Tamar Ron Marvin
@trmarvin.bsky.social
I write about medieval Jews and 21st century Torah | Intellectual historian, medieval Jewish thought | Rabbanit | שים ספריך חבריך
website: trmarvin.org
newsletter: trmarvin.substack.com
website: trmarvin.org
newsletter: trmarvin.substack.com
My 12yo wants to write down everything he knows in one book. This is how he divided all knowledge. 😍
I'm particularly excited that he grouped religion and culture together.
Note that in his periodization modernity starts in 1950.
I'm particularly excited that he grouped religion and culture together.
Note that in his periodization modernity starts in 1950.
March 16, 2025 at 11:45 AM
My 12yo wants to write down everything he knows in one book. This is how he divided all knowledge. 😍
I'm particularly excited that he grouped religion and culture together.
Note that in his periodization modernity starts in 1950.
I'm particularly excited that he grouped religion and culture together.
Note that in his periodization modernity starts in 1950.
Planning a trip to Paris this summer. How many medieval and/or Jewish things can I cram into my itinerary? Please advise! How long will my family give me at the BNF? Stay tuned...
Image: a 14th-cen. copy of R. Yehiel of Paris' account of the trial of the Talmud in 1240, RSL Ms. Guenzburg 1390
Image: a 14th-cen. copy of R. Yehiel of Paris' account of the trial of the Talmud in 1240, RSL Ms. Guenzburg 1390
February 18, 2025 at 9:46 AM
Planning a trip to Paris this summer. How many medieval and/or Jewish things can I cram into my itinerary? Please advise! How long will my family give me at the BNF? Stay tuned...
Image: a 14th-cen. copy of R. Yehiel of Paris' account of the trial of the Talmud in 1240, RSL Ms. Guenzburg 1390
Image: a 14th-cen. copy of R. Yehiel of Paris' account of the trial of the Talmud in 1240, RSL Ms. Guenzburg 1390
A little modern (and modernist) history at the concert hall (Heichal haTarbut, Tel Aviv).
February 2, 2025 at 10:59 AM
A little modern (and modernist) history at the concert hall (Heichal haTarbut, Tel Aviv).
It was at Yeshivat Har Etzion! Here are a few of my favorites from the collection: a Bible with Rashi and Ibn Ezra (I think it's a Bragadin? Early modern print folks, correct me), a Rif with the wonderful illustration, a trad book gate cover page, and an inscription of the Hafetz Hayim.
January 22, 2025 at 3:11 PM
It was at Yeshivat Har Etzion! Here are a few of my favorites from the collection: a Bible with Rashi and Ibn Ezra (I think it's a Bragadin? Early modern print folks, correct me), a Rif with the wonderful illustration, a trad book gate cover page, and an inscription of the Hafetz Hayim.
Which library and rare book room did I visit yesterday? Clues below.
January 15, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Which library and rare book room did I visit yesterday? Clues below.
The Worms Mahzor is medieval Bauhaus, change my mind.
January 8, 2025 at 8:47 PM
The Worms Mahzor is medieval Bauhaus, change my mind.
Historical sites/activities to which I dragged my progeny over winter break. (They mostly enjoyed it. Plus we made oil lamps!)
January 1, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Historical sites/activities to which I dragged my progeny over winter break. (They mostly enjoyed it. Plus we made oil lamps!)
Finally got the Rambam one. Chag urim sameach from the city of the Maccabees.
December 25, 2024 at 4:56 PM
Finally got the Rambam one. Chag urim sameach from the city of the Maccabees.
Well, now he has 31
December 24, 2024 at 3:01 PM
Well, now he has 31
Me: I will get lots of writing done today.
Life:
Life:
December 11, 2024 at 7:05 PM
Me: I will get lots of writing done today.
Life:
Life:
The instability of medieval texts still surprises me. Maybe it shouldn't, here in the digital age; our digital texts are of course notably porous and mutable. But I'm poking in to textual variants of Rashi today and wow, is there chaos beneath the seemingly neat "standard" version.
December 9, 2024 at 12:24 PM
The instability of medieval texts still surprises me. Maybe it shouldn't, here in the digital age; our digital texts are of course notably porous and mutable. But I'm poking in to textual variants of Rashi today and wow, is there chaos beneath the seemingly neat "standard" version.
A mentor shared with me that her father wrote in his ethical will: take care with the books you think with, your intellectual horizons are defined by them.
It's not like I need convincing to buy books, but this immediately changed my mindset. As a result I got myself אגלי טל and גר"א על פרקי אבות.
It's not like I need convincing to buy books, but this immediately changed my mindset. As a result I got myself אגלי טל and גר"א על פרקי אבות.
December 5, 2024 at 12:38 PM
A mentor shared with me that her father wrote in his ethical will: take care with the books you think with, your intellectual horizons are defined by them.
It's not like I need convincing to buy books, but this immediately changed my mindset. As a result I got myself אגלי טל and גר"א על פרקי אבות.
It's not like I need convincing to buy books, but this immediately changed my mindset. As a result I got myself אגלי טל and גר"א על פרקי אבות.
This was not the Ein Yitzchak I was looking for, but actually it is exactly the Ein Yitchak I didn't know I was looking for.
December 3, 2024 at 7:31 PM
This was not the Ein Yitzchak I was looking for, but actually it is exactly the Ein Yitchak I didn't know I was looking for.
I had selected this folio for an earlier piece I wrote because on a visual level it is easy to see the different levels of annotation - but I went back today to see if there was anything interesting in Rashi's programmatic comment on Ber 3:8 - unfortunately it's damaged.
December 1, 2024 at 5:41 PM
I had selected this folio for an earlier piece I wrote because on a visual level it is easy to see the different levels of annotation - but I went back today to see if there was anything interesting in Rashi's programmatic comment on Ber 3:8 - unfortunately it's damaged.
Today I'm writing about Rashi. It's both easier and harder to write about major figures compared to more obscure ones. Easier, because more is generally known and the narrative thread is easier to find. Harder, because of decisions about inevitable omissions.
🗃️ #medievalsky
🗃️ #medievalsky
December 1, 2024 at 3:50 PM
Today I'm writing about Rashi. It's both easier and harder to write about major figures compared to more obscure ones. Easier, because more is generally known and the narrative thread is easier to find. Harder, because of decisions about inevitable omissions.
🗃️ #medievalsky
🗃️ #medievalsky
The good news: it was not so hard to find a whole turkey here *and* I managed to fit it in the fridge
The bad news: it doesn't quite fit in our new smoker, we might have to finish it in the oven
(It is our new minhag to have a Thanksgiving-themed Shabbat the Fri after American Thanksgiving)
The bad news: it doesn't quite fit in our new smoker, we might have to finish it in the oven
(It is our new minhag to have a Thanksgiving-themed Shabbat the Fri after American Thanksgiving)
November 29, 2024 at 8:34 AM
The good news: it was not so hard to find a whole turkey here *and* I managed to fit it in the fridge
The bad news: it doesn't quite fit in our new smoker, we might have to finish it in the oven
(It is our new minhag to have a Thanksgiving-themed Shabbat the Fri after American Thanksgiving)
The bad news: it doesn't quite fit in our new smoker, we might have to finish it in the oven
(It is our new minhag to have a Thanksgiving-themed Shabbat the Fri after American Thanksgiving)
With Yom Kippur around the corner, I have my annual excuse to trot out one of my favorite manuscripts, the Esslinger Mahzor (JTS 9344). Its two-color minimalist decoration is strikingly modern-looking (med mod?). This page features a piyut (liturgical poem) by R. Elazar Kalir called שושן עמק איומה.
September 22, 2023 at 12:32 AM
With Yom Kippur around the corner, I have my annual excuse to trot out one of my favorite manuscripts, the Esslinger Mahzor (JTS 9344). Its two-color minimalist decoration is strikingly modern-looking (med mod?). This page features a piyut (liturgical poem) by R. Elazar Kalir called שושן עמק איומה.
It's always a good time to share this poem by R. Shmuel ha-Nagid (from Ben Mishlei). One of my great favorites.
September 20, 2023 at 2:27 AM
It's always a good time to share this poem by R. Shmuel ha-Nagid (from Ben Mishlei). One of my great favorites.
Ooh love that color. Here's my current WIP:
September 10, 2023 at 7:18 PM
Ooh love that color. Here's my current WIP:
Advertise your account with just one image
September 10, 2023 at 3:23 AM
Advertise your account with just one image
Shabbat shalom Jewsky
August 26, 2023 at 1:07 AM
Shabbat shalom Jewsky
Today I spent time with the Sheiltot, a Geonic collection of derashot (sermons). If you're a person who likes to have a four-part structured response (in Aramaic, natch) to an artificial question loosely pertaining to the parsha that has a very specific quoting-from-Gemara procedure, run don't walk.
August 22, 2023 at 3:27 AM
Today I spent time with the Sheiltot, a Geonic collection of derashot (sermons). If you're a person who likes to have a four-part structured response (in Aramaic, natch) to an artificial question loosely pertaining to the parsha that has a very specific quoting-from-Gemara procedure, run don't walk.
Shabbat shalom Jewsky. I brought the cookies.
August 19, 2023 at 12:45 AM
Shabbat shalom Jewsky. I brought the cookies.