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Category: Jewish Holidays

New Book On the Kashrut of Modern Etrogim

New Book On the Kashrut of Modern Etrogim

On the Kashrut of Modern Etrogim Sukkot is fast approaching. For many this means selecting a “mehudar” etrog. Depending upon where one is this task can involve not only selecting an etrog with or without a pitum, bumpy or smoother, with or without a gartel, or a host of other considerations, but also selecting which type, Berman or Hazon Ish. Indeed, today, there are variety of types of etrogim identified by the farm or personalities that have ostensibly certified them…

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מנהג אכילת ה’סימנים’ בליל ראש השנה וטעמיו

מנהג אכילת ה’סימנים’ בליל ראש השנה וטעמיו

מנהג אכילת ה’סימנים’ בליל ראש השנה וטעמיו* מאת אליעזר בראדט מנהג אכילת ה’סימנים’ בליל ראש השנה נפוץ ומוכר בכל קהילות ישראל[1]. וכבר נתנו בו רבותינו הראשונים כמלאכים טעמים: בעלי התוספות מסבירים: “ראש השנה, מפני שהוא תחילת השנה, מרבים בסעודה לעשות סימן יפה, וכמה ענינים עושים בו לסימן יפה, כדאמרינן במסכת הוריות וכריתות”[2]. ומהפנייתם למסכתות הוריות וכריתות ברור, שכוונתם לתת טעם למנהג ה’סימנים’. אולם גם לאחר דבריהם עדיין לא מובן מדוע ראיית ירקות וזרעונים מסויימים או אכילתם מביא ‘סימן יפה’ לכל…

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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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Kitniyot and Stimulants: Coffee and Marijuana on Passover

Kitniyot and Stimulants: Coffee and Marijuana on Passover

Kitniyot and Stimulants: Coffee and Marijuana on Passover One of the more interesting customs for Pesach in that of refraining from kitniyot. There is much discussion regarding the origins of this mysterious custom.  That is, the exact time this custom began, as well as it initial rationale is cloaked in mystery. That is not to say that numerous reasons haven’t been offered, only that we probably will never know for certain why this was enacted.  Moreover, what exactly is encompassed…

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Elliott Horowitz – “”Most of all you’ve got to hide it from the kids…’ Reading Esther before Bed”

Elliott Horowitz – “”Most of all you’ve got to hide it from the kids…’ Reading Esther before Bed”

Elliott Horowitz teaches at Bar Ilan University and is co-editor of Jewish Quarterly Review. This is his fourth contribution to the Seforim blog. We hope that you enjoy. “”Most of all you’ve got to hide it from the kids…’: Reading Esther before Bed” Elliott Horowitz “The problem of selecting Bible stories for the early grades is an especially difficult one,” wrote Emanuel Gamoran in his introduction to the first volume of Lenore Cohen’s Bible Tales for Very Young Children (2…

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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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