For those who are interested in some interesting articles on the first chapter of B Avodah Zarah. See this chapter by Alyssa Gray and this article by Yehuda Brandes. For numerous others see this good resource. I also want to add that two very good books have been written about Massechet Avodah Zarah during the [...]
Shaul Magid reviews Jeremy Stolow’s Orthodox by Design: Judaism, Print Politics, and the ArtScroll Revolution at Zeek. (hat tip) Orthodox by Design is not about the accuracy of Artscroll’s translations or even about its ideological program. It is not even about “Artscroll Orthodoxy” per se. Jeremy Stolow is a scholar of media studies. He is [...]
From the Jewish Star (via JTA): An unprecedented effort is under way in the Five Towns, in Riverdale, N.Y., and in Brookline, Mass., to find bone marrow matches for four young people fighting leukemia. In Woodmere, Zach Englander, a 20- year-old Yeshiva University student, was diagnosed six weeks ago with the form of cancer that [...]
Vos iz Neias brings an AP report about a newly restored MS of the Mishneh Torah which will be displayed at the Israel Museum. Experts at Israel’s national museum have completed the restoration of a 15th-century Hebrew manuscript with exquisite illustrations made by master Italian artisans, officials said Thursday. … The museum has half of [...]
Member of Knesset Rabbi Chaim Amsalem of Shas has apparently written another halakhic work on a controversial topic. See here for a short discussion about his book on conversion. According to Kikar ha-Shabbat, (hat tip), Rabbi Amsalem has written about the current controversy, scandal might be a better description, over the building of a fortified [...]
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 [...]
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, March [...]
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 meaningful. [...]
You are currently browsing the archives for the Uncategorized category.