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Sepharad in Ashkenaz. Medieval Knowledge and Eighteenth-Century
Summaries Wout van Bekkum, Some Thoughts on the ‘Secularization’ of Hebrew Liturgical Poetry in Pre-Modern and Modern Times In this article a few thoughts are shared on the historical range of attitudes towards He- brew liturgical poetry or piyyu†, from the highly religious point of view to the more his- torical and scientific approach in pre-Wissenschaft and Wissenschaft times. Substantial contributions to a new understanding of piyyu† were made by Wolf Heidenheim and Leopold Zunz, each within their own framework of time and historical circumstances. These and other Jewish intellectuals reflect in their exploration and judgment of piyyu† the contemporary understanding of Judaism. As being a modern Jew seemed to require adapting to the culture of the environment without actually assimilating into it, what of Jewish worship should be adapted to new standards? On this issue in particular German Jews came to disagree among themselves when it came to the evaluation of piyyu† ac- cording to the norms of Spanish-Hebrew religious and secular poetry. The historical discussion of piyyu† as a dynamic literary phenomenon within Judaism is part of an amplification process of Jewish self-awareness in the modern world. Shlomo Berger, From Philosophy to Popular Ethics: Two Seventeenth-Century Translations of Ibn Gabirol’s Keter malkhut During the seventeenth century two Yiddish translations of Solomon ibn Gabirol’s Keter malkhut were published: one (in verse) was published in 1600 in Venice, the second (in prose) in 1673 in Amsterdam. The text that served as the basis of both Yid- dish versions was the one found in the prayer book for the Day of Atonement accord- ing to the Sephardi rite. -
Two Notes on the Exceptional Shalshelet
TWO NOTES ON THE EXCEPTIONAL SHALSHELET GILAD J. GEVARYAHU THE FOUR INSTANCES OF SHALSHELET IN THE TORAH The cantillation mark shalshelet appears only four times in the Torah. The root of this word is shin-lamed-shin, meaning three, and, in the Ashkenazic tradition as well as in many Sephardic traditions, the melody ascends and descends three times. It appears three times in the book of Genesis and one time in the book of Leviticus. In the Mesorah it is referred to as Mar’imin u’Mafsikin (Mesorah Gedolah, Lev. 8:23). Mar’imin means thunderous, and Mafsikin means pausing, terms that appear to describe the sound of its melody.1 In this article, we will see how all four shalshelot in the Torah consistently relate to the texts in which they are used. These are the four instances of the shalshelet in the Torah: 1. Genesis 19:16: Shalshelet appears in the story of Lot in Sodom, when the angels tell Lot that he must leave the city, for God is about to destroy it. The word with the shalshelet is the first word in the verse, Still he delayed [vayitmahameha]. So the men [angels] seized his hand . Although not directly mentioning the shalshelet, many commentators note here that Lot hesitated to leave and responded in an unusually slow manner. This approach is found for example in Pseudo-Jonathan, Rashi, Ibn-Ezra, and Radak on this verse. This is based in Genesis Rabbah 50:11, that Lot was concerned about losing all the property he had accumulated and was hesitant to leave Sodom. -
Calendar of Torah and Haftarah Readings 5776 – 5778 2015 – 2018
Calendar of Torah and Haftarah Readings 5776 – 5778 2015 – 2018 Calendar of Torah and Haftarah Readings 5776-5778 CONTENTS NOTES ....................................................................................................1 DATES OF FESTIVALS .............................................................................2 CALENDAR OF TORAH AND HAFTARAH READINGS 5776-5778 ............3 GLOSSARY ........................................................................................... 29 PERSONAL NOTES ............................................................................... 31 Published by: The Movement for Reform Judaism Sternberg Centre for Judaism 80 East End Road London N3 2SY [email protected] www.reformjudaism.org.uk Copyright © 2015 Movement for Reform Judaism (Version 2) Calendar of Torah and Haftarah Readings 5776-5778 Notes: The Calendar of Torah readings follows a triennial cycle whereby in the first year of the cycle the reading is selected from the first part of the parashah, in the second year from the middle, and in the third year from the last part. Alternative selections are offered each shabbat: a shorter reading (around twenty verses) and a longer one (around thirty verses). The readings are a guide and congregations may choose to read more or less from within that part of the parashah. On certain special shabbatot, a special second (or exceptionally, third) scroll reading is read in addition to the week’s portion. Haftarah readings are chosen to parallel key elements in the section of the Torah being read and therefore vary from one year in the triennial cycle to the next. Some of the suggested haftarot are from taken from k’tuvim (Writings) rather than n’vi’ivm (Prophets). When this is the case the appropriate, adapted blessings can be found on page 245 of the MRJ siddur, Seder Ha-t’fillot. This calendar follows the Biblical definition of the length of festivals. -
Schreiber QX
AARON M. SCHREIBER The H. atam Sofer’s Nuanced Attitude Towards Secular Learning, Maskilim, and Reformers Introduction abbi Moshe Sofer (1762-1839), commonly referred to as H. atam RSofer (after the title of his famous halakhic work), served as Rabbi of Pressburg, a major city in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, beginning in 1806. Subsequently, he became one of the principal leaders of the Orthodox Jewish community in Central Europe in the first four decades of the 19th century. R. Sofer was at the forefront of the orthodox strug- gles against the Jewish Reform movement.1 A towering halakhic author- ity whose rulings and opinions were sought by many from near and far, he was also known as a z.addik and as a person of unwavering principles to which he adhered regardless of the personal struggle required.2 He was charismatic and was reputed to be graced with the Divine Spirit, AARON M. SCHREIBER has been a tenured Professor of Law at a number of American law schools, and a founder and Professor of Law at Bar-Ilan University Faculty of Law in Israel. His published books include Jewish Law and Decision Making: A Study Through Time, and Jurisprudence: Understanding and Shaping Law (with W. Michael Reisman of Yale Law School). He has authored numerous articles on law, jurisprudence, and Jewish subjects, and was the Principal Investigator for many years of the computerized Jewish Responsa (She’elot u-Teshuvot) Project at Bar-Ilan University. 123 The Torah u-Madda Journal (11/2002-03) 124 The Torah u-Madda Journal even to receive visions of events in the future and in far away places.3 As a result, he had a profound influence on religious Jewry, particularly in Hungary, Poland, and all of Central Europe, both during and after his lifetime. -
Insights Into Kinah 11: the Eulogy for Yoshiyahu Hamelech
Insights into Kinah 11: The Eulogy for Yoshiyahu HaMelech f the myriad Tisha B’Av Kinnos recited by Ashkenazic Jewry, the dirge devoted to Rabbi Elchanan Adler Othe tragic, untimely death of King Rosh Yeshiva, RIETS Yoshiyahu (no. 11 in most editions of Ashkenazi Kinnos) is especially poignant. Thiskinnah , like many of the others, was composed by R. Elazar his reign, he set the Jewish people the righteousness of his people and HaKalir, whose name is synonymous back on the path of Torah, cleansed thinking that they were worthy of 4 with the genre of Ashkenazi piyut the Beis HaMikdash and rid the Land this blessing. The Midrash Eicha( (poetic liturgical compositions). of idolatry. Yoshiyahu was tragically Rabbah 1:57), provides further While the identity of HaKalir and killed in battle when he tried to stop detail: Yoshiyahu assumed that he the time period in which he lived are Pharaoh Necho, King of Egypt, from had successfully eradicated idolatry the subject of much discussion and passing through Eretz Yisrael in from all Jewish homes after having debate,1 the high regard with which he order to reach the Euphrates to wage sent messengers to inspect each and his compositions have long been war. The pasuk in Divrei HaYamim home. However, unbeknown to held are undeniable.2 (2, 35:25) records that Yirmiyahu the inspectors, there were some composed a kinnah upon the tragedy duplicitous people who stealthily R. Elazar HaKalir’s kinnos generally of Yoshiyahu’s death. Tradition placed half an idol on each side of the follow an aleph-beis acrostic teaches that this kinnah is the fourth door so that when the doors would or a permutation of the aleph- chapter of Eicha. -
The Tiberian Pronunciation Tradition of Biblical Hebrew, Volume I
Cambridge Semitic Languages and Cultures The Tiberian Pronunciation Khan Tradition of Biblical Hebrew (Vol. I) The Tiberian Pronunciation Geoffrey Khan Tradition of Biblical Hebrew The form of Biblical Hebrew that is presented in printed edi� ons, with vocaliza� on and Tradition of Biblical Hebrew Vol. I accent signs, has its origin in medieval manuscripts of the Bible. The vocaliza� on and Volume I accent signs are nota� on systems that were created in Tiberias in the early Islamic period The Tiberian Pronunciation The by scholars known as the Tiberian Masoretes, but the oral tradi� on they represent has roots in an� quity. The gramma� cal textbooks and reference grammars of Biblical Hebrew in use today are heirs to centuries of tradi� on of gramma� cal works on Biblical Hebrew in GEOFFREY KHAN Europe. The paradox is that this European tradi� on of Biblical Hebrew grammar did not have direct access to the way the Tiberian Masoretes were pronouncing Biblical Hebrew. In the last few decades, research of manuscript sources from the medieval Middle East has made it possible to reconstruct with considerable accuracy the pronuncia� on of the Tiberian Masoretes, which has come to be known as the ‘Tiberian pronuncia� on tradi� on’. This book presents the current state of knowledge of the Tiberian pronuncia� on tradi� on of Biblical Hebrew and a full edi� on of one of the key medieval sources, Hidāyat al-Qāriʾ ‘The Guide for the Reader’, by ʾAbū al-Faraj Hārūn. It is hoped that the book will help to break the mould of current gramma� cal descrip� ons of Biblical Hebrew and form a bridge between modern tradi� ons of grammar and the school of the Masoretes of Tiberias. -
Intellectual Property: Can You Steal It If You Can’T Touch It? HM 203:1 2007 Rabbi Dr
Intellectual Property: Can you steal it if you can’t touch it? HM 203:1 2007 Rabbi Dr. Barry Leff This responsum was approved by the CJLS on December 12, 2007 by a vote of eighteen in favor, one opposed, and two abstaining (18-1-2). Members voting in favor: Rabbis Kassel Abelson, Elliot Dorff, Jerome Epstein, Robert Fine, Baruch Frydman-Kohl, Myron Geller, Susan Grossman, Reuven Hammer, Robert Harris, David Hoffman, Adam Kligfeld, Alan Lucas, Aaron Mackler, Daniel Nevins, Philip Scheim, Jay Stein, Loel Weiss, David Wise. Members voting against: Rabbi Paul Plotkin. Members abstaining: Rabbis Pamela Barmash, and Elie Spitz. Question: Is it stealing to copy or download music, videos, software, or other forms of intellectual property without paying for it? Many people who would never consider walking into a store and stealing something off the shelf have no qualms whatsoever about copying a friend’s CD, DVD or software. Even more prolific is the practice of swapping music files on peer-to-peer (“P2P”) networks. Despite famous court cases against Napster and Grokster, and lawsuits brought against individuals by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), millions of people continue to swap music and video files. The laws of the United States (and nearly all other countries around the world) are clear that such activity is illegal. So why do we need a teshuvah on the subject? Shouldn’t it ?the law of the land is the law, and leave it at that , דינא דמלכותא דינא be enough to cite Many people view downloading or sharing music or video files as a form of victimless crime. -
Is There an Authentic Triennial Cycle of Torah Readings? RABBI LIONEL E
Is there an Authentic Triennial Cycle of Torah Readings? RABBI LIONEL E. MOSES This paper is an appendix to the paper "Annual and Triennial Systems For Reading The Torah" by Rabbi Elliot Dorff, and was approved together with it on April 29, 1987 by a vote of seven in favor, four opposed, and two abstaining. Members voting in favor: Rabbis Isidoro Aizenberg, Ben Zion Bergman, Elliot N. Dorff, Richard L. Eisenberg, Mayer E. Rabinowitz, Seymour Siegel and Gordon Tucker. Members voting in opposition: Rabbis David H. Lincoln, Lionel E. Moses, Joel Roth and Steven Saltzman. Members abstaining: Rabbis David M. Feldman and George Pollak. Abstract In light of questions addressed to the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards from as early as 1961 and the preliminary answers given to these queries by the committee (Section I), this paper endeavors to review the sources (Section II), both talmudic and post-talmudic (Section Ila) and manuscript lists of sedarim (Section lib) to set the triennial cycle in its historical perspective. Section III of the paper establishes a list of seven halakhic parameters, based on Mishnah and Tosefta,for the reading of the Torah. The parameters are limited to these two authentically Palestinian sources because all data for a triennial cycle is Palestinian in origin and predates even the earliest post-Geonic law codices. It would thus be unfair, to say nothing of impossible, to try to fit a Palestinian triennial reading cycle to halakhic parameters which were both later in origin and developed outside its geographical sphere of influence. Finally in Section IV, six questions are asked regarding the institution of a triennial cycle in our day and in a short postscript, several desiderata are listed in order to put such a cycle into practice today. -
Solomon Dubno, His Eastern European Scholarship, and the German Haskalah
Zuzanna Krzemien Solomon Dubno, His Eastern European Scholarship, and the German Haskalah This article examines the life and works of Solomon Dubno (1738–1813), an Eastern European intellectual who lived and worked in Berlin over a period of ten years. While he is remembered as an initiator of the publication Sefer netivot ha-shalom [Paths of Peace], and for his work on the commentary (Bi’ur) of Moses Mendelssohn’s Pentateuch translation,1 Dubno’s influence on the early German Jewish Enlightenment, as a commentator of the book of Genesis, has been largely forgotten. Following a dispute with Mendelssohn, Dubno abandoned the Bi’ur project and headed for Vilna. There, he persuaded several members of the rabbinical elite of the need to create a new Bible commentary under his authorship, which could be published together with the Aramaic translation of Onkelos. He aimed to facilitate a correct understanding of the sacred text among Eastern European Jews, for whom Mendelssohn’s translation was not easily understandable, and which was regarded as a German textbook rather than a tool for enhanced study of the Torah. In this way, Dubno combined the maskilic program of Berlin Jewry with the Eastern European reverence for a traditional religious education. The Life and Works of Solomon Dubno Solomon ben Yoel Dubno was a renowned scholar from Eastern Europe and a preeminent representative of the early Jewish Enlightenment (Haskalah), who found recognition among his contemporaries through his poetry and expertise in Hebrew grammar. He was educated under the tutelage of Solomon Chelm (1717–1781),2 whose Sha’arei ne’imah [Gates of Melody], a work on accentuation in 1 Moses Mendelssohn (ed.), Sefer netivot ha-shalom [Paths of Peace] (Berlin: George Friederich Starcke, 1780–1783). -
Guide to Reading Nevi'im and Ketuvim" Serves a Dual Purpose: (1) It Gives You an Overall Picture, a Sort of Textual Snapshot, of the Book You Are Reading
A Guide to Reading Nevi’im and Ketuvim By Seth (Avi) Kadish Contents (All materials are in Hebrew only unless otherwise noted.) Midrash Introduction (English) How to Use the Guide Sheets (English) Month 1: Yehoshua & Shofetim (1 page each) Month 2: Shemuel Month 3: Melakhim Month 4: Yeshayahu Month 5: Yirmiyahu (2 pages) Month 6: Yehezkel Month 7: Trei Asar (2 pages) Month 8: Iyyov Month 9: Mishlei & Kohelet Month 10: Megillot (except Kohelet) & Daniel Months 11-12: Divrei HaYamim & Ezra-Nehemiah (3 pages) Chart for Reading Sefer Tehillim (six-month cycle) Chart for Reading Sefer Tehillim (leap year) Guide to Reading the Five Megillot in the Synagogue Sources and Notes (English) A Guide to Reading Nevi’im and Ketuvim Introduction What purpose did the divisions serve? They let Moses pause to reflect between sections and between topics. The matter may be inferred: If a person who heard the Torah directly from the Holy One, Blessed be He, who spoke with the Holy Spirit, must pause to reflect between sections and between topics, then this is true all the more so for an ordinary person who hears it from another ordinary person. (On the parashiyot petuhot and setumot. From Dibbura de-Nedava at the beginning of Sifra.) A Basic Problem with Reading Tanakh Knowing where to stop to pause and reflect is not a trivial detail when it comes to reading Tanakh. In my own study, simply not knowing where to start reading and where to stop kept me, for many years, from picking up a Tanakh and reading the books I was unfamiliar with. -
106205 Manna 81 GALLEYS
Hebrew poems praised the art which republished the mahzor arguing that ‘enables one man to write with many the Heidenheim edition had sold out. pens’ (Abrams, 1993). Rabbi Mordecai Benet supported the Realizing that economic conditions Dirhenport publishers, on the basis that were changing, the rabbis set out to the herem only had binding force in the create halachic decisions that would area of jurisdiction of the rabbi that reward investments made in printing. issued it, and the law of the land did They were afraid that as there was now not forbid republication. Heidenheim an alternative to hand written scrolls won on the basis that he needed to sell for study purposes, unless they multiple editions to repay his intervened to offer protection to investment in the annotations (Herzog, printers and publishers, Torah study 1965). texts might disappear altogether. R. Joseph Saul Nathansohn (d.1875) ANOTHER PENNY A counter argument was put by R. said ‘Jewish law, even in the absence FOR YOUR Schmelkes of Przemysl: ‘Everyone of an express herem, lays down that it retains the right to study and teach. is unlawful to reprint an original work THOUGHTS Why should another not be able to without permission, for the creation of benefit his fellow men and print and the author’s mind is his property.’ He sell cheaply?’ When Rabbi Meir may have been influenced in his Katzenellenbogen published an opinion by emerging patent law in Ruth Soetendorp improved edition of Maimonides’ contemporary Poland. The rabbis code, a non-Jewish publisher printed debated the geographic scope of a In MANNA 86 (Winter 2005) the same work and sold it at a lower herem within a haskamah on the basis Professor Ruth Soetendorp began price. -
Places of Publication
Places of Publication Altdorf: Hizzuk Emunah, ; Nizzahon, ; Tela ignea Satanae, ; Tractates Avodah Zarah, Tamid, ; Tractate Sotah, ; Vikku’ah Rabbenu Yehiel im Nicholas; Amsterdam: Asarah Ma’amarot, ; Avkat Rokhel, ; Ayyelet Ahavim, ; Babylonian Talmud, –; Sefer ha-Bahir (Midrash Rabbi Nehunya), ; Beit Elohim, ; Ben-Sira, ; Ben Zion, ; Berit Menuhah, ; Biblia sacra Hebraea, –; Birkat ha-Zevah, ; Bisarti Zedek, ; Canones Ethici (Hilkhot De’ot), ; Catalogus Librorum, ; Darkhei No’am, ; Derekh Moshe, ; Divrei Navo // Pi Navo, ; Divrei Shemu’el, ; Divrei Shemu’el, – ; Einei Avraham, ; Eleh Divrei ha-Hakham, ; Sefer Elim—Ma’ayan Gannim, –; Emek ha-Melekh, ; Esrim ve-Arba’ah (Bible), –; The Familie of David, ; Givat Sha’ul (Hamishim Derushim Yekarim), ; Grammatica Hebraica, ; Haggadah Haluka de-Rabbanan, ; Haggadah shel Pesah, ; Haggadah shel Pesah, ; Hamishah Homshei Torah, –; Hamishah Homshei Torah, u-Nevi’im . –; Heikhal ha-Kodesh, ; Hesed le-Avraham, ; Hesed Shemo El, ; Imrei No’am, ; Ketoret ha-Mizbe’ah, ; Ketoret ha-Sammim, – ; Kikayon di-Yonah, –; Kodesh Hillulim (Las Alabancas de Santidad), ; Kokhva de- Shavit, ; Korban Aharon, ; Livro da Gramatica Hebrayca, ; Ma’aneh Lashon, ; Ma’ayan ha-Hokhmah, ; Ma’ayan ha-Hokhmah, ; Mashmi’a Yeshu’ah, ; Massekhet Derekh Eretz, ; Me’ah Berakhot (Orden de Benediciones), ; Megillat Ta’anit, ; Megillat Vinz, ; Mekor Hayyim, ; Meliz Yosher, ; Migdal David, ; Mikhlol Yofi, ; Mikhlol Yofi—Lekket Shikhah, ; Mikveh Yisrael, ; Minhagim, ; Minhat Kohen, ; Mishnayot, Menasseh Ben Israel, ; Mishnayot, –, ;