Of Tahanun and Yarhrzeit Bukhs,Two Links Of
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Of Tahanun and Yarhrzeit bukhs A fascinating anecdote in a recently published biography of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel struck me as very worthy of sharing with the readers of the Seforim blog: [Heschel] confided to Samuel Dresner that in his daily devotions he did not recite the Tahanun prayer, a confession of sin and supplication that was usually omitted only on the Sabbath and festivals. Heschel explained that it was a Hasidic custom to omit these woeful entreaties on the Yahrzeit (anniversary of death) of a rebbe, for such was not a day of sorrow but a mark of renewal and celebration. Because almost every day after the war was the Yahrzeit of a rebbe, Heschel did not say Tahanun at all. By means of his silence, each day he memorialized another leader, acknowledging his heartbreak before God alone. Publicly, however, Heschel would sing, literally and figuratively. He loved nigunim, and he wrote English essays in musical prose that praised – and idealized – East European Jewry.[1] Within the non-Hasidic world, today is the yahrzeit of, among others, Rabbi David Oppenheimer(er), renowned throughout the rabbinic world as the Chief Rabbi of Nikolsburg from 1689-1702 and of Prague from 1702-1736.[2] Since 1829, his great rabbinic library of thousands of seforim and manuscripts — until recently unmatched within the rabbinic world — has formed the Oppenheimer Collection at the Bodleian Library at Oxford University with nearly 4,350 volumes covering the entire range of Hebrew literature from the Bible up to early 18th cent. Particularly strong in Bible editions with commentaries, rabbinics, service-books. c60 Hebrew incunabula. Includes c70 per cent of all products of the first century of Yiddish printing, say from the 1530s to 1650. A set of the first edition of the Talmud printed by Daniel Bomberg in Venice, and a complete Talmud on vellum in 24 v (Berlin and Frankfurt a O, 1715-21).[3] For Rabbi Reuven Margoliyot’s yarhrzeit bukh, see here (PDF). Notes: [1] Edward K. Kaplan, Spiritual Radical: Abraham Joshua Heschel in America, 1940-1972 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007), 99. [2] On Rabbi Rabbi Oppenheim, see Charles Duschinsky, “Rabbi David Oppenheimer: Glimpses of His Life and Activity, Derived from His Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library,” Jewish Quarterly Review (n.s.) 20:3 (January, 1930): 217-247. [3] See here (scroll down) Two Links of Note First, just about the entire volume in memory of Dov Rappel is available for free online here. This includes articles by, inter alia, Moshe Halmish, Yosef Tabory, and Stefan Rief. Second, there is a new site which is attempting to compile a complete bibliography of books related to Jewish genealogy here. The site is run by a collector of Jewish genealogy books and hopefully he will be able to satisfy his goal. Azariah de Rossi on Chad Gadya As a somewhat belated followup to an earlier discussion at my AJHistory blog (z”l), I would like to add the following to the list of interesting-academic-footnotes: There is something reminiscent of Jorge Luis Borges in the seemingly infinite series of translations represented in [Azariah] de Rossi’s Hebrew translations of the Latin translation of the Greek account of the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, made only more dizzying by Joanna Weinberg’s English translation of de Rossi’s Hebrew translation of the Latin translation of the Greek account of the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. Source: Deena Aranoff, “In Pursuit of the Holy Tongue: Jewish Conceptions of Hebrew in the Sixteenth Century,” (unpublished PhD dissertation, Columbia University, 2006), 129 (n.4). Bibliography of English Translations of Medieval and Modern Rabbinic Bible Commentaries Parshanut: English Translations of Medieval and Modern Rabbinic Bible Commentary (Exegetical, Philosophic, Kabbalistic and Hasidic) Yisrael Dubitsky* Commentaries are arranged in chronological order, and then by book. For space and simplicity sake, works are identified only by their author’s and translator’s names or publishers; for further bibliographical information, copy and paste the call numbers into the JTS online catalog under “Search: Call Number begins with…” Items not (yet?) found in the JTS Library do not have call numbers associated with them and contain instead only basic bibliographic information. Only significantly lengthy (more than a chapter or two) and systematic translations are included. Unless delimited otherwise, items cover the entire book, number of volumes notwithstanding (e.g. 4 vols on the five books of Torah). Items marked “currently…” imply a work in progress. Paraphrases, anthologies or digests of translations, such as are found in the Hertz, Soncino Press, Judaica Press, ArtScroll, Living Torah and Living Nach or Etz Hayim bible commentaries, are not included. Condensed versions, as are sometimes found in Munk translations, are included. The JPS Commentators Bible (so far on Exodus alone), in addition to its systematic translation of four major commentators, also occasionally includes selections from Bekhor Shor, Radak, Hizkuni, Gersonides, Abarbanel and Sforno. These latter have not been included in the list. Further, academic or modern critical commentaries, even those written by rabbis, are excluded. Finally, no implication regarding quality of the translation should be drawn from inclusion in this list. Medieval I. Sa`adiah ben Joseph Gaon [882-942] A. Torah 1. Linetsky [Gen 1-28] BS1235.X2 S213 2002 B. Job 1. Goodman BS1415.2. S143 1988 C. Daniel 1. Alobaidi (Bern; NY: Peter Lang, 2006) II. Rabenu Hananel ben Hushiel [d. 1055/6] A. Torah 1. Munk BS1225.X2 M8 2003 6 vols. III. Rashi [Solomon ben Isaac, 1041-1105] A. Bible 1. Rosenberg B. Torah 1. Lowe [only on Gen] BS1235.X2 S62 L6 2. Doron [Gen 1-6] BS1235.3. D6 1982 3. Rosenbaum/Silbermann BS1222 1934 5 vols. 4. Ben-Isaiah/Sharfman BS1222 1949 5 vols. 5. Metsudah BS1222 1991 5 vols. 5a. Online 6. Milstein BM724. V5 1993 10 vols. 7. Artscroll (Herczeg) BS1225.X2 S6 1994 5 vols. 8. Feldman et al (“Ariel Chumash”) [currently on Gen] (Jerusalem: United Israel Institute, 1997) 2 vols. 9. Moore [currently on Gen] BS1225.X2 S6 M66 2002 10. JPS (Carasik) [currently on Ex] BS1223. C3713 2005 C. Joshua 1. Davis (Metsudah) BS1292. D28 1997 D. Judges 1. Rabinowitz/Davis (Metsudah) BS1302. D28 2001 E. Samuel 1. Pupko/Davis (Metsudah) BS1322. D28 1999 2 vols. F. Kings 1. Pupko/Davis (Metsudah) BS1335.3. D38 2001 2 vols. G. Psalms 1. Gruber BS1429.X2 S26 1998 H. Five Scrolls 1. Schwartz [Esther, Canticles, Ruth] BS1309. A2S3 2. Davis/Pupko (Metsudah) BS1309. A2M4 2001 I. Ruth 1. Beattie BS1315.2. B4 IV. Rashbam [Samuel ben Meir, ca. 1080-1174] A. Torah 1. Lockshin BS1225.X2 S2313 1989 4 vols. 2. Munk BS1225.X2 M8 2003 6 vols. 3. JPS (Carasik) [currently on Ex] BS1223. C3713 2005 B. Ecclesiastes 1. Japhet/Salters BS1475.X2 S2713 1985 C. Canticles 1. Thompson BS1485.X2 S26 T5 1988 V. Abraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra [1092-1167] A. Torah 1. Oles [Gen] (PhD, HUC, 1960) 2. Linetsky [Gen 1-6] BS1235. I36513 1998 3. Shachter [Lev, Deut] BS1225.X2 I3513 1986 4. Strickman BS1225.X2 I3513 1988 5 vols. 5. JPS (Carasik) [currently on Ex] BS1223. C3713 2005 6. Benyowitz (Jerusalem: A.R. Benyowitz, 2006) 3 vols. B. Isaiah 1. Friedlander BS1515. I2 1964 (1873) C. Hosea 1. Lipshitz BS1565.X2 I213 1988 D. Psalms 1. Strickman [currently on Pss 1-41] (NY: Yashar, 2007) E. Ruth 1. Beattie BS1315.2. B4 VI. Moses ben Shesheth [fl. ca. 1190-1200?] A. Jeremiah/Ezekiel 1. Driver BS1525. M65 18711a. VII. Radak [David ben Joseph Kimhi, ca. 1160-ca. 1235] A. Torah 1. Munk BS1225.X2 M8 2003 6 vols. B. Isaiah 1. Cohen [Isa 40-66] BS1520.X2 K5 1954 C. Zechariah 1. M’Caul BS1665.X2 K513 18371a. online D. Psalms 1. Greenup [Pss 1-8] (London Palestine House, Hackney, 1918) 2. Finch [Pss 1-10, 15-17, 19, 22, 24] BS1429.X2 K55 3. Baker/Nicholson [Pss 120-150] BS1429.X2 K54 1973 (E. Ruth?) 1. Beattie BS1315.2. B4 F. Chronicles 1. Berger (PhD, YU, 2003) VIII. Ezra ben Solomon of Gerona [d. ca. 1238] A. Canticles 1. Brody BS1485.X2 M632 1999 IX. Ramban [Moses ben Nahman = Nachmanides, ca. 1195-ca. 1270] A. Torah 1. Chavel BS1225.X2 M6613 5 vols. 2. Artscroll [currently Gen-Ex] BS1225.X2 M68 B7 2004 4 vols. 3. JPS (Carasik) [currently on Ex] BS1223. C3713 2005 B. Ecclesiastes 1. Chavel BM45. M6313 1978 v. 1 X. Shem Tov ben Joseph Falaquera [ca. 1225–1295] A. (Torah) 1. Jospe B759.F334 J68 1988 XI. Zohar [ca. 1280] A.Torah 1. Sperling/Simon (Soncino) BM525 .A52 1931 5 vols. 2. Matt (“Pritzker edition”) [currently on Gen] BM525.A52 M37 2004 3 vols. XII. Midrash ha-Ne`elam (Zohar) [ca. 1280] A. Ruth 1. Englander/Basser BM525.A6 M513 1993 XIII. Unknown (Anonymous, probably compilatory) [13th cen] A. Job 1. Hirsch BS1415.C5813 1905 XIV. Ba`al ha-Turim [= Jacob ben Asher, ca. 1269-ca. 1340] A. Torah 1. Artscroll BS1225.X2 J232 1999 5 vols. 2. Munk BS1225.X2 J2313 2005 4 vols. XV. Gevi`a Kesef [= Joseph ben Abba Mari Ibn Kaspi, 1279–1340] A. Genesis 1. Herring B759. C37K4 Z31 XVI. Ralbag [Levi ben Gershom = Gersonides, 1288-1344] A. Job 1. Lassen BS1415.X2 L4 L3 B. Canticles 1. Kellner BS1485. L39 1998 XVII. Rabenu Bahya ben Asher ben Hlava [d. 1340] A. Torah 1. Munk BS1225.X31 B2313 1998/2003 7 vols. XVIII. Abraham ben Isaac ha-Levi TaMaKH [d. 1393] A. Canticles 1. Feldman BS1485.X2 A24 1970 XIX. Avvat Nefesh [Unknown, end of 14th cen] A.