Rabbi Akiva's Seder Table: an Introduction1
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Hillel and Shammai
Cambridge University Press 978-1-108-41630-6 — Conflicting Attitudes to Conversion in Judaism, Past and Present Isaac Sassoon Excerpt More Information 1 Hillel and Shammai The historicity of the Pharisaic leaders Hillel and Shammai is not in doubt; but for the present, it is not their actual history that concerns us.28 These legendary sages came to epitomize two ends of the giyyur spectrum. Hillel stands for those who leave no stone unturned to facil- itate a convert’s halakhic entry into Israel, while Shammai exemplifies the family man whose solicitude for people’s religious observance extends to those around his hearth and to the community with whom he identifies.29 People beyond those perimeters might just as well keep their distance. The evidence suggests that in principle the Pharisees believed in giyyur; and thus, as one would expect, Shammai did not abnegate it. On the other hand, we cannot be sure that Shammai would have considered giyyur the mis˙vah that our extant tannaic laws pre- suppose it to be30 since those laws might very well hail from Hillel’s school. Medieval rabbis differentiated between obligatory and 28 The reconstructions of this chapter do not depend on the historicity of the characters or the events connected with them. We are dealing with history as remembered and transmitted by the sources. Needless to say, that does not imply sympathy with nihi- lists for whom rabbinic reports have a knee-jerk presumption of unreliability. Adopting scholarship’s criteria of dissimilarity and embarrassment, the Bathyran presidency gains cogency by dint of its irregularity. -
When Rabbi Eliezer Was Arrested for Heresy
JSIJ 10 (2012) 145-181 WHEN RABBI ELIEZER WAS ARRESTED FOR HERESY JOSHUA SCHWARTZ and PETER J. TOMSON Introduction: A Shared History This study is part of a larger project the ultimate aim of which is to write a shared, twin or intertwined history of Jews and Christians in the first and second centuries CE. The first stage of the project will be to select relevant sources, to describe their literary and historical characteristics, and to read and reread them in view of their significance vis-à-vis other sources. The second stage will encompass the writing of a historical synthesis of the shared history. We stress the shared aspect of the history because Judaism and Christianity in the ancient world are usually studied separately, as though involving not just two distinct histories, but also two separate sets of sources, two frameworks of interpretation and reflection, two programs of academic teaching, research, and writing, and two canons of judgment and review. While Jewish and Christian history can be considered separately in the Middle Ages and later, including modern times, this is not the case for Antiquity, and particularly not regarding the first two centuries CE, before what is known as the “parting of the ways.” Although there was some movement toward separation during the first two centuries CE, as evinced, for instance, in such sources as the Didache, the Gospel of Matthew, and the Epistle of Barnabas, 1 this was by no means a “parting of the ways” and certainly does not justify separating the history of early Christianity from Jewish history. -
Acts+9.1-19+FINAL
EMPOWERED BY THE SPIRIT * 08.09.2020 180Acts 9:1-19 SAUL’S CONVERSION NEAR DAMASCUS ACTS 9:1-19 Acts 5:34–39 (ESV) Gamaliel influences the Sanhedrin. 34 But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. 35 And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. 36 For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. 37 After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. 38 So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; 39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice … GAMALIEL a respected rabbi and leading authority of the law in the first century. Grandson of the great Jewish teacher Hillel the Elder, founder of the House of Hillel school of tannaim. Gamaliel was recognized as a Pharisee doctor of Halakha (Jewish law). In the Talmud he bears the title of Nasi (prince) and Rabban (our master), he held a senior position in the highest court in Jerusalem. -
Scholarly Lineage of Prominent Tannaim
Source Sheet Class 3-2000 Years of Jewish History-Rabbi Menachem Levine Source 1 Scholarly lineage of prominent tannaim Rabbis of the Mishnah : Chronology & Hierarchy Teacher→Student Father→Son Hillel Shammai Gamaliel the Johanan b. Zakai Elder R. Jose the Eliezer b. Joshua b. Eleazar b. Eleazar b. Gamaliel Galilean Hyrcanus Hananiah Arach Azariah Elisha b. Ishmael Akiva Tarfon Abuyah b. Elisha Shimon b. Nathan Meir Judah b. Ilai Jose b. Halafta Yohai Judah Hiyya Oshiah haNasi Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tannaim Source 2 The Oral Torah was originally meant to be transmitted by word of mouth. It was transmitted from master to student in such a manner that if the student had any question, he would be able to ask, and thus avoid ambiguity. A written text, on the other hand, no matter how perfect, is always subject to misinterpretation…. If the entire Torah would have been given in writing, everyone would be able to interpret it as he desired. This would lead to division and discord among people who followed the Torah in different ways. The Oral Torah, on the other hand, would require a central authority to preserve it, thus assuring the unity of Israel. Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, Handbook of Jewish Thought, Moznaim 1979, p.179 Source 3 12 Our Holy Teacher wrote the Mishnah. From the time of Moshe to Our Holy Teacher, no one had written a work from which the Oral Law was publicly taught. Rather, in each generation, the head of the then existing court or the prophet of the time wrote down for his private use notes on the traditions he had heard from his teachers, and he taught in public from memory. -
Bruriah BRILLIANCE in BINAH
OMAN’S POW A W ER Bruriah BRILLIANCE IN BINAH Leah Rachel Devorah Chana Esther Bruriah DIGNITY SACRIFICE LEADERSHIP PRAYER MODESTY UNDERSTANDING BRURIA- BRILLIANCE IN BINAH WHO IS BRURIAH? Family History Her father was the famous Rabbi Hanina ben Teradyon, the Talmud speaks of Bruriah standing next to her father as he is being slowly burnt to death by the Romans because he had violated the Roman ban on the study or teaching of the Torah in public places. Her father's death was a dramatic public affair. He was wrapped in the Torah scroll which was set afire but the Roman soldiers applied water soaked wool over his heart so as to keep him alive as long as possible. It was reported that his attitude was heroic and that even the executioner was moved by it. The executioner is said to have called out to the Rabbi asking that if he stopped the wet wool sponges, would the Rabbi assure him of entry into the World to Come. Hanina ben Teradyon gave him the assurance and the executioner took away the wool sponges and raised the flame. After the death of Hainin ben Terdyou, the executioner jumped into the flames and died also. Bruriah is one of the few women mentioned in the Gemara. She was married to Rabbi Meir and is recognized as a Talmidah Chachama in her own right. תלמוד בבלי מסכת פסחים דף סב עמוד ב Talmud Bavli: Pesachim 62b רבי שמלאי אתא לקמיה דרבי יוחנן, אמר ליה: ניתני R' Simlai came before R' Yochanan, and he לי מר ספר יוחסין. -
Judah Ha-Nasi Judaism
JUDAH HA-NASI JUDAH HA-NASI al. Since the publication of his Mishnah at the end of the second or beginning of the third century, the primary pur- Head of Palestinian Jewry and codifier of the MISH- suit of Jewish sages has been commenting on its contents. NAH; b. probably in Galilee, c. 135; d. Galilee, c. 220. Judah was the son of Simeon II ben Gamaliel II, who was See Also: TALMUD. the grandson of GAMALIEL (mentioned in Acts 5.34; Bibliography: W. BACHER, The Jewish Encyclopedia. ed. J. 22.3), who was in turn the grandson of Hillel. As the pa- SINGER (New York 1901–06) 7:333–33. D. J. BORNSTEIN, Encyclo- triarch or head of Palestinian Jewry, Judah received as a paedia Judaica: Das Judentum in Geschichte und Gegenwart. permanent epithet the title ha-Nasi (the Prince), original- (Berlin 1928–34) 8:1023–35. L. LAZARUS, Universal Jewish Ency- clopedia (New York 1939–44) 6: 229–230. K. SCHUBERT, Lexikon ly given to the president of the Great Sanhedrin in Jerusa- für Theologie und Kirche, ed. J. HOFER and K. RAHNER (Freiberg lem. In the Mishnah he is referred to simply as Rabbi (the 1957–65) 5:889. A. GUTTMANN, ‘‘The Patriarch Judah I: His Birth teacher par excellence), and in the GEMARAH he is often and Death,’’ Hebrew Union College Annual 25 (1954) 239–261. called Rabbenu (our teacher) or Rabbenu ha-kadosh (our [M. J. STIASSNY] saintly teacher). He was instructed in the HALAKAH of the Oral Law by the most famous rabbis of his time, but he summed up his experience as a student, and later as a teacher, in the words: ‘‘Much of the Law have I learned JUDAISM from my teachers, more from my colleagues, but most of The term Judaism admits of various meanings. -
Rabban Gamliel, Aphrodite's Bath, and the Question of Pagan Monotheism
Rabban Gamliel, Aphrodite's Bath, and the Question of Pagan Monotheism Azzan Yadin Jewish Quarterly Review, Volume 96, Number 2, Spring 2006, pp. 149-179 (Article) Published by University of Pennsylvania Press DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/jqr.2006.0015 For additional information about this article https://muse.jhu.edu/article/195910 Access provided by University of Michigan @ Ann Arbor (18 Jul 2018 20:31 GMT) T HE J EWISH Q UARTERLY R EVIEW, Vol. 96, No. 2 (Spring 2006) 149–179 Rabban Gamliel, Aphrodite’s Bath, and theQuestionofPaganMonotheism AZZAN YADIN See how Porphyry denigrates Christ in preferring the Jews to the ARTICLES Christians, when he proclaims that the Jews are upholders of God. St. Augustine, City of God 19.23 TANNAITIC LITERATURE RECORDS two exchanges between Rabban Gamliel and a philosopher: m‘Avodah Zarah 3.4 and Mekhilta of Rabbi Ishmael, Ba-h. odesh 6.1 Scholarship has tended to construe these as en- counters between ‘‘the sages,’’ on one side of the debate, and ‘‘philoso- phy’’ on the other, or, more broadly, between ‘‘Judaism’’ and ‘‘paganism.’’ The thesis of this article is that neither exchange supports this interpreta- tion. A reading that attends to the specifically philosophical nature of the exchange—as the texts suggest in characterizing Rabban Gamliel’s I presented an early version of this essay at the New York Area Rabbinics Seminar at the Jewish Theological Seminary. My thanks to Richard Kalmin for the gracious invitation and to the participants for helpful comments and ques- tions, particularly Jeffrey Rubinstein, Claudia Setzer, and Seth Schwartz. -
To All the Boys Who Are Emotionally Sixteen Shifra Lindenberg Web & Social Media Manager Dear Boys, Commit to One Person
WWW.YUOBSERVER.ORG Volume LXV Issue III November 2018 To All the Boys who are Emotionally Sixteen Shifra Lindenberg Web & Social Media Manager Dear boys, commit to one person. I agree with to these relationships that you keep them happy. She’ll find someone Yes, boys. Not men, not guys, you on that. However, the real forming, boys. If the girl feels the who sees her for the incredible boys. Because you didn’t really reason you aren’t ready is that you same as you, in just wanting to individual that she is and puts in the become a man when you turned don’t want to be ready. have companionship so she isn’t work to love her because he loves thirteen, you didn’t completely find You’re comfortable in your lonely, and not because she loves her. yourself during your gap year - if fleeting relationships with girls that you, there may not be damage But you? You’ll keep searching you did take one - and you aren’t hold little to no real commitment. because she wasn’t emotionally for someone who’ll temporarily fill grown up now. It’s so much easier to have a invested in you. You used her, and your void of loneliness, like you’ve Because you’re still growing pseudo-serious relationship with a she used you. But if the girl cared been doing since high school. up. You’re either just turning twenty girl for six to eight months than to about and invested in you, she’ll That’s why you’re emotionally or you’re in your early twenties. -
Is There a Psak in Hashkafa
5779 - dbhbn ovrct [email protected] 1 sxc HALACHIC AND HASHKAFIC ISSUES IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY 110 - IS THERE A ‘PSAK’ IN HASHKAFA? OU ISRAEL CENTER - FALL 2018 There are many issues of hashkafa in our contemporary world on which there is a mainstream consensus approach and on which there are minority opinions. Consider the following issues: - Whether Religious Zionism is prohibited, legitimate or obligatory. - Whether secular studies, values or culture can or should be incorporated in the purview of our Torah worldview - Whether Chazal have any authority on issues of science that arise in the Talmud eg the age of the universe. A] WHAT IS ‘PSAK’? r¬Jt oI ºe Nvkt ,h ºk gu Tneu Wh·r gJ C ,ch r h"rcS gdºb k &gdb ih"c( ih )sk ihSih"C o + sk o Sih"C y ) PJNk r + c s &W N n .t"k Ph h/01 1. 2y3 PJNv rcS , "t ºWk (sh4vu & TJr3 su o·"v v ohn 5C v hv3h rJt y º"p7 vktu oº5uk3v &ohbv3/vk t ) ,t c(0y 2I 3C Wh vk8t 9v r:1ch r°Jêt v ¶rITv h•Pkgçth :W !rIh r"Jêt k#$f&F ,I )Gêg!k °T&rn!J&u v r°,&ch r$Jêt t )vv oIe.vi ° n )W&k sh°0h r°Jêt 1rc2v h3Pkg ,h 4Gg&u0h 2kt#!n&G ih"nh $W&k sh"0hr Jêt r5c2vi n r 4x, t°#k v6Gêg!T $W&k "r&nt#!hr Jêt y5P&J.vkg&u W 4rIh th8,:9h ohrcs The Torah here vests authority in the Rabbis of the Sanhedrin. -
Timeline of Jewish History and Heritage
Timeline of Jewish History and Heritage Jewish Population 1948: The State of Israel established (Millions) Color-Map Legend 1939: The Holocaust 16.6M S. America, S. Africa & Australia World's Jewish population (distribution according to color-map) U.S. & Canada Jewish calendar events 1903: Kishinev pogrom 15 Europe Events prior to 1273 B.C.E. are dated according to tradition Asia, Africa & Turkey Lifespan of historical figures (color represents main location) 1897: 1st Zionist Congress 13.5M Language of text: Hebrew Aramaic Arabic Other 13.5 Land of Israel 1894: Dreyfus affair 0.4 1840: Damascus affair -3761: Genesis 1800: Emancipation and the emergence of the Jewish Enlightenment, Reform and Orthodox movements -515: 2nd Temple built 1799: Napoleon's proclamation to the Jews 5.6 10 -523: Purim – the Jews are saved from a planned massacre 1736: Establishment of the Hasidic & Misnagdim movements -538: Return to Zion following Cyrus's decree Jewish 800: Khazar converts to Judaism 1648: The Ukrainian massacre -586: Assassination of Gedalia and the Babylonian destructive response Events 691: Dome of the Rock built on the Temple's ruins 1573: Maharal establishes academy -586: Destruction of the 1st Temple by Babylon 135: Bar Kokhva rebellion -720: Exile of the 10 Tribes by Assyria 1492: Expulsion from Spain (Spanish Inquisition) suppressed 1.6 -924: The Division of the Kingdom; Israel & Judah 70: Destruction of the 1364: Poland grants rights to Jews -957: 1st Temple built 2nd Temple by Rome 1348: Jews blamed and persecuted for the Black Plague -
Yohanan Ben Zakkai, Amicus Caesaris:* a Jewish Hero in Rabbinic Eyes
JSIJ 4 (2005) 133–149 YOHANAN BEN ZAKKAI, AMICUS CAESARIS:* A JEWISH HERO IN RABBINIC EYES AMRAM TROPPER** In a famous rabbinic legend, Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai flees besieged Jerusalem, surrenders to the Romans and heartens the Roman leadership by predicting their military success and Vespasian’s promotion to emperor. This very same legend, in three of its four versions, also describes how Vespasian enabled Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai to establish a rabbinic academy in Yavneh, the academy that would come to be viewed retrospectively as the central core of the burgeoning rabbinic movement. Thus the foundation myth of Yavneh, the story designed to describe the providential establishment of the rabbinic academy in the wake of the destruction of Jerusalem, risks depicting its central hero as a deserter, perhaps even as a defector and a traitor. Why would the rabbis have portrayed one of the most important sages of the formative period in rabbinic Judaism in this apparently unfavorable manner? Perhaps this unflattering interpretation of Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai’s role in the Yavneh legend is anachronistic in that it projects modern ideologies and ethical sensibilities into the past.1 Thus, for example, when Y. Baer rejected the historical veracity of this escape story on the grounds that a man of Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai’s stature would never have fled to the Romans, he may very well have been influenced by modern ideological considerations, whether appear respectively in Avot de-Rabbi ”אוהבו של מלך“ and ”מאוהבו של קיסר הוא“ * Nathan A chapter 4 (Aboth de-Rabbi Nathan, ed. S. -
Course Catalog | Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies 1
Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies Table of Contents Ancient Jewish History .......................................................................................................................................... 2 Medieval Jewish History ....................................................................................................................................... 4 Modern Jewish History ......................................................................................................................................... 8 Bible .................................................................................................................................................................... 15 Jewish Philosophy ............................................................................................................................................... 20 Talmud ................................................................................................................................................................ 24 Course Catalog | Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies 1 Ancient Jewish History JHI 6221 (Hebraism & Hellenism: Greco-Roman Culture & the Rabbis) also counts toward the Talmudic Studies concentration. JHI 6241 (Second Temple Period Aramaic) also counts toward the Bible concentration. JHI 6243 (Samaritans and Jews: From the Bible to Modern Israel) and 6255 (Jewish Art and Visual Culture) also count toward the Medieval and Modern History concentrations. JHI 6461 (Historians on Chazal: