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Category: Customs

A Woman's Place Is In The Home

A Woman's Place Is In The Home

A Woman's Place Is In The Home by: Yitzhak, of בין דין לדין The Sons of Korah declare:כָּל-כְּבוּדָּה בַת-מֶלֶךְ פְּנִימָה; מִמִּשְׁבְּצוֹת זָהָב לְבוּשָׁהּ.[1][And see here for various nineteenth and twentieth century references to our titular aphorism, and see this essay.] But is the verse indeed a normative injunction toward modesty, for women in general, or at least Jewish women in particular, as it is commonly understood? And if so, exactly what standard of behavior is being enjoined? Cultural Norms –…

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Some Observations Regarding the Mah Nishtannah

Some Observations Regarding the Mah Nishtannah

Some Observations Regarding the Mah Nishtannah[1] by: Mitchell First 1. It is well-known that the Mishnah in the tenth chapter of Pesachim includes a set of mah nishtannah. But if one opens a standard printed Babylonian Talmud (Pes. 116a), one sees four questions[2] in the text of the Mishnah (matzah, maror, roast, and dipping), while if one opens a standard printed Jerusalem Talmud, one sees three (dipping, matzah and roast). Is this an instance of a disagreement between the text…

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Anim Zemorot: A Modern Purim Parody

Anim Zemorot: A Modern Purim Parody

Anim Zemorot:  A Modern Purim ParodyFor many centuries, parodies have been part of the Purim literature (see this post discussing their history).  One particularly popular genre of Purim literature has been the fake tefila.  Perhaps the best-known collection is the “Kol Bo” (first printed in L’vov, 1855 – see I. Davidson, Parody in Jewish Literature, n. 191 discussing this work, and a later example here) which runs the gamut of Kiddush to Yetziv Pitgam (de-Lot mi-S’dom) and Mareh Haman to…

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Tu be-Shevat Sabbatianism

Tu be-Shevat Sabbatianism

See here for our earlier post discussing the potential linkage between Tu be-Shevat (or Tu B’Shevat)customs and Sabbatianism. See here, here, and here for other customs that may have similar likages. And, finally, see here for a collection of articles on Sabbatianism generally.

Nitel Nacht

Nitel Nacht

Slate, today, has an article that provides a nice of nitel nacht and there is another one here. Additionally, see this previous post discussing nitel.

Another chapter of R. Shmuel Ashkenazi’s Latest Work

Another chapter of R. Shmuel Ashkenazi’s Latest Work

Another chapter of R. Shmuel Ashkenazi’s Latest Work Unfortunately, the amount of responses regarding assisting the publication of R. Ashkenazi’s was underwhelming (a total of one contribution) so it is still uncertain when the seforim will actually be published. Until then – here is another chapter. For more information to contribute (any amount is extremly helpful) contact me at eliezerbrodt-at-gmail.com. למקורות הפתגם ‘ישועת ה’ כהרף עין’ בספרו איש צדיק היה (ס”ע 223) מספר שמחה רז: פעם סיפר לי (ר’ אריה…

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