“שואה, מדוע אלו שנהרגו בה נקראו “קדושים

“שואה, מדוע אלו שנהרגו בה נקראו “קדושים

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“שואה, מדוע אלו שנהרגו בה נקראו “קדושים הרב משה צוריאל הרבה חקרו בשאלה מה הוא המקור לכך שאומתנו מעניקה תואר-כבוד “קדושים” לנהרגים בשואה במלחמת העולם השניה. פשוט הדבר שהנהרג מפני שהוא מקיים אחת ממצוות התורה, והגוים הורגים אותו על כך, הוא נקרא “קדוש”. אבל ההרוגים בשואה לא נהרגו מפני שקיימו מצוות. גם אם נגיד שנהרגו מפני שהיו יהודים, רק אם היתה להם אפשרות להכחיש יהדותם ולהמלט, ובכל זאת בחרו להודות ביהדותם, אפשר לכנותם “קדושים”. אבל העובדה היא שלרובם של ההרוגים…

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Foie Gras “Fake News”: A Fictitious Rashi and a Strangely Translated Ethical Will

Foie Gras “Fake News”: A Fictitious Rashi and a Strangely Translated Ethical Will

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Foie Gras “Fake News”: A Fictitious Rashi and a Strangely Translated Ethical Will by Ari Z. Zivotofsky Controversial topics can sometimes lead to contrived sources, i.e. fake news. That is certainly true with the effort by vegetarians to find traditional sources to support their position. In the past I have shown how a booklet claiming Judaism supports vegetarianism was full of misquotes (here here ) and how a “quote” of the Rema was fabricated ( here ). Here I will expose two fake quotes that…

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Young Rabbis and All About Olives

Young Rabbis and All About Olives

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Young Rabbis and All About Olives Marc B. Shapiro I am currently working on a book focused on the thought of R. Kook, in particular his newly released publications. A book recently appeared titled Siah ha-Re’iyah, by R. David Gavrieli and R. Menahem Weitzman. It discusses a number of important letters of R. Kook. In addition to the analysis of the letters, each of the letters is printed with explanatory words that make them easier to understand. We are also given…

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Simchas Torah & a Lost Minhag of the Gra

Simchas Torah & a Lost Minhag of the Gra

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Simchas Torah & a Lost Minhag of the Gra By Eliezer Brodt Chol HaMoed Succos is the Yarzheit of the Vilna Gaon (for an earlier post on the Gra see here and here). In this post I hope to show a source for a “forgotten” Minhag of the Gra. In 1921 the great bibliographer (and much more) Yitzchak Rivkind described a strange custom he saw during the time he learned in Volozhin (after it was reopened and headed by R’ Rephael Shapiro), in an…

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Kol Nidrei, Choirs, and Beethoven: The Eternity of the Jewish Musical Tradition

Kol Nidrei, Choirs, and Beethoven: The Eternity of the Jewish Musical Tradition

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Kol Nidrei, Choirs, and Beethoven:  The Eternity of the Jewish Musical Tradition   On April 23, 1902, the cornerstone to the Taharat Ha-Kodesh synagogue was laid, and on Rosh Ha-Shana the next year, September 7, 1903, the synagogue was officially opened.  The synagogue building was on one of Vilna’s largest boulevards and constructed in a neo-Moorish architectural style, capped with a blue cupola that was visible for blocks. There was a recessed entry with three large arches and two columns.  The…

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A Compromise in Halacha – On Menachot 33a

A Compromise in Halacha – On Menachot 33a

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A Compromise in Halacha – On Menachot 33a By Eli Genauer A common D’var Torah delivered at a wedding goes something like this: “Dear Chatan and Kallah. You are standing beneath a Chupah which is representative of the home you will build within the Jewish people. When you walk into your home, you will notice that that Mezuzah is placed in a diagonal position on the doorpost. There is a disagreement between Rashi and his grandson Rabbeinu Tam as to…

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