The Laws of Niddah Simplified
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
TRANSGENDER JEWS and HALAKHAH1 Rabbi Leonard A
TRANSGENDER JEWS AND HALAKHAH1 Rabbi Leonard A. Sharzer MD This teshuvah was adopted by the CJLS on June 7, 2017, by a vote of 11 in favor, 8 abstaining. Members voting in favor: Rabbis Aaron Alexander, Pamela Barmash, Elliot Dorff, Susan Grossman, Reuven Hammer, Jan Kaufman, Gail Labovitz, Amy Levin, Daniel Nevins, Avram Reisner, and Iscah Waldman. Members abstaining: Rabbis Noah Bickart, Baruch Frydman- Kohl, Joshua Heller, David Hoffman, Jeremy Kalmanofsky, Jonathan Lubliner, Micah Peltz, and Paul Plotkin. שאלות 1. What are the appropriate rituals for conversion to Judaism of transgender individuals? 2. What are the appropriate rituals for solemnizing a marriage in which one or both parties are transgender? 3. How is the marriage of a transgender person (which was entered into before transition) to be dissolved (after transition). 4. Are there any requirements for continuing a marriage entered into before transition after one of the partners transitions? 5. Are hormonal therapy and gender confirming surgery permissible for people with gender dysphoria? 6. Are trans men permitted to become pregnant? 7. How must healthcare professionals interact with transgender people? 8. Who should prepare the body of a transgender person for burial? 9. Are preoperative2 trans men obligated for tohorat ha-mishpahah? 10. Are preoperative trans women obligated for brit milah? 11. At what point in the process of transition is the person recognized as the new gender? 12. Is a ritual necessary to effect the transition of a trans person? The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly provides guidance in matters of halkhhah for the Conservative movement. -
A Guide to Wrapping (Laying) Tefillin
A Guide to Wrapping (Laying) Tefillin Created by Creighton J. Cohn and Jay R. Englander and provided by The Temple Israel Men’s Club 1) After putting on your tallit, get out your arm (Yad) tefillin and say: Baruch ata Ado-nai elo-heynu melech ha-olam, asher kidshanu, b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu l’haniyach tefillin “Praised are You, Adonai our God, who rules the universe, instilling in us the holiness of mitzvot by commanding us to put on tefillin.” 2) Slide your arm tefillin up your weaker arm and tighten the loop so the box sits on the muscle of your bicep and the knot on the strap faces toward your heart. Wrap the strap once over your bicep towards you to anchor the box. 3) Wrap the strap towards you 7 times tightly, over the top of your forearm. As you wrap, count the number of wraps by using either the seven days of the week, or the verse from the Ashrei: “Potey’ach et yade’cha umas- beeah l’chol chai ratson” (7 words) then wrap the remaining strap loosely around your hand. 4) Next, hold your head (Rosh) tefillin and say: Baruch ata Ado-nai elo-heynu melech ha-olam, asher kidshanu, b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu al mitzvat tefillin “Praised are you Adonai, our God who rules the universe, instilling in us the holiness of mitzvot by giving us the mitzvah of tefillin.” 5) Place the head tefillin box on your head where your hairline is/was. The knot should sit in the depression at the back of your head. -
The Contemporary Jewish Legal Treatment of Depressive Disorders in Conflict with Halakha
t HaRofei LeShvurei Leiv: The Contemporary Jewish Legal Treatment of Depressive Disorders in Conflict with Halakha Senior Honors Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the School of Arts and Sciences Brandeis University Undergraduate Program in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies Prof. Reuven Kimelman, Advisor Prof. Zvi Zohar, Advisor In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts by Ezra Cohen December 2018 Accepted with Highest Honors Copyright by Ezra Cohen Committee Members Name: Prof. Reuven Kimelman Signature: ______________________ Name: Prof. Lynn Kaye Signature: ______________________ Name: Prof. Zvi Zohar Signature: ______________________ Table of Contents A Brief Word & Acknowledgments……………………………………………………………... iii Chapter I: Setting the Stage………………………………………………………………………. 1 a. Why This Thesis is Important Right Now………………………………………... 1 b. Defining Key Terms……………………………………………………………… 4 i. Defining Depression……………………………………………………… 5 ii. Defining Halakha…………………………………………………………. 9 c. A Short History of Depression in Halakhic Literature …………………………. 12 Chapter II: The Contemporary Legal Treatment of Depressive Disorders in Conflict with Halakha…………………………………………………………………………………………. 19 d. Depression & Music Therapy…………………………………………………… 19 e. Depression & Shabbat/Holidays………………………………………………… 28 f. Depression & Abortion…………………………………………………………. 38 g. Depression & Contraception……………………………………………………. 47 h. Depression & Romantic Relationships…………………………………………. 56 i. Depression & Prayer……………………………………………………………. 70 j. Depression & -
Born of Our Fathers : Patrilineal Descent, Jewish Identity, and the Development of Self
Smith ScholarWorks Theses, Dissertations, and Projects 2008 Born of our fathers : patrilineal descent, Jewish identity, and the development of self Elizabeth A. Sosland Smith College Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.smith.edu/theses Part of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Sosland, Elizabeth A., "Born of our fathers : patrilineal descent, Jewish identity, and the development of self" (2008). Masters Thesis, Smith College, Northampton, MA. https://scholarworks.smith.edu/theses/1262 This Masters Thesis has been accepted for inclusion in Theses, Dissertations, and Projects by an authorized administrator of Smith ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Liz Sosland Born of Our Fathers: Patrilineal Decent, Jewish Identity, and the Development of Self ABSTRACT This study explores the ways in which disagreement within the American Jewish community regarding the legitimacy of patrilineal descent impacts the identity development of Jewish children born of Jewish fathers and non-Jewish mothers. Twelve participants who self-identify as Jewish, were born to Jewish fathers, and cannot trace their Jewish descent through matrilineal bloodlines were interviewed for this qualitative, exploratory study. Data was gathered about the ways in which this population is internally impacted by this community disagreement, specifically in regard to their development, understanding, and maintenance of self. Findings of this study indicate that there is a strong connection between the amount and quality of selfobject experiences participants could access and the quality of each individual’s Jewish identity. Those with greater selfobject access reported their Jewish identities to be of greater importance to them, and their narratives indicated greater connection to that identity. -
{PDF} Berakhot Kindle
BERAKHOT PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz | 760 pages | 07 Jun 2012 | Koren Publishers | 9789653015630 | English | Jerusalem, Israel Berakhot PDF Book Let the tanna teach regarding the recitation of the morning Shema first. The recital of the tefillah is then dealt with on similar lines and its wording is discussed. Because it says: And thou shalt eat and be satisfied and bless. In this case, the debate is over which blessing to recite after consuming one of the seven species, the staple foods of ancient Israel that the rabbis considered to have a special spiritual status because of their association with the Holy Land. In Epstein, I. Chapter Eight, in which, incidental to the discussion of blessings associated with a meal, a list of disputes between Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel with regard to appropriate conduct at a meal and the halakhot of blessings is cited. Moses went and said to Israel: Is Bezalel suitable in your eyes? Give Feedback. Rambam Sefer Ahava , Hilkhot Tefilla ch. Seeing that a gonorrhoeic person who has an emission, although a ritual ablution is useless in his first condition, was yet required by the Rabbis to take one, how much more so a woman who becomes niddah during sexual intercourse, for whom in her first condition a ritual ablution was efficacious! XXII, If, as mentioned above, the halakhic portion directed us from the abstract to the concrete, the direction provided by the aggadic section is from the concrete to the abstract. Which proves that the grace before food is not Biblical. Hidden categories: Disambiguation pages with short descriptions Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages. -
Putting the Silent Partner Back Into Partnership Minyanim Rabbi Dr
Putting the Silent Partner Back Into Partnership Minyanim Rabbi Dr. Barry Freundel Introduction Over the last few years a new phenomenon has appeared on the Jewish scene. This phenomenon referred to as “Partnership Minyanim”, claims to be Orthodox and/or halakhic, and to offer increased opportunities for women to participate in services.1 Specifically, women are allowed to serve as prayer leader (in some venues a woman is always asked to lead) for Kabbalat Shabbat—but not for Maariv on Friday night. On Shabbat morning a women may serve as Hazan(it)for Pesukei Dezmira but not for Shaharit and Musaf. So too, a girl may be asked to conclude the Shabbat morning services beginning with Ein Kelokeinu. Finally, women are given aliyot and read Torah at these services (in some places this is allowed only after the third aliyah).2 There are some of these groups that follow somewhat different structures.3 The title of this article reflects a fundamental concern about how this new development has come to the community. Partnership Minyanim exist in many areas; Jerusalem, New York, Washington, DC, Boston, Chicago and elsewhere.4 Yet there has, to the best of my 1 For a description and definition see the homepage of Congregation Kol Sason online at http://www.kolsasson.org/index.html and http://www.jofa.org/Resources/Partnership_Minyanim/ for The Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance (JOFA) description of these services. 2 This is based on Responsa R. Meir of Rothenberg (1215-1293) 4:108, a source that in my opinion does not apply to the question of women regularly receiving aliyot in a mixed setting, today. -
Gay-Orthodox.Pdf
"JONATHAN" AND "DAVID" are naomi observant Jews. They belong to the same Orthodox synagogue in New York City. From time to time, other synagogue members invite them to Shabbat lunch. Periodically, Jonathan and David host a fam ily for Shabbat in the Manhattan apartment they share. Occasionally, someone who doesn't know them well will try to interest one or the other in a nice Orthodox girl. After all, Jonathan and David are sin gle professionals in their early 40s—ripe material for a sbiddach (match). But both men always respond, politely, that they are not interested. That's because Jonathan and David are already committed. To each other. Jonathan is a social worker. But that does not define him in the Orthodox Jewish world nearly as emphatically as his sexuality. That is why he is not openly gay in his Orthodox community (and why he, and several other gay men interviewed for this arti cle, asked that their real names not be used). "I am not keeping [it] a secret," says Jonathan, "but I also don't feel I have to make a statement. People don't need to know everything about me— especially something that is so personal." More and more, gay and lesbian Orthodox Jews seem to be taking Jonathan's approach: acknowledg ing they are gay, even if they don't advertise it. And in response, a growing number of underground support groups geared specifically to Orthodox Jews are crop ping up both online and in Jewish centers in cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and Miami. -
Female Homoerotic Sexual Activity – Sources
Feminist Sexual Ethics Project Gail Labovitz Senior Research Analyst, Feminist Sexual Ethics Project Female Homoerotic Sexual Activity – Sources: The sources addressing female homoerotic sexual activity in rabbinic literature (link to glossary) are very few, and far less clear than those regarding sexual activity between men. There is a great deal of ambiguity in these texts as to what activities are forbidden, the consequences for women who engage in them, and the nature (that is, the source and/or the authority) of whatever prohibition does exist. Reading these sources suggests several potential reasons why rabbinic thinking on female homoerotic sexual activity is less developed than regarding male homoeroticism; these possibilities will be discussed in the course of the analysis of the texts below. Tannaitic Midrash There is no direct prohibition on female homoerotic sexual activity in the Hebrew bible, indeed, no explicit discussion of such activity at all. Biblical laws of forbidden sexual couplings (notably Leviticus 18 and 20) are generally addressed to male listeners/readers. With the exception of the prohibition against bestiality (Leviticus 18:23 and 20:15-16), in which the prohibition against women committing this act follows on the prohibition to men,1 sexual acts which do not involve male participants are not discussed. Nor do the Mishnah (link to glossary) or the Tosefta (link to glossary) discuss sexual acts between women in any way. Only one midrashic (link to glossary) text from this period addresses any form of homoeroticism between women. As midrash, that is, as a form of exegesis of scriptural text, to Leviticus 18:3, this passage thus invokes the authority of scripture for its discourse on female homoeroticism; it links marriage between two women to the practices of the Canaanites and Egyptians, which this verse and numerous others explicitly forbid, as well as to a number of other sexual/marital connections explicitly or implicitly forbidden in scripture [cite the verse?]. -
Halachos of Tefillin One Should Be .ברוך שם
Nissan 5771 Volume I Issue I The point of this publication is to help create an Produced by: Rabbi Avrohom Adler awareness regarding the sanctity of tefillin. של After finishing tightening and positioning the Halachos of Tefillin One should be .ברוך שם... ועד one should say ,ראש by: Rabbi Boruch Hirschfeld Shlit”a is של ראש till the ברוך שם very careful not to say When one puts on tefillin he should have the fully positioned. following things in mind: 1. To fulfill the mitzvah of tefillin shel yad. It is very praiseworthy to learn something while 2. To fulfill the mitzvah of tefillin shel rosh. wearing tefillin, before they are taken off. 3. To subdue my heart, mind and body for Hashem. The Glory of Tefillin 4. To remember the miracle of yetzias by: R’ Zev Busel mitzrayim (shows Hashem’s power over the Yidden - ליהודים היתה אורה ושמחה וששן ויקר .(heaven and earth 5. To minimize the physical pleasures of this experienced light and joy, delight and honor. The world. Gemora in Meseches Megillah tells us that that ,ששון זו מילה ,שמחה זה יום טוב and that ,אורה זו תורה To believe in the Oneness of Hashem .6 Rashi explains that Haman .ויקר אלו תפילין written in the tefillin. and 7. To fulfill everything else written in the decreed against the observance of the tefillin (love Hashem, learn Torah, aforementioned mitzvos and now we are able to mezuzah, tefillah, mitzvos of Pesach and observe them. prohibitions regarding chametz, pidyon haben). The Sfas Emes pondered: If so, why didn't ליהודים היתה תורה יום טוב the passuk just say that The Sfas Emes answers that through ?ומילה ותפילין is while he כוונות The ideal time for thinking these puts on the tefillin. -
Tzvi Gershon Ben Yoel (Harvey Felsen)
11 Kislev 5774 Yoma Daf 6 Nov. 14, 2013 Daf Notes is currently being dedicated to the neshamah of Tzvi Gershon Ben Yoel (Harvey Felsen) o”h May the studying of the Daf Notes be a zechus for his neshamah and may his soul find peace in Gan Eden and be bound up in the Bond of life There is a dispute whether the belt of the Kohen them, we learn that first Moshe girdled Aharon Gadol was the same as the belt of an ordinary and then Moshe girdled Aharon’s sons. (5b3-6a1) Kohen. There is a dispute whether a niddah We learned that there is a dispute whether contaminates the one who cohabited with her Moshe dressed Aharon and then his sons, or if before she discovers that she was a niddah. Moshe dressed Aharon and his sons Rabbi Akiva maintains that if one cohabited with simultaneously. It is said and he girdled him [i.e. a woman within twenty-four hours before she Aharon] with the belt, and it is also written and realized that she was a niddah, he is tamei for he girdled them [i.e. the sons] with a belt, which seven days, and this is similar to the law that a implies that they were not girdled niddah contaminates on account of a rabbinic simultaneously. According to the opinion that decree any kodashim food that she was preparing maintains that Moshe girdled Aharon and his sons during that twenty-four hour period. The simultaneously, the girdling actually occurred Chachamim, however, maintain that although the simultaneously, and the reason the Torah woman is considered a niddah as far as the separates the two girdlings at the time of previous twenty-four hours are concerned, we do performance is to teach us that the belt of the not say that the man is tamei for seven days like Kohen Gadol was comprised of spun linen and one who cohabits with a niddah, because the fact blue wool, which makes it shaatnez, whereas the that the woman is retroactively considered a belts of the ordinary Kohanim were comprised niddah is a rabbinical decree, and the Chachamim solely of linen. -
Judaism: a Supplemental Resource for Grade 12 World of Religions: A
Change and Evolution Stages in the Development of Judaism: A Historical Perspective As the timeline chart presented earlier demonstrates, the development of the Jewish faith and tradition which occurred over thousands of years was affected by a number of developments and events that took place over that period. As with other faiths, the scriptures or oral historical records of the development of the religion may not be supported by the contemporary archaeological, historical, or scientific theories and available data or artifacts. The historical development of the Jewish religion and beliefs is subject to debate between archeologists, historians, and biblical scholars. Scholars have developed ideas and theories about the development of Jewish history and religion. The reason for this diversity of opinion and perspectives is rooted in the lack of historical materials, and the illusive nature, ambiguity, and ambivalence of the relevant data. Generally, there is limited information about Jewish history before the time of King David (1010–970 BCE) and almost no reliable biblical evidence regarding what religious beliefs and behaviour were before those reflected in the Torah. As the Torah was only finalized in the early Persian period (late 6th–5th centuries BCE), the evidence of the Torah is most relevant to early Second Temple Judaism. As well, the Judaism reflected in the Torah would seem to be generally similar to that later practiced by the Sadducees and Samaritans. By drawing on archeological information and the analysis of Jewish Scriptures, scholars have developed theories about the origins and development of Judaism. Over time, there have been many different views regarding the key periods of the development of Judaism. -
The Poetic Superstructure of the Babylonian Talmud and the Reader It Fashions
UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title The Poetic Superstructure of the Babylonian Talmud and the Reader It Fashions Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5bx332x5 Author Septimus, Zvi Publication Date 2011 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California The Poetic Superstructure of the Babylonian Talmud and the Reader It Fashions by Zvi Septimus A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Joint Doctor of Philosophy with Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley in Jewish Studies in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Daniel Boyarin, Chair Professor David Henkin Professor Naomi Seidman Spring 2011 The Poetic Superstructure of the Babylonian Talmud and the Reader It Fashions Copyright 2011 All rights reserved by Zvi Septimus Abstract The Poetic Superstructure of the Babylonian Talmud and the Reader It Fashions by Zvi Septimus Doctor of Philosophy in Jewish Studies University of California, Berkeley Professor Daniel Boyarin, Chair This dissertation proposes a poetics and semiotics of the Bavli (Babylonian Talmud)—how the Bavli, through a complex network of linguistic signs, acts on its implied reader's attempt to find meaning in the text. In doing so, I advance a new understanding of how the Bavli was composed, namely as a book written by its own readers in the act of transmission. In the latter half of the twentieth century, Bavli scholarship focused on the role of the Stam (the collective term for those people responsible for the anonymous voice of the Bavli) in the construction of individual Bavli passages (sugyot).