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Answers to Quiz Questions and Other Comments, part 2

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Answers to Quiz Questions and Other Comments, part 2   by Marc B. Shapiro 1. In my previous post, in discussing the words in Ecclesiastes 2:8 עשיתי לי שרים ושרות, I referred to the interpretation in Kohelet Rabbati. This very section of Kohelet Rabbati has an amazing comment, which as far as I know was never referred to in the dispute over Sara Hurwitz’ rabbinical ordination. Commenting on the words שדה ושדות, which appear in the same sentence as שרים…

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The Chanukah Omission

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The Chanukah Omission by Eliezer Brodt     Every Yom Tov has its famous questions that show up repeatedly in writings and shiurim. Chanukah, too, has its share of well-known questions. In this article, I would like to deal with one famous question that has some not-very-famous answers. A few years ago I dealt with this topic on the Seforim Blog (here). More recently in Ami Magazine (# 50) I returned to some of the topics related to this. This…

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The Legend of R. Yehuda Halevi’s Death: Truth or Fiction & the Cairo Genizah

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The Legend of R. Yehuda Halevi’s Death: Truth or Fiction & the Cairo Genizahby Eliezer Brodt A few years ago on the Seforim Blog I dealt with the famous legend of R. Yehuda Halevi’s death (link). More recently in Ami Magazine (# 32) I returned to this legend and related topics. This post contains new information as well as corrections that were not included in those earlier articles. R. Yehuda Halevi was born in the year 1075 in Toledo, Spain,…

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A Printing Mistake and the Mysterious Origins of Rashbi’s Yahrzeit*

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A Printing Mistake and the Mysterious Origins of Rashbi’s Yahrzeit* by Eliezer Brodt In this post I would like to deal with tracing the early sources for the great celebrations that take place worldwide on Lag Ba-Omer, specifically at the Kever of Rashbi (R. Shimon b. Yochai) in Meron.[1] A few years back on the Seforim Blog I dealt with some of these issues (link). More recently in Ami Magazine (# 22) I returned to some of the topics. This…

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Benefits of the Internet: Besamim Rosh and its History

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Benefits of the Internet: Besamim Rosh and its HistoryBy: Dan Rabinowitz & Eliezer Brodt     In a new series we wanted to highlight how much important material is now available online.  This, first post, illustrates the proliferation of online materials with regard to the controversy surrounding the work Besamim Rosh (“BR”).  [We must note at the outset that recently a program has been designed by Moshe Koppel which enables one, via various mathematical algorithims, to identify documents authored by the same…

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Kitniyot and Stimulants: Coffee and Marijuana on Passover

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Kitniyot and Stimulants: Coffee and Marijuana on Passover One of the more interesting customs for Pesach in that of refraining from kitniyot. There is much discussion regarding the origins of this mysterious custom.  That is, the exact time this custom began, as well as it initial rationale is cloaked in mystery. That is not to say that numerous reasons haven’t been offered, only that we probably will never know for certain why this was enacted.  Moreover, what exactly is encompassed…

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