DOCSLIB.ORG

The Ha'amek Davar of Naftali Zevi Yehuda Berlin

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Ha'amek Davar of Naftali Zevi Yehuda Berlin The Ha'amek Davar of Naftali Zevi Yehuda Berlin Asher Charles Oser Department of Jewish Studies McGill University, Montreal January, 2007 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts. © Asher C. Oser 2007 Library and Bibliothèque et 1+1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de l'édition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Canada Canada Your file Votre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-32543-8 Our file Notre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-32543-8 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant à la Bibliothèque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par télécommunication ou par l'Internet, prêter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des thèses partout dans loan, distribute and sell th es es le monde, à des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non­ sur support microforme, papier, électronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriété du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protège cette thèse. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. ln compliance with the Canadian Conformément à la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privée, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont été enlevés de cette thèse. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. ••• Canada Table of Contents Page Abstract 4 Acknowledgments 5 Chapter One: The World ofNaftali Zevi Yehuda Berlin 6 Chapter Two: The Secondary Literature on Berlin 44 Chapter Three: Three Features of Ha'amek Davar 54 Chapter Four: Ha 'amek Davar and History 100 Conclusion 124 Bibliography 126 2 nn'l)) 1:>tJ :lp)" n:l n:>1:l t "tJ'lJn n:l\J:l )\J Ct': NJ 'J'lJn) n1) J'J:l n:l:>' NJ In Memoriam Relia Regina Oser Budapest-Sydney-Jerusalem "Rer Candle Goeth Not Out By Night" (Proverbs 31: 17) 3 Abstract Rabbi Naftali Zevi Yehuda Berlin's commentary to the Pentateuch, Ha'amek Davar, was first published in Vilna in 1879-1880. The work grew out of a daily class that Berlin taught at the famed yeshiva Etz Hayyim of Volozhin, where he was dean from 1853-1893. This study of Ha'amek Davar focuses on Berlin's exegesis ofNoah's three sons. Because Berlin often conceals his sources and their previous discussions, one of the great challenges of working with Ha'amek Davar is trying to recognize which interpretations were original to Berlin and which were adapted from elsewhere. Because my discussion was limited to a few passages, it was possible to outline how different aspects of Berlin's exegesis interacted. The historical context of Nineteenth Century Czarist Russia had a strong impact on Ha'amek Davar, and sorne of Berlin's comments are viewed in light ofwhat was being written in the Russian Jewish press of the time. Résumé La cntIque du pentateuque du rabbin Naftali Zevi Yehuda Berlin, Ha'amek Davar, a tout d'abord été publiée à Vilna entre 1879 et 1880. Cet ouvrage est le fruit d'un cours que le rabbin dispensait tous les jours à Etz Hayyim, une yeshiva de renom à Volozhin, dont il fut le doyen de 1853 à 1893. Cette étude de Ha'amek Davar porte principalement sur l'exégèse de Berlin sur les trois fils de Noé. Berlin dissimule souvent ses sources ainsi que toute discussion antérieure. L'une des principales difficultés en travaillant sur Ha'amek Davar a donc été de faire la différence entre les interprétations de Berlin et celles qui ont été adaptées à partir de diverses sources. Mon étude ne porte que sur quelques passages, il m'a donc été possible de mettre en évidence l'interaction entre les différents aspects de l'exégèse de l'auteur. Le contexte historique de la Russie tzariste du XIXe siècle a fortement influencé Ha'amek Davar, par conséquent, certains commentaires de Berlin ont été analysés à la lumière de ce qui paraissait dans la presse juive russe de l'époque. 4 Acknowledgments This thesis took longer than expected to complete and it henefited from the support of many people to whom l am grateful. My supervisor, Professor B. Barry Levy, was gracious, prompt, and enlightening. As an undergraduate he introduced me to the world of intellectual history and he has shaped my outlook ever since. It is a privilege to he counted among his students. The Department of Jewish Studies at McGill University was always helpful. Colleen Parish and Stefka Iorgova extended to me every courtesy. Professor Lawrence Kaplan taught me how to read critically and is a depository of multifarious knowledge and insight. My parents reared me in a home that valued scholarship and open enquiry. Rachel Oser gives me the space and environment to develop those yearnings. My deht to her is inestimable. It is my hope and prayer that our lives and home will inspire Mordekai and Aryeh to continue to treasure those pursuits and values. It is a source of great sadness that my grandmother, RelIa Oser, did not live to see this thesis. She was the matriarch of our family and carried with her the deep wisdom of a sharp mind and a kind heart. She will he in my heart forever. 5 Chapter One: The World of Naftali Zevi Yehuda Berlin Page Introduction 7 Hasidim and Mitnagdim 9 Hasidim, Mitnagdim, and Torah Study 9 Hasidim, Mitnagdim, and Kabbalah 13 The Yeshiva at Volozhin 16 The Yeshiva at Volozhin 16 The Closure of the Yeshiva at Volozhin 19 Naftali Zevi Yehuda Berlin 24 Berlin, Wissenschaft des Judentums, and Transitional Figures 24 The Writings of Berlin 32 Berlin and Other Nineteenth Century Lithuanian Torah Scholars 36 6 Chapter One: The World ofNaftali Zevi Yehuda Berlin Introduction Born in 1817 in the town of Mir, in the province of Minsk in the Czarist Pale of Settlernent, Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin rose to prorninence during the second half of the nineteenth century. He was a rnasterful pedagogue, an accornplished scholar and an original exegete, who operated through a period of great change. At the age of eleven he entered the celebrated yeshiva at Volozhin, over which he would preside for close to forty years, frorn 1853 until one year before his death in 1893. 1 The subject of this thesis is Berlin's commentary to the Torah, Ha 'amek Davar. Scant attention has been paid to Berlin and to other figures who are part of the legacy of Lithuanian Rabbinisrn. It begins with a synopsis of his historical background and pedagogical achievernents and those of sorne other figures that rnay, after further study, be classified along with hirn as forming their own circle of traditional rabbinic scholarship. Shmuel Ettinger opined that the yeshiva in Volozhin was "rnainly established to serve as a barrier to the spread of Hasidisrn,,,2 but this assessrnent has not been accepted unanirnously.3 Nevertheless, the rift between Hasidisrn and Lithuanian Rabbinisrn did inform the world Berlin inherited and would later represent. 4 A summary of sorne of the historical forces that shaped nineteenth century Jewish Lithuania will serve as a good 1 Shaul Stampfer, Ha-Yeshiva Ha-Lita'it Be-Hithavta (Jerusalem: The Zalman Shazar Center for Jewish History, 1995),73. 2 Shmuel Ettinger, "Volozhin," in the Encyclapaedia Judaica. CD-ROM Edition. 3 See Immanuel Etkes, The Gaan a/Vilna: The Man and His Image, translated by Jeffrey M. Green (Los Angeles: University ofCalifornia Press, 2002), 268-269. 4 Sorne Hasidic groups tlourished in historie Lithuania and it is incorrect to assume that aIl of Lithuanian Jewry opposed Hasidism. For Hasidic groups within Lithuania see Zeev R. Rabinowitsch, Lithuanian Hasidism, foreword by Simon Dubnow (New York: Schocken Books, 1971). 7 Chapter One: The World ofNaftali Zevi Yehuda Berlin backdrop to Berlin' s lifework. 8 Chapter One: The World ofNaftali Zevi Yehuda Berlin Hasidim and Mitnagdim Hasidim, Mitnagdim, and Torah Study The Council of the Four Lands (Va 'ad Arba Aratzot) was a centralized Jewish governing body that operated for over two hundred years and had jurisdiction over Jews in four provinces of Poland. The Council came to an end at the close of 1764 when the Polish Sejm voted to dismantle it. 5 During its last years, a popular movement called Hasidism arose. Hasidism stressed belief in a Tzaddik (holy-man), the importance of simple faith, prayer and correct intention in Divine service. The death of Hasidism's central figure, Israel Ba'al Shem Tov (1700-1765), came just one year after the Council was dissolved. The juxtaposition of the Ba'al Shem Tov's death and the end of the Va'ad Arba 'ah Artzot contributed to Hasidism's growth because with the powers of censure once invested in the Va 'ad no longer available, no communal mechanism could impede the nascent movement (although there are other explanations for the early success of Hasidism).
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Third Wagon by Chaim Peri
    Village Way - Past Present and Future Revisiting our vision The vision of Yemin Orde Village has always been to serve as a microcosm of an upright and resilient society, guiding youth from a life of survival to a life of worthiness. Backed by Friends of Yemin Orde, it sought to fulfill the prophetic vision of a Jewish State that is guided by compassionate justice, where no child is left behind. The Village Way initiative was established in order to propagate this vision where needed. The Village Way heralds a renaissance in education, a grassroots movement of social and spiritual development. ImpactIsrael A quarter of a century after the establishment of FYO, our new banner marks a most relevant evolvement of this vision. This development is totally attuned to the existential juncture in which the Jewish world now stands. Past and Present From its earliest days, Judaism has always been a grand-scale educational marathon – the transmission of knowledge, values and traditions from generation to generation. The realities of exile have further placed education at the heart of Jewish life - in the family circle, the Yeshivot and engaged congregations. In all cases, upholding faith and culture was reliant on the quality and centrality of education in the lives of our people. Indeed, the Yeshiva system continues to maintain that very strictly, following an educational methodology which was initiated 200 years ago by Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin. At the same time, elsewhere in our civil society, there is much talk about the importance of education, but in fact we see a constant degradation in its public status and increasing fragmentation in its implementation.
    [Show full text]
  • Philosophic Homilies of Nissim of Girona - 14704
    Syllabus PHILOSOPHIC HOMILIES OF NISSIM OF GIRONA - 14704 Last update 12-09-2021 HU Credits: 2 Degree/Cycle: 2nd degree (Master) Responsible Department: Jewish Thought Academic year: 0 Semester: 1st Semester Teaching Languages: Hebrew Campus: Mt. Scopus Course/Module Coordinator: Prof. Zeev Harvey Coordinator Email: [email protected] Coordinator Office Hours: Tu 11:30-12:30 Teaching Staff: Prof Zeev Harvey page 1 / 4 Course/Module description: One of the great medieval authorities on Jewish law, Rabbi Nissim ben Reuben of Girona ( Ha-Ran, c. 1310-1376) is known for his Commentary on BT Nedarim, his Commentaries on Rabbi Isaac Alfasi's Halakhot, and his Novellae on various Talmudic tractates. However, he was also a profound and original philosophic homilist. His book of philosophic homilies, known as "Derashot Ha-Ran," had a significant influence on medieval Jewish philosophy both directly and also indirectly, through his student Rabbi Hasdai Crescas and his student's student Rabbi Joseph Albo. Course/Module aims: We shall read together one homily from Derashot Ha-Ran. In the last month of the semester, we shall discuss the papers of participants. Learning outcomes - On successful completion of this module, students should be able to: ability to analyze a medieval philosophic sermon Attendance requirements(%): 100% Teaching arrangement and method of instruction: Reading and discussion Course/Module Content: A seminar paper (about 20-25 pp.) or a short paper (about 7-10 pp.). The paper is to be submitted by the final class (11.1.22). It may be on any subject connected with Derashot Ha-Ran, and may be written in accordance with various approaches, e.g., historical, analytic, or philological.
    [Show full text]
  • The Fifth Passover Cup and Magical Pairs: Isaac Baer Levinsohn and the Babylonian Talmud
    European Journal of Jewish Studies 15 (2021) 84–103 brill.com/ejjs The Fifth Passover Cup and Magical Pairs: Isaac Baer Levinsohn and the Babylonian Talmud Leor Jacobi Abstract The Fifth Passover Cup is mentioned in a textual variant of a baraita in Tractate Pesaḥim of the Babylonian Talmud (118a), attributed to Rabbi Ṭarfon and another anonymous Palestinian tanna. Scholars have demonstrated that the variant is primary in talmu- dic manuscripts and among the Babylonian Geonim. Following a nineteenth-century proposition of Isaac Baer Levinsohn, it is argued that the fifth cup was instituted in Babylonia due to concern for magical evil spirits aroused by even-numbered events [zugot]. Objections to Levinsohn’s theory can be allayed by critical source analysis: the Talmud’s attribution of the fifth cup to the Palestinian tanna Rabbi Ṭarfon in a baraita is pseudoepigraphic, based upon Rabbi Ṭarfon’s teaching regarding the recitation of Hallel ha-Gadol in Mishnah Ta‘anit 3:9. A special appendix is devoted to Levinsohn’s separate study on zugot in the ancient and medieval world. Keywords Talmud – Passover – magic – Haskalah – source criticism – Halakhah – Levinsohn – magical pairs © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2020 | doi:10.1163/1872471X-bja10020.0102883/ 3..8.31893: The Fifth Passover Cup and Magical Pairs 85 1 Introduction1 If the four Passover cups were created during the six days of creation, then the fifth was conjured up at twilight on the eve of the Sabbath.2 The saga of the mysterious fifth cup stretches from its origins in a phantom talmudic tex- tual variant to its alleged metamorphosis into the ubiquitous “cup of Elijah” to latter-day messianic revival attempts incorporating the visual arts.
    [Show full text]
  • Ideal" and "Real" in Classical Jewish Political Theory
    IDEAL" AND "REAL" IN CLASSICAL JEWISH POLITICAL THEORY Gerald J.Blidstein This essay considers the degree to which Jewish political and legal ? ? theory allows and, indeed, mandates the recognition that the Torah legislates an ideal law which is not appropriate for situations of social and political stress, and the degree to which such situations are really the historical norm rather than the exception. The Talmud, it is shown, adum brates this concept, but in a fairly marginal form.Maimonides places it at center stage of societal governance, apparently expecting that a Jewish so ciety will of necessity be thrown back upon this option; but he also sug gests guidelines for its regulation. R. Nissim of Barcelona (fourteenth century) both expands the concept and also relaxes the Maimonidean re strictions on its use. This final form of the doctrine receives a thorough critique at the hands of Isaac Abrabanel; but it also serves as the linchpin for much contemporary argument for the legitimacy of Israeli legislation from a classical Jewish perspective. The relationship of law and political theory to reality, that is, to the actual doings of people in society and to the concrete problems faced by societies, is undoubtedly complex. Are law and political theory to are shape reality? Or is the reverse true, and both law and theory to take their cue from society? This, of course, is a very abstract formula tion of the issue. It is also an overly extreme and polarized formulation, for it is likely that the relationship of law and political theory to re ality is dynamic and indeed dialectical.
    [Show full text]
  • A Taste of Torah
    Parshas Teruma February 19, 2021 A Taste of Torah Stories for the Soul Hungry for War by Rabbi Yosef Melamed Take to Give Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin (1749-1821), As Purim approaches and the excitement over the fourteenth of Adar. Taanis Esther thus the founder and head of the Volozhin this special holiday grows, this week’s parsha commemorates the fast of the day of battle Yeshiva, once travelled to Minsk to raise against the enemies of the Jewish People. is supplemented with Parshas Zachor, the desperately-needed funds to keep the second of the four special supplement parshios Having established the origins of the fast, we yeshiva afloat. In Minsk lived two men, Reb of this time of the year. Parshas Zachor features must now explore why fasting is important Baruch Zeldowitz and Reb Dober Pines, the Torah commandment to remember the while fighting a war, specifically a war against who served as gabbaim (representatives) to evil that the nation of Amalek perpetrated Amalek. collect money for the yeshiva. Rav Chaim against the fledgling Jewish Nation. Rabbi Gedalya Schorr (1910-1979) offers the visited Rabbi Zeldowitz and informed him The commentators explain that reading this following enlightening explanation: The evil of of the dire financial straits in which the parsha is an appropriate forerunner to Purim Amalek and its power stems from the ideology yeshiva found itself, specifying the large because Haman, the antagonist of the Purim that the world is run randomly through sum of money that was needed to stabilize story, was a direct descendent of Amalek who nature and is not subject to any Divine plan the situation.
    [Show full text]
  • Artscroll and More
    ArtScroll and More ArtScroll and More by Marc B. Shapiro Continued from here. 1. As mentioned, I believe that on occasion ArtScroll is unaware that the text it is explaining is a censored text. Sometimes it might even be an internally censored text (i.e., censored by Jews so as to avoid difficulties with the non- Jewish authorities). This same problem is often found with aharonim. How about with rishonim? For example, was Rashi ever misled by an internally censored text? I would hesitate to say so but this is exactly what is suggested by R. Elijah David Rabinowitz-Teomim (the Aderet), though he piously prefaces his .לולי דברי רש”י remarks with the words Sanhedrin 58b states: Resh Lakish said: A heathen who keeps a day of rest, deserves death, for it is written, “And a day and a night they shall not rest” (Gen. 8:22), and a master has said: Their prohibition is their death sentence. Ravina said: Even if he rested on a Monday. that the original version (פשוט) The Aderet sees it as obvious of Ravina’s statement was “Even if he rested on Sunday,” and this was changed to “Monday” due to fear of the Christians.[1] Rashi, however, offers an explanation as to why “Monday” is mentioned, meaning that if the Aderet is correct then even Rashi was misled by the altered text.[2] As part of his explanation on this passage, Rashi also This is the authentic .אחד בשבת ששובתין בו הנוצרים :writes version of Rashi which appears in the early Talmud printings.
    [Show full text]
  • Orthodoxy in American Jewish Life1
    ORTHODOXY IN AMERICAN JEWISH LIFE1 by CHARLES S. LIEBMAN INTRODUCTION • DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF ORTHODOXY • EARLY ORTHODOX COMMUNITY • UNCOMMITTED ORTHODOX • COM- MITTED ORTHODOX • MODERN ORTHODOX • SECTARIANS • LEAD- ERSHIP • DIRECTIONS AND TENDENCIES • APPENDLX: YESHIVOT PROVIDING INTENSIVE TALMUDIC STUDY A HIS ESSAY is an effort to describe the communal aspects and institutional forms of Orthodox Judaism in the United States. For the most part, it ignores the doctrines, faith, and practices of Orthodox Jews, and barely touches upon synagogue hie, which is the most meaningful expression of American Orthodoxy. It is hoped that the reader will find here some appreciation of the vitality of American Orthodoxy. Earlier predictions of the demise of 11 am indebted to many people who assisted me in making this essay possible. More than 40, active in a variety of Orthodox organizations, gave freely of their time for extended discussions and interviews and many lay leaders and rabbis throughout the United States responded to a mail questionnaire. A number of people read a draft of this paper. I would be remiss if I did not mention a few by name, at the same time exonerating them of any responsibility for errors of fact or for my own judgments and interpretations. The section on modern Orthodoxy was read by Rabbi Emanuel Rackman. The sections beginning with the sectarian Orthodox to the conclusion of the paper were read by Rabbi Nathan Bulman. Criticism and comments on the entire paper were forthcoming from Rabbi Aaron Lichtenstein, Dr. Marshall Ski are, and Victor Geller, without whose assistance the section on the number of Orthodox Jews could not have been written.
    [Show full text]
  • The Cloven Soul
    THE CLOVEN SOUL: THE ART OF THE NARRATIVE OF M.Y. BERDICHEWSKI BY ZILLA JANE GOODMAN DISSERTATION FOR MASTER OF ARTS DEGREE DEPARTMENT OF HEBREW STUDIES University of Cape Town UNT"r.:RSITY OF CAPE TOWN OCTOBER 1986 The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No quotation from it or information derived from it is to be published without full acknowledgement of the source. The thesis is to be used for private study or non- commercial research purposes only. Published by the University of Cape Town (UCT) in terms of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author. University of Cape Town ABSTRACT Micha Yosef Berdichewski (1865 - 1921) is considered by many to be the most influential Jewish author of his generation. His literary activity encompassed both fiction and non-fiction. Berdichewski's fictional world has been termed "a spiritual organic unity" (Almagor 1968) inasmuch as his hero tends to reappear in many like-guises across the various stories and there is a great deal of repetition of themes, characters, motifs and even semantic elements throughout his work. The present work aims to show that the seeming uniformity in Berdichewski's writing is misleading. It postulates that the identity of feature that marks the Berdichewskian text is not productive of sameness, but rather that it promotes greater textual density through the adherence of variability within correlates. It purports that though Berdichewski's apparent stereotyping is due, at least in part, to an abiding concern with some central issues - and thus that his various narratives may be seen as the continuing working out of these concerns - these are never fully resolved but only interacted with from varying, quite disparate, perspectives.
    [Show full text]
  • Israel of America, 5 Beekman Street, New York, N
    FIFTY CENTS VOL. 2 No. 3 DECEMBER 1964 I TEVES 5725 THE "American Orthodoxy" Yesterday and Today • The Orthodox Jew and The Negro Revolution •• ' The Professor' and Bar Ilan • Second Looks at The Jewish Scene THE JEWISH QBSERVER contents articles "AMERICAN ORTHODOXY" I YESTERDAY AND TODAY, Yaakov Jacobs 3 A CENTRAL ORTHODOX AGENCY, A Position Paper .................... 9 HARAV CHAIM MORDECAI KATZ, An Appreciation ........................ 11 THE JEWISH OBSERVER is published monthly, except July and August, ASPIRATION FOR TORAH, Harav Chaim Mordecai Katz 12 by the Agudath Israel of America, 5 Beekman Street, New York, N. Y. 10038. Second class postage paid at New York, N. Y. THE ORTHODOX JEW AND THE NEGRO REVOLUTION, Subscription: $5.00 per year; single copy: 50¢. Printed in the Marvin Schick 15 U.S.A. THE PROFESSOR AND BAR JI.AN, Meyer Levi .................................... 18 Editorial Board DR. ERNST L. BODENHFJMER Chairman RABBI NATHAN BULMAN RABBI JOSEPH ELIAS JOSEPH FRIEDENSON features RABBI MORRIS SHERER Art Editor BOOK REVIEW ................................................. 20 BERNARD MERI.ING Advertising Manager RABBI SYSHE HESCHEL SECOND LOOKS AT THE JEWISH SCENE ................................................... 22 Managing Editor RABBI Y AAKOV JACOBS THE JEWISH OBSERVER does not assume responsibility for the Kashrus of any product or service the cover advertised in its pages. HARAV CHAIM MORDECAI KATZ dedicating the new dormitory of the Telshe DEC. 1964 VOL. II, No. 3 Yeshiva, and eulogizing the two young students who perished in the fire ~'@> which destroyed the old structure. (See AN APPRECIATION on page 11, and ASPIRATION FOR TORAH on page 12.) OrthudoxJudaism in ih~ Uniied States in our ··rei~oval oi the women's gallery; or th;c~nfirma~· · .
    [Show full text]
  • Was the Chasam Sofer Inconsistent? a Review Essay
    239 Setting the Record Straight: Was the Chasam Sofer Inconsistent? A Review Essay By: NOSSON DOVID RABINOWICH In this essay we will discuss claims made in two recent articles, published by two leading scholars, to the effect that the Chasam Sofer was inconsistent and contradicted himself. I will attempt to show that those supposed “contradictions and inconsistencies” are either simply nonexistent or can be properly explained by careful and deliberate analysis of the actual sources and the issues involved. While my respect for Rabbi Moshe Sofer, the late “Chasam Sofer,” of blessed memory, is not merely that reserved for a great rabbi and outstanding scholar, I have endeavored to maintain a balanced and critical approach throughout. Nevertheless I feel it appropriate to note that from my perspective, Rabbi Sofer was a holy rabbi, a saint if you wish, whose towering scholarship in so many areas of Jewish studies was unmatched by his peers or by any rabbi from any subsequent generation. I do not hesitate to apply to him this popular saying: “From R. Moshe [Ben-Maimon; Maimonidies] until [R.] Moshe [Sofer] there was no one of the stature of R. Moshe [Sofer].”1 1 As the halakhic authority of his generation, he was probably more prolific than any other rabbi going back six hundred years, since the leading halakhic authority of the Golden Age in Spain, Rabbi Shlomo ben Aderet. Of R. Sofer’s peers, only Rabbi Yosef Shaul Nathanson, She-elot Sho’el U’Maishiv, was known to have written more responsa. ______________________________________________________ Nosson Dovid Rabinowich is the Mara d'Asra of Beis Medrash Ahavas Torah, a prolific author, and teacher.
    [Show full text]
  • Association for Jewish Studies 43Rd Annual Conference December 18–20, 2011
    43 ASSOCIATION FOR JEWISH STUDIES JEWISH FOR ASSOCIATION New York, NY 10011-6301 NY York, New 16th Street 15 West History Jewish for c/o Center Studies Jewish for Association 43ND ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR JEWISH STUDIES DECEMBER 18–20, 2011 GRAND HYATT WASHINGTON WASHINGTON, DC 43 RD ANNUAL CONFERENCE RD ANNUAL DECEMBER 18–20, 2011 Association for Jewish Studies Association for Jewish Studies c/o Center for Jewish History 43rd Annual Conference 15 West 16th Street New York, NY 10011-6301 Program Book Contents Phone: (917) 606-8249 Fax: (917) 606-8222 E-mail: [email protected] Association for Jewish Studies Goals and Standards.................................................... 4 www.ajsnet.org Institutional Members.................................................................................................... 5 President AJS Staff Marsha Rozenblit, University of Maryland Rona Sheramy, Executive Director Message from the Conference Chair............................................................................. 6 Vice President/Membership Karen Terry, Program and Membership and Outreach Coordinator Conference Information................................................................................................ 8 Anita Norich, University of Michigan Natasha Perlis, Project Manager Vice President/Program Emma Barker, Conference and Program Program Committee and Division Coordinators........................................................... 9 Derek Penslar, University of Toronto Associate 2011 Award Recipients.................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • WHAT IS the ORIGIN of the LITVAK? the LEGACY of the GRAND DUCHY of LITHUANIA © Antony Polonsky 266
    WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE LITVAK? THE LEGACY OF THE GRAND DUCHY OF LITHUANIA © Antony Polonsky 266 By the end of the nineteenth century, the concept of the „Litvak" had become well- established in the Jewish world. Let me give a few literary examples. I will begin with two by non-Litvaks. In one of his „hasidic tales", „Tsvishn tsvay berg" (Be- tween Two Mountains), Yitshak Leibush Peretz describes the conflict between the hasidim and their mitnagdic opponents. He gives both sides their voice but clearly comes down on the side of the former. The story recounts the clash between the Brisker rov and his best pupil, who has left him to found a hasidic court. He ex- plains why: Your Torah, Rabbi, is nothing but law. It is without pity. Your Torah contains not a spark of compas- sion. And that is why it is without joy, without air to breathe. It is nothing but steel and iron-iron commandments, copper laws. It is a very refined Torah, suitable for scholars, for the select few. The Brisker rov was silent, so the rebbe continued: „Tell me, Rabbi, what have you got for ordinary people? For the woodchopper, the butcher, the tradesman, the simple man? And, most especially for the sinful man? What do you have to offer those who are not scholars?...". To convince the Brisker rov, the Bialer rebbe takes him to see his followers on Simkhat torah when they are transformed by the festival. This does not convince the Brisker rov. „We must say the afternoon prayer," the Brisker rov suddenly announced in his harsh voice-and eve- rything vanished.
    [Show full text]