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Yeshiva University • Rosh Hashana To-Go • Tishrei 5769
1 YESHIVA UNIVERSITY • ROSH HASHANA TO-GO • TISHREI 5769 Dear Friends, ראש השנה will enhance your ספר It is my sincere hope that the Torah found in this virtual (Rosh HaShana) and your High Holiday experience. We have designed this project not only for the individual, studying alone, but also for a a pair of students) that wishes to work through the study matter together, or a group) חברותא for engaged in facilitated study. להגדיל תורה With this material, we invite you, wherever you may be, to join our Beit Midrash to enjoy the splendor of Torah) and to discuss Torah issues that touch on) ולהאדירה contemporary matters, as well as issues rooted in the ideals of this time of year. We hope, through this To-Go series, to participate in the timeless conversations of our great sages. בברכת כתיבה וחתימה טובה Rabbi Kenneth Brander Dean, Yeshiva University Center for the Jewish Future Richard M Joel, President, Yeshiva University Rabbi Kenneth Brander, Dean, Center for the Jewish Future Rabbi Robert Shur, General Editor Ephraim Meth, Editor Copyright © 2008 All rights reserved by Yeshiva University Yeshiva University Center for the Jewish Future 500 West 185th Street, Suite 413, New York, NY 10033 [email protected] • 212.960.5400 x 5313 2 YESHIVA UNIVERSITY • ROSH HASHANA TO-GO • TISHREI 5769 Table of Contents Rosh Hashana 2008/5769 The Mitzvah of Shofar: Who’s Listening? Rabbi Reuven Brand The Teshuvah Beyond Teshuvah Rabbi Daniel Z. Feldman Rosh HaShanah's Role as the Beginning of a New Fiscal Year and How It Affects Us Rabbi Josh Flug Aseret Yemei Teshuva: The Bridge Between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur Rabbi Shmuel Hain The Music of the Yamim Noraim Cantor Sherwood Goffin Selected Minhagim of Rosh Hashana Rabbi Avrohom Gordimer The Personal and Collective Journey to Har haMoria Mrs. -
A USER's MANUAL Part 1: How Is Halakhah Organized?
TORAHLEADERSHIP.ORG RABBI ARYEH KLAPPER HALAKHAH: A USER’S MANUAL Part 1: How is Halakhah Organized? I. How is Halakhah Organized? 4 case studies a. Mishnah Berakhot 1:1, and gemara thereupon b. Support of the poor Peiah, Bava Batra, Matnot Aniyyim, Yoreh Deah) c. Conversion ?, Yevamot, Issurei Biah, Yoreh Deah) d. Mourning Moed Qattan, Shoftim, Yoreh Deiah) Mishnah Berakhot 1:1 From what time may one recite the Shema in the evening? From the hour that the kohanim enter to eat their terumah Until the end of the first watch, in the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer. The Sages say: Until midnight. Rabban Gamliel says: Until morning. It happened that his sons came from a wedding feast. They said to him: We have not yet recited the Shema. He said to them: If it has not yet morned, you are obligated to recite it. Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 2a What is the context of the Mishnah’s opening “From when”? Also, why does it teach about the evening first, rather than about the morning? The context is Scripture saying “when you lie down and when you arise” (Devarim 6:7, 11:9). what the Mishnah intends is: “The time of the Shema of lying-down – when is it?” Alternatively: The context is Creation, as Scripture writes “There was evening and there was morning”. Mishnah Berakhot 1:1 (continued) Not only this – rather, everything about which the Sages say until midnight – their mitzvah is until morning. The burning of fats and organs – their mitzvah is until morning. All sacrifices that must be eaten in a day – their mitzvah is until morning. -
Fooling the Tax Collector
Schachter, rosh yeshiva of Rabbi Isaac Elchanan In introducing a new metaphor — that Theological Seminary (RIETS) at Yeshiva citizens of a modern democracy are more University. “It is important to note that today like partners than subjects — into formalized the basis for taxation is totally different from Jewish legal thinking, Schachter has taken what it was in talmudic times.” According to a a first important step in opening up an en- contemporary understanding of Jewish law, we tirely new vista from which to think about ought to ground the obligation to pay taxes not the legitimacy of taxes and the responsibility SHMA.COM in the anachronistic notion of dina d’malchuta of partners to participate in public policy dis- dina; rather, we should invoke the talmudic cussions. In this alternative view, it is not us concept of shutfim or partnership. Schachter versus them, but rather “we the people” who concludes, “All people who live in the same must formulate fair tax rules and just public city, state, and country are considered ‘shut- policies. It follows directly from Schachter’s fim’ with respect to the services provided by new formulation that as Jewish partners in that city, state, and country. The purpose be- this process, we have a unique right and obli- hind the taxes is no longer ‘to enrich the king’ gation to bring to our fellow citizens the best in the slightest.” (Torahweb.org) of Jewish legal and ethical thinking. Fooling the Tax Collector: Why the Rabbis Once Approved DAVID BRODSKY abbi Naftali Tzvi Weisz, the Spinka Luke 3:12, 5:27–30, 7:29, 7:34, 15:1, and 18:9– Rebbe of Boro Park, and the great-great- 14), just as the Mishnah associates them with Rgrandson of R. -
Purifying the Impure?
בס“ד Parshiyot Shemini/Parah 23 Adar II, 5779/March 30, 2019 Vol. 10 Num. 30 (#408) This issue is sponsored by the families of Irwin, Jim and David Diamond in memory of their father, Morris Diamond z”l לזכר ולעילוי נשמת אבינו מורינו ר‘ משה בן דוד שלמה ז“ל Purifying the Impure? Ezer Diena In delineating the rules of purity and 1: The student may be right Rabbi Abulafia’s characterization of this impurity, the Torah warns us very According to Rabbeinu Tam (cited in person as one who is able to overcome a strongly to avoid defiling ourselves by Tosafot to Eruvin and Sanhedrin ibid.), challenge can be further split into two eating or otherwise coming into the student and judge meant to prove tests: the logical, and emotional. contact with the carcasses of only that a sheretz would not cause s her atz i m, literally “creeping impurity if an olive-sized piece were One test is to see a Torah ruling which creatures” [singular: sheretz]. (Vayikra transported, and this may have basis in seems illogical, even by the Torah’s 11:29-38, 41-44) Not only that, but the traditional sources. The ability to permit standards. Certain laws relating to sheretz gained special status as the a sheretz in this way simply indicates purity and impurity may very well fall paradigm of uncleanliness in the detailed knowledge and halachic into this category! In fact, one of the Talmud (Taanit 16a): acumen. However, other commentaries more challenging details of ritual purity, raise technical halachic questions which we read about in Parshat Parah “Rabbi Adda bar Ahavah said: A against this approach, and reject it. -
The Prophet Jeremiah in the Talmud and Midrash Chronology
Sun 4 Nov 2007 Dr Maurice M. Mizrahi Congregation Adat Reyim Joint series on Jeremiah with Beth El Hebrew Congregation The Prophet Jeremiah in the Talmud and Midrash Chronology 640-609 BCE: Josiah [Yoshiyahu], King of Judah. Marched against Pharaoh Necho and was killed at Megiddo. Strong religious reforms, restoration of Jewish practices, Temple-centered. 626-585 BCE: Jeremiah’s [Yirmiahu] 41 years of prophecy. Torn between love of Jews and love of Judaism. 609 BCE: Jehoahaz, son of Josiah, King of Judah. 3-month reign, died in exile in Egypt. 609-598 BCE: Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, King of Judah. Died during siege of Jerusalem. Burned scroll of Lamentations. Return of idolatry and corruption. 598 BCE: Jeconiah [Jehoiachin], son of Jehoiakim, King of Judah. Was 18, reigned 3 months, exiled to Babylon. 598-587 BCE: Zedekiah [Tzidkiyahu], son of Josiah, last king of Judah . Was 21 when began reign, exiled to Babylon. 589-586 BCE: Siege and sack of Jerusalem, destruction of Temple and exile to Babylon ========================== Authorship Jeremiah wrote the books of Jeremiah, Kings, and Lamentations (Talmud) Moses received the Torah from God and wrote the Book of Job, Joshua wrote his book and the last eight verses of Deuteronomy (that is, the account of the death of Moses); Samuel wrote his book, Judges and Ruth; David wrote the Psalms; Jeremiah wrote his book, the Book of Kings and Lamentations; Hezekiah and his council wrote Isaiah, Proverbs, Song of Songs, and Ecclesiastes; the men of the Great Assembly wrote Ezekiel, the Twelve Prophets, Daniel, and the Scroll of Esther; Ezra wrote his book and the genealogy of Chronicles down to himself. -
The Best Part of Waking up Birchas Hatorah on Shavuos Morning Rabbi Shmuel Maybruch Faculty, Stone Beit Midrash Program
The Best Part of Waking Up Birchas HaTorah on Shavuos Morning Rabbi Shmuel Maybruch Faculty, Stone Beit Midrash Program The Importance of Birchas HaTorah One of the most significant berachos we recite throughout the day is the birchas haTorah. This series of berachos30 is not only a halachic requirement, but a powerful testament to the importance of Torah study. For example, the Talmud (Nedarim 81a) asks why Torah scholarship often does not pass from a father who is a Torah scholar to his children. Ravina explains that it is result of the scholar’s omission of birchas haTorah: ומפני מה אין מצויין ת"ח לצאת Why is it uncommon for Torah scholars to produce Torah scholars as ת"ח מבניהן? רבינא אמר... their children? Ravina said: Because they [the Torah scholars] do שאין מברכין בתורה תחלה. not recite the berachos [of birchas haTorah] prior [to studying Torah] The Beis Yosef (O.C. 47) quotes his Rebbi, Rabbeinu Yitzhak Abohav, who explains Ravina’s intent: ורבינו הגדול מהר"י אבוהב ז"ל Our great Rebbi, Mahar"i Abohav zt"l, wrote that the [explanation כתב שהטעם שאינם זוכים of the] reason [given by the Talmud] that they are not privileged to לבנים תלמידי חכמים מפני שאין have children that are Torah scholars “because they do not recite the מברכין בתורה הוא לפי שמאחר beracha [of birchas haTorah]” is that since they do not recite שאין מברכין על התורה מורה berachos on the Torah, it demonstrates that they are not studying it שאין קורין אותה לשמה אלא for its own sake, rather merely like a common occupation. -
What Sugyot Should an Educated Jew Know?
What Sugyot Should An Educated Jew Know? Jon A. Levisohn Updated: May, 2009 What are the Talmudic sugyot (topics or discussions) that every educated Jew ought to know, the most famous or significant Talmudic discussions? Beginning in the fall of 2008, about 25 responses to this question were collected: some formal Top Ten lists, many informal nominations, and some recommendations for further reading. Setting aside the recommendations for further reading, 82 sugyot were mentioned, with (only!) 16 of them duplicates, leaving 66 distinct nominated sugyot. This is hardly a Top Ten list; while twelve sugyot received multiple nominations, the methodology does not generate any confidence in a differentiation between these and the others. And the criteria clearly range widely, with the result that the nominees include both aggadic and halakhic sugyot, and sugyot chosen for their theological and ideological significance, their contemporary practical significance, or their centrality in discussions among commentators. Or in some cases, perhaps simply their idiosyncrasy. Presumably because of the way the question was framed, they are all sugyot in the Babylonian Talmud (although one response did point to texts in Sefer ha-Aggadah). Furthermore, the framing of the question tended to generate sugyot in the sense of specific texts, rather than sugyot in the sense of centrally important rabbinic concepts; in cases of the latter, the cited text is sometimes the locus classicus but sometimes just one of many. Consider, for example, mitzvot aseh she-ha-zeman gerama (time-bound positive mitzvoth, no. 38). The resulting list is quite obviously the product of a committee, via a process of addition without subtraction or prioritization. -
Cultivating a Jewish Tax Ethic
ARI HART Civilization’s Price: Cultivating a Jewish Tax Ethic Introduction SUPREME COURT JUSTICE Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. famously wrote that taxes are “the price of civilization”. Judaism recognizes them as more. Taxes are a means of civilization, and their creation and collection reveals a tremendous amount about a society’s priorities and values. Recent scandals involving Jews shirking their tax responsibilities have led to much ink being spilled, in certain circles, on whether or not Jew must pay taxes. The Jewish ethical answer in a free democracy is unequivocally “yes”. 1 Does the Jewish ethical tradition have anything to say beyond this basic question? Aside from how they should be paid (regularly, fully), can we artic - ulate a Jewish tax ethic? The Torah contains several kinds of taxes and tithes in its economic sys - tem. p Terumah was levied to support the priests who did not own prop - erty and devoted themselves to the communal good including running the Temple. Terumah, was given, according to rabbinic mandate at a level of between a fortieth, fiftieth or sixtieth of total produce, depending on the generosity of the payer. p Ma’aser rishon , a tenth taken after terumah was taken, was given to support the landless Levi’im in their service educating and serving the Jewish people. RABBI ARI HART is Assistant Rabbi at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale and Director of Recruitment at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah. 78 Ari Hart 79 p Ma’aser sheini is a share of produce that had to be eaten in the capital, Jerusalem, or sold and substituted with food bought in Jerusalem, to support its economy. -
Of the Mishnah, Bavli & Yerushalmi
0 Learning at SVARA SVARA’s learning happens in the bet midrash, a space for study partners (chevrutas) to build a relationship with the Talmud text, with one another, and with the tradition—all in community and a queer-normative, loving culture. The learning is rigorous, yet the bet midrash environment is warm and supportive. Learning at SVARA focuses on skill-building (learning how to learn), foregrounding the radical roots of the Jewish tradition, empowering learners to become “players” in it, cultivating Talmud study as a spiritual practice, and with the ultimate goal of nurturing human beings shaped by one of the central spiritual, moral, and intellectual technologies of our tradition: Talmud Torah (the study of Torah). The SVARA method is a simple, step-by-step process in which the teacher is always an authentic co-learner with their students, teaching the Talmud not so much as a normative document prescribing specific behaviors, but as a formative document, shaping us into a certain kind of human being. We believe the Talmud itself is a handbook for how to, sometimes even radically, upgrade our tradition when it no longer functions to create the most liberatory world possible. All SVARA learning begins with the CRASH Talk. Here we lay out our philosophy of the Talmud and the rabbinic revolution that gave rise to it—along with important vocabulary and concepts for anyone learning Jewish texts. This talk is both an overview of the ultimate goals of the Jewish enterprise, as well as a crash course in halachic (Jewish legal) jurisprudence. Beyond its application to Judaism, CRASH Theory is a simple but elegant model of how all change happens—whether societal, religious, organizational, or personal. -
Response to Rabbi Orlofsky's Lecture by Rabbi Natan Slifkin
Response to Rabbi Orlofsky’s Lecture By Rabbi Natan Slifkin Rabbi Orlofsky gave a Motzai Shabbos lecture in which he attacked my writings. He first claimed that if I reject the idea that Moshe was ten amos tall, then I am saying that the Gemara’s statement about the dimensions of the Mishkan etc. is wrong. No I am not; I am saying that we have not understood the Gemara correctly. (Incidentally, no children’s book, including Feldheim’s Chait Haggadah, depicts Moshe Rabbeinu as being ten amos tall. Are they all heretical?) The greatest irony is that Rabbi Moshe Shapiro, who Rabbi Orlofsky claims as his rebbe, follows the Maharal in stating that Moshe was not literally ten amos tall! Rabbi Orlofsky then brought up the topic of the letter of the ban and says that “the first thing people said was that nobody ever signed,” and adds that this is not the case, as he has the letters from Rav Shapiro, Rav Shiner, etc. (which he presumably downloaded from my website), a point to which he returns several times as a means to discredit me. But neither I nor anyone else ever claimed that every signature was forged; we just raised the possibility that some of them were. The letters of the rabbonim that Rabbi Orlofsky has were probably downloaded from my own website! So Rabbi Orlofsky has set up a straw man. And it subsequently turned out that according to Rav Aharon Feldman who spoke with Rav Elyashiv, Rav Elyashiv did not sign his name to the posted notice which said that the books contain kefirah. -
Download Catalogue
F i n e J u d a i C a . printed booKs, manusCripts, Ceremonial obJeCts & GraphiC art K e s t e n b au m & C om pa n y thursday, nov ember 19th, 2015 K est e n bau m & C o m pa ny . Auctioneers of Rare Books, Manuscripts and Fine Art A Lot 61 Catalogue of F i n e J u d a i C a . BOOK S, MANUSCRIPTS, GR APHIC & CEREMONIAL A RT INCLUDING A SINGULAR COLLECTION OF EARLY PRINTED HEBREW BOOK S, BIBLICAL & R AbbINIC M ANUSCRIPTS (PART II) Sold by order of the Execution Office, District High Court, Tel Aviv ——— To be Offered for Sale by Auction, Thursday, 19th November, 2015 at 3:00 pm precisely ——— Viewing Beforehand: Sunday, 15th November - 12:00 pm - 6:00 pm Monday, 16th November - 10:00 am - 6:00 pm Tuesday, 17th November - 10:00 am - 6:00 pm Wednesday, 18th November - 10:00 am - 6:00 pm No Viewing on the Day of Sale This Sale may be referred to as: “Sempo” Sale Number Sixty Six Illustrated Catalogues: $38 (US) * $45 (Overseas) KestenbauM & CoMpAny Auctioneers of Rare Books, Manuscripts and Fine Art . 242 West 30th street, 12th Floor, new york, NY 10001 • tel: 212 366-1197 • Fax: 212 366-1368 e-mail: [email protected] • World Wide Web site: www.Kestenbaum.net K est e n bau m & C o m pa ny . Chairman: Daniel E. Kestenbaum Operations Manager: Jackie S. Insel Client Relations: Sandra E. Rapoport, Esq. Printed Books & Manuscripts: Rabbi Eliezer Katzman Rabbi Dovid Kamenetsky (Consultant) Ceremonial & Graphic Art: Abigail H. -
ON the MITZVOT of NON-JEWS: an ANALYSIS of AVODAH ZARAH 2B-3A Rabbi Dov Linzer
MilinHavivinEng1 7/5/05 11:48 AM Page 25 Rabbi Dov Linzer is the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School and the Chair of the Yeshiva’s Departments of Talmud and Jewish Law. ON THE MITZVOT OF NON-JEWS: AN ANALYSIS OF AVODAH ZARAH 2B-3A Rabbi Dov Linzer I. THE SUGYAH Non-Jews are commanded to observe the seven Noahide laws.1 A logical corollary of this is that they are to be rewarded for their performance of these mitzvot, and held liable for transgressing them.2 This assumption, however, is brought into question by the sugyah around the statement of Rav Yosef in Avodah Zarah 2b-3a (paralleled in Bava Kama 35a): 1 Tosefta Avodah Zarah 8:4; Sanhedrin 74b 2 The idea of a world of future reward and punishment for non-Jews is consistent with the position that righteous non-Jews have a portion in the World-to-Come (Tosefta Sanhedrin 13:2; Sanhedrin 105a). It is prima facie difficult to understand how the opposing position, that even the righteous amongst the non-Jews has no share in the World-to-Come, can explain the significance of Noahide mitzvot for a non-Jew. The answers to this question are beyond the scope of this paper, but we can immediately sug- gest three possible solutions: (1) The phrase “World-to-Come” may not refer to the totality of future metaphysical reward, but only one aspect of it; (2) The primary focus of the Noahide laws might be to enforce behavior on this world and do not suggest a meta- physical religious system for non-Jews and (3) While assured no future reward, non-Jews might suffer different degrees of punishment for the degree of their transgressions.