November 2020 Cheshvan~Kislev 5781 Teruah
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Should Bakeries Which Are Open on Shabbat Be Supervised? a Response to the Rabinowitz-Weisberg Opinion RABBI HOWARD HANDLER
Should Bakeries Which are Open on Shabbat Be Supervised? A Response to the Rabinowitz-Weisberg Opinion RABBI HOWARD HANDLER This paper was submitted as a response to the responsum written by Rabbi Mayer Rabinowitz and Ms. Dvora Weisberg entitled "Rabbinic Supervision of Jewish Owned Businesses Operating on Shabbat" which was adopted by the CJLS on February 26, 1986. Should rabbis offer rabbinic supervision to bakeries which are open on Shabbat? i1 ~, '(l) l'\ (1) The food itself is indeed kosher after Shabbat, once the time required to prepare it has elapsed. 1 The halakhah is according to Rabbi Yehudah and not according to the Mishnah which is Rabbi Meir's opinion. (2) While a Jew who does not observe all the mitzvot is in some instances deemed trustworthy, this is never the case regarding someone who flagrantly disregards the laws of Shabbat, especially for personal profit. Maimonides specifically excludes such a person's trustworthiness regarding his own actions.2 Moreover in the case of n:nv 77n~ (a violator of Shabbat) Maimonides explicitly rejects his trustworthiness. 3 No support can be brought from Moshe Feinstein who concludes, "even if the proprietor closes his store on Shabbat, [since it is known to all that he does not observe Shabbat], we assume he only wants to impress other observant Jews so they will buy from him."4 Previously in the same responsum R. Feinstein emphasizes that even if the person in The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly provides guidance in matters of halakhah for the Conservative movement. -
Modern Approaches to the Talmud: Sacha Stern | University College London
09/29/21 HEBR7411: Modern approaches to the Talmud: Sacha Stern | University College London HEBR7411: Modern approaches to the View Online Talmud: Sacha Stern Albeck, Chanoch, Mavo La-Talmudim (Tel-Aviv: Devir, 1969) Alexander, Elizabeth Shanks, Transmitting Mishnah: The Shaping Influence of Oral Tradition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006) Amit, Aaron, Makom She-Nahagu: Pesahim Perek 4 (Yerushalayim: ha-Igud le-farshanut ha-Talmud, 2009), Talmud ha-igud Ba’adani, Netanel, Hayu Bodkin: Sanhedrin Perek 5 (Yerushalayim: ha-Igud le-farshanut ha-Talmud, 2012), Talmud ha-igud Bar-Asher Siegal, Michal, Early Christian Monastic Literature and the Babylonian Talmud (Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013) Benovitz, Moshe, Lulav va-Aravah ve-Hahalil: Sukkah Perek 4-5 (Yerushalayim: ha-Igud le-farshanut ha-Talmud, 2013), Talmud ha-igud ———, Me-Ematai Korin et Shema: Berakhot Perek 1 (Yerushalayim: ha-Igud le-farshanut ha-Talmud, 2006), Talmud ha-igud Brody, Robert, Mishnah and Tosefta Studies, First edition, July 2014 (Jerusalem: The Hebrew university, Magnes press, 2014) ———, The Geonim of Babylonia and the Shaping of Medieval Jewish Culture, Paperback ed., with a new preface and an updated bibliography (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2013) Carmy, Shalom, Modern Scholarship in the Study of Torah: Contributions and Limitations (Northvale, N.J.: J. Aronson, 1996), The Orthodox Forum series Chernick, Michael L., Essential Papers on the Talmud (New York: New York University Press, 1994), Essential papers on Jewish studies Daṿid Halivni, Meḳorot U-Masorot (Nashim), ha-Mahadurah ha-sheniyah (Ṭoronṭo, Ḳanadah: Hotsaʼat Otsarenu) ———, Meḳorot U-Masorot: Seder Moʼed (Yerushalayim: Bet ha-Midrash le-Rabanim be-Ameriḳah be-siṿuʻa Keren Moshe (Gusṭaṿ) Ṿortsṿayler, 735) ‘dTorah.com’ <http://dtorah.com/> 1/5 09/29/21 HEBR7411: Modern approaches to the Talmud: Sacha Stern | University College London Epstein, J. -
1 Jews, Gentiles, and the Modern Egalitarian Ethos
Jews, Gentiles, and the Modern Egalitarian Ethos: Some Tentative Thoughts David Berger The deep and systemic tension between contemporary egalitarianism and many authoritative Jewish texts about gentiles takes varying forms. Most Orthodox Jews remain untroubled by some aspects of this tension, understanding that Judaism’s affirmation of chosenness and hierarchy can inspire and ennoble without denigrating others. In other instances, affirmations of metaphysical differences between Jews and gentiles can take a form that makes many of us uncomfortable, but we have the legitimate option of regarding them as non-authoritative. Finally and most disturbing, there are positions affirmed by standard halakhic sources from the Talmud to the Shulhan Arukh that apparently stand in stark contrast to values taken for granted in the modern West and taught in other sections of the Torah itself. Let me begin with a few brief observations about the first two categories and proceed to somewhat more extended ruminations about the third. Critics ranging from medieval Christians to Mordecai Kaplan have directed withering fire at the doctrine of the chosenness of Israel. Nonetheless, if we examine an overarching pattern in the earliest chapters of the Torah, we discover, I believe, that this choice emerges in a universalist context. The famous statement in the Mishnah (Sanhedrin 4:5) that Adam was created singly so that no one would be able to say, “My father is greater than yours” underscores the universality of the original divine intent. While we can never know the purpose of creation, one plausible objective in light of the narrative in Genesis is the opportunity to actualize the values of justice and lovingkindness through the behavior of creatures who subordinate themselves to the will 1 of God. -
Some Teachings from Tractate Avodah Zarah
Sat 1 Oct 2016 / 1 Elul 5776 B”H Dr Maurice M. Mizrahi Congregation Adat Reyim Luncheon in honor of my completion of Talmudic tractate Avodah Zarah Some teachings from Tractate Avodah Zarah Idolatry: The No. 1 sin -Right at beginning of Ten Commandments: -You shall have no other God but Me. [Ex. 20:2] -You shall not make unto thee any graven image. [Ex. 20:3] -Talmud: -To abstain from idolatry is "equivalent to fulfilling all [other] commandments in the Torah". [Horayot 8a] -So, to be a fully observant Jew, all one has to do is not worship idols? -Whoever rejects idolatry is called a Jew. [Megillah 13a, b] -Idols must not only be destroyed, but completely eradicated. Every trace of them must be removed. [Avodah Zarah 45b] -If one had to sum up Judaism with one line, it would be the Shema: -HaShem Echad -- The Lord is One. [Deut. 6:4] -Tractate Avodah Zarah mostly discusses relations with gentiles. Why doesn’t God destroy all idols? Mishnah. The elders [of Israel visited] Rome and were asked: “If [your god] has no desire for idolatry, why doesn’t he destroy [all idols]?” They replied, “If what was worshipped was something unnecessary to the world, he would destroy it. But people worship the sun, the moon, the stars and the planets. Should he destroy his universe on account of [such] fools?” They said [to the elders], “If so, he should destroy what is not necessary for the world and leave what is necessary for the world!” They replied, “[If He did that], it would merely strengthen the hands of the worshippers of [whatever God spared], because they would say, ‘You can be sure these are [real] deities, for, behold, they have not been destroyed!’” [Avodah Zarah 54b] Must not benefit from idolatry in any way 1 Phrasing matters! And thus it has been taught: If one hires a [Jewish] workman, saying to him, “Move for me a hundred casks [of wine] for a hundred perutahs”, and among them was found one cask of [wine that had been used for idolatrous purposes], his [entire] wage is prohibited. -
Vayeishev 5758 Volume V Number 12
Balak 5781 Volume XXVIII Number 41 Toras Aish Thoughts From Across the Torah Spectrum and Midian, suffered a self-inflicted tragedy by allowing RABBI LORD JONATHAN SACKS Z"L themselves to be enticed by the women of the land. Covenant & Conversation God’s anger burns against them. Several chapters later Rabbi Sacks zt"l had prepared a full year of Covenant & (Num. 31:16) it emerges that it was Bilaam who Conversation for 5781, based on his book Lessons in devised this strategy: “They were the ones who Leadership. The Office of Rabbi Sacks will continue to followed Bilaam’s advice and were the means of turning distribute these weekly essays, so that people all around the the Israelites away from the Lord in what happened at world can keep on learning and finding inspiration in his Peor, so that a plague struck the Lord’s people”. Having Torah. failed to curse the Israelites, Bilaam eventually s leadership a set of skills, the ability to summon and succeeded in doing them great harm. command power? Or does it have an essentially I So the picture that emerges from the Jewish moral dimension also? Can a bad person be a good sources is of a man with great gifts, a genuine prophet, leader, or will their badness compromise their a man whom the Sages compared with Moses himself leadership? That is the question raised by the key – yet at the same time a figure of flawed character that figure in this week’s parsha, the pagan prophet Bilaam. eventually led to his downfall and to his reputation as First, by way of introduction, we have an evil-doer and one of those mentioned by the independent evidence that Bilaam actually existed. -
Gift Exchanges During Marriage Rituals Among the Italian Jews in the Early Modern Period: a Historic-Anthropological Reading
GIFT EXCHANGES DURING MARRIAGE RITUALS 485 Roni WEINSTEIN Pisa University, Dept. of Modern and Contemporary History Università di Pisa, Dipartimento di Storia, Sezione Moderna e Contemporanea GIFT EXCHANGES DURING MARRIAGE RITUALS AMONG THE ITALIAN JEWS IN THE EARLY MODERN PERIOD: A HISTORIC-ANTHROPOLOGICAL READING RÉSUMÉ De la fin du XVe siècle au milieu du XVIIe, les communautés juives d’Italie furent le lieu d’un débat halakhique sur les présents du fiancé à sa promise. À l’arrière-plan de ce débat figurait la règle talmudique selon laquelle le fondement du mariage ré- side dans le don que fait le fiancé d’un bien à sa future épouse. Les aspects légaux de cette question n’expliquent toutefois qu’en partie la durée et l’âpreté de ce débat. La pérennité de cette coutume, parmi les juifs italiens, en dépit des résistances non moins durables des juifs venus d’ailleurs, est liée à la fonction des présents dans les rituels locaux du mariage. L’étude des écrits consacrés à cette question — ouvrages classiques ou actuels d’inspiration anthropologique — confirment le lien étroit de cette pratique avec les divers aspects de la culture locale: conceptions relatives à la richesse et à la propriété, à l’honneur et à l’identité; contrôle communautaire sur les rituels du mariage et sur l’ensemble de la vie familiale. SUMMARY From late 15th century to mid 17th century an Halakhic debate — about gifts con- ferred from the groom to the bride — was conducted in Jewish-Italian communi- ties. The background for this debate was the Talmudic ruling that marriage was ba- sically created by conferring some property from a man to a woman, his intended wife. -
Jewish Theology World Religions
An offprint from JEWISH THEOLOGY AND WORLD RELIGIONS N Edited by alon goshen-gottstein and eugene korn This material is copyright-protected and may not be be reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the author of the article, the editor of the volume in which it was originally published, and the publisher of the volume. Any requests for permission to use this material in whole or in part should be addressed in the first instance to the Littman Library at <[email protected]>, and all such requests should include details of the precise use intended. Oxford · Portland, Oregon The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization 2012 The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization Chief Executive Officer: Ludo Craddock Managing Editor: Connie Webber PO Box 645 , Oxford OX 2 0 UJ , UK www.littman.co.uk ——— Published in the United States and Canada by The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization c/o ISBS, 920 NE 58 th Avenue, Suite 300 Portland, Oregon 97213 -3786 © The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress cataloging-in-publication data Jewish theology and world religions / edited by Alon Goshen-Gottstein and Eugene Korn. p. cm. – (The Littman library of Jewish civilization) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Judaism–Relations. 2. -
Maharam of Padua V. Giustiniani; the Sixteenth-Century Origins of the Jewish Law of Copyright
Draft: July 2007 44 Houston Law Review (forthcoming 2007) Maharam of Padua v. Giustiniani; the Sixteenth-Century Origins of the Jewish Law of Copyright Neil Weinstock Netanel* Copyright scholars are almost universally unaware of Jewish copyright law, a rich body of copyright doctrine and jurisprudence that developed in parallel with Anglo- American and Continental European copyright laws and the printers’ privileges that preceded them. Jewish copyright law traces its origins to a dispute adjudicated some 150 years before modern copyright law is typically said to have emerged with the Statute of Anne of 1709. This essay, the beginning of a book project about Jewish copyright law, examines that dispute, the case of the Maharam of Padua v. Giustiniani. In 1550, Rabbi Meir ben Isaac Katzenellenbogen of Padua (known by the Hebrew acronym, the “Maharam” of Padua) published a new edition of Moses Maimonides’ seminal code of Jewish law, the Mishneh Torah. Katzenellenbogen invested significant time, effort, and money in producing the edition. He and his son also added their own commentary on Maimonides’ text. Since Jews were forbidden to print books in sixteenth- century Italy, Katzenellenbogen arranged to have his edition printed by a Christian printer, Alvise Bragadini. Bragadini’s chief rival, Marc Antonio Giustiniani, responded by issuing a cheaper edition that both copied the Maharam’s annotations and included an introduction criticizing them. Katzenellenbogen then asked Rabbi Moses Isserles, European Jewry’s leading juridical authority of the day, to forbid distribution of the Giustiniani edition. Isserles had to grapple with first principles. At this early stage of print, an author- editor’s claim to have an exclusive right to publish a given book was a case of first impression. -
Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations
Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations A peer-reviewed e-journal of the Council of Centers on Jewish-Christian Relations Published by the Center for Christian-Jewish Learning at Boston College Covenantal Possibilities in a Post-Polemical Age: A Jewish View* Eugene Korn Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding and Cooperation in Israel Volume 6 (2011) http://ejournals.bc.edu/ojs/index.php/scjr Korn, Covenantal Possibilities in a Post-Polemical Age Korn1 http://ejournals.bc.edu/ojs/index.php/scjr Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations Volume 6(2011): Korn 1-13 Polemics and Beyond permanent, even ontological, rivalry for God’s blessing and covenantal promise.2 Polemics were salient in Christian and Jewish conceptualiza- tions of each other during the Middle Ages and the most The title of this paper assumes, of course, that we now live in a prominent characteristic of medieval disputations that Christian post-polemical world; yet this assumption is hardly self-evident. authorities forced upon Jewish leaders. In the words of one Polemics are a function of discourse and discourse varies wide- scholar, these debates were designed to prove that “the truth of ly among particular speaking and listening communities; while Christianity would be rendered manifest to destroy the errors of some Jews and Christians today may inhabit a post-polemical the Jews, that Jesus was the messiah, and that Jewish legal world, others remain committed to extending the logic and vo- and ceremonial rules were discontinued and that they (were) cabulary of traditional polemical theologies and arguments. So never to be resumed after Jesus.”1 Polemics thus exhibit a bi- if some Jews and Christians no longer assume an antagonistic nary logic that dictates that if Christianity is true, then Judaism cosmic rivalry between the faiths, many still do, even if in softer must be false. -
Introduction to Tractate Avodah Zarah
Introduction to Tractate Avodah Zarah The topic of the Tractate “Pagan Worship” is that of social interaction of Jews with pagan surroundings, in particular the possibility of keeping a kosher food supply in a non-Jewish (not necessarily pagan) world. Pagan practice as a matter of Jewish criminal law was dealt with in Tractate Sanhedrin. The First Chapter starts with the general principle that three days before a public pagan feast commercial intercourse with pagans is forbidden. This refers to intrinsically pagan rites, not simply to non-Jewish festivities. For private festivities of pagan character, only the day itself is forbidden. The remainder of the Chapter is devoted to a description of public festivities in the later pre-Christian Roman Empire and the attenuated practical implementation of the general rule. The later part of the Chapter contains rules designed to preserve the Jewish character of Palestine. The Second Chapter, the center piece of the Tractate, is divided into two parts. The first part is a complement of the First Chapter, detailing what to be careful about in dealing with Gentiles, not necessarily pagans. The second part starts the main topic of the Tractate, keeping a kosher food supply in a Gentile world. In this respect, a characteristic feature of rabbinic-pharisaic Judaism is the treatment of Gentile wine. Since it was generally accepted in the Greco-Roman world that wine drunk at any festive occasion was first dedicated to the gods by a libation (which mostly was done by gently wiggling the full cup), rabbinic interpretation considers any pagan wine as dedicated and therefore biblically forbidden for all usufruct for Jews. -
Kerugma, Volume 1 Number 1 Oktober 2018 the Messiah An
KERUGMA, VOLUME 1 NUMBER 1 OKTOBER 2018 THE MESSIAH AN DILEMATH JESUS CHRIST Measuring the Feasibility of Jesus Christ as the Messiah in the Mind of Semitic Religion Pangeran Manurung, M.Th. Sekolah Tinggi Teologi Injili Indonesia Surabaya E-mail: [email protected] Abstract. Broadly speaking, the subject of the Christology that is still worth talking about in the academic pulpit is the title "Messiah" carried by Jesus Christ. In general, the Judeo-Islamic community and some Christians are still dilemma in positioning Jesus, especially regarding the worthiness of Jesus Christ to be accepted as the Messiah. Placing Jesus Christ in the right place for all three of these great religions has proven to be no easy matter. Especially for Judeo-Islam, Christians generally accept Jesus Christ as the Messiah. On the contrary for Jews and Islam. Some Jews gave rise to a half-movement of Judaism and half- Christians in terms of seeing Jesus as the Messiah. Likewise with Islam. Here are some of the main problems. Keynote: Messiah, Jesus Christ, Semitic Religion. Keywords: Christology, Messiah, Christians, , Semitic Religion INTRODUCTION question that is still relevant today is, "What is In general, the available arguments are only about the strong reason for some Jews to decide not to the description of the Messiah of Judaism that is not accept Jesus Christ as the Messiah? Is it because they parallel to the figure of Christ in the New Testament. For did not read Messianic texts in the Old Testament? Jews, Christ did not qualify as the ideal Messiah. Of course they read and understand it. -
THE NEW ISRAELI FILM BERURIAH: BETWEEN RASHI and TALMUD, BETWEEN ANTIQUITY and MODERNITY, BETWEEN FEMINISM and RELIGION Tal Il
THE NEW ISRAELI FILM BERURIAH: BETWEEN RASHI AND TALMUD, BETWEEN ANTIQUITY AND MODERNITY, BETWEEN FEMINISM AND RELIGION Tal Ilan This short study, embedded in this book resulting from a conference devoted to gender, politics, and antiquity in cinema, stands at the inter- section of no fewer than four of my research interests. The first is antiq- uity, particularly the postbiblical or Greco-Roman period, and its impact on the Jews. The second is gender, particularly Jewish women and gen- der in antiquity.1 The third is Beruriah. Women studies requires that we identify women role models and inquire what they had done in the past, how they functioned within a world where the feminine was stereotyped and her position in society dictated by men, and how within these limita- tion, they achieved recognition and influenced the world they lived in. Beruriah was such a woman. In the Talmud, the book which the Jews hold sacred second only to the Bible, a book that recounts the deeds and words of hundreds of male scholars, Beruriah is the only woman repre- sented as wise and learned, and who also left a mark on the past. In 1999 I published a chapter in Integrating Women into Second Temple History devoted to Beruriah and her literary history.2 That study lies at the heart of this paper. The fourth, cinema, connects and focuses all three. Films tell good sto- ries, are often politically independent, are often shot on location in the land, and also, by a careful close reading, can serve as excellent tools for research and critique of the culture they represent.