Browsed by
Tag: Marc B. Shapiro

Thoughts on Confrontation & Sundry Matters Part I

Thoughts on Confrontation & Sundry Matters Part I

Comments 21 comments

Thoughts on “Confrontation” and Sundry Matters, Part I By: Marc B. Shapiro Rabbi Meir Soloveichik’s year-old essay, “No Friend in Jesus,”[1] caused me to once again think about the Rav’s essay “Confrontation,” (available here) and how it should be understood. Before getting to that, let me note, for those who don’t know, that Soloveichik is emerging as one of the most interesting, if controversial writers, on interfaith matters. I don’t know if he picks the titles of his articles, but…

Read More Read More

Marc B. Shapiro – Responses to Comments and Elaborations of Previous Posts III

Marc B. Shapiro – Responses to Comments and Elaborations of Previous Posts III

Comments 40 comments

Responses to Comments and Elaborations of Previous Posts III by Marc B. Shapiro This post is dedicated to the memory of Rabbi Chaim Flom, late rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Ohr David in Jerusalem. I first met Rabbi Flom thirty years ago when he became my teacher at the Hebrew Youth Academy of Essex County (now known as the Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy; unfortunately, another one of my teachers from those years also passed away much too young, Rabbi Yaakov Appel)….

Read More Read More

Marc B. Shapiro: A Tale of Two Lost Archives

Marc B. Shapiro: A Tale of Two Lost Archives

Comments 5 comments

A Tale of Two Lost Archives by Marc B. Shapiro I have spent much of my professional life rummaging through collections of documents, mostly in well-kept archives, but sometimes also in hard-to-reach places in basements and attics. Fortunately, I have made some great discoveries in these places, but I will now tell you a story that doesn’t have a happy ending. It begins around fifteen years ago, when I was researching the life of R. Jehiel Jacob Weinberg. With the…

Read More Read More

Forgetfulness & Other Human Errors a New Monography by Marc Shapr

Forgetfulness & Other Human Errors a New Monography by Marc Shapr

Comments 156 comments

As a religion based on tradition, Judaism places great stock in the words and opinions of its early Sages. This is so to the extent that there is great debate as to whether it is even possible that these early authorities could err. In fact, throughout Jewish literature one can find many areas where people argue for deference based on seniority. For instance, there is an extensive debate on the binding authority, and to what extent, with regard to the…

Read More Read More

Marc B. Shapiro – Responses to Comments and Elaborations on Previous Posts II

Marc B. Shapiro – Responses to Comments and Elaborations on Previous Posts II

Comments 3 comments

Responses to Comments and Elaborations of Previous Posts II by Marc B. Shapiro In a previous post I wrote as follows: In Kitvei Ramban, vol. 1, p. 413, Chavel prints the introduction to Milhamot ha-Shem. The Ramban writes: וקנאתי לרבנו הגדול רבי יצחק אלפאסי זכרונו לברכה קנאה גדולה, מפני שראיתי לחולקים על דבריו שלא השאירו לו כפי רב מחלוקותיהם ענין נכון בכל מה שדבר, ולא דבר הגון בכל מה שפרש, ולא פסק ראוי בכל מה שפסק, לא נשאר עם דבריהם…

Read More Read More

Marc B. Shapiro – Rabbis and Communism

Marc B. Shapiro – Rabbis and Communism

Comments 6 comments

Rabbis and Communism By Marc B. Shapiro I had intended my newest post to be on the Rav’s famous essay “Confrontation,” but I recently received the latest issue of Tradition with Rabbi Yitzchak Blau’s article “Rabbinic Responses to Communism,” so let me make a few comments about it. First, I must say that it is a good read, like all of Blau’s writing, and I was impressed with the range of topics he attempts to tackle. My only suggestion for…

Read More Read More

image_pdfimage_print