ביאור שי’ הגר”א ביחס למנהג העמדת אילנות כו’ בחג השבועות

ביאור שי’ הגר”א ביחס למנהג העמדת אילנות כו’ בחג השבועות

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ביאור שי’ הגר”א ביחס למנהג העמדת אילנות כו’ בחג השבועות* איסר זלמן ווייסברג, לייקוואוד איתא בשו”ע אורח חיים (תצד, ג) ברמ”א: ונוהגין לשטוח עשבים בשבועות בבית הכנסת והבתים זכר לשמחת מתן תורה. לשון הרמ”א צ”ב, דאיך מזכירים שמחת מ”ת ע”י שטיחת עשבים בביהכ”נ או בתים? מקור הדברים הוא במהרי”ל (מנהגים) הלכות שבועות: נוהגין להשטיח רצפת בית הכנסת בבשמים של עשבים ובשושנים לשמחת הרגל. ובמעגלי צדק[א]: נהגו לשטוח שושנים ועשבים טובים בביהכ”נ לכבוד התורה. ובמנהגים דק”ק וורמישא (לר’ יוזפא שמש[ב]) ח”א…

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Lag B’Omer through the eyes of a Litvak in 1925

Lag B’Omer through the eyes of a Litvak in 1925

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Lag B’Omer through the eyes of a Litvak in 1925[*] By Shimon Szimonowitz Dov Mayani (1903-1952) A Static and Evolving Chag Lag B’Omer has infiltrated Jewish culture as a bona fide holiday. While the day is celebrated throughout the Jewish world, it tends to take on added significance in Eretz Yisrael. This age-old disparity has seen a little easement, probably as a result of enhanced communication between the Promised Land and the rest of the world, but the difference is…

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The 1908 Student Strike at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary: A Newly Discovered Document

The 1908 Student Strike at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary: A Newly Discovered Document

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The 1908 Student Strike at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary: A Newly Discovered Document By Eli Genauer I would like to thank Dr Zev Eleff for his invaluable assistance in helping me frame this article. I would also like to thank Sharon Horowitz of the Library of Congress for providing research assistance. The Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS), present day Yeshiva University, was officially founded on March 20, 1897. RIETS was the first unequivocally Orthodox Jewish seminary on American…

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Some Highlights of the Mossad HaRav Kook Sale of 2017

Some Highlights of the Mossad HaRav Kook Sale of 2017

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Some Highlights of the Mossad HaRav Kook Sale of 2017 By Eliezer Brodt For over thirty years, starting on Isru Chag of Pesach, Mossad HaRav Kook publishing house has made a big sale on all of their publications, dropping prices considerably (some books are marked as low as 65% off). Each year they print around twenty new titles. They also reprint some of their older, out of print titles. Some years important works are printed; others not as much. This year they have…

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The Hanukkah Miracle

The Hanukkah Miracle

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The Hanukkah Miracle Marc B. Shapiro In an earlier post I mentioned that I hoped to write about the nineteenth-century dispute about the historicity of the Hanukkah miracle of the oil. This dispute broke out after the publication of Hayyim Zelig Slonimski’s article claiming that Maimonides did not believe in the miracle. Fuel was added to the fire when R. Samuel Alexandrov publicly supported Slonimski and argued that the miracle of the oil was intended to be understood in a…

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Afikoman – “Stealing“ and Other Related Minhagim

Afikoman – “Stealing“ and Other Related Minhagim

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Afikoman – “Stealing“ and Other Related Minhagim* By Eliezer Brodt One of the most exciting parts of Seder night for kids is the “stealing” of the afikoman. Children plan well in advance when the best time would be for them to steal it, where they will hide it, as well as what they should ask for in exchange for it. Not surprisingly, toy stores do incredibly good business both during Chol Hamoed and in the days following Pesach because of…

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