Tag Archives: Holocaust

Halakhic Innovation

I know this is a bit off-topic, but this article from today’s Haaretz is relevant to the general theme of my series on the evolution of the oral law. It raises a question we raised since our first class in … Continue reading

Posted in A fence around the Torah, Alexander The Great, Babylonian Talmud, Bavli, Bein Hametzorim, Bible, Conservative Judaism, Cycleof the Jewish Year, Ethics of the Fathers, Ezra, Fast Days, God, Haredi, Holocaust, Israel, Jerusalem Talmud, Jewish, Jewish Calendar, Jewish Learning, Jewish Life, Jewish Living, Jewish Parenting, Jewish Religion, Jewish ritual, Jewish Wisdom, Judaism, Kabbalah, Learning, Luck, Madonna, Maimonides, Men of the Great Assembly, Moses, Oral Law, Orthodox, Orthodox Judaism, Orthodoxy, Parenting, Passover, Pharisees, Pirkei Avot, Prophecy, Prophets, Rabbis, Rambam, Reconstrcutionist Judaism, Reconstructionism, Reconstructionist Judaism, Reform, Reform Judaism, Religion, Religious coercion, Religious freedom, Religious Judaism, Saducees, Sages, Samaritans, Sea of Halakhah, Seder, Seventeenth of Tammuz, Shavuot, Shimon Hatzadik, Shoah, Shomronim, Simon the Just, Sinai, Talmud, Tanach, Teaching Torah, The Three Weeks, Theology, Torah Shebe'al Peh, Trah Shebe'al peh, Trochenbrod, Uncategorized, Women, Written Law, yahrzeit, Yerushalmi, Yom Hashoah | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Going…going…where? Goodbye to Prophecy

We know that between the last of the prophets and the beginning of the Mishnah, Judaism underwent a major change.  Avot describes this period in just a sentence or two.  The Rambam takes several paragraphs to explain it.  But nobody … Continue reading

Posted in A fence around the Torah, Alexander The Great, Babylonian Talmud, Bavli, Bible, Conservative Judaism, Ethics of the Fathers, Ezra, Fast Days, God, Haredi, Israel, Jerusalem Talmud, Jewish Calendar, Jewish Learning, Jewish Life, Jewish Living, Jewish Religion, Jewish ritual, Jewish Wisdom, Judaism, Kabbalah, Learning, Maimonides, Men of the Great Assembly, Moses, Oral Law, Orthodox, Orthodox Judaism, Orthodoxy, Pharisees, Pirkei Avot, Prophecy, Prophets, Rabbis, Rambam, Reconstrcutionist Judaism, Reconstructionist Judaism, Reform, Reform Judaism, Religion, Religious coercion, Religious freedom, Religious Judaism, Saducees, Sages, Samaritans, Sea of Halakhah, Seder, Seventeenth of Tammuz, Shimon Hatzadik, Shomronim, Simon the Just, Sinai, Talmud, Tanach, Teaching Torah, Theology, Torah Shebe'al Peh, Trah Shebe'al peh, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Takkanot – The Torah adapts to new realities

The Mishnah marks the culmination of the transition from Prophetic Judaism to Rabbinic Judaism.  The period before that – from the time of Ezra to the establishment of the Anshei Knesset Hagedolah (Men of the Great Assembly) – is the … Continue reading

Posted in Babylonian Talmud, Bavli, Bible, Conservative Judaism, Cycleof the Jewish Year, Ethics of the Fathers, Fast Days, God, Haredi, Holocaust, Israel, Jerusalem Talmud, Jewish, Jewish Calendar, Jewish Learning, Jewish Life, Jewish Living, Jewish Religion, Jewish ritual, Jewish Wisdom, Judaism, Kabbalah, Learning, Maimonides, Moses, Oral Law, Orthodox, Orthodox Judaism, Orthodoxy, Passover, Pirkei Avot, Rabbis, Rambam, Reconstrcutionist Judaism, Reconstructionism, Reconstructionist Judaism, Reform, Reform Judaism, Religion, Religious freedom, Religious Judaism, Sages, Sea of Halakhah, Seventeenth of Tammuz, Shavuot, Sinai, Talmud, Tanach, Teaching Torah, Theology, Trah Shebe'al peh, Uncategorized, Yerushalmi | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Kitniyot – A Pre-Yom Hashoah Reflection

Why am I writing about my custom of not eating kitniyot (legumes) on Pesah on the eve of Yom Hashoah? Well, besides the close proximity of the two dates (it was less than a week ago that I was defending … Continue reading

Posted in Cycleof the Jewish Year, Holocaust, Israel, Jewish Calendar, Jewish ritual, Judaism, Luck, Orthodox, Passover, Religious freedom, Religious Judaism, Shoah, Trochenbrod, Uncategorized, Yom Hashoah | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Abraham’s Tent

Tomorrow, January 5th,  marks the Tenth of Tevet, a dawn-to-nightfall fast day commemorating the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem in the first temple period (586 BCE).  As with other fast days during the year, more than one historical tragedy … Continue reading

Posted in Cycleof the Jewish Year, Fast Days, Haredi, Holocaust, Israel, Jewish Calendar, Jewish ritual, Judaism, Orthodox, Religious coercion, Religious freedom, Religious Judaism, Shoah, Yom Hashoah | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Why not a Holocaust Seder?

Today, I gave a student of mine a little pamphlet I received a number of years ago called “Megillat HaShoah” The Holocaust Megillah. I explained to her how uncomfortable I am about the ritualization of something that is so personal … Continue reading

Posted in Cycleof the Jewish Year, Holocaust, Jewish Calendar, Jewish ritual, Luck, Passover, Seder, Shoah, Trochenbrod, Uncategorized, Yom Hashoah | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment