Freebies

Last week’s winner of R. Aharon Rakeffet’s scholarly memoirs, From Washington Avenue to Washington Street, is Moshe Friedler who correctly answered that Dr. Bernard Lander suggested R. Rakeffet’s dissertation topic. This week, the second of three weeks, the trivia question is: What was Rav Rakeffet’s first job when he made aliyah? E-mail your answer to this address with the subject ...

With the arrival in the US of R. Aharon Rakeffet’s scholarly memoirs, From Washington Avenue to Washington Street (available in hardcover and e-book), I am able to offer Hirhurim readers an opportunity to obtain a free copy (thanks to the publishers, Gefen and OU Press). Over the next three weeks, I will be asking Rakeffet trivia and each week one ...

Moses Mendelssohn’s Bi’ur on the Pentateuch was both popular and controversial. I’ve located three volumes on Google books. Please add in the comments links for other volumes if you can find them.Thanks to Shimon S. for finding the missing volumes. Genesis: link Exodus: link Leviticus: link Numbers: link Deuteronomy: link

R. Yechezkel Abramsky was a leading student of R. Chaim Soloveitchik. He served for many years on the London Beth Din until settling in Bnei Brak as a rosh yeshiva. His Chazon Yechezkel commentary on the Tosefta is a classic of lomdus and is available in full on HebrewBooks.org: Zera’im: link Mo’ed I: link Mo’ed II: link Nashim I: link ...

OnYourWay (ובלכתך בדרך) is a great iPad app that gives you a decent collection of sefarim for free (link). The books are well organized and the Chumash section allows you to choose each chapter and the commentaries you want (Rashi, Ramban, Ibn Ezra and more). Includes all of Tanakh, Mishnah, Gemara, Shulchan Arukh, some mussar and machashavah books and more. ...

R. David Zvi Hoffmann was a brilliant Talmudist, religious authority and academic scholar of Judaism. Among his many accomplishments was a highly original commentary on the Torah. Written in German, it was later translated into Hebrew. Two of the Hebrew volumes are available for free download online: Bereishis Devarim

As the month of Tammuz begins, Dr. Erica Brown’s new book, In the Narrow Places: Daily Inspiration for the Three Weeks (OU Press and Maggid) is very timely. Here is a link to the book’s lengthy introduction: link. In In the Narrow Places, Dr. Brown brings her extraordinary teaching skills to the subject of the Three Weeks, the period of ...

Tuesday is the third of the Hebrew month of Tammuz, the 17th yahrtzeit of R. Menachem Mendel Schneerson (link). Nearly nine years ago I published a book arguing that the deceased Lubavitcher Rebbe cannot be mashi’ach. The book, Can the Rebbe be Moshiach?, is available for free download here: link. A Hebrew booklet of mine, Kuntres Bikores HaGe’ulah, is available ...

R. Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer’s Bigdeh Shesh: The Collected Writings of Rabbi Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer was originally placed online in 2006: link. Edited by a student, this free download is a collection of R. Bechhofer’s articles. The table of contents is below. You can read more of Rabbi Bechhofer’s writings at his blog:rygb.blogspot.com and at his website: www.aishdas.org/rygb/. TABLE OF CONTENTS: ...

I started putting together this website cataloging R. Aharon Rakeffet’s lectures. This is obviously just the tip of the iceberg, and YUTorah is the source, but users might find this an easy way to access his recent and some classic lectures: Rakeffet.Wordpress.com. Also note that this website is presented in conjunction with the publication of R. Rakeffet’s new book, From ...