This wartime book was published by the Hebrew Department of the famous London bookshop, Foyles, in Charing Cross Road. My copy is stamped "Consulate General of the Republic of Poland, Tel Aviv". I know almost nothing about the author, Eli Rubin. The selection that follows shows that the author compiled a brief history of the … Continue reading 700 Years of Jewish Life in Poland, by Eli Rubin, London 1944.
Month: December 2023
The Golden Chain by Rabbi Simon Baumberg, London 1929.
This is an interesting book by a rather forgotten Chassidic Rabbi. Rabbi Simon Baumberg was born in Lodz in Poland in 1872. Dayan Lazarus wrote of him that his early Chassidic association left him a student of Jewish mysticism, the philosophical Kabbalah, while his grandfather imbued him with his own love for music. Rabbi Baumberg … Continue reading The Golden Chain by Rabbi Simon Baumberg, London 1929.
Sefer Yaaros Devash by Rabbi Jonathan Eibeschutz, Karlsruhe, 1782 – Copy of Rabbi Meyer Schwartzman of Winnipeg.
This is a book from my antique book collection. It is a first edition of Yaaros Devash (A Hive of Honey), and has some important haskomos (approbations). Yaaros Devash is a collection of sermons on ethical matters. The author, Rabbi Jonathan Eibeschutz (circa 1690/4–1764) was a talmudist and kabbalist, a child prodigy. He married the … Continue reading Sefer Yaaros Devash by Rabbi Jonathan Eibeschutz, Karlsruhe, 1782 – Copy of Rabbi Meyer Schwartzman of Winnipeg.
The Jewish Sabbath, by Rabbi Joseph Apfel, Leeds, 1962.
This is a beautiful book in English, describing the laws, customs and songs sung on the Sabbath day by orthodox Jews, with notes that include sources and references for the customs. Rabbi Joseph Apfel came from Berlin and arrived in Leeds just before the war. In 1939, the position of First Reader at the Old … Continue reading The Jewish Sabbath, by Rabbi Joseph Apfel, Leeds, 1962.
The Federation of Women Zionists of Great Britain and Ireland, Fortieth Annual Report, London 1962.
The Federation of Women Zionists of Great Britain and Ireland was founded in 1918. It is the British Branch (British WIZO) of the World Women's International Zionist Organisation (World WIZO). The Federation's founder and first President was Rebecca Sieff. Rebecca Sieff (born Marks) spent most of her childhood in Manchester, which in the late nineteenth … Continue reading The Federation of Women Zionists of Great Britain and Ireland, Fortieth Annual Report, London 1962.
Communal Conference on the Reconstruction of Jewish Education in Great Britain. Report of Proceedings. London 1946.
This was an extremely important two-day conference, held on November 25th and 26th 1945. The Chief Rabbi, Dr. Hertz, was ill (he died in January 1946), and delegated his chairmanship to Dayan Grunfeld. The entire orthodox community was represented, except for the Haredi Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations. The list of the attendees, shown below … Continue reading Communal Conference on the Reconstruction of Jewish Education in Great Britain. Report of Proceedings. London 1946.
The Seventy-Second Annual Report of the Anglo-Jewish Association, London, 1943-1944.
I have written previously about my copies of early annual reports of the Anglo-Jewish Association from 1879 onwards. Here, however, is a later report, from a crucial time period. The Anglo-Jewish Association and the Board of Deputies of British Jews had a Joint Foreign Committee until it was liquidated in 1943. It consisted of an … Continue reading The Seventy-Second Annual Report of the Anglo-Jewish Association, London, 1943-1944.
Chamishah Asar Bi’Shevat, the Tree’s New Year, by Rabbi Dr. I. Weinstock, London, 1943.
This little booklet, partly reproduced below, was published in London in 1943 by the Bachad Fellowship, then operating out of Woburn House in central London. Bachad (B'nei Akiva) was a religious Zionist youth movement in pre-war Germany called Brit Chalutzim Datiim which shortened its name "to its initial letters Bachad. Its members prepared themselves for … Continue reading Chamishah Asar Bi’Shevat, the Tree’s New Year, by Rabbi Dr. I. Weinstock, London, 1943.
Responsum on Problems of Adoption in Jewish Law by Dayan Meyer Steinberg, Edited and Translated by Rabbi Maurice Rose, London, April 1969.
Although it was published first, this is the English version of some of the halachic (Jewish Law) issues discussed in Dayan Steinberg's book in Hebrew, "Lekutei Meir", which I have written about previously. Meyer Steinberg was born in Poland on April 1st, 1906. He was the Rabbi of Czortkow (in the northern part of Galician … Continue reading Responsum on Problems of Adoption in Jewish Law by Dayan Meyer Steinberg, Edited and Translated by Rabbi Maurice Rose, London, April 1969.
Jews in Eastern Europe, edited by Emanuel Litvinoff, No. 6, London, December 1960.
Those who remember the early days of the Soviet Jewry campaign in Britain in the 1960s, will remember copies of the monthly periodical, Jews in Eastern Europe, being distributed by the Universities Committee for Soviet Jewry and other organizations. These were financed by Israel Sieff and Philip Klutznick and printed by the Narod Press in … Continue reading Jews in Eastern Europe, edited by Emanuel Litvinoff, No. 6, London, December 1960.
Jewish Miscellanies 