In Hillel Halkin’s review to which I linked here, he repeats one claim which I have never seen a source for, and would love for someone to substantiate or for people to stop repeating it.
Were Jews always as scrupulous about preserving the purity of their bloodlines as was the nineteenth-century Polish or Moroccan Jew who [...]
There is a disagreement among scholars as to the author(s) of the Geonic work Halakhot Gedolot. See this post for a discussion of the question. I just saw this in a flyer from Mechon Yerushalayim, so I guess that we know to some extent how they answer the question.
For anybody who is in the market for a 15th c. MS of the Semak (Sefer Mitzvot Katan), there happens to be one for sale.
One of the most important codes of Hebrew ritual law of the entire Middle Ages written in the thirteenth century by a famous French codifier with glosses by his best-known [...]
Between the years 1930-1960 over five hundred haggadot were printed on kibbutzim. See here for some examples. Recently a book has been published which collects many of these texts and tells their story. Below are two examples of the “Four Questions” from two different Kibbutz Haggadot from 1939.
Hag Kasher Sameah.
Source: Niv ha-Kevutzah, [...]
Here are a few books which are helping me prepare for the seder this year.
1. Creating Lively Passover Seders by David Arnow. This is a great book which some of you may still be able to get before the seder if you are looking for a book to help make the seder more [...]
Aryeh Cohen has a nice article about the meaning of the shabbut eruv and a story illustrating its meaning.
The brilliance of the Rabbinic Shabbat as an urban phenomenon is that it allows Jews to mentally map exclusively Jewish geography while simultaneously sharing that geography with all manner of non-Jews. The eruv, further, allows Jews to [...]
Spider-Man fans were treated this week to a special issue of the Amazing Spider-Man which features president-elect Barack Obama. For a laugh also see this video from Colbert. While my son was lucky enough to have the local comic book store put one aside for him, there is an older Spider-Man issue which is [...]
I have come across a blog devoted to philosophy which has a number of entries on Jewish philosophers. I don’t know who is behind the blog Compossível, but from what I read it seems like a worthwhile haunt for those who are interested in philosophy.
1. Maimonides
2. Ibn Gabriol
3. Gersonides
4. Moses [...]
While I am sure that some Obama supporters are having their Schadenfreude moment at the people in the McCain campaign who have already pulled out the knives and started the back stabbing, one thing does bother me. The problem is that they seem to be stabbing only one person, Sarah Palin. I think [...]
שנה טובה וגמר חתימה טובה
from here
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