Questions related to how something was in the past, and how it's developed since then.
30
votes
4answers
657 views
How do we know that the civil Saturday is the correct Shabbat?
Disclaimer: I am not a religious Jew, this question is only out of curiosity.
I understand that observant Jews observe Shabbat from Friday night to Saturday. And from this question and this it seems ...
28
votes
7answers
530 views
Did any Achronim comment on the American Revolutionary or Civil Wars?
I've heard that for instance, in the 1800s, the American rabbis in the South were pro-slavery, and the American rabbis in the North opposed to it. But what were the views towards America of the ...
27
votes
2answers
302 views
Were slave-related commandments observed in America?
Since there was slavery in the Americas between their discovery and 1856, do we know of any Jewish slave-owners there who observed slavery-related laws of Judaism?
18
votes
2answers
926 views
Questions about Polygamy in Jewish Law and Culture
I've recently been looking into polygamy (having more than 1 wife), and had a few cultural questions.
Was polygamy accepted at the time of David and Solomon? Were there any laws about it?
Was ...
18
votes
2answers
201 views
Why the custom to switch around negative-sounding numbers, such as שד?
Often in sefarim we find that if the number of the siman spells out something negative, such as siman 304 which has a letter value of שד, we switch it around so it no longer reads as a "bad" word. ...
17
votes
2answers
670 views
Why is the Jewish Population so small?
Judaism is one of the oldest religions, but there aren't many Jews compared to Muslims and Christians.
What are main reasons behind that?
17
votes
2answers
345 views
Are there other extant Chabad groups besides Chabad-Lubavitch?
Wikipedia lists a number of different Chabad groups including:
Chabad-Lubavitch
Chabad-Bobroisk
Chabad-Kapust
Chabad-Liadi
Chabad-Nezhin
Chabad-Strashelye
I was told that these different groups ...
17
votes
2answers
537 views
When did we start counting the Year since Creation?
This year is 5772 / תשעב (Taf-Shin-Ayin-Bet) on the Hebrew Calendar.
What is the earliest reference to the Year counting from the Creation of the world?
17
votes
2answers
263 views
What kind of kippah is this?
This photo of my great great grandfather was taken around 1900. He's a Lubavitch Jew from Belarus. His name is Zalman Malkin. He is from Liozna. The story of his life is here:
...
16
votes
6answers
328 views
Where does the concept of Gilgulim (reincarnations) in Judaism come from?
What is the source of Gilgulim in Judaism? Are there people who disagree with its existence? Who was the first to mention it? What I am asking essentialy is what is the historical development of ...
16
votes
3answers
490 views
Why do we bow down in the direction of the ark?
This is a question I've had for many years, to which I've never received a satisfactory answer:
In Hebrew school, we were taught that idolaters bowed to a idol of their god. They would claim that ...
15
votes
2answers
244 views
Halachot of Shul Mechitzas
What are some good books, articles, websites, or seforim for learning about the Halachot of constructing and maintaining a Shul Mechitza (the barrier between the men and women sections)?
Issues ...
15
votes
1answer
163 views
Anonymous glosses in the Shulchan Aruch
The Rama wrote a series of glosses to the Shulchan Aruch to reflect standard Ashkenazi practice, as the Shulchan Aruch was weighted towards the Sephardim. These glosses have been reprinted in almost ...
15
votes
1answer
532 views
Critical Jewish analysis of the Ipuwer papyrus
I just stumbled across information about the Ipuwer papyrus, and I was wondering how many Jewish Egyptologists have had an opportunity to review and study it at length. Other than this very brief ...
14
votes
3answers
211 views
Was it ever the norm for children to get married?
The Gemara describes many Halachos that apply when someone gets married at very young ages, many under 12, and even a few for the age of 3. There are stories of people who did get married at such ages ...
14
votes
6answers
330 views
G'dolim or Rabbis Owning Pets
Are there any g'dolim (or rabbis of major influence) - past or present - who are known to have owned pets/kept animals for non-agricultural purposes?
14
votes
4answers
251 views
When did kosher bakeries, restaurants, etc. start requiring supervision?
If my neighbor Shmerel keeps kosher and otherwise appears to be observant to the best of my knowledge, then I'd be allowed to eat in his house (assuming I'm invited), eid echad ne'eman b'issurin, his ...
14
votes
1answer
446 views
What was daily life like for Jewish women living in al-Andalus in the 10th/11th centuries?
The emir of Al-Andalus (approximately the Iberian peninsula) declared himself a new caliph, breaking off from the caliphate in the east, circa 950 CE. I have read that the next couple hundred years ...
14
votes
2answers
112 views
What defines a country to be a legitimate country?
There are a few Halachas that apply to a Jew's relationship with his country. For example, Dina Dmalchusa, another is not to rebel (although its Halachic strength is disputed, all agree that under ...
14
votes
1answer
141 views
What sources, prior to the 19th century, support or refute the existence of the Council of Jamnia/Yavneh?
Multiple questions on Christianity.SE1 refer to the Council of Jamnia/Yavneh in reference to the canonization of the Bible (Tanakh). Wikipedia states:
In 1871 Heinrich Graetz, drawing on Mishnaic ...
14
votes
2answers
381 views
What was wrong with the word Talmud?
The Wikipedia article on The Talmud says:
and Pope Pius IV commanded, in 1565, that the Talmud be deprived of its very name. The convention of referring to the work as "Shas" (shishah sidre ...
13
votes
5answers
664 views
Is there “Torah Inerrancy”?
Is there Torah inerrancy?
In other words, does the Torah contain no factual errors: the Noah flood did occur, Garden of Eden did exist, Adam and Eve did live there and were subsequently expelled, etc ...
13
votes
3answers
229 views
Did courts ever execute?
The laws of capital crimes elucidated in Sanhedrin and elsewhere make conviction very unlikely. Makkot 1:10 famously tells us that a court that executes once in seven years is bloodthirsty, R. ...
13
votes
4answers
394 views
Gezeira of Rabbeinu Gershom text
Does anyone know where I can find the actual text of the Gezeira of Rabbeinu Gershom? It keeps popping up in my learning, but only as being referenced, I would like to read that actual text.
13
votes
2answers
195 views
How old is the custom to eat dairy on Shavuos?
I don't think I've ever seen a rationalization for this custom in works earlier than those of the Acharonim. I've never seen any Rishonim even mention it; certainly not earlier authors.
What's the ...
13
votes
2answers
197 views
Why don't we use a translator during Torah reading?
Outside of the Teimanim I am not aware of any other segments of Judaism that still employ a meturgamen (translator) during kriat ha'torah. Why has this practice fallen into disuse?
13
votes
5answers
327 views
What is the source of the Magen Dovid (Star of David)?
What is the source of the Magen Dovid (Star of David) in Rabbinic Judaism?
When was it first used, and for what?
13
votes
2answers
258 views
What does “the Talmud” mean in the Talmud?
The G'mara Bavli says in Shabas 63:
אמר רב כהנא, "כד הוינא בר תמני סרי שנין, והוה גמירנא ליה לכוליה תלמודא, ולא הוה ידענא דאין מקרא יוצא מידי פשוטו..."
Rav Kahana said, "When I was 18 years ...
13
votes
1answer
207 views
When did Matza become dry?
It's pretty commonly accepted that Matza used to be soft (sort of like a tortilla) and was used by Hillel to make a wrap (not a sandwich).
When did this change in various geographic locations which ...
13
votes
2answers
190 views
How were judges appointed in the times of the Bais Hamikdash?
In the times of the Bais Hamikdash, were judges appointed by the king, or were they elected by the people? And was the system different based on which size court (i.e., courts comprised of 3, 23, or ...
13
votes
2answers
149 views
What happened to the Yeshivas Shem v'Aiver?
What happened to the Yeshiva of Shem v'Aiver and all who learnt there?
13
votes
1answer
290 views
Jews under Charlemagne
Jews under Charlemagne in the 8th century and the Carolingian emperors were accredited food providers in addition to providing wine for Christian mass. I am looking for halachic responses to these ...
12
votes
4answers
623 views
Are there any Jewish people alive today who can identify themselves as coming from a particular tribe?
The Christian "New Testament" claims Paul (Saul) was of the tribe of Benjamin.
Since Roman times have there been any people who can validly claim they were from a particular tribe?
At least at that ...
12
votes
7answers
386 views
About what were rabbis ahead of the times?
I have heard claims that experts in the world of Torah were significantly ahead of their counterparts in the world of natural science (or mathematics, or psychology, or…) in that they knew X ...
12
votes
2answers
975 views
All people in world are Jews?
According to the Book of Genesis, Noah saved his family and representatives of every animal from a flood by constructing a boat. So since all of humanity should be descended from Noah, does that mean ...
12
votes
11answers
643 views
What are the oldest Jewish songs (tune plus words) that are still popular today?
When I say "song", I mean the combination of tune and words; and yes I'm probably thinking Ashkenazically here. It seems like any European old-timer I've met knows the "good old fashioned" tune for ...
12
votes
3answers
283 views
When/where did the practice of “recycling” names begin?
Perhaps this had never bothered anyone in the past, but for someone like myself who delves into genealogy, the fact that there are family naming patterns is a great boon. Of course, we can go only so ...
12
votes
7answers
852 views
Archeological proof of Exodus?
Is there empirical proof that the exodus from Egypt and related happenings (like Har Sinai etc) did in fact occur (i.e: Archeological proof)?
I believe in the Torah, but how would you prove to someone ...
12
votes
4answers
182 views
Rabba bar bar Chana
There is a rabbi in the Talmud referred to as רבה בר בר חנה. Why is he called that way? It says that Rabba was the grandson of Chana.
Who was Chana? Was it(?) a woman? Why wasn't he called after his ...
12
votes
2answers
172 views
Who is the composer of Haneiros Halolu?
When we light the Menora we say Haneiros Halolu. Who composed these words?
12
votes
1answer
353 views
What is the oldest manuscript of Torah Shebaal Peh?
We don't have (and more's the pity!) R' Yehudah Hanassi's autograph copy of the Mishnah (well, okay, it's a controversial issue whether he actually wrote it or only arranged it orally), or Ravina and ...
12
votes
4answers
304 views
Is there any evidence that Rabbi Akiva's students fought alongside Bar Kochba?
Various sources say that "12,000 pairs" of Rabbi Akiva's students died between Pesach and Shavuos because they did not treat each other with respect. See Genesis Rabba 61:3, Ecclesiastes Rabba 11, ...
12
votes
2answers
553 views
Why is there no magic today?
Throughout Tanach and Talmud, there are numerous recorded uses and practitioners of magic1.
From Pharaoh's magicians to Shaul's necromancer, and magic cucumbers to were-donkeys, the references are ...
12
votes
3answers
245 views
Why is Rosh Chodesh sometimes TWO days?
Why for certain months of the year do we celebrate the festival of Rosh Chodesh for two days while on other Roshei Chadashim we have one day of Rosh Chodesh?
12
votes
1answer
859 views
Why does the Jewish calendar HAVE to end?
It seems to be common knowledge that on or around the year 6,000 of the Jewish calendar "everything" (left intentionally vague) will come to an end and there will be a 1,000 year 'Shabbos'. I'm ...
12
votes
1answer
189 views
Kubutz and shuruk in Polish/Hungarian pronunciation
What is the origin or basis of the Polish and Hungarian prevalence for pronouncing "oo" vowels as "ee"? The variants of other vowels are easier to understand in the context of phonological shifting, ...
12
votes
1answer
114 views
Sukkah in the Soviet Union
The opinion of the Shulchan Aruch Harav is that one isn't allowed to build a Sukkah on public property (because it is considered stolen).
In the Soviet Union all property was nationalized and they ...
12
votes
2answers
162 views
Why doesn't Chabad differentiate between Ches and Chaf, and Ayin and Aleph?
The Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe writes that the Shabbos before the great debate in Minsk, the Alter Rebbe served as the chazzan and baal koreh for his minyan. Furthermore, although the Alter Rebbe used ...
12
votes
1answer
194 views
Are there any halachic authorities which relate to the non-mechitza, pre-1967 prayers which were held at the Kotel?
There are various pictures pre-dating the 1967 Six Day War, available on the Internet and in various scholarly sources, clearly showing free mixing among the genders at the Kotel (Western Wall) in the ...
11
votes
5answers
299 views
The authenticity of rabbinic literature
I am studying the history of various branches of Judaism. I understand the position of rabbinic Judaism that parts of the laws were oral and not written. But this alone would not justify the ...
