Sinful Thoughts: Comments on Sin, Failure, Free Will, and Related Topics Based on David Bashevkin’s new book Sin•a•gogue: Sin and Failure in Jewish Thought

Sinful Thoughts: Comments on Sin, Failure, Free Will, and Related Topics Based on David Bashevkin’s new book Sin•a•gogue: Sin and Failure in Jewish Thought

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Sinful Thoughts: Comments on Sin, Failure, Free Will, and Related Topics Based on David Bashevkin’s new book Sin•a•gogue: Sin and Failure in Jewish Thought (Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2019) By Rabbi Yitzchok Oratz A Bashevkin-inspired Bio Blurb:[1] Rabbi Yitzchok Oratz is Rabbi of the Monmouth Torah Links community in Marlboro, NJ. His writings can be found in various rabbinic and popular journals, including Hakira, Ohr Yisroel, Nehoroy, Nitay Ne’emanim, and on Aish, Times of Israel, Torah Links, Seforim Blog, and…

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Musings on the Piyut היום הרת עולם

Musings on the Piyut היום הרת עולם

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Musings on the Piyut היום הרת עולם By Joseph Wertzberger The following post is based in part on a lecture by Rabbi Ben Greenfield, newly installed Rabbi of the Greenpoint Shul, and several of its key ideas are his. *  *  * The poem היום הרת עולם is a very early piyut by an unknown author, appearing in writing as early as Siddur Rav Amram Ga’on, and is very widely recited after each of the sets of Tekiyot during the…

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The Fish Motif on Early Hebrew Title-Pages and as Pressmarks

The Fish Motif on Early Hebrew Title-Pages and as Pressmarks

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The Fish Motif on Early Hebrew Title-Pages and as Pressmarks by Marvin J. Heller             Fish are a symbol replete with meaning, among them, in Judaism, representing fertility and good luck, albeit that fish are not an image that, for most, quickly comes to mind when considering Jewish iconography. Created on the fifth day of creation, fish symbolize fruitfulness, and, as Dr. Joseph Lowin informs, the month of Adar on the Hebrew calendar (February-March, Pisces) is considered “a lucky month for the Jews (mazal dagim).”…

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Legacy Judaica Auction, Cremation, R. Kook, and Other Items

Legacy Judaica Auction, Cremation, R. Kook, and Other Items

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Legacy Judaica is holding an auction on Monday, September 23rd, and a few items of note.  The Viennese Schmidt press produced two books with rather striking portraits.  One of R. Shmuel Eidels, Maharsha, and other of R. Yitzkah Alfasi, Rif, which is at lot 54.  Rif is depicted wearing robes and a turban with a long white beard.  Of course, there are no contemporaneous portraits of Rif, and this is a 19th century creation.  (For more on rabbinic portraits see…

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Rabbi Yechiel Goldhaber shiurim this week

Rabbi Yechiel Goldhaber shiurim this week

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You are cordially invited to the following shiurim/lectures by the noted author, Rav Yechiel Goldhaber, whose respected research and scholarship is well-known. 1. The next shiur will take place Monday, September 16th, 8 PM at Lakewood Courtyard Simcha Room 8:00 pm Yiddish/English. 2. Tuesday, September 17th the shiur will take place in Monsey at 20 Forshay Rd at בית המדרש אור החיים פארשעי  At 12:30 it will be in Yiddish and 8:30 it will be in English. 3. Wednesday September 18th The…

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