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Contributor: Chaim Sunitsky

Parshat Tetzaveh. Greek letter Chi and Tav in Paleo-Hebrew

Parshat Tetzaveh. Greek letter Chi and Tav in Paleo-Hebrew

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Parshat Tetzaveh. Greek letter Chi and Tav in Paleo-Hebrew By Chaim Sunitsky Rashi[1] on Parshat Tetzave writes that the priests were anointed with oil, poured in the shape of the Greek letter כי.[2] One would assume this is referring to letter Χ[3] – 22nd letter of the Greek alphabet which sounds somewhere between English K and H[4]. This letter spelled χῖ in Greek, is usually spelled “Chi” in English and indeed if one wanted to write it in Hebrew, he would probably transcribe…

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Regarding Haftarah on Simchat Torah and the daily obligation to recite 100 blessings

Regarding Haftarah on Simchat Torah and the daily obligation to recite 100 blessings

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Regarding Haftarah on Simchat Torah and the daily obligation to recite 100 blessings Chaim Sunitsky It is well known that Simchat Torah is not mentioned anywhere in the two Talmuds or Midrashim[1]. In fact we have no proof that in the times of Talmud they used to finish the Torah cycle reading on Simchat Torah. The prevalent minhag in the land of Israel was to read the Torah not in one year but approximately in three[2]. In fact it seems…

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Traditional Jewish source for the “Seven Deadly Sins”

Traditional Jewish source for the “Seven Deadly Sins”

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Traditional Jewish source for the “Seven Deadly Sins”  By Chaim Sunitsky In Christianity as well as in western culture there is a well-known concept of “Seven Deadly Sins” usually enumerated as: pride, covetousness, lust (understood as illicit sexual desire), envy, gluttony, anger and sloth. In particular this theme is well known through the art of Hieronymus Bosch. Even though there is no clear biblical source for this particular list of sins, in general the number seven plays a major role…

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Parshat Ki Tisa. The Anointing Oil Revisited.

Parshat Ki Tisa. The Anointing Oil Revisited.

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Parshat Ki Tisa. The Anointing Oil Revisited.  By Chaim Sunitsky In this parsha we have the instructions of how to make anointing oil: וְאַתָּה קַח לְךָ בְּשָׂמִים רֹאשׁ מָר דְּרוֹר חֲמֵשׁ מֵאוֹת וְקִנְּמָן בֶּשֶׂם מַחֲצִיתוֹ חֲמִשִּׁים וּמָאתָיִם וּקְנֵה בֹשֶׂם חֲמִשִּׁים וּמָאתָיִם וְקִדָּה חֲמֵשׁ מֵאוֹת בְּשֶׁקֶל הַקֹּדֶשׁ וְשֶׁמֶן זַיִת הִין All the proportions of the ingredients are clearly explained except the second. Moshe had to take 500 (shekalim[1]) of Mar Dror. Kinamon (probably cinnamon) “its half, 250”, K’ne – 250 and…

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Evening Prayer Revisited

Evening Prayer Revisited

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Evening Prayer Revisited Chaim Sunitsky There is a dispute in Tamud Bavli (Brachot 4b) as to whether one should say Shma with Brachot before or after Shmone Esre during the evening prayer. The opinion of R. Yohanan is that Shma is said first while the opinion of R. Yehoshua ben Levi is that Shmone Esre is said before the Shma. Moreover, while R. Yohanan holds that Shma is followed by Shmone Esre immediately, according to R. Yehoshua ben Levi Shmone…

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Mezuzah Revisited. Parshat Vaetchanan.

Mezuzah Revisited. Parshat Vaetchanan.

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Mezuzah Revisited. Parshat Vaetchanan. By Chaim Sunitsky. Rashi on this Parsha (Devarim 6:9) says that since the word Mezuzot is written without the Vav[1], only one Mezuzah is necessary. It’s generally assumed that Rashi can’t argue with a clear Talmudic statement that every door of the house needs a Mezuzah[2] and therefore he can’t be understood at face value. However the custom in many places in Medieval Europe had always been to only affix one Mezuzah per house[3]. We will…

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Megilat Rut: The night of Boaz and Rut Revisited

Megilat Rut: The night of Boaz and Rut Revisited

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Megilat Rut[1]: The night of Boaz and Rut Revisited  By Chaim Sunitsky In a well known story of Megilat Rut, Naomi tells Ruth to bathe herself, put on her [best] clothes and go down at night to where Boaz is sleeping. Boaz then will “tell her” what to do. The simple implication of this story is that Ruth would be sent to make a marriage proposal to Boaz who could simply consummate the marriage immediately.[2] It has been already noted[3]…

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Mikva Revisited – Understanding Shabbat 13a-b in light of Parshat Metzora

Mikva Revisited – Understanding Shabbat 13a-b in light of Parshat Metzora

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Mikva Revisited – Understanding Shabbat 13a-b in light of Parshat Metzora by Chaim Sunitsky (with some additional comments by Marc B. Shapiro) It is well known that when describing the purification of niddah and zava the Torah does not explicitly mention that immersion is required.[1] The present article will briefly examine the proofs given for such an immersion and show a novel understanding of a story brought in the Talmud (Shabbat 13a-b). There are 5 most commonly brought proofs for…

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How many children did Michal have? Explanation of a Talmudic passage in light of the writings of Josephus Flavius

How many children did Michal have? Explanation of a Talmudic passage in light of the writings of Josephus Flavius

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How many children did Michal have? Explanation of a Talmudic passage in light of the writings of Josephus Flavius[1]  By Chaim Sunitsky The following Talmudic passage appears in Sanhedrin 19b (we are using mostly Soncino translation): R. Yossi was asked by his disciples: How could David marry two sisters while they were both living? He answered: He married Michal after the death of Meirav. R. Yehoshua ben Korha said: His marriage to Meirav was contracted in error, as it is said,…

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