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Category: Jewish Holidays

Haggadah and the Mingling of the Sexes

Haggadah and the Mingling of the Sexes

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I have previously attempted to highlight some of the intricacies and history of illustration in haggadahs. While many of the illustrations which appear in the haggadah are directly related to the text of the haggadah, some also pre-date the haggadah and seder service. That is, although searching for hametz (leaven) happens the night prior to the seder service many times an illustration of cleaning out the hametz and, in turn, searching for it, appears in many haggadahs. Another such illustration…

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Rabbi Eliezer Brodt on Haggadah shel Pesach: Reflections on the Past and Present

Rabbi Eliezer Brodt on Haggadah shel Pesach: Reflections on the Past and Present

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Haggadah shel Pesach:Reflections on the Past and Presentby Eliezer Brodt Perhaps the topic which has engendered the most commentary in Jewish literature is the Haggadah shel Pesach. There are all kinds, in all languages, and with all types of commentary, pictures, etc. Whatever style one can think of, not one, but many Haggadahs have been written. So, whether it’s derush, kabbalah, halakha, mussar or chassidus there are plenty of Haggadahs out there. Then, there are people who specialize in collecting…

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Pesach Journals, Had Gadyah, Plagiarism & Bibliographical Errors

Pesach Journals, Had Gadyah, Plagiarism & Bibliographical Errors

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Two journals have put out special collections devoted to Pesach. The first, Moriah, has continued their holiday specific journals and collected their third volume of articles devoted to Pesach. Yeshurun, for the first time has also collected choice articles related to a specific holiday and published a volume devoted to Pesach as well. Yeshurun’s effort, being their first, is the focus of this post. This volume is much smaller than their typical volumes. Usually, each volume of Yeshurun is huge…

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Judah Wistinetzky and Mishloach Manot to his American friends

Judah Wistinetzky and Mishloach Manot to his American friends

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Ari Kinsberg is one of the great young scholars of American Jewish History (under 40), as he has spent several years researching and editing the two-volume magisterial Hebrew Printing in America 1735-1926: A History and Annotated Bibliography (see Seforim blog reviews here and here). In honor of Purim 5767 [2007], Ari has recently written about Judah Wistinetzky (1844-1908) and the latter’s Ayelet ha-Shahar, given as mishloach manot gift to his friends. For those of us who have not yet seen…

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Eliezer Brodt – The Origins of Hamentashen in Jewish Literature

Eliezer Brodt – The Origins of Hamentashen in Jewish Literature

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The Origins of Hamentashen in Jewish Literature:A Historical-Culinary SurveyBy Eliezer Brodt I. Introduction As Jews, most of our holidays have special foods specific to them; and behind each culinary custom, lays enveiled the reasoning behind them. Shavuot brings with it a vast array of customary dairy delicacies – in some parts of the world, cheesecake is practically obligatory – not to mention different customs in regard to how and when to eat them. Rosh Hashanah in renowned for the different…

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The Custom of Playing Cards on Channukah

The Custom of Playing Cards on Channukah

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One of the more interesting customs relating to Chanukah is that of a relaxation of the restriction against gambling. As Menachem Mendel has pointed out, this relaxation was not limited, as some think, to those of Hassidic decent. Rather, some of the earliest mentions come long before the creation of the Hassidic movement, in places such as Worms and Frankfort. Further, this custom has continued to be almost universal (amongst Ashkenazim) irrespective of origin. To demonstrate this point, it is…

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