First Impressions: Sefer Hasidim and Early Modern Hebrew Printing

＂In 1538, a partnership of Jewish silk makers in the city of Bologna published a book entitled Sefer òHasidim, a compendium of rituals, stories, and religious instruction that primarily originated in medieval Franco-Germany. This book tells the story of how these men came to produce such a book＂--

Joseph A. Skloot is the Rabbi Aaron D. Panken Assistant Professor of Modern Jewish Intellectual History at HUC-JIR/New York. He is chair of the Central Conference of American Rabbis Worship and Practice Committee, and his writing has been featured in two CCAR Press publications: The Sacred Table and Lights in the Forest.