Every group has its folklore. Jews are no exception. However, we are presented with a difficulty in discussing this, as Ashkenazic tradition has placed a huge value on all aspects of tradition, especially if the traditional story has been...
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As I have so often mentioned, there were huge differences between the Talmud Yerushalmi and the Talmud Bavli in both practicum and outlook. Even when the rulings of the Bavli became standard, the Yerushalmi left its imprint on many communities,...
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Jewish suffering at the hands of Christendom was a given from at least the time of Constantine. Stories of Jews being martyred always gave pride and hope. If there was Divine retribution against the perpetrators, so much the better for the...
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Every year at Hannuka time, someone posts online "segulot" for Hannuka. A "segulah" (literally, a treasure) is an action which has a positive effect, with no rational reason behind it. There are many segulot listed in the Talmud, as well as...
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An area that has been controversial for over a thousand years, is the medical and scientific information in the Talmud. As I have pointed out in previous posts, there are some who regard the Talmud as a revealed work in its entirety, dictated to...
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One of the most tragic periods in Jewish History was the era of the Crusades (1095-1291). Populations were smaller then, but proportionately, it was the equivalent of the Holocaust, with fully one third of world Jewry wiped out. A "slight"...
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The eighteenth century saw a massive questioning of the issue of daily Birkat Kohanim. On the one hand, no one really remembered why it had started. (We have access to documents that were not generally available at that time.) On the other hand,...
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When I lived in Israel, I was once invited to Shabbat dinned at the home of a young Yemenite rabbi, of the type that follows the rulings of RAMBAM completely (there are five distinct Yemenite groups, with different ideologies and practices) When...
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I rarely comment online about Jewish topics, because everyone thinks they know, and is ready for a fight. I tend to forget that things that are obvious to me, are far from most people's awareness. To illustrate, just over a year ago, someone...
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Rabbi Yechiel Michel Epstein (1829-1908) was a man of great learning and integrity, with the ability to bridge chasms that appeared unbridgeable. Although the animosity against Hassidism and Hassidim that dated back to the Eighteenth century had...
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