Simchas Torah & a Lost Minhag of the Gra
…we do on Rosh Hashonah and Yom Kippur. When he asked for the source of this Minhag he was told it comes from the Gra. When he visited Vilna sometime…
Woe Is Unto Whom?
…ושרפתי את היכלי והגליתים לבין אומות העולם Early Talmud printings (e.g., Soncino, Bomberg), the Rosh, Rav Hai Gaon and Rabbenu Chananel have it slightly differently: אוי שהחרבתי את ביתי ושרפתי…
Rabbi Eliezer Brodt on Haggadah shel Pesach: Reflections on the Past and Present
…Rosh Yeshiva. He wrote much, however, aside for this Haggadah nothing else of his was printed until 1977.[1] And, although some has been published, much of his work remains in…
The Fish Motif on Early Hebrew Title-Pages and as Pressmarks
…where Mirkevet ha-Mishneh was finally completed in the first part of 1496. The title page, dated 5311 Rosh Hodesh Sivan (Wednesday, May 16, 1551) is comprised of an architectural border…
Gems from Rav Herzog’s Archive (Part 1 of 2): Giyus, Professor Lieberman and More
…the file of Rav Herzog’s correspondence with Ben-Gurion[4], appears below: Another noteworthy document in the file on giyus bnai yeshivot is a 1948 telegram from the Roshei Yeshiva of the American yeshivot, expressing…
Tracing the History of Shavuos Night Learning
…“after staying up the whole night, the whole yeshiva would take part in a milchig kiddush at the Rosh Yeshiva’s house”.[5] Chaim Grade writes: “On the First night of Shavuoth,…
Rav Kook’s Missing Student
…contingent upon the identification of Hillel Pearlman as “Chouchani,” but rather stands on its own merits. [3] Traditional blessing for the New Year uttered between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur….
Lag B’Omer through the eyes of a Litvak in 1925
…referring to the difference in custom between Lithuania and Eretz Yisroel. In Lithuania, religious Jews refrained from shaving only from Rosh Chodesh Iyar until Lag B’Omer [18 days] and then…
What’s Wrong With Wealth and Honor?
… Below, we will present some timely notes regarding an English/Hebrew Machzor for Rosh Hashana which was printed…
A nay bintl briv: Personal Reminiscences of Rabbis Baruch ha-Levi Epstein and Aaron Walkin from the Yiddish Republic of Letters
…she-hikkarti: demuyyot me-avar karov be-mizrah eiropah (Jerusalem: Mossad Harav Kook, 1970), 108-116, at p. 111. Relatedly, see the Rosh Hashanah greetings sent to Epstein by the typesetters and printers of…
Aryeh A. Frimer Review of Daniel Sperber’s Darka shel Halakha
…here as well. Similar teshuvot are found from the Rid, Rosh and Maharam of Rothenburg.[15] And their goal is to show that lighting candles in the synagogue come under the…
Purim and Parodies
…demonstrate that some were punctilious about in their observation of this halacha and would begin celebrating from rosh hodesh Adar. In light of this concept we could perhaps understand how…
“Seeing the Infinite in Torah” A Memorial to the Gaon Rabbi Shelomo Fisher (Author of Beit Yishai)
…Rabbi Tsevi Hirsch Heller) wrote concerning the mahtot (fire-pans) of Korah’s congregation. Rabbi Pfeffer also wrote to his brother-in-law a letter approving Korbani Lahmi. ROSH YESHIVAH AND DAYYAN Rabbi Aharon…
Minhagim Books No. 1
…the recitation of the Torah, washing ones hands after the kiddush, eating head of a ram on Rosh haShana, saying Zikhron Terura when Rosh haShana is on Shabbat, reciting both…
Rabbi Steinman and the Messiah, part 3
…ועד היום 4. During the Rosh ha-Shanah and Yom Kippur prayers there are times when we prostrate ourselves. Many people use a cloth for this even though technically, if the…