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Category: History

The Birkhat ha-Mazon as an Early Modern Supplementary Prayerbook

The Birkhat ha-Mazon as an Early Modern Supplementary Prayerbook

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The Birkhat ha-Mazon as an Early Modern Supplementary Prayerbook Morris M. Faierstein Ph.D. morrisfaierstein.academia.edu The opportunity to meet the liturgical needs of the Jewish community in the age of printing presented both possibilities and problems for the publishers and printers who wished to publish prayerbooks. Unlike biblical and rabbinic texts that were the same for all Jewish communities, prayerbooks were very diverse with different communities having their own rites and sub-rites. Another problem was what to include and what not…

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Comments on recent books by R. Benji Levy and R. Eitam Henkin; R. Joseph B. Soloveitchik; and the first color photographs of R. Jehiel Jacob Weinberg.

Comments on recent books by R. Benji Levy and R. Eitam Henkin; R. Joseph B. Soloveitchik; and the first color photographs of R. Jehiel Jacob Weinberg.

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Comments on recent books by R. Benji Levy and R. Eitam Henkin; R. Joseph B. Soloveitchik; and the first color photographs of R. Jehiel Jacob Weinberg Marc B. Shapiro 1. Benji Levy, Covenant and the Jewish Conversion Question: Extending the Thought of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik (Cham, Switzerland, 2021) The last few decades have seen a lot of discussion regarding conversion, and what is and is not required before someone is accepted into the Jewish community. This is obviously a halakhic matter,…

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Simchas Torah and its Customs Including an Appendix from: R’ Chaim Zev Malinowitz Zt”l Celebrating Simchas Torah All Year Round

Simchas Torah and its Customs Including an Appendix from: R’ Chaim Zev Malinowitz Zt”l Celebrating Simchas Torah All Year Round

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Simchas Torah and its customs Including an Appendix From R’ Chaim Zev Malinowitz Zt”l Celebrating Simchas Torah All Year Round By Eliezer Brodt At the end of the Yom Tov of Succos there is a special Yom Tov called Simchas Torah. While in Eretz Yisroel it’s celebrated on the eighth day of Succos, Shmini Atzeret; in Chutz L’Aretz it’s celebrated the day after Shmini Atzeret. Simchas Torah is a day of great Simcha and like all of our Yom Tovim…

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Maimonides on Free Will, Divine Omniscience and Repentance

Maimonides on Free Will, Divine Omniscience and Repentance

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Maimonides on Free Will, Divine Omniscience and Repentance Ben Zion Katz The problem of reconciling the notions of man’s free will and Divine omniscience is an ancient one. As early as Mishna Avot 3:15 Rabbi Akiva states that “everything is known [by God] but permission (i.e. free will) is given [to people]”. Maimonides begins to tackle this question in his Laws of Repentance (הלכות תשובה) from Book One (The Book of Science סּפּר המדע) of the Mishnah Torah. In chapter…

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Mrs. Ethel Abrams – Ettel Ha’Ivriya of Clarksdale, Mississippi

Mrs. Ethel Abrams – Ettel Ha’Ivriya of Clarksdale, Mississippi

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Mrs. Ethel Abrams – Ettel Ha’Ivriya of Clarksdale, Mississippi By Rabbi Akiva Males ________________________ Introduction[1] Stepping out of my car on Monday morning, July 3rd 2023, I received a warm welcome from the heat and humidity of Clarksdale, Mississippi. I opened the gate of the black iron fence surrounding the Beth Israel Cemetery and stepped inside. It didn’t take me long to survey the surprisingly well-maintained grounds where the members of that small Jewish community now rest in peace. Within a few minutes I…

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Identity of the Unknown Tomb. Who is buried in the unmarked grave next to the Vilna Gaon?

Identity of the Unknown Tomb. Who is buried in the unmarked grave next to the Vilna Gaon?

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 Identity of the Unknown Tomb. Who is buried in the unmarked grave next to the Vilna Gaon? Ariel Fuss & Yoel Kabalkin Prologue Among the seven graves in the Ohel of the Vilna Gaon (R’ Eliyahu M’vilna) there is one without an identifying headstone. The sign above the entrance to the Ohel identifies this grave as the resting place for the ashes of the Ger Tzedek of Vilna, Avraham ben Avraham Potocki[1] This identification is accepted without questioning by many…

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