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Tag: Customs

Rabbi Eliezer Brodt on Haggadah shel Pesach: Reflections on the Past and Present

Rabbi Eliezer Brodt on Haggadah shel Pesach: Reflections on the Past and Present

Haggadah shel Pesach:Reflections on the Past and Presentby Eliezer Brodt Perhaps the topic which has engendered the most commentary in Jewish literature is the Haggadah shel Pesach. There are all kinds, in all languages, and with all types of commentary, pictures, etc. Whatever style one can think of, not one, but many Haggadahs have been written. So, whether it’s derush, kabbalah, halakha, mussar or chassidus there are plenty of Haggadahs out there. Then, there are people who specialize in collecting…

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Pesach Journals, Had Gadyah, Plagiarism & Bibliographical Errors

Pesach Journals, Had Gadyah, Plagiarism & Bibliographical Errors

Two journals have put out special collections devoted to Pesach. The first, Moriah, has continued their holiday specific journals and collected their third volume of articles devoted to Pesach. Yeshurun, for the first time has also collected choice articles related to a specific holiday and published a volume devoted to Pesach as well. Yeshurun’s effort, being their first, is the focus of this post. This volume is much smaller than their typical volumes. Usually, each volume of Yeshurun is huge…

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Eliezer Brodt – The Origins of Hamentashen in Jewish Literature

Eliezer Brodt – The Origins of Hamentashen in Jewish Literature

The Origins of Hamentashen in Jewish Literature:A Historical-Culinary SurveyBy Eliezer Brodt I. Introduction As Jews, most of our holidays have special foods specific to them; and behind each culinary custom, lays enveiled the reasoning behind them. Shavuot brings with it a vast array of customary dairy delicacies – in some parts of the world, cheesecake is practically obligatory – not to mention different customs in regard to how and when to eat them. Rosh Hashanah in renowned for the different…

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Eliezer Brodt: A Censored Work by a Student of R. Hayyim of Volozhin: The Case of Menuchah u-Kedushah

Eliezer Brodt: A Censored Work by a Student of R. Hayyim of Volozhin: The Case of Menuchah u-Kedushah

A Censored Work by a Student of R. Hayyim of Volozhin:The Case of Menuchah u-KedushahBy Eliezer Brodt A few years ago (c2000) a fascinating sefer was reprinted called Menuchah u-Kedushah. The sefer was written by R. Yisrael Isserl from Ponevezh. Not much is known about the author except that he was a talmid of R. Hayyim of Volozhin. It’s clear from the sefer that he was a very special person and a big talmid hakham. The haskamot that he received…

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Review: ספר קושיות (Rabbi Yaakov Stal)

Review: ספר קושיות (Rabbi Yaakov Stal)

Review: ספר קושיות (Rabbi Yaakov Stal) By Rabbi Eliezer Brodt Recently a new sefer hit the stores called ספר קושיות. The publisher, Rabbi Yaakov Stal, is well known, having already established his name with his editions of two seforim by ר’ יהודה החסיד one called ספר גימטריאות and another called אמרות טהורות חיצוניות ופנימיות. Like his previous works, once again he has done a great job. I would like to discuss his latest book a bit. While Rabbi Stal was…

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Yigdal: A Case Study in Modern Customology

Yigdal: A Case Study in Modern Customology

Yigdal: A Case Study in Modern Customologyby Dan Rabinowitz Another blog recently raised the question about the origin of saying Yigdal at the end of services on Friday night. Specifically, they wanted to demonstrate that this custom is not a “modern” or “Young Israel” custom and instead was very old. Although in practice today, this view is perhaps the prevalent custom with most yeshivot and similar minyanim not reciting this and Young Israel and those similar do. In an attempt…

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