The Anatomy of a Mystery: Kohanim, Dissection, and Medical Training Throughout History

The Anatomy of a Mystery: Kohanim, Dissection, and Medical Training Throughout History

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The Anatomy of a Mystery: Kohanim, Dissection, and Medical Training Throughout History Rabbi Edward Reichman, MD In September of 2024, I accidentally opened the portal to a priestly mystery. While searching for references to the first Jewish students to attend the University of Gottingen Medical School, I came across an antisemitic work published in 1753 about the general dishonesty of Jews and Jewish oaths.[1] Therein were a few disparaging references to Jewish physicians,[2] one of whom was named Lehmann Isaac…

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Yaakov Mark and Two Episodes from Vilna’s Great Synagogue Related to Yom Kippur

Yaakov Mark and Two Episodes from Vilna’s Great Synagogue Related to Yom Kippur

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Yaakov Mark and Two Episodes from Vilna’s Great Synagogue Related to Yom Kippur David Livni was born in Vilna in 1870. He was educated in traditional Orthodox schools and joined the proto-Zionist Hovevi Tzion movement. In 1906, he and his wife and five children moved to Israel. The children were among the first students of Herzliya Gymnasium, and David was one of the founders of Tel Aviv and its Great Synagogue. He served on its board until he fell out…

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Review of Jay R. Berkovitz’s The Pinkas of Metz

Review of Jay R. Berkovitz’s The Pinkas of Metz

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Review of Jay R. Berkovitz’s The Pinkas of Metz By Eliezer Brodt & Dan Rabinowitz Jay R. Berkovitz, Protocols of Justice: The Pinkas of Metz Rabbinic Court 1771-1789, (2 vol., 222 pp. +1084 pp.), Brill 2014 Jay R. Berkovitz, Law’s Dominion, Jewish Community, Religion and Family in Early Modern Metz,(404 pp.) Brill 2022 A decade ago, Professor Jay Berkovitz, a Professor and Chair of Judaic and Near Eastern Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, published the Pinkas (record book…

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Neturei Karta; ArtScroll, Arius, and Orangutans; Suicide and the Law of Rodef

Neturei Karta; ArtScroll, Arius, and Orangutans; Suicide and the Law of Rodef

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 Neturei Karta; ArtScroll, Arius, and Orangutans; Suicide and the Law of Rodef Marc B. Shapiro 1. We have recently seen behavior by so-called religious Jews that is vile. I refer to the actions of Neturei Karta. Of course, we have all seen their antics in the past, but I think most of us looked at them as clowns and sick people that maybe we should feel sorry for. This is no longer the case. Now they are marching in support of…

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Elul Sale Announcement: Twelve Seforim recommendations

Elul Sale Announcement: Twelve Seforim recommendations

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Elul Sale Announcement: Twelve Seforim recommendations By Eliezer Brodt In this post I would like to highlight and briefly describe a select list of seforim, some of which are brand new and others are a few years old. Several seforim are mentioned here due to relation to this time of year [i.e. Elul and Tishrei related] and for various reasons did not receive proper notice. The first title I would like to mention is: שערי תפילה ומועד, אסופת מאמרים, תשפ”ד,…

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Parchments Burning, Letters Soaring, and Books Lost and Found: S.Y. Agnon’s Library Fire 100 Years Later

Parchments Burning, Letters Soaring, and Books Lost and Found: S.Y. Agnon’s Library Fire 100 Years Later

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Parchments Burning, Letters Soaring, and Books Lost and Found: S.Y. Agnon’s Library Fire 100 Years Later Jeffrey Saks Rabbi Jeffrey Saks, Director of ATID and its WebYeshiva.org program, is Director of Research at Agnon House in Jerusalem and editor of the journal Tradition. Thanks to Prof. Mordecai Schwartz and Andrew Katz of the JTS Library for their assistance, and to Curt Leviant, whose questions prodded this research.  “All day I see the parchment burning, but its letters are soaring to…

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