tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12600498.post2473318761815892802..comments2024-01-21T02:58:08.208-05:00Comments on On the Main Line: Another 5 years? Sure!Mississippi Fred MacDowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02734864605700159687noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12600498.post-59219845208179102022010-06-01T10:30:10.429-04:002010-06-01T10:30:10.429-04:00To the first anon, who asked that I elaborate on t...To the first anon, who asked that I elaborate on the influential elements of the Orthodox Forum book "Modern Scholarship and the Study of Torah: Contributions and Limitations:"<br /><br />To begin with, the very premise in the title was revelatory. Even if I disagreed with every sentence in the book, the notion that there might be a "contribution" to Torah study by "modern scholarship" (what's that?) was so opposite everything that I'd been led to believe that I can't even put into words how surprising it was. Okay, I exaggerate. It wasn't the first taste I'd had of such notions, but it was the most interesting, the most convincing, the most fully sketched. Need I say more?<br /><br />Baal Devarim, thanks for that reference. :) I don't know if I'd advocate planting mistakes, but I do agree that a book with which you can disagree with some things is a book that has you thinking. I wrote that mostly so that no one could say "How could you like <i>that</i> book? There's this or that flaw in it." To that I say: "I know."S.http://onthemainline.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12600498.post-75063762032187168592010-05-31T11:20:35.836-04:002010-05-31T11:20:35.836-04:00"but the truth is the fact that authors gener..."<i>but the truth is the fact that authors generally don't write perfect books is a good thing. It stimulates thought and leaves room for additional discoveries.</i>"<br /><br />Amusing, as I just recently bumped into <a href="http://www.av8n.com/how/htm/vdamp.html" rel="nofollow">this quote</a>:<br /><br />"Every book should contain a few completely wrong statements, just to encourage readers to think for themselves. Many books already adhere to this policy."<br /><br />You know, great minds and all...Baal Devarimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06490450025721108241noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12600498.post-84661223006127426292010-05-28T01:02:42.354-04:002010-05-28T01:02:42.354-04:00Hey, thanks for the plug. It was sheer luck that ...Hey, thanks for the plug. It was sheer luck that my own introduction to Shadal came courtesy of my grandmother, who lent me her copy of the original Italian and Hebrew version of his perush on the Torah. Margolies' biography is another example of a fine but flawed book: a bunch of names (including Shadal's son Filosseno) are consistently misspelled, there is no mention at all of Shadal's important controversy with R. Elijah Benamozegh, and his concept of miracles is misinterpreted, and yet the book remains the single best Shadal reference available.Dan Kleinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12600498.post-23824990406797193132010-05-27T18:37:18.561-04:002010-05-27T18:37:18.561-04:00Thanks for this revealing post.
H.L.Mencken write...Thanks for this revealing post.<br /><br />H.L.Mencken writes of the day he discovered Mark Twain as "probably the most stupendous day of my life." For Bialik it was some old quasi-maskillic book he found on top of his father's breakfront. <br /><br />For me it was chancing upon RR Margolios' Mechkarim Bidarchei Ha-talmud. Seems like most everyone can identify the one book that started them on their path.<br /><br />DFAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12600498.post-71403790526738729132010-05-27T10:45:53.500-04:002010-05-27T10:45:53.500-04:00Anon, I could. Actually rereading these I see that...Anon, I could. Actually rereading these I see that more elaboration for many of them are necessary.<br /><br />Wolf, actually that's the Yerushalmi itself.S.http://onthemainline.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12600498.post-64489101188521190792010-05-27T09:51:44.270-04:002010-05-27T09:51:44.270-04:00...Or How to Become an Apikores in Eight Not-So-Ea......Or How to Become an Apikores in Eight Not-So-Easy Books.<br /><br />(Replace Apikores with Enlightened if it needs muddying.)YKWnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12600498.post-12240856794011786082010-05-27T08:30:52.343-04:002010-05-27T08:30:52.343-04:00I won't settle for less then another 50 at lea...I won't settle for less then another 50 at least - and many articles and books. <br /><br />I like the last photo - a way to include the great Renak despite the fact that you only accessed him through digitization.Wolf2191https://www.blogger.com/profile/13577870680689849400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12600498.post-23142876118357516772010-05-27T08:05:28.739-04:002010-05-27T08:05:28.739-04:00"The 1996 Orthodox Forum book edited by Prof...."The 1996 Orthodox Forum book edited by Prof. Shalom Carmy ,Modern Scholarship in the Study of Torah: Contributions and Limitations was similarly eye-opening. It's probably unnecessary to elaborate on why and how." <br /><br />Maybe it's unnecessary, but could you elaborate anyway?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com