''Shem Mishmuel'' () is a nine-volume collection of homiletical teachings on the

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

and

Jewish holiday Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or ''Yamim Tovim'' (, or singular , in transliterated Hebrew []), are holidays observed by Jews throughout the Hebrew calendar.This article focuses on practices of mainstream Rabbinic Judaism. ...

s delivered by Rabbi Shmuel Bornsztain, second Sochatchover Rebbe, Shmuel Bornsztain, the second Sochatchov (Hasidic dynasty), Sochatchover

Rebbe A Rebbe () or Admor () is the spiritual leader in the Hasidic movement, and the personalities of its dynasties.Heilman, Samuel"The Rebbe and the Resurgence of Orthodox Judaism."''Religion and Spirituality (Audio)''. UCTV, 20 Oct 2011. web. ...

, between the years 1910–1926. A major work in Hasidic thought, it synthesizes the Hasidism of Pshischa and Kotzk in the style of Sochatchov, and is frequently cited in Torah '' shiurim'' (lectures) and articles. Bornsztain became known as the ''Shem Mishmuel'' after the title of this work, which was published posthumously.

Title

The title comes from the

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; , from the verb ''šānā'', "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first written collection of the Jewish oral traditions that are known as the Oral Torah. Having been collected in the 3rd century CE, it is ...

on ''

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the seven-day week, week—i.e., Friday prayer, Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews ...

'' 12:3, which describes the

prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

against writing on

. The Mishnah teaches that if a

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

wishes to write a whole name like Shimon (שמעון) or Shmuel (שמואל), but writes only the first two letters of these names, '' shin'' (ש) and '' mem'' (מ), he still transgresses the prohibition—for ''shin'' and ''mem'' spell a shorter name, ''shem'' (שם) (which means "name"). Bornsztain's choice of the Mishnaic expression ''shem miShimon o miShmuel'' (''Shem'' from Shimon or Shmuel) for his title reflects the classical rabbinic

play on words Word play or wordplay (also: play-on-words) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement. Examples of word play include puns, phone ...

combining a rabbinic teaching with the author's name.

Content and structure

The first eight volumes of ''Shem Mishmuel'' cover lessons on each of the '' parshiyot'' (weekly Torah readings). In traditional Hasidic style, they are not printed according to the sequence of the ''parshiyot'' but in the order in which the Rebbe delivered these lessons to his followers. The ninth volume deals exclusively with the

Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday and one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Biblical Egypt, Egypt. According to the Book of Exodus, God in ...

Haggadah The Haggadah (, "telling"; plural: Haggadot) is a foundational Jewish text that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder. According to Jewish practice, reading the Haggadah at the Seder table fulfills the mitzvah incumbent on every Jew to reco ...

. In addition to displaying a thorough familiarity with the

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

Midrash ''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
. ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; or ''midrashot' ...

Kabbalah Kabbalah or Qabalah ( ; , ; ) is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. It forms the foundation of Mysticism, mystical religious interpretations within Judaism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ...

, and other classic Jewish sources, Bornsztain presents many of the ideas of his father, Rabbi Avrohom Bornsztain, the first Sochatchover Rebbe, who was known as the ''Avnei Nezer'' after the title of his major work.

Printing history

The volume on the Pesach Haggadah was published first by Bornsztain's son and successor, Rabbi Dovid Bornsztain, the third Sochatchover Rebbe, in Piotrków in 1927. Rabbi Dovid published the rest of the volumes between 1927 and 1932, with funding provided by Rabbi David Parshinowski. Bornsztain's other son, Rabbi Chanoch Henoch Bornsztain, who had immigrated to Israel in 1924 and became the fourth Sochatchover Rebbe after Rabbi David died in the

Warsaw Ghetto The Warsaw Ghetto (, officially , ; ) was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II and the Holocaust. It was established in November 1940 by the Nazi Germany, German authorities within the new General Government territory of Occupat ...

in 1942,Growise, Yisroel Alter. ''The Sochatchover Rebbe, Harav Menachem Shlomo Bornstein, zt"l, 40 Years Since His Tragic Passing''.

Hamodia ''Hamodia'' ( – "''the Informer''") is a Jewish daily newspaper, published in Hebrew language, Hebrew-language in Jerusalem and English language, English-language in the United States, as well as weekly English-language editions in England and I ...

Features, 27 August 2009, pp. C4-5. published the second edition of ''Shem Mishmuel'' in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

in 1950 with the aid of Rabbi Avraham Parshan, son of Rabbi Parshinowski. Rabbi Parshan also assisted with the publication of a third edition in 1965. The third edition of the volume dealing with the Hagaddah included an additional section containing ''chiddushei Torah'' (new Torah thoughts) on the Hagaddah, which had been penned by Rabbi Dovid and which had survived the war, entitled ''Chasdei Dovid''.''Harav Dovid Bornstein — The Sochatchover Rebbe''.

Features, 11 November 2010, p. C3. Other editions followed; the seventh, corrected edition used by Rabbi Zvi Belovski in his English translation for Targum Press was published in Israel in 1988 by the Parshan family trust in memory of Rabbi Parshan.

References

{{reflist

External links

Shem Meshmuel
A synopsis of the teachings of Bornsztain's school of thought
Shem Mishmuel Citation Index
A citation index of Tanach and Talmudic sources to the Shem Mishmuel 1927 non-fiction books Books published posthumously Jewish mystical texts Jewish philosophical and ethical texts Sochatchov (Hasidic dynasty) Hebrew-language religious books Sifrei Kodesh Hasidic literature