David's Punishment As a Window Into the Torah As a Song
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Rivkah's Eternal Question Rabbi Mordechai Torczyner
בס“ד Parshat Toldot 5 Kislev, 5781/November 21, 2020 Vol. 12 Num. 11 (#472) This issue of Toronto Torah is dedicated by Jeffrey Silver נ“י in honour of the first birthday of his granddaughter, Sarena Baila Rivkah’s Eternal Question Rabbi Mordechai Torczyner As twins "race about" in her womb, in the Divine response, “You are Rivkah owned a special identity and Rivkah asks ambiguously, “Im ken, carrying twins who will be bitter, mission related to those two fighters. lamah zeh anochi?” (Bereishit 25:22) lifelong rivals”? You are the one who is suited to Literally translated, Rivkah inquires, handling your twin sons. “If this is so, why am I?” But what was Dr. Tzohar offers a different approach, “this”, and “why am I” what? by pointing to how Rivkah came to this Note that Hashem has not told Rivkah point. Rivkah lived with her pagan anything specific – that she will win Traditional commentators have offered family until Avraham's servant arrived. Esav’s trust, that Yitzchak will be blind, various explanations, including: That servant declared that Rivkah was that she will swap the blessings, or that • Rashi (ad loc.) suggests that special, by dint of her generous conduct she will enable Yaakov to escape from Rivkah regretted praying for at the well. (ibid. 24:14-20) The servant Esav. But Hashem gives Rivkah clarity pregnancy: “If this is the pain of announced that a Divine miracle had of purpose, and this sense of purpose is pregnancy, why did I ask for this?” identified her as special. (24:40- what comforts, and empowers, Rivkah. -
The ABC of Ecology "This Is the Thing That Hashem Has Commanded: 'Gather from It, for Every Man According to What He Eats - an Omer Per Person - According to The
SHABBAT PARSHAT BESHALACH 13 SHVAT 5780 FEBRUARY 8, 2020 VOL. 27 NO. 14 PARSHA INSIGHTS by Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair The ABC of Ecology "This is the thing that Hashem has commanded: 'Gather from it, for every man according to what he eats - an omer per person - according to the number of your people, everyone according to whoever is in his tent shall you take.'" (16:16) he world gets smaller every day. One of the fears With that same aleph-beit that G-d created the world, He T of living in a global village is that the village creates a sufficiency for every living thing. G-d created store is going to run out of food. Will we wake this world with a plan. Man is the centerpiece of this up one day and find our planet can no longer support plan. Just as He created the ABC of Creation, He has its population? For years, science fiction has dwelled on made sure that His plan will be fulfilled, right down to highly imaginative schemes to "farm" the solar system. XY and Z. Every creature will receive its needs. We Here's the good news. You can relax and stop planning don't have to worry that there won't be enough for your trip to Andromeda. It isn't going to happen. everyone to eat. We don't have to worry that the world Although waste is certainly wrong, there is no need to will become overpopulated. With that same "whole worry about the nourishing bounty in our world. -
Shoftim Mind Over Matter Isn’T Just a Slogan Controlling and Directing Our Feelings with Laser Precision
6. Shoftim Mind over Matter Isn’t Just a Slogan Controlling and Directing Our Feelings with Laser Precision Dedicated in loving memory of Mr. Sami Rohr, ,ר’ שמואל ב”ר יהושע אליהו ז”ל marking his yahrtzeit, 17 Av. May the merit of the Torah study worldwide accompany his soul in the world of everlasting life and be a source of blessings to his family with much health, happiness, nachat, and success. [ 92 ] PARSHA OVERVIEW Shoftim Moses instructs the Shoftim also includes people of Israel to appoint the prohibitions against judges and law enforce- idolatry and sorcery, laws ment officers in every city. governing the appointment “Justice, justice shall you and behavior of a king, and pursue,” he commands guidelines for the creation them, and they must admin- of “cities of refuge” for the ister it without corruption inadvertent murderer. Also or favoritism. Crimes must set forth are many of the be meticulously investigat- rules of war: the exemption ed and evidence thorough- from battle for one who has ly examined—a minimum just built a home, planted of two credible witnesses a vineyard, married, or is is required for conviction “afraid and soft-hearted”; and punishment. the requirement to of- fer terms of peace before In every generation, says attacking a city; and the Moses, there will be those prohibition against wanton entrusted with the task destruction of something of interpreting and apply- of value, exemplified by ing the laws of the Torah. the law that forbids cutting “According to the law that down a fruit tree when lay- they will teach you, and the ing siege. -
Bal Tashchit : the Jewish Prohibition Against Needless Destruction Wolff, K.A
Bal Tashchit : the Jewish prohibition against needless destruction Wolff, K.A. Citation Wolff, K. A. (2009, December 1). Bal Tashchit : the Jewish prohibition against needless destruction. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14448 Version: Corrected Publisher’s Version Licence agreement concerning inclusion of doctoral thesis in the License: Institutional Repository of the University of Leiden Downloaded from: https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14448 Note: To cite this publication please use the final published version (if applicable). BAL TASHCHIT: THE JEWISH PROHIBITION AGAINST NEEDLESS DESTRUCTION Copyright © 2009 by K. A. Wolff All rights reserved Printed in Jerusalem BAL TASHCHIT: THE JEWISH PROHIBITION AGAINST NEEDLESS DESTRUCTION Proefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van Doctor aan de Universiteit Leiden, op gezag van de Rector Magnificus prof. mr P.F. van der Heijden, volgens besluit van het College voor Promoties te verdedigen op dinsdag 1 december 2009 klokke 15:00 uur door Keith A. Wolff geboren te Fort Lauderdale (Verenigde Staten) in 1957 Promotiecommissie Promotores: Prof. Dr F.A. de Wolff Prof. Dr A. Wijler, Rabbijn, Jerusalem College of Technology Overige leden: Prof. Dr J.J. Boersema, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Prof. Dr A. Ellian Prof. Dr R.W. Munk, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Prof. Dr I.E. Zwiep, Universiteit van Amsterdam To my wife, our children, and our parents Preface This is an interdisciplinary thesis. The second and third chapters focus on classic Jewish texts, commentary and legal responsa, including the original Hebrew and Aramaic, along with translations into English. The remainder of the thesis seeks to integrate principles derived from these Jewish sources with contemporary Western thought, particularly on what might be called 'environmental' themes. -
LEGACY JUDAICA May 30Th 2021
LEGACY JUDAICA May 30th 2021 AUCTION OF FINE ANTIQUE JUDAICA Sunday May 30th 2021 1:00 pm Estreia 978 River Ave, Lakewood, N.J. 08701 PRE AUCTION VIEWING: Tuesday May 25th in Lakewood NJ by appointment Wednesday May 26th in Lakewood NJ by appointment Thursday May 27th in Lakewood NJ by appointment ONLINE BIDDING AT: http://legacyjudaica.bidspirit.com LEGACY JUDAICA Tel: 732.523.2262 Fax: 732.523.2191 Email: [email protected] legacyjudaica.net נבלי וכנורי בפי עטי גני ופרדסי ספריה ר׳ יהודה הלוי “My lyre and my harp are the u t t e r a n c e s o f m y q u i l l , M y g a r d e n and my orchard are it’s literature” R. Yehuda Halevi LEGACY JUDAICA LEGACY JUDAICA Yehuda A. Schwarz SEFORIM AND MANUSCRIPTS Feivel Schneider EDITOR IN CHIEF N. Ben-Moshe RABBINIC RESEARCH Rabbi Moshe Maimon HEBREW TRANSCRIPTS Rabbi Shlome Meir Pashkus HEBREW TEXT Shoshana Visky GRAPHICS AND DESIGN Sara Hager WEBSITE ADMINISTRATOR Shloime Breuer - Tech Design Shoshana Meyer mbtechdesign.com IMAGING AND PHOTOGRAPHY Moshe Cweiber CONTENTS EARLY PRINTED SEFORIM ספרים מודפסים קדומים 6 PRINTED SEFORIM ספרים מודפסים 30 MANUSCRIPTS OF SEFORIM כתבי יד של ספרים 54 POLEMICS פולמוסים 57 SIFREI CHASSIDUS AND KABBALAH ספרי קבלה/חסידות 65 SIFREI SLAVITTA AND ZHITOMIR ספרי סלאוויטא/ז׳יטומיר 73 SIFREI HA'GRA ספרי הגר׳׳א 78 HOLOCAUST שואה 85 SEFORIM WITH SIGNATURES/GLOSSES ספרים עם חתימות/ הערות 86 RABBINICAL LETTERS/MANUSCRIPTS מכתבים מרבנים וכתבי יד 100 Early Printed Seforim ספרים מודפסים קדומים ספרי יסוד. עמודי גולה סמ׳׳ק. -
Jewish Community and Identity in the Early Modern Period
EMW - Workshops EWM 2009 EARLY MODERN WORKSHOP: Jewish History Resources Volume 6: Reading across Cultures: The Jewish Book and Its Readers in the Early Modern Period, 2009, The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA Table of Contents Technology, Preservation, and Freedom of Expression · Bernard Cooperman, University of Maryland, USA A ruling against rabbis who have sought to delay the printing of the Zohar Responsa of Rabbenu Nissim of Gerona The "imprimatur" by Isaac de Lattes A publisher in service of his readers: prefaces to Amsterdam 1711 edition of the Tsene Rene · Shlomo Berger, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Tsene Rene Shlomo Lutzker's Introduction to Magid Devarav Le-Ya'akov · Moshe Rosman, Bar-Ilan University, Israel Shlomo Lutzker's Introduction to Magid Devarav Le-Ya'akov: Likutei Amarim Leon Modena's Ari Nohem Between Print and Manuscript · Yaacob Dweck, Princeton University, USA The Roaring Lion The Paratexts of Judah Marcaria: Addressing the (Imagined) Reader in Mid-Sixteenth-Century Italy · Adam Shear, University of Pittsburgh, USA Abraham Klausner, Minhagim Levi ben Gershon (Gersonides) The Book of Rabbi Mordecai 1 EMW - Workshops EWM 2009 Putting Hebrew Books in Order · Avriel Bar-Levav, The Open University of Israel, Israel The lips of those who are asleep Jews under Surveillance: Censorship and Reading in Early Modern Italy · Federica Francesconi, University of California-Los Angeles, US 1. Rules for the expurgation of the Hebrew Books 2. Report regarding Hebrew Books -
PARSHA INSIGHTS by Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair
SHABBAT PARSHAT MATOS MASEI • 30 TAMMUZ 5781 JULY 10, 2021 • VOL 28 NO. 31 PARSHA INSIGHTS by Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair Sticks and Stones “…an utterance of her lips…” (30:07) e are all so delicate. Our egos are so host refused, and took him by the hand and threw fragile. Our Sages tell us to run away him out. W from honor, but we all need self-worth. One of the names for the soul is kavod — honor. As Bar Kamtza was prepared to pay an enormous sum we say each day in our prayers, “So that my soul to save himself from humiliation. And if Bar (kavod) might sing to you and not be silenced…” Kamtza came to the party, it meant that he (Mizmor Shir Chanukat HaBayit). If you take all assumed that the host wanted to be his friend now honor away from someone, they either die or go — which could only have crushed him further. crazy. This was exactly what those Nazi monsters tried, and in some cases succeeded, to do to our brothers and sisters in the Second World War era. No one can second-guess the Master of the World. And when someone goes crazy and imagines No one can say this happened because of that. But himself to be someone else, he doesn't just think when tragedies happen — and especially when they that he is the local bank manager. Rather, he are close to home — each one of us must do more imagines himself to be the most illustrious person than a little soul searching. -
Haggadah Vita
The Haggadah Vita I knew that the Golden Age was all about me, and it was we who had been blind to it, but that it had never passed away from the world. A.E., Candle of Vision Sixth Edition, © 2009, Alan Muskat available along with a Leader’s Edition at www.AlanMuskat.com About the Haggadah...................................................................................................................................................1 Welcome.........................................................................................................................................................................2 Urhatz, Where we begin..............................................................................................................................................3 Kadesh, Introductions.................................................................................................................................................3 5769............................................................................................................................................................................4 Haggadah, The Telling................................................................................................................................................5 Pharaoh Pharaoh.....................................................................................................................................................5 Mitrayim’s Nile........................................................................................................................................................5 -
Comments on This and That, Part 2,Comments
Comments on This and That, part 2 Comments on This and That, part 2 by Marc B. Shapiro Continued from here. Barth’s opinion was shared by R. Joseph Hertz, who referred to Song of Songs as a “collection of ancient lyrics of the spring-time and youthful love.”[1] Some might regard this as a radical, even un-Orthodox opinion, but fromAvot de-Rabbi Natan 1:4, we see that the early Jewish leaders did not regard the Song of Songs (and Ecclesiastes and Proverbs) as anything special. Originally, it is said, Proverbs, Song of Songs, and Ecclesiastes were suppressed, for since they were held to be mere parables and not part of the Holy Writings [the religious authorities] arose and suppressed them. [And so they remained] until the men of Hezekiah came and interpreted them. I already quoted a couple of times from R. Moses Isaac Ashkenazi’s Ho’il Moshe, so let me mention that in the introduction to his commentary on Song of Songs, he assumes that the book was indeed sung as part of the wedding celebrations, and as with Barth, he thinks that this was the original purpose of Song of Songs. He also suggests that does not mean that Solomon wrote שיר השירים אשר לשלמה perhaps it, but that it was written for Solomon. He compares this to and means “[A Psalm] for לשלמה Psalm 72:1 which begins Solomon.” Interestingly, he also thinks that the Shulamite (7:1) is none other than Abishag the Shunamite.[2] Here is the title page of his book. -
PARSHA INSIGHTS by Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair Upgrading Shabbat “But the Seventh Day Shall Be Holy for You, a Day of Complete Rest for G-D.” (35:2)
SHABBAT PARSHAT VAYAKHEL-PEKUDEI 25 ADAR 5780 MARCH 21 , 2020 VOL. 27 No.. 19 PARSHA INSIGHTS by Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair Upgrading Shabbat “But the seventh day shall be holy for you, a day of complete rest for G-d.” (35:2) o one ever complained about the hotel that lets you check in to your room at eight in the morning and lets you Nstay there until nine at night on the day you leave. No one ever complained about the tailwind that reduced the four-and-a-half hour flight from London to Tel Aviv by half-an-hour. Or what about the audience with the Queen of England that starts ten minutes before schedule and goes on half-an- hour longer than you were told? No one ever said, “Excuse me your Majesty, I’m sorry, but I’ve got to run out and do a little shopping. See you!” When something is special and important, we want it to go on forever. And when it’s a burden, it can never be too brief. There are two places where the Torah lists the Ten Commandments: in the Torah portion of Yitro and in the Torah portion of Vaetchanan. In Parshat Yitro the Torah says, “Remember the Shabbat day to make it holy…” whereas in Parshat Va’etchanan it says, “Guard the Shabbat day to keep it holy…” The Midrash (Yalkut Shimoni, Yitro 295) explains, “Remember it beforehand, and guard it afterwards…” — meaning that Shabbat is so special and important that we should begin it early and finish it late. -
Finding Freedom
Pesaĥ Finding Freedom Pesaĥ and the Jewish Task Pesaĥ is the oldest and most transformative story of hope ever told. It tells of how an otherwise undistinguished group of slaves found their way to freedom from the greatest and longest-lived empire of their time, indeed of any time. It tells the revolutionary story of how the supreme Power intervened in history to liberate the supremely powerless. It is a story of the defeat of probability by the force of possibility. It defines what it is to be a Jew: a living symbol of hope. Pesaĥ tells us that the strength of a nation does not lie in horses and chariots, armies and arms, or in colossal statues and monumen- tal buildings, overt demonstrations of power and wealth. It depends on simpler things: humility in the presence of the God of creation, trust in the God of redemption and history, and a sense of the non- negotiable sanctity of human life, created by God in His image, even the life of a slave or a child too young to ask questions. Pesaĥ is the eternal critique of power used by humans to coerce and diminish their fellow humans. 167 Ceremony & Celebration © Koren Publishers Jerusalem Ltd. Ceremony & Celebration It is the story more than a hundred generations of our ancestors handed on to their children, and they to theirs. As we do likewise, mil- lennia later, we know what it is to be the people of history, guardians of a narrative not engraved in hieroglyphics on the walls of a monumen- tal building but carried in the minds of living, breathing human beings who, for longer than any other people, have kept faith with the future and the past, bearing witness to the power of the human spirit when it opens itself to a greater power, beckoning us to a world of freedom, responsibility and human dignity. -
R. Moshe Isserles' Revisionistic Views on Christianity
101 A Positive Light on the Nations: R. Moshe Isserles’ Revisionistic Views on Christianity By: RABBI ASHER TURIN* Edited by: Jonathan L. Milevsky+ Opinions of the Geonim and Rishonim on the question of whether the Christian belief system is permissible for non-Jews who adhere to the Noahide code1 range from a clear prohibition, based on the view that * Rabbi Asher Turin, of blessed memory, was a student in Ner Israel Rabbinical Seminary in Baltimore, MD, and later a lecturer at Ner Israel in Toronto, Canada. He was the co-director of the Machon Tzvi institute in Jerusalem, the spiritual leader of the Baycrest Terrace Congregation, and the Chaplain of the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre. This paper is part of a larger, unpublished work, which was researched and written, some of it by hand, by the late Rabbi Asher Turin for the NISHMA foundation. While no date is given for the paper, based on the sources he cites, this most probably dates to the early 2000s. I thank Rabbi Benjamin Hecht for providing me with a PDF copy of the paper—the original document is unfor- tunately no longer available. I also thank Dr. Albert Friedberg for the generous sponsorship of this editing project. Ed. + The arguments made in the body of the paper are entirely R. Turin’s own. I have reworded most of the sentences and rearranged many of the paragraphs, so that the argumentation is continuous, and have also removed some of the tangential discussions. Nevertheless, I have left the substance and structure of the paper unchanged, and the only supplementary information, clarification, and sources are inserted into the footnotes, all of which are identified by ‘ed.’ Ed.