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Depicting Difference: The Tower of Babel and the Language of Sacred Art

Depicting Difference: The Tower of Babel and the Language of Sacred Art

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“For form is only the manifestation, the shape of content.” Ben Shahn, The Shape of Content, p. 72 Genesis chapter 11 presents the narrative of the Tower of Babel, detailing how, contrary to the divine directive to disperse and populate the earth, the descendants of the flood’s survivors congregated in a single city and commenced construction of a substantial tower. God intervened to prevent further cooperation among them by disrupting their shared language, thereby introducing linguistic diversity, which ultimately ceased…

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This High Holidays: Are we Praying to be Raised or Praying to be Lowered?

This High Holidays: Are we Praying to be Raised or Praying to be Lowered?

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The high note of the Yamim Noraim service, both literally and figuratively, growing up, was the two-word phrase “mi yarum,” “who will be raised,” halfway through the U-Netaneh Tokef piyyut. These two words proceed the congregation’s cry of the now-anthem of the day “Repentance, prayer, charity can remove the evil of the decree,” and the two-word phrase carries a special intensity. “Who will be raised” ought to carry a special message for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, although what that…

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From Medina Raḥamim to Elul Seliḥot: Toward a Prehistory of Nocturnal Penitential Prayer

From Medina Raḥamim to Elul Seliḥot: Toward a Prehistory of Nocturnal Penitential Prayer

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Shulamit Elizur, the undisputed doyenne of piyyut scholarship, published in 2016 a characteristically magisterial study on the origins of the seliḥot liturgy. This liturgical category – like the prayerbook as a whole – is not attested before the eighth and ninth centuries. The great payyetanim of late antique Eretz Israel – Yose ben Yose, Yannai, and R. Eleazar ha-Qalir – composed qinot, qerovot, and other poetic forms, yet, as Elizur has demonstrated elsewhere, seliḥot cannot be ascribed to this early…

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The Aderet (part 2); Sonya Diskin and R. Yitzhak Yeruham Diskin; Zvi Glatt; and a New Letter from R. Herzog

The Aderet (part 2); Sonya Diskin and R. Yitzhak Yeruham Diskin; Zvi Glatt; and a New Letter from R. Herzog

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1. Regarding R. Kook and the Aderet (R. Eliyahu Rabinowitz-Teomim), we find that R. Kook omitted something that the Aderet wrote. I don’t know if, strictly speaking, we can call this censorship, but R. Kook definitely omitted something that he was not comfortable with. Here is the Aderet speaking about himself in Nefesh David, p. 113, published by a leading student of R. Kook, R. Moshe Zvi Neriah (and printed together with the Aderet’s autobiography, Seder Eliyahu.[1a]). Look at the…

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Can Orthodoxy Decide Its Own History?

Can Orthodoxy Decide Its Own History?

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In his 2004 review of Rabbi Nosson Kamenetsky’s controversy-sparking Making of a Godol, Professor Mordechai Breuer notes a marked change happening within haredi culture, specifically book culture: The contents of the traditional Haredi bookshelf have expanded and transformed beyond recognition in recent generations. Alongside … the rabbinic classics … the shelves are now filled with books of types our ancestors could not have imagined. Breuer is referring to the proliferation of a new form of biography, or hagiography, of gedolim,…

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A year in Berlin: The Beginning of Hebrew Printing in Berlin in c. 1699

A year in Berlin: The Beginning of Hebrew Printing in Berlin in c. 1699

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The publishing of Hebrew books in Berlin is a relatively late phenomenon. The article provides a background to early Hebrew printing and then discusses the first Hebrew press in Berlin. It addresses Jewish history in Berlin, explaining why Hebrew printing began there at the end of the seventeenth century, almost two hundred and fifty years after it began elsewhere. Several unique works, rather than the usual communal prayer books and bibles, are described in some detail in the article. Hebrew…

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The Star Spangled Banner and The Song at the Sea of Exodus 15

The Star Spangled Banner and The Song at the Sea of Exodus 15

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The most rousing expression of American Civil Religion is the well-known The Star-Spangled Banner sung ritually at patriotic events especially on July 4. What is less known is how much the American anthem was inspired by ancient Israel’s hymn, the Song at the Sea. Both the Song at the Sea in Exodus 15 and the Anthem were triggered by a wondrous upset. As America surprisingly eluded the British effort to resubjugate them at Chesapeake Bay, so Israel miraculously eluded the…

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Key Words in the Narrative of Aaron’s Death

Key Words in the Narrative of Aaron’s Death

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Rabbi Dr. Itamar Warhaftig is professor of Jewish law (emeritus) at Bar-Ilan University and affiliated with the Zomet Institute in Alon Shvut. In the account of Aaron’s death (Numbers 20:22–29), several leitwort-style expressions appear—that is, words or phrases that recur at least twice. Let us trace these occurrences and examine their significance. The phrase “Aaron shall be gathered to his people” appears in verse 24, and again in verse 26: “And Aaron shall be gathered and shall die there.” This…

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The Rising Lion: From Balaam to Leibowitz and Back Again

The Rising Lion: From Balaam to Leibowitz and Back Again

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Warren Zev Harvey is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is the author of numerous studies on medieval and modern Jewish philosophy and the recipient of the EMET Prize in the Humanities (2009). The great prophet of the gentiles, Balaam son of Beor, blessed the people of Israel with a blessing for military success: “Behold, a people shall rise up as a lion [labiʾ], and exalt himself as a regal lion…

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ועשו להם ציצת – What to Make of Tzitzit

ועשו להם ציצת – What to Make of Tzitzit

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ויאמר ה׳ אל משה דבר אל־בני ישראל ואמרת אלהם ועשו להם ציצת על־כנפי בגדיהם לדרתם ונתנו על ציצת הכנף פתיל תכלת והיה לכם לציצת וראיתם אתו וזכרתם את כל מצות ה׳ ועשיתם אתם, ולא תתורו אחרי לבבכם ואחרי עיניכם אשר אתם זנים אחריהם למען תזכרו ועשיתם את כל מצותי והייתם קדשים לאלקיכם אני ה׳ אלקיכם אשר הוצאתי אתכם מארץ מצרים להיות לכם לאלקים, אני ה׳ אלקיכם במדבר ט׳׳ו, ל׳׳ז – מ׳׳א And HaShem said to Moshe as follows. Speak to…

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A Little-Known Rabbi Doctor and his Exceedingly Rare Medical Diploma Leon Cantarini- AKA Yehuda HaKohen Katz Me-HaHazzanim (University of Padua, 1623)

A Little-Known Rabbi Doctor and his Exceedingly Rare Medical Diploma Leon Cantarini- AKA Yehuda HaKohen Katz Me-HaHazzanim (University of Padua, 1623)

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Professor of Emergency Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine Isaac and Bella Tendler Chair of Jewish Medical Ethics, Yeshiva University “He obtained a degree in medicine and philosophy on 31 October 1623, as can be seen from his original diploma which has been perfectly preserved despite the destructive effects of time.” (translated from the Italian) Marco Osimo 1875 Original Books and manuscripts of past centuries known to historians throughout the ages have sometimes been lost forever to the ravages of…

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R. Moshe Zuriel, the Aderet, Sonya Diskin, and ChatGPT

R. Moshe Zuriel, the Aderet, Sonya Diskin, and ChatGPT

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1. It is hard to believe that more than a year and a half has passed since R. Moshe Zuriel was taken from us. At the time of his passing, I intended to write a lengthy appreciation of him, but I was never able to get around to it. Still, I feel compelled to say something about R. Zuriel, if only to express my hakarat ha-tov for all that I learned from him. Although we never met, we exchanged numerous…

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Ten Commandment Representations in Hebrew Manuscripts & Books: Artistic Approaches to Theological Issues in Judaism

Ten Commandment Representations in Hebrew Manuscripts & Books: Artistic Approaches to Theological Issues in Judaism

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Today, the Ten Commandments or Decalogue are among the most prominently featured symbols associated with Judaism. The Decalogue is represented by two tablets, generally connected and rounded at the top. This representation occupies a central place within synagogue architecture, often displayed on the exterior or interior of the edifices and frequently above the ark itself, which is regarded as the most sacred element within the building. However, it is noteworthy that these practices only began to emerge in the 16th…

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The Mother Haggados: Models for Modern Analysis of Printed Jewish Illustrations

The Mother Haggados: Models for Modern Analysis of Printed Jewish Illustrations

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There is a long tradition of illustrating Haggados, dating back to at least the early Middle Ages. Likely only a small portion of those manuscripts has survived. However, most have been reprinted, and their imagery has been meticulously analyzed and cataloged. These manuscripts can broadly be divided into two categories based on their places of origin: Sephardic or Ashkenazic countries. The former includes the creation cycle and the Exodus story prior to the Haggadah text, while the latter incorporates the…

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On the History and Development of Nirtza

On the History and Development of Nirtza

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Yaacov Sasson is a musmach of RIETS, and author of the recently published ספר שש אנכי, available here. Nirtza is the conclusion of the seder, and as most commonly recited in the Ashkenazi tradition, consists of the following components: the recitation of L’shana Habaa B’Yerushalayim and Chasal Sidur Pesach, followed by the piyutim Vayehi Bachatzi Halayla, Va’amartem Zevach Pesach, Ki Lo Naeh, Adir Hu, and then additional piyyutim such as Chad Gadya and Echad Mi Yodea; the latter two are…

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