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R. Flensberg, Donkeys, Antelopes and Frogs

R. Flensberg, Donkeys, Antelopes and Frogs

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Recently, a book, Aggadata de-Ve Rav, Machon Limud Aggadah, Ashdod, 2010, pp. 50, 176, 56, collecting various works attempting to explain the difficult and, on their face, rather odd stories (aggadot) that appear in Baba Batra (73a-74) many of which involve odd animals do odd things. In addition to these passages, there is another odd passage in Bechorot (7b) which also involves an animal, a donkey also engaging in odd behavior. This passage was too was also the subject of…

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Woe Is Unto Whom?

Woe Is Unto Whom?

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I. A Censored Text in Berachos 3a The Vilna Edition of Berachos 3a states as follows: אמר רב יצחק בר שמואל משמי’ דרב ג’ משמרות הוי הלילה ועל כל משמר ומשמר יושב הקב”ה ושואג כארי ואומר אוי לבנים שבעונותיהם החרבתי את ביתי ושרפתי את היכלי והגליתים לבין אומות העולם The identical statement is cited by R. Yose in a Braisa that follows the above-cited section. The Braisa records the story of R. Yose’s visit to a ruin in Jerusalem to…

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What Was Bothering the Censor?

What Was Bothering the Censor?

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The invention of the printing press in the 15th century was a great boon for Torah study. Manuscripts which had to be laboriously copied one by one could now be set to type and hundreds could be produced at one time. One of the earliest Jewish treasures to be set to print was the Talmud. Scattered volumes of it were printed in the late 15th century and early sixteenth century, but the first complete set was printed from 1519-1523 in…

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The Letter of the Maharal on the Creation of the Golem

The Letter of the Maharal on the Creation of the Golem

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For a related post by Dr. Leiman see “Did a Disciple of the Maharal Create a Golem.” I. Introduction In 1923, Chaim Bloch (1881-1973), noted author and polemicist,1published a letter of the Maharal (d. 1609) that was previously unknown to all of Jewish literature.2 The letter, dated 1582 (or more precisely: Tuesday of parshat va-yera, 343), was addressed to R. Jacob Günzberg (d. 1615), Chief Rabbi of Friedberg in Hesse.3 Rich in content, the letter provides a lengthy and detailed…

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Spunky Rebbetzins, Disgruntled Rebbetzins and A Learned Zionist Midwife: A Tale of Two Stories

Spunky Rebbetzins, Disgruntled Rebbetzins and A Learned Zionist Midwife: A Tale of Two Stories

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Menachem Berisha, in The Last Rabbis of Brest, relates (hat tip: Wolf2191): Rabbi J.L. Diskin’s second wife Sarah was famed as the Brisker Rebbetzen. She was learned and knowledgeable in all the laws. She was very strict in the matter of orthodoxy and mixed into all the community affairs. She had very strong mind; she came from a very prestigious family – she was the granddaughter of the rabbi “Nodah BeYehudah” – and she also came from the wealthy family…

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Another chapter of R. Shmuel Ashkenazi’s Latest Work

Another chapter of R. Shmuel Ashkenazi’s Latest Work

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Unfortunately, the amount of responses regarding assisting the publication of R. Ashkenazi’s was underwhelming (a total of one contribution) so it is still uncertain when the seforim will actually be published. Until then – here is another chapter. For more information to contribute (any amount is extremly helpful) contact me at eliezerbrodt-at-gmail.com. למקורות הפתגם ‘ישועת ה’ כהרף עין’ בספרו איש צדיק היה (ס”ע 223) מספר שמחה רז: פעם סיפר לי (ר’ אריה לוין), כי כאשר היה מבקר את הנידונים למוות…

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Egregious Mistakes Regarding Jewish Practice from National Geographic

Egregious Mistakes Regarding Jewish Practice from National Geographic

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Two elderly Jews were sitting on a bench in Hester Street Park on the lower east-side, fiercely debating one of the important issues perpetually debated on those benches. As the debate turned fiercer and fiercer, one exasperated Jew turned to the other and yelled, “I am not telling you a bubbe maaseh from chumash, it is the forvetz [forward] that I am quoting!” Readers of this blog have had their rabbinic emunas chachamim tested on many occasions. But at least…

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Some Assorted Comments and a Selection from my Memoir, part 2

Some Assorted Comments and a Selection from my Memoir, part 2

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1. In a recent Jewish Action (Summer 2009), p. 21, Elli Fischer writes: Brandeis University has been enclosed by an eruv for thirty years, longer than any other campus not adjacent to an established Jewish community. Since Brandeis is a Jewish institution, the eruv is funded by the university (as opposed to the students). . . . Rabbi David Fine, who graduated from Brandeis in the mid-1980’s, recalls checking the eruv as a student. . . . The first two…

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Mysteries of the Other World: Golems, Demons and Similar Beings in Jewish Thought & History

Mysteries of the Other World: Golems, Demons and Similar Beings in Jewish Thought & History

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A recent article begins: While some Jewish families see Halloween as a pagan holiday that should not be observed, the fact is, Jewish tradition is itself no stranger to the otherworldly, with its own history of golem-makers, sorcerers, and demon wranglers, and throughout the centuries Jews have been as afraid of evil spirits as anyone else Indeed, for those interested in some of the discussions regarding demon wranglers and golem makers, see Dr. Leiman’s post on “Did a Disciple of…

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Some Assorted Comments and a Selection from my Memoir. part 1

Some Assorted Comments and a Selection from my Memoir. part 1

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1. Fifty years ago R. Jehiel Jacob Weinberg spoke about the fraudulence that was found in the Orthodox world. Unfortunately, matters have gotten much worse since his time. I am not referring to the phony pesakim in the names of great rabbis that appear plastered all over Jerusalem, and from there to the internet. Often the damage has been done before the news comes out that the supposed pesak was not actually approved by the rav, but was instead put…

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Wine, Women and Song – Part III

Wine, Women and Song – Part III

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Wine, Women and Song: Some Remarks On Poetry and Grammar – Part III by Yitzhak of בין דין לדין The previous two parts: Part I, Part II. Lasciviousness Rambam In the first part of this essay, we have discussed the offenses of literature against grammar; a far more incendiary issue is the question of lasciviousness. Judaism seems to have historically been somewhat ambivalent on the matter; it is an ineluctable fact that many of our most celebrated poets, particularly of…

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Women, Simchat Torah, and Censorship

Women, Simchat Torah, and Censorship

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A recent book, Mi-pehem, (Bnei Brak,2008), collects interviews that were conducted with various Gedolim. One interview was conducted with Rebbetzin Ginsburg the daughter of R. Yechezel Levenstein. In the course of this interview she described the Simchat Torah celebration at the Mir in Europe:אבל שמחת תורה בישיבה היה משהו מיוחד. הנשים עמדו בפינת בית המדרש מאחורי מחיצה, ומחכות בהתרגשות לתחילת ההקפות! (מפיהם, עמ’ 199). According to this interview, women in the Mir were behind the Mechetziah. But, I recall hearing…

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Joshua Berman: What Orthodoxy Can Gain From Academic Biblical Studies

Joshua Berman: What Orthodoxy Can Gain From Academic Biblical Studies

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Joshua Berman is a lecturer in Tanakh at Bar-Ilan University and an Associate Fellow at the Shalem Center. He is the author of Created Equal: How the Bible Broke with Ancient Political Thought (Oxford University Press, 2008) which was the National Jewish Book Award Finalist in Scholarship for 2008. In ways that were astonishingly new and counter-intuitive, in ways that served the purposes of no known interest group, the political philosophy of the Torah may be seen to rise like…

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Kadesheinu beMitsvotekha – The Function of the Mitsva

Kadesheinu beMitsvotekha – The Function of the Mitsva

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* *Rabbi Aryeh A. Frimer is the Ethel and David Resnick Professor of Active Oxygen Chemistry at Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan 52900, Israel; email: frimea@mail.biu.ac.il. He has lectured and published widely on various aspects of “Women and Halakha;” see: http://bermanshul.org/frimer/. Abstract: The mitsva reflects one of the most pivotal concepts of Judaism. It sanctifies those who answer its calling, and the Jew and Judaism is unique and “chosen” because of it. In this article we highlight the various ways…

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