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In Hebrew. 52 pages. 242 x 183 mm. MIKHTAV GALUI LE-YESHU HA-NOTSRI: MEHA'AH HUBRAH. AL YEDE EHAD MI-ZIKNE HA-SOFRIM BI-FEKUDAT RUAH HA-KODESH = A LETTER OF PROTEST TO JESUS CHRIST FROM THE HOLY GHOST. Parallel English title: A letter of protest to Jesus Christ from the Holy Ghost. "This anti-Christian polemic, written in the form of a letter by the Holy Ghost to Jesus, disproves the historical existence of Jesus. It 'made a great impression among Hebrew readers around the world'. Deinard 'contemplated writing this book for almost a decade'. 'This pamphlet is dedicated to countering the missionaries [etc] therefore permission is given to translate it into any language [etc] without the consent of the author. ' (p.2)." (Goldman, Hebrew Printing in America, entry # 1076). Ephraim Deinard (1846 Sasmakken, Latvia - 1930 United States) was a prolific Hebrew writer who published more than fifty books and pamphlets (some under the pseudonym "Adir") on travel, biography, bibliography, history, religion, etc. He is notable for his bibliographic work, cataloging old manuscripts and books and for his role as a polemicist. He was also one of the greatest Hebrew bookman of all time. In his youth he traveled a great deal, collecting ancient manuscripts and books in many countries, and then established a bookshop in Odessa. In 1897 he tried unsuccessfully to found an agricultural settlement in Nevada (U. S.A.). An active Zionist, he settled in Palestine in 1913 where he investigated the possibilities of Jewish settlement. After being expelled by the Turks in 1916 he returned to the United States and continued his bibliographical work. His two most noteworthy bibliographical works are Or Mayer: Catalogue of the Old Hebrew Manuscripts and Printed Books of the Library of the Hon. Mayer Sulzberger of Philadelphia (1896) and Koheleth America (1926), a listing of Hebrew books published in America from 1735 to 1926. The first part of the latter work contains essays on the state of Hebrew literature in America, which are written in his unadorned, but typically acerbic, style. He laid the foundations of the Hebrew book and manuscript collections of the Library of Congress with the financial aid of Jacob Schiff and played a significant role in the building of nearly every major Hebraica research collection in the United States early in the 20th century. A ferocious polemicist on many controversial subjects, he attacked Reform Judaism, Hasidism, Christianity, and Karaism. These included Toledot Even Reshef (1879; a biography of Abraham Firkovich, whom he knew in the Crimea); Sefer Massa Krim (1878; on travels in Crimea); Massale-Erez Kedem (1883; travels in Palestine and Egypt); Sefer Miflagot be-Yisrael (1899; on the Subbotniki and Hasidim); Zikhronot Bat Ammi (1920; a history of Russian Jewry over the previous 70 years). He also published several short-lived Hebrew and Yiddish journals, among them Ha-Le'ummi, one of the earliest Hebrew periodicals in America.
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