Candles on Yom Kippur: Reinstating a Lost Minhag
…example, Machzor Vitri (Seder shel Yom Hakippurim) describes the formal minhag in his community to kindle lights on Yom Kippur, and provides a Midrashic basis for this custom [the Machzor…
Cherubim: Winged Celestial Beings on the Title-Pages of Early Hebrew Books
Cherubim: Winged Celestial Beings on the Title-Pages of Early Hebrew Books by Marvin J. Heller[1] And having driven out the man, He stationed at the east of the Garden…
Marc Shapiro: What Do Adon Olam and ס”ט Mean?
…when did Esther organize three feasts? Everyone who attends synagogue on Purim knows that there were only two feasts. This is what the Arukh ha-Shulhan states: ויהא זהיר מאד לקיים…
Cemeteries and Response to Criticism
…my response (and it looks like it will take many posts before I am finished, unless I first tire of this endeavor). [1] Sipurim me-ha-Hayyim: Kitzur Shivhei ha-Ben Ish Hai…
R. Yudel Rosenberg, R. Mordechai Elefant, and Sexual
…Rebbe), Tzemah Tzedek, Yoreh Deah, no. 237. R. Schneersohn was asked the following question: A rabbi was playing with a נער on Purim and stuck his hands into the pants…
No, Achashverosh Never Served a Stable-Boy
No, Achashverosh Never Served a Stable-Boy Yaakov Jaffe Writings about Purim from virtually every stripe make reference to a well-known myth that Achashverosh, King of Persia, rose to power from…
