העורך Editor

אור החיים הקדוש דברים כ”א כ”ב:

“וכי יהיה באיש חטא וגו'”.

סמך פרשה זו לשלפניה, לפי שהיה מסלסל סדר תיקון האדם, בתחילה העירו על עצמו כמו שפירשתי ברמז פרשת כי תצא, אחר כך העיר האב על הבן כמו שרמזנו בפסוק “כי יהיה בן סורר וגו'”, וכאן העיר על חכמי הדור לפקוח עין על עושי עול, והוא אומרו “כי יהיה באיש חטא משפט מות” ונשאר עומד במרדו ולא חזר בתשובה עד שמת בחטאו, והוא אומרו “והומת”, ותלה ה’ חסרונו על החכם כאומרו “ותלית אותו על עץ” זה החכם עץ עושה פרי שהוא יטול עונשו, כי ה’ ציוהו להוכיח ולחזור ולהוכיח עד הכאה (ערכין ט”ז ב’) וכמו שכתבנו בפרשת קדושים, וכשהוא העלים עינו מאיש זה עד שמת מתחייב בו.

כמבואר בשו”ע או”ח תקע”ו-תקע”ט.

There is a paradox, so to speak.

On the one hand, Hyehudi.org encourages independent scholarship. We have written here of the problems with modern works, and not-so-modern works, advocating an originalist, back-to-the-sources approach, stressing primary sources read and re-read carefully.

And yet, Hyehudi’s authors are continually “bombarding” the readers with diverse hyperlinks, long online documents, and resources that would take several lifetimes to consume.

Here are my defenses:

• Not every article, reference, or book, is meant for each reader!
• We present alternatives to competing materials for already-voracious readers.
• Some of us have more of an excuse for reading widely, and some can “skim” faster than others (de nobis ipsis silemus).
• This is the only way for me to publish at all, as explained here.

“The Coming of the Book – The Impact of Printing 1450-1800” by Lucien Febvre and Henri-Jean Martin, translated by David Gerard and published by Verso p. 72:

A powerful Chinese tradition maintained that all benefits emanate from the Emperor’s Court and so the invention of paper was ascribed to the Director of the Imperial Workshops, the eunuch Tsai Lun (died 121 A.D.) but it appears certain that paper was used for writing long before Tsai Lun. It was he who reported on the subject to the Emperor (105 A.D.) and this report has survived, so his name is remembered while the efforts of many anonymous craftsmen have been forgotten.

Followed by p. 74:

Originally a craft confined to the upper and lower reaches of the Yellow River, block-printing was eventually adopted by the scholars to preserve and disseminate the canonical writings. As such it was recommended officially by a government minister, Feng Tao, in a report to the Emperor. Like Tsai Lun’s, this report has survived. These two men are still credited with the honour of inventions which they did no more than bring to the notice of the Court.

As Koheles said…