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Showing posts from July, 2021

Of Making Many Books

And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end (Ecclesiastes 12:12) A pdf version of this essay  can be downloaded here [*] Years in brackets refer to an individual’s or book author’s year of birth Thought experiment for the day: Anyone born 1945 would be pushing towards 80 and mostly past their prime. So name any Charedi sefer written by someone born post war that has or is likely to enter the canon, be it haloche, lomdus, al hatorah or mussar. Single one will do for now — IfYouTickleUs (@ifyoutickleus) July 27, 2022 A tweet in the summer which gained some traction asked for a book by an author born from 1945 onwards that has entered the Torah and rabbinic canon or is heading in that direction. I didn't exactly phrase it this way and some quibbled about 'canonisation'. The word does indeed have a precise meaning though in its popular use it has no narrow definition. Canonisation, or ‘entering the canon’ is generally understood to

#MyOrthodoxLife

BY ANONYMOUS In light of the recent Netflix series which inspired many 'Orthodox' women all over the internet to write how beautiful their Orthodox life is, I will join the trend and talk about my experience too. I grew up in the Chasidic community in Stamford Hill in London. I had a lovely childhood. However, I received zero secular education. When I was a bit older I learned a few years in kolel and received Semicha, but this did not help me put food on the table and so I wanted to pursue a degree. I was ambitious and wanted to do something that will make a change. I wanted to study occupational therapy to help and improve lives of those in need. I searched online for 'Open University' courses but unfortunately they don't offer this course online. I looked at other places but wherever I tried to get in, I had to contend with the entry requirements... Besides my Semicha and my knowledge of Talmud Bavli, I didn't fit any of those requirements. And so I