The Agunah Problem, Part 1; Incarceration and Free Speech
…Zvi Hirsch Ashkenazi, Hakham Zvi, no. 133. It deals with a man who committed adultery with a married woman, and his wife therefore wishes to divorce him. In such a case, contemporary…
Collection of Articles on Sabbatianism Online
…by Elisheva Carlebach, “The Sabbatian Posture of German Jewry,” Jacob J. Schacter, “Motivations for Radical Anti-Sabbatiansim: The Case of Hakham Zevi Ashkenazi,” as well as an excellent article in Hebrew…
Gelatin, Abraham Goldstein, R. Moses Isserles, and More, Part 2
…problem for Ashkenazic Jews? Based on the principle that if kitniyot are less than half of the total the food may be eaten, many people see no reason why such…
Daniel J. Lasker – “December 6 Is Coming: Get Out the Umbrellas”
…readers of the Seforim blog know, the dates for asking for rain (adding the words ve-ten tal u-matar li-verakha to the ninth blessing of the Shemoneh Esreh, in the Ashkenazi…
ועשו להם ציצת – What to Make of Tzitzit
…in fact a feature of the passage’s poetry and wordplay (not dissimilar, for example, to the line צבאות צאנך יצלצלו בקול in Hakalir’s אדירי איומה, recited by Ashkenazim during shacharit…
וְהָאֱמֶת וְהַשָּׁלוֹם אֱהָבוּ; On Changing the Immutable by Marc B. Shapiro
…in order to preserve peace.”[1] Here, Shapiro portrays the רמ”א, the primary codifier of halacha for Ashkenazic Jewry, to have ruled that for the sake of preserving the peace, it is…
