Jewish Customs

This paper aims to study Talmudic precedents of the well-known Tiqun, studying the whole night of Shavuoth.
First, the emergence of this custom, in the 13-18th centuries are discussed, from ZOhar to Hemdat Yamim.
Second, it is shown from rabbinic sources that the concept of studying Torah the whole night long was practiced in Yom Kippur, in Pesach, in Sukkot and in more occasions,


This paper appeared as:
Meir Bar-Ilan, 'Tiqun Lel Shevuot: Emergence and Precedents', Mehqarei-Hag, 8 (1996), pp. 28-48 (Hebrew).

מאמר זה בא לחקור במהות ספר "איסור והיתר הארוך", תוך שימת לב למנהגיו, על מנת לפתוח צוהר לשורשי מנהג אשכנז ומנהג פולין בענייני איסור והיתר. לאורך המאמר יתבררו תכונתו, דרכו, וטיבו של הספר, וכן יידונו שאלת מחברו ובית מדרשו. במאמר תבוא גם סקירה אודות דפוסי הספר והשינויים ביניהם. גם נספח למאמר הגהות הנדפסות לראשונה מרבי משה לוריא מווירמיישא על האיסור והיתר הארוך.

A discussion of the development, by the Talmudic period, of the “Seven Benedictions” or, more properly the birkat ḥatanim, recited at a Jewish wedding ceremony and at festive meals in the week following the wedding. The argument made here is for a new understanding that places greater emphasis on the origins of both the benedictions and the practice in ’Erets Israel as opposed to Babylonia. The origins and the practice, it is maintained, are rooted in popular Jewish notions and expressions of "acts of loving kindness" that eventually were adopted by the rabbis. Beginning in Babylonia, however, the rabbis would place a greater emphasis on the need to include "new faces" in the celebration, which soon became the presumed reason and explanation for the need to recite the blessings during the week following the wedding. Much attention is given to the parallel development of the birkat ’avelim, or "benediction of the mourners," which similarly had its origins as a popular act of lovingkindness that was rooted in the need of the people to "pay it forward" and likewise was premised on the notion of living in the image of God.

This article appeared in Tradition 50:3 (Fall 2017), 8-34 and is provided here with permission of the publisher.

In 1891, Avraham Yitzhak Sperling (1851-1921), a shohet from Lviv, published a modest book titled Ta'amei Haminhagim Umekorei Hadinim. The book collects various Ashkenazi customs, a good number of them hasidic, and offers short explanations of each. Its success was overwhelming, and already within the author's lifetime, six editions as well as a Yiddish translation were published. The author added new materials in each edition, most of them enumerating more customs, but some with more theoretical discussions about the general importance of minhag. The book’s popularity grew even more in subsequent years. While it looks "innocent" at first glance, lacking polemic arguments, this work played an important role in the legitimation of hasidic minhag, the development of the hasidic perception of minhag; and the sanctification of minhag in the broader halakhic context – against the modernist forces that sought to diminish its normative status.

Although at first glance ṣîṣîṯ meet the definitional criteria of an amulet, there are just three passages in the early rabbinic literature which only indirectly suggest such interpretation. Yet, as it turns out, the tassels feature strong connections with the priestly clothes and given the protective role played by the latter inside the Tabernacle, ṣîṣîṯ can be interpreted as a lay functional equivalent of the sacerdotal garment. The present paper has three main purposes: first, to scrutinize the passages from bMenahot (41a, 43b and 44a) which are often taken as witnessing to the apotropaic function of fringes; second, to contextualize tassels in the network of the priestly objects: teḵēlęṯ, šaʻaṭnēz and ṣîṣ; third, to advance a careful hypothesis in regards with the implicit apotropaic potential of ṣîṣîṯ.

This is the pre-peer-reviewed version of the paper accepted for publication in “Review of Rabbinic Judaism”. Please cite the following:
Wojciech Kosior, “Like a Throne of Glory”. The Apotropaic Potential of Ṣîṣîṯ in the Hebrew Bible and the Early Rabbinic Literature, “Review of Rabbinic Judaism”, 21.2/2018.

תוכן העניינים
פתח דבר
                     
מבוא: הערה על מבטים
         
פרק ראשון: שבחי רודקינסון          
רודקינסון כמו"ל חסידי: טשרנוביץ ולבוב • בין חסידות להשכלה: ז'יטומיר וּורשה • "בצוארו כפתור בלי פרח": ימי פטרבורג • תולדות החסידות ופעילות עיתונאית: קניגסברג • "מחזיקי ומפיצי שפת עבר בכל העולם": ברלין והמבורג • על האנטישמיות החדשה והתיקונים בדת: לונדון • המאבק באנטישמיות: ברלין • עוללות מתנגדי רודקינסון: וינה • פעילות בארץ החדשה: ניו יורק, שיקגו ובוסטון

פרק שני: ספרות השבחים החסידית           
ה"שתיקה" וקדושת הספר • ספרות השבחים בשנות השישים • הערות על גורמי ה"התעוררות • על כמה ממהלכי התקופה • ספרות השבחים מעשה ידי רודקינסון • מקורות ונאמנותם • סיפור שבעל פה, סיפור שבכתב ותיקון מסורות • תגובה לספרות ההשכלה • אמונת חכמים, סיפורי צדיקים ומוסר • רודקינסון כמחבר חסידי, קהל היעד שלו והתקבלות ספריו

פרק שלישי: בין חסידות להשכלה            
הדפסות חוזרות של ספרות השבחים • "תולדות בעלי שם טוב" • הרקע  לכתיבת "תולדות בעלי שם טוב" • מבואות היסטוריים והיחס ליעקב פראנק • מקורות לתיאור החסידות וביקורת על ספרות השבחים • ביקורת על ספרות ההשכלה • הגר"א והחסידות • רודקינסון ה"מאוחר", קהל היעד שלו והתקבלות ספריו • על גורל ספרי "תולדות בעל השם" • קבלה, חסידות ותיקונים בדת • חסידות, פילוסופיה ונצרות

נעילה: רודקינסון והספרות הניאו-חסידית
           
קיצורים ביבליוגרפיים
                                                       
מפתחות

The sneezing, just as other manifestations of our body functioning, is ambivalent in Jewish culture, though negative attitude towards it prevails. As for the custom of wishing health in reply to sneezing – it can be viewed as a borrowing from non-Jewish world, but it is also acceptable to consider it as an independent element of Jewish medieval culture.

The article deals with the custom of receiving from the hands of the
Rebbe a blessing in the form of a coin-talisman, which appeared in the first half of the 19th century and very quickly became popular within various groups of Hasidim. Hasidim regularly made pilgrimages to their tsaddik or came for certain holidays, as well as to solve their personal problems at any time. They brought the Rebbe notes with requests for help, and also made a certain monetary offering, which is called “pidyon ha-nefesh” (literally – Redemption of the Soul). In response, they received a blessing and a coin from the tsaddik as a reward, and the value of this gift from the Rebbe for the Hasid greatly exceeded the physical
value of the object. The ritual was probably formed at the court of Israel Friedman (1797–1850), the Ruzhin Rebbe, but gradually became widespread in other Hassidic dynasties. We have considered a long-term, but existing in a somewhat transformed form until our days, the Hassidic tradition of giving money a symbolic meaning. The basic meaning is acquired by the physical and spiritual interrelation of the leader with his followers. The coin-talisman is valuable because it was touched by the tsaddik. It becomes a symbol of the Rebbe’s constant presence in the life of a Hasid. Contact magic acts not only during the life of the tsaddik, but also after his death, as he continues to perform his main function - to convey the requests of an ordinary person directly to God. Therefore, the practice of using coins-talismans continues even years later, after the death of the tsaddik, who issued the coin.

Moses ben Aaron Morawczyk was a Jewish educator, active in the first half of the seventeenth century. This study collects the available information about his life, from the Moravian town of Bzenec (Bisenz) to Lublin. His short treatise Ketzad seder mishnah (Lublin 1634/1635) represents the unique educational treatise in Hebrew from the period. Morawczyk cited Judah Leva ben Bezalel, ‘the Maharal’, and Salomon Ephraim Luntschitz, and was influenced by their own criticism of Jewish
education. The analysis of the text enables to identify the parts which Morawczyk borrowed from other works. Morawczyk systematically described the problems of Jewish education and formulated a proposal for an educational reform. Two little booklets about the special fasts and liturgy for the leap years, edited by Morawczyk, document the actual hatching out of a religious confraternity, and implementation of a religious practice in a specific time and locale.

היום השביעי של סוכות הנקרא 'הושענא רבה' (הו"ר), הפך משלהי ימי המקדש השני מסתם יום של חול-המועד ליום בעל משמעות מיוחדת; משמעות זו הלכה והתעצמה עם השנים, הן ברובד הנגלה והן ברובד הנסתר, עד שכבר בראשית ימי הביניים הפך הו"ר ל'יום החותם', מעין שילוב בין ראש השנה, יום כיפור וליל שבועות. ההסבר המקובל למהותו המיוחדת של היום נעוץ בהיותו סופם של ימי הסוכות, בהם נידון הציבור על גשמי השנה הבאה. הצורך העז בגשמים (המשתקף באופן מוחשי ביותר במסכת תענית), אכן יכול להסביר את חרדת הדין שאחזה בציבור המתפללים בימי הסוכות ובייחוד ביום האחרון, שהיווה מעין מקבילה לתפילת נעילה בסופו של יום הכיפורים. עם זאת, אין בכך הסבר לכתרים המיסטיים שנקשרו ליום הו"ר ולמנהגים החריגים שנהגו בו, כאלו שאינם קשורים כלל לגשמים. אני מבקש לטעון, בהתבסס על אופיו המיוחד של חג הסוכות כפי שהוא משתקף במקרא (ובמידה מסוימת אף בברית החדשה), כי היום השביעי של חג הסוכות הוא-הוא היום האחרון של 'אחרית הימים', המכונה במקרא 'היום ההוא' או 'יום ה’ ' – ביום זה יסתיימו מלחמות אחרית הימים והעולם יעבור לשלב של 'העולם הבא', המסומל בשמיני עצרת. ידיעה נבואית זו שהיתה נחלתם של אחרוני הנביאים, חלחלה בזרמי העומק של ההגות, המיסטיקה והליטורגיה היהודיים, ובאה לידי ביטוי בתפיסה הייחודית של הו"ר ובמנהגים החריגים השונים הקשורים אליו.


Since the end of the Second Temple era, the seventh day of Sukkot, called Hoshana Rabbah (HR), evolved into a significantly unique day; It’s significance grew stronger during the years, both in the overt stratum as well as the occult one, so that already at the early medieval era HR became ‘the day of the seal’, a combination of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Shavuot. The common explanation for that significance is based on the fact that HR is the last day of Sukkot, the festival wherein the nation is judged about the next year’s rains. The desperate need for rain (which reflects most lively in tractate Ta’anit) may indeed explain the ‘anxiety of judgment’ that affected the dovening community at Sukkot and especially at its last day, perceieved as a parallel to the prayer of N’eilah at the end of Yom Kippur. Yet, it does not explain the mistical aura that grew around HR and the exceptional customs applied to it, customs that have nothing to do with the need of rain. I would like to suggest, based on the unique character of Sukkot as reflected in the Hebrew Bible (and to some extent in the NT as well), that the seventh day of Sukkot is nothing but the last day of the eschaton (Acharit Hayamim), called “that day” or “the day of YHWH” in the Bible – at that day the eschaton’s wars shall end and the world will turn to the phase of ‘the world to come’ resembled by Shmini Atzeret. That prophetic insight, the heritage of the last biblical prophets, seeped into the deep currents of the Jewish thought, misticism and liturgy, as expressed in the unique perception of HR and the exceptional customs applied to it.

Over the past 450 or so years, the Nusaḥ Tfillah (prayer liturgy) of R. Isaac Luria has sparked a great deal of interest. The participants in this discourse range from the kabbalist’s direct disciples to modern scholars. Even thought, all of whom evaluated this Nusaḥ evaluated within the framework of discussions on Lurianic kabbalah in its entirety. For this reason, the analysis is detached from the time and place in which Luria operated. The present article undertakes to expand our vantage point and assay Luria’s choices against the backdrop of broader phenomena, not least the consolidation of Nusaḥ Sfarad (the Sephardic liturgy) throughout the Ottoman expanse in the generations following the Edict of Expulsion.
An in-depth look at Luria’s thoughts on the spread of Nusaḥ Sfarad indicates that they were part of a running dialogue with R. Samuel de Medina (the RaShDaM) – a highly influential posek (Halakhic adjudicator) from Salonica who sanctioned and even encouraged congregations to forsake their ancestral customs and adopt the Spanish liturgy.
Luria, as other Ashkenazic figures, struggled to keep his liturgy traditions. Even though, studying his actual nusah reveals that in practice Luria adopted many Sephardic customs. This contradiction matches his own biography, as his ethnic origin was from Germany, but was raised in a Sephardic environment in Egypt and later on in Safed. By this, Luria's approach to the Nusah Tfillah is an important case study to examine the changes and developments in the Jewish communities in the first generations after the expulsion from Spain.

3ο ΕΡΓΑΣΤΗΡΙΟ ΣΧΕΔΙΑΣΜΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΥΛΟΠΟΙΗΣΗΣ ΤΩΝ Ν.Π.Σ.
ΠΡΟΣΚΛΗΣΗ
Αγαπητές και αγαπητοί συνάδελφοι, ο Πανελλήνιος Θεολογικός Σύνδεσμος «ΚΑΙΡΟΣ» Κεντρικής Μακεδονίας, σας προσκαλεί στο 3ο Εργαστήριο σχεδιασμού και υλοποίησης των ν.Π.Σ. του ΜτΘ  στο Παιδαγωγικό Εργαστήρι της Θεολογικής Σχολής ΑΠΘ, την Παρασκευή 16 Μαρτίου, ώρα 17:30-19:00 με θέμα:
«Εβραίοι Έλληνες. Διδάσκοντας για τους γνωστούς- άγνωστους.  Σχόλια στα κείμενα των Φακέλων του ΜτΘ για τον Ιουδαϊσμό.».
Ομιλητής ο Δρ. Πωλ Ισαάκ Χάγουελ.
Θα ακολουθήσουν δειγματικά σενάρια με τη συνεργασία των Σχολικών Συμβούλων Θεολόγων Κεντρικής Μακεδονίας με θέμα:
«Αξιοποίηση των Φακέλων του ΜτΘ στη γνωριμία με την τοπική Εβραϊκή Κοινότητα».
Παρουσίαση από τον Θεολόγο Καθηγητή του 2ου Γυμνασίου Ευκαρπίας
κ. Γιώργο Λαδόπουλο.

minhagim (customs). In the field of physics, one of the great issues is the search for the so-called theory of everything (TOE), a formula that explains strong and weak electromagnetic forces, nuclear, and gravity. So far, no one has been able to account for gravity in the relationship. But the Lubavitcher Rebbe MhM has indicated that gravity, too, will be fit the Theory of Everything, and the right calculations are just waiting to be uncovered. The question is, can there be a similar theory to unify many, if not most of the differences between Sfard-Chassidic and Ashkenazic minhagim? In other words, can one theory explain why Ashkenazim start the main part of the morning prayers with Baruch SheAmar and Sfardim-Chassidim start from Hodu; why Ashkenazim wind the Tefillin straps from outside in, and Sfardim-Chassidim wind the straps from the inside going out. Why, in many non-Chassidic shuls, only the Rav wears a talis over his head and out of respect for the Rav, the rest of the congregation does not, while in Sfard-Chassidic shuls, the congregants all wear the tallis over the head. Why do Chassidim wear a gartel and why Ashkenazim do not have a special belt. There are dozens of differences, depending as much on local custom as on ancient tradition, and most of us proudly follow one set of minhagim to the exclusion of others. If such a theory of everything could apply to minhagim, perhaps it can explain other divisions in Jewish tradition, for example, between Yosef and Yehuda, between Hillel and Shammai, Rabbi Ishmael and Rabbi Akiva, and Moshiach ben Yosef and Moshiach ben Dovid. Let's take one difference and explore it—the order of the terms used in prayers of Kiddush Levana (the service sanctifying the new moon). In Sfard-Chassidic siddurim, the nusach (wording of the prayer) is