Mikva Revisited – Understanding Shabbat 13a-b in light of Parshat Metzora

Mikva Revisited – Understanding Shabbat 13a-b in light of Parshat Metzora

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Mikva Revisited – Understanding Shabbat 13a-b in light of Parshat Metzora by Chaim Sunitsky (with some additional comments by Marc B. Shapiro) It is well known that when describing the purification of niddah and zava the Torah does not explicitly mention that immersion is required.[1] The present article will briefly examine the proofs given for such an immersion and show a novel understanding of a story brought in the Talmud (Shabbat 13a-b). There are 5 most commonly brought proofs for…

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Changing the Immutable: How Orthodox Judaism Rewrites Its History

Changing the Immutable: How Orthodox Judaism Rewrites Its History

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Changing the Immutable: How Orthodox Judaism Rewrites Its History Marc B. Shapiro I am happy to announce that my new book is now with the printer and should be at the distributor by May 4. Amazon and book stores will have the book not long after that. Changing the Immutable has taken quite a long time and I hope readers find that it was worth the wait. One of the main reasons it has taken so long is that some…

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Mossad HaRav Kook 2015 sale

Mossad HaRav Kook 2015 sale

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 Mossad HaRav Kook 2015 sale By Eliezer Brodt For over thirty years, starting on Isru Chag of Pesach, Mossad HaRav Kook publishing house makes a big sale on all of their publications, dropping prices considerably (some books are marked 65 percent off). In recent years their practice has been to publish several new titles in the few weeks prior to the sale; during the rest of the year not too many titles are printed. They also reprint some of their…

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The Gematriya Haggadah

The Gematriya Haggadah

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The Gematriya Haggadah By Eli Genauer I try to buy a new Haggadah every year to make sure I have something new to say. It is especially important at my stage in life when grandchildren will remind you if you use last year’s Dvar Torah. This year’s Haggadah was definitely in the category of “מה נשתנה ההגדה הזאת מכל ההגדות”. It’s name is ״כוס ישועות״  and it was printed on the Isle of Djerba, Tunisia in 1947. It’s author was…

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אור חדש במעשה ברבי אלעזר בהגש”פ

אור חדש במעשה ברבי אלעזר בהגש”פ

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אור חדש במעשה ברבי אלעזר בהגש”פ מאת דוד פרקש* מעשה ברבי אלעזר ורבי יהושע וראב”ע ורבי עקיבא ורבי טרפון שהיו מסובין בבני ברק, והיו מספרים ביציאת מצרים כל אותו הלילה, עד שבאו תלמידיהם ואמרו להם, “רבותינו, הגיע זמן קריאת שמע של שחרית.”  רבים תמהו על זה, איך אפשר שראשי הרים כאלה, גדולי הדור כולם, ישכחו זמן קר”ש? והאיך שייך שלא אחד מהם זכר הזמן, עד שהוצרכו לתלמידיהם להזכירם? הן אפילו מי שאסרו לעסוק בתורה קודם זמן קר”ש כמו שאר מלאכות…

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On the Maxwell House Haggadah

On the Maxwell House Haggadah

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For contemporary American Jews, it is not an exaggeration to claim the Maxwell House Haggadah, as one of the most commonly used and widely known haggadahs. Even President Obama was aware of this history when he quipped regarding another recent haggadah “does this mean we can no longer use the Maxwell House Haggadah anymore?”   The first Maxwell House sponsored haggadah was published in 1932. [1] The Haggadah wasn’t published btwetween 1941 and 1948, but otherwise has been consistently published yearly, if…

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