewish Studies at the Mount Scopus Campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Here is a link to all the lectures that are taking place. In honor of this Congress many academic publishers have released various titles in the past few weeks. There is also a small book fair at the congress where the books are being sold at reduced prices. Here is a list of some of the newer titles. For…

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On R’ Aron Zelig Halevi Epstein Ztz”l

On R’ Aron Zelig Halevi Epstein Ztz”l

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יג מנחם אב תשס”ט I and thousands of others suffered a great loss. Our great Rosh Yeshivah, R’ Aron Zelig Halevi Epstein of Yeshiva Shar Hatorah, was niftar. During the years 2004-2006, through the efforts of My dear friend Meir Kahn, I had the special Zechus to have many interesting conversations with the Rosh Yeshivah Ztz”l. The following is a selection of pieces from those conversations. This article originally appeared in the Hebrew Newspaper Mishpacha, in the Kulmos section for…

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New book announcement: Yeshurun volume 36

New book announcement: Yeshurun volume 36

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This past Wednesday the thirty sixth volume of the Torah journal Yeshurun was released. As I am on the editorial board of this journal, I normally do not write a review of new volumes for fear of being biased, or the appearance thereof. In keeping with my stance, I will not write a review below, but rather just highlight some of the topics in the volume. Normally, Yeshurun is a bi-annual, with a new volume published before Rosh Hashanah and…

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Book week & The International Book Fair 2017 Updated

Book week & The International Book Fair 2017 Updated

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Book week just began in Eretz Yisrael. As I have written the past ten years, every year in Israel, around Shavous time, there is a period of about ten days called Shavuah Hasefer – Book Week (for previous years lists see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here). Many of the companies offer sales for the whole month. Shavuah HaSefer is a sale which takes place all across the country in stores, malls and special places…

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Book week 2017

Book week 2017

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Book week just began in Eretz Yisrael. As I have written the past ten years, every year in Israel, around Shavous time, there is a period of about ten days called Shavuah Hasefer – Book Week (for previous years lists see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here). Many of the companies offer sales for the whole month. Shavuah HaSefer is a sale which takes place all across the country in stores, malls and special places…

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Some Highlights of the Mossad HaRav Kook Sale of 2017

Some Highlights of the Mossad HaRav Kook Sale of 2017

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For over thirty years, starting on Isru Chag of Pesach, Mossad HaRav Kook publishing house has made a big sale on all of their publications, dropping prices considerably (some books are marked as low as 65% off). Each year they print around twenty new titles. They also reprint some of their older, out of print titles. Some years important works are printed; others not as much. This year they have printed some valuable works, as they did last year. See…

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Afikoman – “Stealing“ and Other Related Minhagim

Afikoman – “Stealing“ and Other Related Minhagim

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One of the most exciting parts of Seder night for kids is the “stealing” of the afikoman. Children plan well in advance when the best time would be for them to steal it, where they will hide it, as well as what they should ask for in exchange for it. Not surprisingly, toy stores do incredibly good business both during Chol Hamoed and in the days following Pesach because of this minhag. In this article I would like to trace…

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New book announcement; He-Gedolim

New book announcement; He-Gedolim

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הגדולים: אישים שעיצבו את פני היהדות החרדית בישראל, בעריכת בנימין בראון, נסים ליאון, קובץ מאמרים לכבוד פרופ’ מנחם פרידמן ובהשראתו, מגנס מכון ון ליר, 968 עמודים The Gdoilim: Leaders Who Shaped the Israeli Haredi Jewry, Edited by Benjamin Brown, Nissim Leon, The Hebrew University Magnes Press, Van Leer Institute, 968 pages For the most part, academic books are not found or read in regular “layman” or Chareidi circles, nor are those types of books available at most “seforim stores.” From…

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Some New Seforim, Books, R’ Eleazar Fleckeles, R’ Naftali Herz Weisel, Frankism and (of course) Censorship, Pt. I

Some New Seforim, Books, R’ Eleazar Fleckeles, R’ Naftali Herz Weisel, Frankism and (of course) Censorship, Pt. I

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It’s been awhile since I posted a list of new seforim. I hope to post an updated list of a few hundred titles within the next few weeks. In this post I want to focus on a few new titles that, aside for being new, all have a connection to one topic. This is also an update to some earlier posts relating to this topic. As a bochur about twenty years ago, I came across a small sefer called Olas…

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