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New Journal Announcement: Mekhilta

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New Journal Announcement

By Eliezer Brodt

מכילתא, כתב עת לתורה ולחכמה, ר‘ יואל בינדר, עדיאל ברויאר, יעקב ישראל סטל ומשה דוד צ‘צ‘יק (עורכים), גליון א, כסלו תש“פ, 364 עמודים

A new Journal just came out tonight called Mekhilta. The volume begins with their mission statement and will be published biannually.

The first issue has an all-star lineup of writers on great topics. Some of the writers are Professor Simcha Emanuel & Rabbi Yakov Stahl (on the Minhag of saying Pitum Haketoros); I have written about both of them in the past (here and here).

Some less familiar names are Rabbi Leibish Weiss, (see here for an article of his on the blog) and Rabbi Moshe Hillel. Readers might be familiar with Hillel’s various recent works (printed in limited editions) on some forged works, including Megilat Kuzin and Agudat Shmuel (on the strange Hagahot found in many editions of Rashi on Nach) or his excellent work Ohel Ram on the Gerer Rebbe’s seforim library.

Another article is authored by Rabbi Adiel Breuer on the Hachi Garsinan Talmud site. Rabbi Adiel is well known for his expertise and writings dealing with Geonica and Rishonim.

Another article worth a shout out is from an old friend Rabbi Mordechai Honig. In this article, Honig reviews another friend’s recent incredible work, Rabbi Yakov Stahl’s NaHagu BiYisroel on various Minhaghim related to the Daled Minim. The book draws on an extremely wide range of sources including archeological material and includes one hundred and seventeen pictures. [Copies of this work are still available for purchase.]

The longest article in this volume (178 pp.) is from Rabbi Yosef Avivi and deals with the authorship and authenticity of the famous work Kol HaTor attributed to the Gra. Avivi is famous for numerous masterpieces. Worth mentioning is his most recent four-volume work on Rav Kook where he demonstrated a new way to read R’ Kook (showing him to be even greater than he was thought to be up until now) and his very special three volume work mapping out the Arizal’s Kabbalah.

A few years ago, I heard from some friends that Avivi had an unpublished work on the subject of the Kol HaTor and I hoped that it would see the light of day. This work is included in this new journal. Academics and scholars have been debating this book heavily over the years; just a few months ago Professor Emanuel Etkes authored a work on the subject. It’s written in Avivi’s unique style and will surely generate discussion and debates just as his other works have done. Its timing is perfect as yet again the academic world is busy with the Gra this year as it’s the three hundredth year from his birth. I am aware of three conventions dedicated to him so far.

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

Here is the Table of contents of the new journal.



Dr. Shlomo Sprecher ז”ל: In Memoriam

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Dr. Shlomo Sprecher ז”ל: In Memoriam
אין חכמת האדם מגעת אלא עד מקום שספריו מגיעין,
ולכן ימכור אדם כל מה שיש לו ויקנה ספרים, כי דרך
משל מי שאין לו ספרי התלמוד אי איפשר לו להיות
בקי בו, וכמו כן מי שאין לו ספרי הרפואה א”א להיות
בקי בה.
דרכי התלמוד לר’ יצחק קנפאנטון
A person’s wisdom reaches only as far as his library. Therefore, a person should sell everything he owns and
acquire books. For example, one who doesn’t own a set of the Talmud cannot possibly master its content. Similarly, one who doesn’t own the basic medical books cannot possibly be expert in the field of medicine.
          It is with deep sadness that the Seforim Blog joins the thousands who mourn the death of our dear contributor and supporter, Dr. Shlomo Sprecher ז”ל. A distinguished תלמיד חכם and radiologist, R. Shlomo was a world renowned collector of books, who mastered their content, and spent a lifetime sharing his books and his knowledge freely with others. Doubtless, רבי יצחק קנפאנטון had the likes of R. Shlomo in mind, in the passage cited above.
          R. Shlomo was a מרביץ תורה and a מרביץ חכמה to a degree rarely seen in modern times. Despite a professional medical career that in and of itself would have exhausted others, he somehow found time ללמוד וללמד. He learned Torah incessantly, gave public שיעורים on a regular basis, and managed to arrange for others, often younger scholars, to give שיעורים and lectures in his neighborhood. He served with distinction on the editorial boards of ישורון and Hakirah, where he contributed his own studies and, and no less significantly, recruited, indeed cajoled others to publish the results of their research.
          R. Shlomo’s literary legacy includes such gems as:
1.   Introduction and table of contents for the reissue of R. Meir Dan Plotzki’s שאלו שלום ירושלים (New York, 1991).
2.   מבחר כתבי מו”ה מרדכי גומפל שנאבר הלוי לעווינזאהן ז”ל (Brooklyn, 1995). The  English section includes a lengthy introductory essay (by R. Shlomo and Mati Sprecher) on the life and times of Mordechai Gumpel Schnaber – not surprisingly, an eighteenth century rabbinic scholar and physician.
3.   “בסתר בצל: קווים לדמותו הסמויה של הג”ר בצלאל בנו יחידו של המהר”ל מפראג זצ”ל” in
ישורון  2(1997), pp. 623-634.
4.   “הפולמוס על אמירת מכניסי רחמים” in ישורון 3(1997), pp. 706-729.
5.   “Mezizah be-Peh – Therapeutic Touch or Hippocratic Vestige?”
in Hakirah 3(2006), pp. 15-66.
6.   “A Gemeinde Gemeinheit,” (by R. Shlomo and Mati Sprecher), posted on the Seforim Blog, June 9, 2009. An earlier version appeared in a pamphlet distributed at the wedding of Uri and Rivi Sprecher on November 13, 2008.
    In common, all of R. Shlomo’s contributions are characterized by dazzling erudition, lucid presentation, and originality. They advanced discussion significantly. It will certainly be a measure of consolation – and an important contribution to Jewish scholarship – if the family will gather his published studies and publish them in a bound volume. 
Above and beyond R. Shlomo’s intellectual excellence was his excellence of character. Others, more talented than us, will have to write about it. For those of us who experienced it, no further descriptions are necessary. For those of us who never experienced it, we doubt that the breadth and depth of his excellence of character can be adequately described in mere words. R. Shlomo leaves a void that will not easily be filled.
חבל על דאבדין ולא משתכחין.
 Eliezer Katzman
 Shnayer Leiman