Book Announcement: New Work on the Kabbalah of the Ramban
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Book Announcement: New Work on the Kabbalah of the Ramban
By Eliezer Brodt
פירושי וחיבורי תלמידי הרשב“א על קבלת הרמב“ן, תש“ט עמודים, מוסד הרב קוק
One of the most important classical commentaries on the Torah is that of R. Moses Nachmanides, Ramban (See here). In addition to his more straightforward comments, the commentary contains significant kabbalisitic ones as well. Usually, these will be introduced by ועל דרך האמת. Many skip these parts when learning the work. Almost immediately after the composition of the commentary, students of kabbalah, most notably those of the school of the Rashba, devoted entire works to explain those sections of the Ramban. A new volume collects all of these works. This volume, edited by Joshua Sternbuch, Rabbi Dovid Kamenetsky and others, are republished from manuscripts with notes, in one beautifully printed volume, by Mossad Ha-Rav Kook. (Previously most of these works were printed in various places, but not easy to find or use).
The volume includes a very useful introduction about the works in the volume (A PDF of it is available upon request) and includes numerous indexes.
Here is the Table of Contents:
New Sefer Announcement – פירוש התורה לרבינו אברהם בן הרמב”ם, ספר שמות
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New Sefer Announcement
By: Eliezer Brodt
פירוש התורה לרבינו אברהם בן הרמב“ם, ספר בראשת, תרעח עמודים
פירוש התורה לרבינו אברהם בן הרמב“ם, ספר שמות, תתלב עמודים
מאמר על הדרשות ועל האגדות לרבינו אברהם בן הרמב“ם, מעיתיק השמועה, [בירורים בתולדות חכמי התלמוד] צז+צ עמודים
Recently the second volume of R. Avraham b. HaRambam’s perush on Chumash Shemot was released (832 pp.). This new edition was edited by Rabbi Moshe Maimon and was published in a beautiful edition by Machon Aleh Zayis.
Last Year Rabbi Maimon published the first volume (678 pp.) and the volume on R. Avraham’s Ma’amar Al Ha-Derashot.
What follows is a short description of the work. IY”H I hope to very shortly publish on the Seforim Blog an interview with the author where he describes more at length his work on R. Avraham b. HaRambam and his new edition of the Perush.
The Perush of R. Avraham b. HaRambam was first rescued from centuries of obscurity in 1958, when Dr. Ephraim Weisenberg of London translated into Hebrew the centuries-old manuscript owned by Oxford University, from its original Arabic. Weisenberg’s edition included the original Arabic along with a translation and commentary, accompanied with footnotes incorporating comments of other biblical commentators as well as works of the Rambam.
It has never been reprinted in full, and although the translated (but un-annotated) text has in fact been reprinted and marketed several times, these editions are also out of print and have long been unavailable to the public.
Among the highlights of this new edition of R. Maimon is that he has retranslated many hundreds of difficult words and passages from the original Arabic, utilizing advances made in the field by leading Judeo-Arabic experts.
In addition, since the initial publication of the commentary, amazing strides have been made in Genizah research which have transformed the field of Judeo-Arabic studies in general, and the Geonic-Andalusian tradition in particular. Many of the sources employed by R. Avraham in his writing of the commentary are now being made available in the form of critical editions of the works of R. Saadia and R. Shmuel b. Chofni Gaon. The result has been the identification of many obscure sources referenced by R. Avraham, as well as the clarification of untold number of passages in his commentary.
Both volumes are enhanced with essay length introductions (and copious and erudite footnotes) that trace the history of R. Avraham’s Perush, his commentarial style, and his particular contribution to the Maimonidean strain of the Andalusian tradition so prominently on display in his Perush. This new edition is a welcome addition to any serious student of Biblical commentary, and, together with the annotated edition of R. Avraham’s Ma’amar Al Ha-Derashot (Essay on Rabbinic Homilies) released by Rabbi Maimon last year, are a great contribution to Rabbinic studies in general and Maimonidean studies in particular.
Email me at Eliezerbrodt@gmail.com for parts of the introduction and some sample pages of this special new work.
Copies are available for purchase at Beigeleisen (Brooklyn), Judaica Plaza (Lakewood), and Tuvia’s (Monsey) as well as through many other fine retailers.
On can purchase it online through Mizrahi’s Bookstore at this link.
In Eretz Yisrael, if you’re interested in purchasing copies contact me at Eliezerbrodt@gmail.com
New volume of Mekhilta Journal Announcement
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New volume of Mekhilta Journal Announcement
By Eliezer Brodt
מכילתא, כתב עת לתורה ולחכמה, ר‘ עדיאל ברויאר, יעקב ישראל סטל ומשה דוד צ‘צ‘יק (עורכים), גליון ב, כסלו תשפ“א, 323 עמודים
Volume two of the new Journal Mekhilta just came out. Similar to the first issue it has an all-star lineup of writers on great topics.
Copies of this volume are available for purchase through me (while the limited edition lasts) and will help support the efforts of the Seforim Blog. Contact me at Eliezerbrodt@gmail.com
For sample pages contact me at the above email.
Copies of the first issue are still available.
Here is the Table of contents of the new volume.
Is there a rotten apple in the Tu-BeShevat Fruit Basket?
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Is there a rotten apple in the Tu-BeShevat Fruit Basket?
By Dan Rabinowitz and Eliezer Brodt
[This post is heavily updated from an earlier Seforim Blog post – here]
Some claim that the origins of the custom to celebrate Tu-beShevat as a holiday that includes eating fruits and other rituals, is Sabbatean. In the main, this assertion is based upon identifying the work Hemdat Yamim as the source for Tu-beShevat as a holiday and eating fruit and other rituals. Thus, an article in Ha’aretz trumpets, “The New Year for the Trees, Isn’t it for Sabbatai Zvi.” And the National Library of Israel’s blog includes a post “The Holiday of Tu-beShevat is an Auspicious Time to Pray for the Only (?!) Jewish False Messiah.” They even include this photoshopped image.
However, a closer look at the history reveals, that although some of the customs on Tu-beShevat can be traced to Hemdat Yamim the actual celebration dates much earlier. Contrary to the popular song, Tu-beShevat hegihu hag ha-ilannot, the 15th of Shevat was not a “chag” of the trees. Instead, the earliest discussions regarding Tu-beShevat do not mention any holiday associated with the day. The first Mishna in Rosh Hashana, identifies the 15th of Shevat as the new year for trees. This designation merely defines how to calculate annualized tithes and is otherwise silent as to the significance of the date. One can’t tithe fruits from one year using a different year’s fruits. Thus the 15th of Shevat is the cut-off point. [For other contemporaneous examples see Safrai, Mishnat Erets Yisrael, Mesekhet Rosh HaShana (Jerusalem: Mehlelet Lifshitz, 2011), 305-06]. It was not until R. Gershom’s time that there were any of the traditional holiday markers, but only that fasting is prohibited.
The first mention of the custom to eat fruit and other holiday rituals appears in 16th century Machzor, published between 1548 and 1550.
That Machzor follows the Ashkenazi rite and includes a discussion of customs according to that rite and the commentary of R. Benyamin ha-Levi Ashkenazi, Ma’aglei Tzedek. He was the rabbi of the Ashkenazi community in Saloniki (of contemporary interest is that he records the death of four of his sons during a plague). This source, however, was not well-known, and, historically, a different, later, source is identified. For example, Avraham Ya’ari in his otherwise comprehensive article claims that R. Issachar ibn Susan (c. 1510-1580) is the first mention. Susan, in his Ibur Shanim, published in 1578, provides that “the Ashkenazim have the custom [on Tu-beShevat] to eat many fruits in honor of the day,” confirming the custom recorded in the Machzor. 1578 was the first authorized printing of R. Susan’s work but not the first time this custom is associated with him. In 1564, Shlomo Rie published Susan’s Tikkun Yissachar. (Ibur Shanim 48b and Tikkun Yissachar 62a). Susan, in Ibur Shanim, accuses Rie of publishing an unauthorized edition, one that contains errors and unacknowledged additions by Rie. Ibur Shanim includes a corrected and otherwise only slightly modified version of Tikkun Yissachar. [See Susan’s introduction; see also Yaakov Shmuel Spiegal, Amudim be-Tolodot Sefer ha-Ivri: Hadar Mechaber (Jerusalem, 2018), 321-22.]
Mention of this custom also appeared in a Judeo-German Minhagim book first published in 1590. “The custom is to eat many fruits as it is the New Year of the trees.”
Venice, 1593 edition
In the community of Worms, there was a rather interesting variation of the custom. As R. Jousep Schammes (1604-1678) in his custom-book states:
On Purim and the 15 of Av and Shevat these were vacation days for the Rabbis, . . . [on the 15th of Shevat] one says tehina even during the morning prayer. It is a vacation day for the students and the teachers, especially the younger students, it is a day of feasting and joy for or the teachers and their students. The custom is for the teachers to distribute whiskey to the students and make merry with them.” Minhagei [de-Kehilah Kedosha] Vermisai le-Rebi Joszpa Shamesh (Jerusalem: Machon Yerushalim, 1988), 249-50, no. 211.
The first mention of Tu-beShevat in a Sefardic source appears in R. Hayyim Benveniste’s (1603-1673) Kenneset ha-Gedolah, first published in Livorno in 1658, where he quotes Susan from the Tikkun Yissachar. Although Benveniste would later be associated with the Sabbatian movement, his inclusion of this custom in 1658, long pre-dates the movement. Benveniste’s source does not include a seder, nor does it testify to any adoption amongst Sefardim.
Kabbalah first enters the picture in 1728 with a somewhat obscure source. In 1728, Eliyahu Malhlenov published, Birkat Eliyahu, his commentary on the Talmud. Amongst his papers,, he had a few pages of materials from R. Moshe Hagiz and appended those to Birkat Eliyahu. These materials include responsa and discussions regarding customs. Hagiz records a custom from his grandfather, R. Moshe Galante. R. Galante was also Hagiz’s teacher as his father died when Hagiz was a boy. According to Hagiz, his grandfather had “the custom that on the 15th of Shevat he would eat many fruits that required many blessings and prayed to God that he should decree for us and them a good year. He ate the following 15 fruits, and on each one would recite … a chapter of Mishna…” Hagiz then provides the order to eat the fruits.
Hagiz might technically be the first to describe a specific ceremony associated with eating fruits, but the source that popularized Tu-beShevat amongst Sefardim, and that incorporated a seder is Hemdat Yamim. Hemdat Yamim, first published in 1732 anonymously has the entire seder for Tu-beShevat. This includes passages from the Bible as well as specific foods. This in turn was popularized to a greater degree when it was included in the book Pri Etz Hadar first published in 1753 and republished an additional 29 times by 1959, and now digitized on Sefaria.
The author of Hemdat Yamim concedes that this is not a custom that originated with the Ari or his students. Nonetheless, the author provides his own kabbalistic ideas and wrote his own kabbalistic prayers for the occasion, and a specific order to the ceremony. According to many scholars, Hemdat Yamim is not reflective of the kabbalah of the Ari but that of Sabbatai Tzvi and his disciples. Indeed, Boaz Huss has identified specific prayers in the Hemdat Yamim Tu-beShevat liturgy that allude to Sabbatai Tzvi. Whether or not this assertion is correct, because we can trace this custom, that of eating fruits, to over 100 years prior to the Sabbatian movement as already a pre-existing custom, it is likely unrelated to Sabbatian theology or custom.
Plagiarism
Avraham Ya’ari, the noted bibliographer, wrote a comprehensive article tracing the history of Tu-beShevat. That article appeared in Machanim and is available at Daat. This article, at times entire paragraphs, are reprinted verbatim, without any attribution, in a recent book ostensibly authored by Tuvia Freund, Moadim le-Simchah. Published in six volumes between 1998-2010, this work is replete with such examples of plagiarism. Here, however, Freund did something arguably even more egregious. In the pages of materials he steals, Freund cites Yaari and his article by name. Not for the fact that all the above material comes from there but a small tangential item, the number of times a book was printed. Indeed, Freund is so unwilling to give Yaari any credit in a paragraph lifted word for word from Yaari, the work Hemdet Yamim is discussed. Freund provides in a footnote, “see the long discussion regarding this work in Sefer Talmumot Sefer page 134 and on.” Freund doesn’t reveal the author of Talmumot Sefer, who is none other than Yaari. Freund doubly removed Yaari from the picture.
Magen Avraham
The Magen Avraham cites the Tikkun Yissachar as the earliest source for the custom to eat fruits on the 15th of Shevat. This, despite the fact that he had accessed, and indeed quotes on many occasions, the Machzor with the Maageli Tzedek commentary. See, e.g.,
While he had access to the Machzor, he did not have access to the Tikkun Yissachar. The Magen Avraham quotes the Tikkun Yissachar on a few occasions, but always via a secondary source. See Brodt Halachic Commentaries to the Shulchan Aruch on Orach Chayim from Ashkenaz and Poland in the Seventeenth Century (PHD Bar Ilan 2015), pp. 68-69. The Mekor Chaim in O.C. 686:1 is the first to point to the Machzor for this minhag.
The halachot in the Machzor were collected by Yitzhak Hershkowitz ed., Maglei Tzedek (Jerusalem, 2000), pp. 156-157. Regarding R. Benyamin see Y.S. Emmanuel, Matsavos Saloniki, vol. 1 (Jerusalem, 1973), 36, 68-69; Meir Benayahu, “Rebi Shmuel Yaffa Ashkenazi,” in Tarbiz, 42 (1973), 423-24 and note 37; M.S. Molcho, Matsevot Bet ha-Olamin she Yehudi Saloniki (Tel Aviv, 1975), 59-60; Yitzhak Rivkin, “Dikdukei Soferim,” in Kiryat Sefer 4 (1927), 278 no. 32; Daniel Goldschmidt, Mehkerei Tefillah u-Piyyut, 252-65, Meir Benayahu, Defus ha-Ivri be-Kremonah (Jerusalem, 1971), 141-78. About Knesset Hagedolah and being a Sabbatean see Brodt, Halachic Commentaries to the Shulchan Aruch on Orach Chayim from Ashkenaz and Poland in the Seventeenth Century, pp. 56; Brodt, Yeshurun 35 ( 2016 )p. 775; See also the recent work, R. Shmuel Ashkenazi, Igrot Shmuel (2021)-, 1, pp. 4-5.
R. Shmuel Ashkenazi
As the Seforim Blog just published Iggrot Shmuel from R. Shmuel Ashkenazi (see here and here) we reprint two letters from his collection, one discussing the origins of the holiday of the 15th of Shevat and the other Hemdat Yamim.
Notes:
Additional sources discussing the 15th of Shevat, see Meir Rafeld, Netivi Meir, (2013), 185-189; R Mandelbaum, Tehilah Ledovid (Jerusalem, 1993); Guttman, Otzar TuBeshvat.
Tikkun Yissachar was republished in 1988 with an excellent introduction from R. Betzalel Landau. Most recently, in 2019, it was reprinted and re-typeset, with additional notes. This edition also includes R Landau’s introduction and another introduction of material about the work. See also Elisheva Carlebach, Palaces of Time: Jewish Calendar and Culture in Early Modern Europe (London: Belknap, 2011), 51-58; יוסף הקר, ‘יששכר אבן סוסאן עליית כוהנים לתורה בשמחת חתנים’, בתוך: ‘מנחה למנחם’, קובץ מאמרים לכבוד ר’ מנחם כהן, בעריכת חנה עמית, אביעד כהן וחיים באר, ירושלים תשס”ח, עמ’ 79-97
Regarding Hagiz, see Elisheva Carlebach, The Pursuit of Heresy (New York: Columbia University Press, 1990).
After the Birkat Eliyahu was published it was attacked by some rabbis. See Meir Benayahu, “Sefarim she-Hiburum R. Moshe Hagiz she-Hotsyim le-Or,” in Ali Sefer 4 (1977), 143, 150-52; see also Shlomo Yaakovovitch, “Sefer Shehitot u-Bedikot le-R’ Yaakov Weil,” in Tsefunot 4 (1989), 112; Carlebach, Pursuit of Heresy, 247-49. Regarding R. Eliyahu see Y. Halpern, Pinkas Vaad Arba Arotsot (Jerusalem, 1990) 362; Tzvi Horowitz, Le-Tolodot ha-Kehilot be-Polin (Jerusalem, 1989), 1.
The literature on Hemdat Yamim is substantial and we hope to return to the work in an upcoming post. For the most recent discussion see Y. Goldhaber, “Le-Birur Zehuto shel Mehaber Hemdat Yamim,” in Sefer Zikhoron le-Professor Meir Benayahu, vol. 2 (Jerusalem: Karmel, 2019), 873-908.
Huss’s article appears as Boaz Huss, “Ha-Ets ha-Nehmad ben Yishi Hayi al ha-Adama: al Mekoro ha-Sabbatai shel Seder 15 Shevat,” in Sefer Zikhoron le-Professor Meir Benayahu, vol. 2 (Jerusalem: Karmel, 2019), 909-20.
Igrot Shmuel: Possible Second printing sign up
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Update about Igrot Shmuel: PossibleSecond printing sign up
By Eliezer Brodt
Less than two weeks ago I announced the publication of R’ Shmuel Ashkenazi’s monumental collection of letters, Igrot Shmuel (see here). I would like to follow up with a small update about the project.
After a long wait of about 12 years, we were privileged to bring to print approximately one thousand letters of R’ Shmuel Ashkenazi, in 3 volumes, 1800 pages titled, Igrot Shmuel.
A mere four to five days after its release to our great surprise and joy (simultaneously), the complete run sold out. The seforim were not sold in any stores nor were they advertised in many places, but people still heard about them.
We have still been receiving many requests to purchase the seforim but we do not have copies. Even though this was not our original intention we are considering a second printing of another few hundred copies for the same price as the first printing.
However, to see if there is a serious interest in an additional printing, we started a list of people who are interested. If we see in the next few days enough people sign up then we will reprint the letters. The deadline is this coming Tuesday (January 26).
Whoever signs up will then pay upfront half the cost of the books immediately before we know that the seforim are actually going into a second printing. The rest will be paid after the seforim are released. This will finance the printing.
The actual printing will happen very quickly and it just depends on the amount of people who sign up.
To sign up for the second printing send me an email at eliezerbrodt@gmail.com
Book Announcement-Sale: Iggrot Shmuel, by Rabbi Shmuel Ashkenazi
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Book Announcement-Sale: Iggrot Shmuel, by Rabbi Shmuel Ashkenazi
By Eliezer Brodt
אוצר כתבי ר‘ שמואל אשכנזי, אגרות שמואל, אלף חסר תליסר מכתבי תורה וחכמה, א, תש“ב–תשל“ה; ב, תשל“ו– תשנ“ה; ג, תשנ“ו–תשס“ט, 1781 עמודים, הובא לדפוס בתוספות מפתחות מפורטים על ידי ר‘ יעקב ישראל סטל
A few months ago, right after Rabbi Shmuel Ashkenazi was niftar I, along with my friend Menachem Butler, initiated a campaign to raise funds to publish R. Ashkenazi’s letters. Baruch HaShem, and thanks to the help of some readers, enough money was raised to go to print and late last Wednesday night the copies of the book, coming in at over 1,700 pages, arrived.
Previously, I provided the following description of R. Ashkenazi’s letters:
The collection is comprised of almost one thousand letters from R. Ashkenazi to correspondents all over the world. Beginning in 1942 and continues until his death. The letters cover a wide-range of topics, from tracing Hebrew expressions to their sources, providing hereto unknown citations for hundreds of Rabbinic statements, exploring the history and language of piyuttim, discussion of minhagim, tracing the evolution of well-known Jewish stories and legends, bibliography, and the list goes on.
It’s a work that anyone interested in the Jewish Book will find many things to enjoy. The work is not a light read but contains so much valuable information on a wide range of topics.
Just to quote one testimony regarding R. Ashkenazi’s letter, from Professor Shnayer Leiman, (for others, collected by Menachem Butler, see here).
Professor Shnayer Leiman wrote:
Reb Shmuel was “bibliographer, bibliophile, and book collector, and his encyclopedic knowledge of all of Hebrew and Yiddish literature remains unparalleled in our time.” His collected writings are an intellectual treasure trove, “covering a wide range of topics in the field of Jewish Studies. Aside from his scholarly distinction, R. Shmuel Ashkenazi wrote in an elegant Hebrew with its own special charm. Not only did he advance discussion, but he did so in an aesthetically pleasing manner. For those of us who knew him personally, he evinced the same charm in his personal relationships that he did in his writings… Let it be said openly: this three-volume set will enlighten every reader and will significantly advance scholarship. Anyone concerned with advancing the cause of quality Jewish scholarship will take special delight in the publication of these volumes.”
During his lifetime [Ashkenazi] corresponded with the greatest Jewish scholars and bibliographers the world over. They wrote to him, for only he could solve the countless historical and literary problems that stumped them. Suffice to list among those who consulted him: Gershom Scholem (distinguished Jewish historian); S.Y. Agnon (Nobel Prize laureate); Judah Leib Maimon Fishman (Minister of Religions, Israel); and a stellar list of prominent Jewish historians, rabbinic scholars, and bibliographers, much too long to list here (e.g., Simha Assaf; Israel Ta-Shma; Meir Benayahu; A.M. Habermann; Avraham Yaari; and Naftali Ben Menahem).
The letters have been printed in a three-volume set, 1781 pp. including an excellent index of eighty-seven pages.
There are less than two hundred copies for sale. It will not be going into a second printing.
