Questions related to how something was in the past, and how it's developed since then.
5
votes
1answer
212 views
First year counted from creation
What is the first year for which there exists a record of it being dated according to the currently used system that starts counting from creation?
11
votes
3answers
119 views
Who is the voice of Tosafoth?
Tosafoth were the sons-in-law, grandchildren, and students of Rashi (and their students), and "they" wrote a commentary on the Talmud that is often at odds with Rashi's earlier commentary. Sometimes ...
1
vote
1answer
131 views
where was the ark of the covenant during the time of the judges?
After Joshua, during the time of the judges, where was the ark located? In Judges 18 it seems that the people did not have a central place of worship.
2
votes
1answer
60 views
Reconciling the Torah and history regarding the Jews' response to reward and punishment
How do we reconcile the Torah's viewpoint that punishments make Jews better with what we see that punishments push Jews away (and rewards make Jews better)?
The Gemara says that Mashiach will come ...
11
votes
2answers
219 views
Is it heresy to follow secular dating on the destruction of the first Temple?
There is a discrepancy between rabbinic and secular sources regarding when the first Temple was destroyed -- a difference of some 165 years or so, which are called the "Missing Years."
My question is ...
12
votes
3answers
282 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 ...
0
votes
0answers
98 views
With which sister was Dr. Shmuel Soloveitchik closest? [closed]
I know a student of Dr. Shmuel Soloveitchik (the chemist, brother of Rabbis Joseph Dov and Aharon) who said he'd often describe conversations with (and advice from) his sister.
Shmuel Soloveitchik ...
9
votes
3answers
204 views
Praying at Amukah = Finding a mate. Since when?
Many people, I'm sure, have heard of the famous segulah for finding one's soulmate: praying at the grave of Yonasan ben Uziel in Amukah, Israel.
I'm not asking if this works, or why it would work, or ...
9
votes
1answer
137 views
Names of the books of Tanakh
When did the books of Tanakh get their canonical names? I understand that Five Books of the Torah were named after the first words in them, and that most of Navi was named after their authors, but ...
2
votes
1answer
65 views
Qumran - Proof or Genizah for Errors?
This comment, and the ensuing thread, quoted below, reminded me of a question that I thought of a long time ago. What, exactly, is buried in Qumran? Were the items there actually used and put there ...
8
votes
1answer
127 views
Temple mount: wall around court of the gentiles?
In looking of these two models of the temple mount,
Alec Garrad model and Israel Museum model, they differ on one major point. In the Garrad model there is another wall on the temple mount that I ...
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 ...
6
votes
1answer
77 views
Was divrei kabalah practiced before the nevi'im?
The Nevi'im sometimes got prophecies and wrote them down in Nevi'im or Kesuvim, and from those prophecies, we learn divrei kabalah. We learn things like oneg, mimtzo cheftzecha, and daber davar on ...
8
votes
2answers
255 views
Why was Chassidus controversial?
When Chassidus came about, it was very controversial. The Vilna Gaon even put Chassidim in cherem. What were the reasons for the controversy? And why is there peace and mutual respect today between ...
5
votes
1answer
117 views
Which of Moshe Chaim Luzzatto's works influenced Chassidut, Mussar, and Haskalah?
In Dovid Cohen (known as Rav Ha-Nazir)'s Wikipedia page, the following idea is attributed to him:
He saw in Moses Hayyim Luzzatto the harbinger of this redemption, pointing out that the three ...
11
votes
1answer
207 views
Did people ever place actual physical stumbling blocks before the blind?
I know that the prohibition against placing stumbling blocks before the blind has been understood to be a prohibition against misleading or causing people to sin, but the simple meaning of the text is ...
7
votes
1answer
105 views
Up part of the night on Shavuos
As described by Stephanie Hegarty for the BBC, Roger Ekirch, an historian, has evidence — and is convinced — that people used to have
a first sleep which began about two hours after dusk, followed ...
1
vote
4answers
298 views
Why do we count years from the date of Creation?
Why do we count years from the date of Creation? I intend two sub-questions here, of which the second is far more interesting, so please answer it:
Whence did this tradition originate?
Why do we ...
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 ...
14
votes
2answers
380 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 ...
2
votes
1answer
41 views
When was the Sifre redacted?
When was the redaction of the Sifre (midrash halakha on Bamidbar and Devarim)? I would like to know in context with Mishna, Tosefta, and other Tannaitic literature. Please source your answers.
6
votes
2answers
162 views
How historically accurate is Josephus?
How accurate is the writing of Josephus? Can we rely on any of his writings to establish authentic Jewish practices or in areas of halacha?
5
votes
3answers
158 views
Sadducees and Karaites - same beliefs?
Did the Karaites and the Sadducees believe in the same "Judaism"?
6
votes
0answers
137 views
Chad Gadya: The price of a kid goat
Was the fair market value of a kid goat really two zuzim? This piyyut is of course allegorical, but, if the value given is highly inaccurate, is the discrepancy in value symbolic beyond the symbolism ...
11
votes
2answers
281 views
Was there a GOLEM?
was there really a golem made in Prague that was alive and interacted with other people?
I heard that this story was nothing more than a made up tale in a children's book. Does anyone know the real ...
7
votes
2answers
142 views
Speaking Yiddish vs. the host language at home
I understand that, before World War Ⅱ, the Jews of Hungary and Germany mostly spoke Hungarian and German, respectively, amongst themselves (at home), whereas the Jews of Poland mostly spoke Yiddish ...
4
votes
1answer
72 views
Were Maftir Honors in 19th Century different from today?
I received a travel-diary for a man who was born in Huncovce (also known as Hunsdorf, once a famous yeshiva town, second only to Pressburg), Slovakia. He was born in 1851, presumably had some Torah ...
7
votes
0answers
94 views
How were coins that were destined for the Dead Sea managed?
A mishna on Meila 11a talks about money that a nazarite set aside for his offerings; if he died before completing the term and had set money aside specifically for the sin-offering, those coins are ...
5
votes
2answers
228 views
What is the Real Alter Rebbe Ksav?
There is a tradition that the Alter Rebbe (R' Shneur Zalman of Liadi) innovated a new Ksav (not the one in the Shulchan Aruch Harav) and taught it to sofrim who passed it on from teacher to student.
...
1
vote
3answers
167 views
Is it true that there was a time when Jews believed in the existence of several Gods instead of just One?
Is it true that there was a time when Jews believed in the existence of several Gods instead of just One? Somebody told me that there was a time when they even worshiped different Gods - even after ...
2
votes
0answers
41 views
When did the Ashkenazi custom to NOT bake matza on Pesach start?
Historically, when did the Ashkenazi custom to not bake matza on Pesach start? I am specifically interested in when this custom arose, rather than the reasons/opions pro/against.
3
votes
2answers
62 views
When did the Ashkenazi custom to bake matza on erev Pesach afternoon start?
Historically, when did the Ashkenazi custom to bake matza on erev Pesach afternoon start? I am specifically interested in when this custom arose, rather than the reasons/opions pro/against.
1
vote
0answers
28 views
History of Chevra Kadisha's in New York City
I am interested in knowing about the Chevra Kadisha's in NYC, Brooklyn, etc. When they were started and by who? Under whose auspices? Any other information.
7
votes
3answers
181 views
Which masechtot don't really have Rashi?
I often hear that the printed "Rashi" commentary in certain masechtot of the Talmud Bavli (first that come to mind are Moed Katan and Nedarim) is not actually written by Rashi. Does anyone have a full ...
11
votes
1answer
209 views
How often did the average Israelite bring offerings to the temple?
In addition to the mandated communal offerings, individual Jews were liable for, or permitted to bring, a variety of offerings of their own. How often did the average Israelite bring each type of ...
5
votes
2answers
70 views
Copies of Aleppo Codex
From what I understand, the loss of the Torah portion of Keter Aram Soba (the Aleppo Codex) in 1948 is heavily lamented because it was the oldest preserved and probably most accurate text of Torah.
...
10
votes
3answers
510 views
Is Hebrew the mother of all languages spoken today in the world?
I often wonder what language Adam, Seth, Noah and Abraham (may peace and blessings be upon them) used to speak. What was their native tongue? Was it classical Hebrew? If yes, then would it be right to ...
-4
votes
1answer
117 views
Founders of Jewish movements [closed]
The Baal Shem Tov was the founder of the Hasidic Movement, Rabbi Israel Salanter was the founder of the Musar Movement, and Theodor Herzl was the founder of the Zionist Movement.
What are other ...
7
votes
1answer
72 views
How did they establish in the USA, post-WW II, that a Rav had smicha prior to the Holocaust?
This is probably something that happened many times after World War II, when documentation was lost.
Here's the scenario:
A rabbi, who had led a kehila (congregation) in a small town in ...
5
votes
1answer
77 views
What authority is there for the text of Kaddish Derabonon regarding the words וארעא, טובים, and ברחמיו?
There are variations of the text in Kaddish Derabonon. My questions are how they have arisen and whether there is any authority for each form.
1) The use or non-use of the word וארעא in the phrase
...
11
votes
3answers
254 views
Understanding of Ps. 137 before the exile
Psalm 137 starts (in my own translation)
On Babylon's rivers, there, we sat, also cried, in our remembering Zion.
and continues to describe the scene. Ibn Ezra cites some who hold that David ...
9
votes
4answers
292 views
What happened to Chasidus?
When one reads stories of the old Chasidim, from the Baal Shem Tov through the first few generations, the impression one is left with is of a movement very different from the Chasidim of today. ...
5
votes
2answers
162 views
Jews vs gentiles: disputes
Recently I got a pleasureful reading of the Ramban's dispute.
I think it a great source for "דע מה להשיב" (know what to answer to heretics).
I'm sure there were similar disputes by other great ...
5
votes
2answers
317 views
What was the main subject of controversy between the Rabbis and Yeshu (Jesus)? [closed]
Jesus and his followers were seen as a separate sect among the Jews during the time he lived on earth. When did the Jews or Rabbis decided to declare him as an impostor, and why? What was the main ...
14
votes
1answer
438 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 ...
7
votes
2answers
134 views
How was the Volozhin Yeshiva special?
The Volozhin Yeshiva is known as the "first yeshiva".
What was the system of Torah learning in Europe before Volozhin and in what way did Volozhin change the system?
4
votes
2answers
188 views
Halachically skipping Purim
There have long been 'legends' of various liberal figures in Judaism, including Yeshayahu Leibovitz (brother of Nechama Leibovitz) that would 'skip' Purim. On the 14th of Adar they would be sure to be ...
2
votes
0answers
73 views
What is the date ending the 700 years mentioned in these midrashim?
Based on this answer I was able to have some extra fun reading over Shabbat.
First, I would like to say, that I was amazed as to how much of the material I was allready familiar with, mostly from ...
8
votes
1answer
105 views
How commonly used are manuscripts in psak?
How Halachically valid are recently discovered manuscripts? For example, if one found the original manuscript of the Rambam and he rules differently than the currently known text, do modern Poskim ...
4
votes
1answer
133 views
Why was the “Ark of the Covenant” lost?
Why is it that in spite of the fact that the ark carried Torah tablets and other sacred objects, it was lost? Was it not taken care of by the priests of that time? Or was it destined to be lost? Why? ...
