This first edition of Asifat Zekenim (collection of elders), better known as the Shita Mekubetzet (collected method or system of gathered material), has approbations (haskamas) of the Rabbis of Livorno (Leghorn) and apparently the first published approbation by the Chida – Rabbi Chaim Yosef David Azulai. The Chida has some interesting British connections. He was … Continue reading Asifat Zekenim, by Rabbi Bezalel Ashkenazi, Bava Basra / Nozir, First Edition, 1774 Livorno.
Category: Talmud
Sulzbach Talmud – 1755 to 1770
I have a number of volumes of the Talmud, printed in Sulzbach, Bavaria, on various dates in the mid-eighteenth century. Hebrew printing had begun in Sulzbach, an old-established Jewish community, in 1669. These editions of the Talmud are the second and third editions printed in Sulzbach by Meshulam Zalman (known as Zalman) son of Aharon … Continue reading Sulzbach Talmud – 1755 to 1770
Hagahot Mesechos Chulin uKrisus, Rabbi Yosef Tzvi Dünner (J H Dünner) of Amsterdam, Frankfort on Main, 1900.
The author, Rabbi Joseph Hirsch Dünner, was born in Cracow, Poland, in 1833. He received semicha (his rabbinical degree) in his native city, and studied philosophy and Oriental philology at Bonn and Heidelberg. He received a PhD from the latter institution with a thesis on Abraham Ibn Ezra. In 1862 he was called from Bonn … Continue reading Hagahot Mesechos Chulin uKrisus, Rabbi Yosef Tzvi Dünner (J H Dünner) of Amsterdam, Frankfort on Main, 1900.
A Translation of the Treatise Chagigah from the Babylonian Talmud, A. W. Streane, Cambridge, 1891.
I believe that this is the first translation of any complete tractate of the Talmud into English, predating the Soncino translation by over forty years. The Rev. Annesley William Streane, D.D., Fellow of Corpus, Cambridge, was born in Dublin in 1845. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin and in 1871 he entered Emmanuel College, … Continue reading A Translation of the Treatise Chagigah from the Babylonian Talmud, A. W. Streane, Cambridge, 1891.
Hilchos Rav Alfas (Halakhic Code), Rabbi Isaac ben Jacob Alfasi, Sabbioneta: Tobias Foa, 1554-1555
Rabbi Isaac ben Jacob Alfasi (Known as the Rif; 1013-1103) was a native of northern Algeria who received his education in Kairouan, The Rif resided for much of his life in Fez (hence the surname Alfasi) until about the age of 75, when he was forced to flee to Spain, where he died. This book, … Continue reading Hilchos Rav Alfas (Halakhic Code), Rabbi Isaac ben Jacob Alfasi, Sabbioneta: Tobias Foa, 1554-1555
The Babylonian Talmud, Seder Nezikin, Baba Kamma I, translated into English by Rabbi E. W. Kirzner, Soncino Press, London, 1935. (The 500th post).
This is the rarest of Soncino Press Talmud editions. The first edition of the Soncino Talmud, with translations into English by impeccably orthodox Rabbonim, was published in 1935. 1,000 regular sets were printed. There were also 35 special sets, leather bound, printed on handmade Barcham Green's paper, and individually signed by the editor, Rabbi Isidore … Continue reading The Babylonian Talmud, Seder Nezikin, Baba Kamma I, translated into English by Rabbi E. W. Kirzner, Soncino Press, London, 1935. (The 500th post).
The Talmud, Brochoth, by Rabbi Joseph Shapotshnick, London 1936.
This is an interesting booklet in English by Rabbi Joseph Shapotshnick, about whom I have written before. It is from the same period as his book "The Jews Among the Nations", which is also in my library. This 32 page book is written in English, at a time of rising anti-semitism in Germany. Most of … Continue reading The Talmud, Brochoth, by Rabbi Joseph Shapotshnick, London 1936.
Chidushei Halachos Maharsha, by Rabbi Samuel Eidels, Vienna, 1814.
This large, heavy volume is from my antiques book collection. Samuel Eliezer, the son of Judah ha-Levi Eidels (known as MaHaRShA—Morenu Ha-Rav Shemu'el Eidels), was one of the foremost Talmudic commentators. Born in Cracow in Poland in 1555, he moved to Posen in his youth, where he married the daughter of R. Moses Ashkenazi Heilpern. … Continue reading Chidushei Halachos Maharsha, by Rabbi Samuel Eidels, Vienna, 1814.
Talmud: Moed Katan, Frankfurt Am Main, 1720.
This is not the Anglo-Judaica that I usually write about, but a book from my antique Judaica collection. It is a copy of a small tractate (massechet in Hebrew) of the Talmud, called Moed Katan (Little Festival), and was printed in Frankfurt Am Main in 1720. It deals with the laws that pertain to the … Continue reading Talmud: Moed Katan, Frankfurt Am Main, 1720.
Ro’ui LeVilah or Roya La-Bilah (Proper Mingling) by Rabbi Pinchas Gerber, London 1932.
Rabbi Pinchas Shmuel Yaakov Gerber was born in Zeimis, near Kovno in approximately 1861. He emigrated to the United Kingdom, where he was appointed Rabbi of a congregation in Edinburgh, Scotland. There, he was involved in some controversies over whether the British Rabbinate recognized his qualifications to give divorces (gets) and to supervise the kosher … Continue reading Ro’ui LeVilah or Roya La-Bilah (Proper Mingling) by Rabbi Pinchas Gerber, London 1932.
Jewish Miscellanies 