The 1526 Prague Haggadah and its Illustrations
…from the beis midrash of Rav Elazar Rokei’ach. Numerous pirushim have been written about Chad Gadya, based on all the methods of learning Torah.[31] Be that as it may, many…
April Fools! Tracing the History of Dreidel Among Neo-Traditionalists and Neo-Hebraists
…Only two mitzvot of Chanukah are mentioned in Rabbinic sources: lighting candles and reciting the full Hallel. Over the centuries, many other practices came to be associated with Chanukah. Some…
The Twice Told Tale of R’ Yonasan Eybeshutz and the Porger
…Urim Vtumin, B’nei Ahuva, and Ya’aros Dvash. However due to the difficult situation he found himself in over the controversies regarding Kameos ascribed to him, that were allegedly Sabbatean in…
Non-Jewish Iconography in Hebrew Books
…1560 haggadah. This illustration appears in manuscripts as well, and in the Darmstadt Haggadah, it is not a hare hunt but a deer hunt. The deer, of course, is a…
Borders, Breasts, and Bibliography
…that “both Charles Wengrov and Elliot[t] Horowitz have pointed to earlier manuscript antecedents of Prague’s usage of such illustrations,” but then takes issue with “Hor[o]witz’s contention that Spanish Jews were…
The Cup for the Visitor: What lies behind the Kos Shel Eliyahu?
…literature that we have from the Geonim and Rishonim. Neither is there mention of it in the Tur, Shulchan Orach, Rema, or other early commentators on the Shulchan Orach. One…
The Name Machabee
…Opusculum, bk. 2, ch. 10, 25v. Di Rossi accepted Samotheus’ explanation that Machabee means fighter and is a Greek word. Although not discussed by Di Rossi, Greek origin of the…
Afikoman – “Stealing“ and Other Related Minhagim
…nuts on Erev Pesach. See also Pauline Wengeroff, Rememberings, p. 44 who also describes getting nutson Pesach. [39] See R’ Chaim Berlin, Shut Nishmat Chaim (Bei Brak), Siman 50. [40]…
The American Yekkes
…a native Celtic language, and Latin, which had been introduced by the Romans. The English that was formed then was called Old English. As Wikipedia describes it, “Old English developed…
New book by Gabriel Wasserman on Karaite Judaism
…as meaning to constantly remember the Torah. This book offers a rare opportunity for English-language readers to hear a Karaite sage’s own explanation of the differences between Karaite and Rabbanite…
Text Manipulation on the Left – A Recent Incident
…the test of time and hasty conclusions often based on half-truths ….” (p. 257) Charles Darwin’s book On the Origin of Species was first published in 1859. However, there is another problem with…
Halakhah and Haggadah – Manuscript Illustrations and their Halakhic and Customary Significance
…related to halakha and haggadah illustrations. R. S.H. Kook, criticizes two aspects of illustrations that appear in the Prague 1526 Haggadah. Both of these issues center around how the wine…
Abraham Rosenberg, R. Chaim Heller, R. Shlomo Zalman Auerbach on Conversion, Abortion, Mercy Killings, and new pictures and videos of R. Jehiel Jacob Weinberg
…the mikveh.[27] At 1:12 and 3:20 you can also see the famed educator and student of R. Weinberg, Dr. Gabriel H. Cohn. Here is a picture from the event and…
The Valmadonna Broadside Collection: a Review Essay
…simultaneously.[6] Also discussed are the prayers for various civic events (p. 35) and for the various governing powers, a subject which still needs to be explored in depth. Some of these…
Elliott Horowitz — Isaiah Berlin on Meir Berlin (Bar-Ilan) and Saul Lieberman
…parents that “there were some serious social complications about the Sedarim this year (428).” Among those who had invited him were Chaim Weizmann (sometimes referred to as “Charles” in Berlin’s…