Questions related to how something was in the past, and how it's developed since then.
5
votes
1answer
176 views
Who divided the Tehillim into days?
Who divided the Sefer Tehillim into daily sections (both day of week and day of month)?
6
votes
1answer
145 views
Did the Sefer Torah written by the Maharam of Rottenberg survive the Holocaust?
There is a famous story of the Maharam copying a Sefer Torah written by Moshe Rabbeinu. Before passing, he threw it in the river by the castle in which he was arrested.
This Sefer Torah reached ...
8
votes
2answers
152 views
Who was the first Chasidishe Rabbi to settle in the USA?
Who was the first Chasidishe Rabbi to settle in the USA? Where did he settle?
7
votes
3answers
211 views
Why the split between Sefardim and Ashkenzim?
Why is there a much bigger split between Sefardim and Ashkenzim and not, say, between Sefardim and people who lived in Bavel? The distance between Spain, and say, Israel should have been big enough to ...
9
votes
2answers
169 views
Did the Rosh (Rabbeinu Asher) describe the culture clash moving from medieval Germany to Spain?
Rabbi Asher (the "Rosh") moved from medieval Germany to Spain. I know he describes some different halachic practices that were done in Spain (e.g. linen tzitzis); but does he describe the difference ...
0
votes
1answer
149 views
What was the 'evolution' of determining who is part of the Jewish people?
Starting with Abraham and continuing till modern halacha. how has the halacha regarding who is part of the Jewish people changed? What were the causes of the change, and the reasoning, and the change ...
27
votes
2answers
304 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?
6
votes
2answers
261 views
לשון הקדש: the oldest language?
Rashi to B'reshis 2:23 says that the language Adam spoke was one that Rashi calls לשון הקדש, lashon hakodesh (or l'shon hakodesh), and that contains the words אִשָּׁה and אִישׁ. Keeping to Rashi's ...
2
votes
0answers
118 views
Who gave the “yadav rav lo” ordination a few decades ago?
According to Rabbi Hoenig's article, "The Orthodox Rabbi as Military Chaplain" (Tradition Fall 1976, emphasis in the original):
This situation brought up the question of
proper ordination, the ...
3
votes
1answer
91 views
'fixed' wording of the g'mara justified by found mss.?
In the margins of the g'mara are many notations indicating changes that various rabbis (Bach, G'ra, Tzon Kadashim, Shita M'kubetzes, etc.) made in the wording of the g'mara, seemingly to resolve ...
7
votes
1answer
155 views
Amon and Moav today
The Halacha is that a Jewish woman may not marry a convert of Amon and Moav. Is there any way to know who is a descendant of Amon and Moav today?
10
votes
2answers
214 views
Why isn't there a single, centralized Sanhedrin today?
It seems that many mitzvot in the Torah are opened to interpretation in some way, potentially subject to ruling by the Sanhedrin. And some mitzvot (examples below) seem to require the presence of the ...
8
votes
1answer
181 views
Eldad HaDani's Lasting Influence - Is there any?
Eldad HaDani is (apparently) considered today to have been a fraud. According to this Wikipedia article, he was a traveler who told stories of his place of origin, which he claimed was a sovereign ...
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
2answers
978 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 ...
10
votes
5answers
216 views
Is there a good visual companion to Tanach?
I'm looking for a visual companion to Tanach, i.e. maps, charts, and timelines. So when I'm learning Sefer Yehoshua, for example, I can see maps that chart the various battles and such.
Are there any ...
5
votes
1answer
194 views
Do we know anything else about the calculus problem solved by Rabbi Moshe Feinstein?
The biographical sketch of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein that appears in Igrot Moshe volume 8 describes the following (my translation):
The Communist takeover meant the schools taught against religion. ...
10
votes
2answers
121 views
What was the dietary source of calcium in Talmudic times?
The Mishna in Ketubot Chapter 5 describes the basic diet of a working-class woman at the time (around the year 200):
ה,ז [ח] המשרה את אשתו על ידי שליש--לא יפחות לה מקביים חיטים, או מארבעת קבים ...
4
votes
1answer
46 views
What medical condition was this “epilepsy that causes mental instability at all times”?
Rambam's laws of testimony (written about 800 years ago) describe disqualification for testimony (eidut) due to mental instability. He writes:
The epileptic is disqualified when having a seizure, ...
8
votes
3answers
284 views
Did Rabbi Dovid Feinstein of Uzda wear tefilin that were Ktav Ari or Ktav Beit Yosef? What about his son?
The biographical sketch of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein that appears in the beginning of Igrot Moshe volume 8 states that his father, Rabbi Dovid Feinstein of Uzda, was born and raised Hassidic, but took on ...
7
votes
4answers
212 views
Moshe's divorcing Tzipora
Moshe refrained from marital relations with Tzipora for almost forty years, so as to be able to receive prophecy at any moment (Shabas 87:1). 1. Did he divorce her? 2. If not, why not?
9
votes
4answers
1k views
Is a rabbi required to be married?
I have heard (I honestly cannot remember where...) that to be a rabbi a man must be married. Is there any truth to this?
I am more interested in knowing if this "WAS" true in time of Jesus, than if ...
17
votes
2answers
346 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 ...
1
vote
0answers
60 views
When did the Talmudic penalty of death stop being carried out? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
History of Capital Punishment
When did the Talmudic penality of death stop being carried out? For example, the opening verses of Tractate Sotah describe death penalty ...
5
votes
1answer
112 views
The origins of davening
So according to the Rambam (I believe that it is only him, but would be more than interested in other people that also hold the same view), it is a mitzvah de'oraita daven every day (I believe its one ...
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 ...
4
votes
3answers
301 views
Is there a difference between a Rabbi and a Temple Priest?
I was reading about Perushim and Tzedukim on Wikipedia and the articles seems to suggest that there is a difference between them.
Is there a difference between a rabbi and a (Temple) priest?
10
votes
5answers
341 views
Existence of Heaven and Hell
I heard from a Jewish colleague that the concept of Heaven and Hell were not originally part of Judaism. I couldn't find references to these concepts in the Old Testament. So
Were these part of ...
2
votes
1answer
64 views
Redistribution of refuge cities after expansion
When the Torah commands the establishment of cities of refuge in Eretz Yisra'el to protect accidental murderers from vengeful relatives it states that the three cities must be evenly placed ...
2
votes
1answer
128 views
Diaspora of Egypt: has it already happened?
I have read in Ezechiel 29:12-15 that
"And I will make the land of Egypt
desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities
among the cities that are laid waste shall be ...
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. ...
8
votes
1answer
262 views
What happened to the Jewish practice of using burial caves?
A three-part question about funerary practices.
In ancient times, Jews used to bury people for a year or two, then, after the body decomposed, collect their bones and put them in a family cave. In ...
8
votes
2answers
114 views
Why is 'Rabbenu Tam' called Rabbenu Tam?
Rabbenu Tam's name was יעקב בן מאיר. Why then is he known as Rabbenu Tam?
2
votes
2answers
143 views
Why is “Merkos L'inyonei Chinuch” spelled that way?
In the title Merkos L'inyonei Chinuch, why is the word מרכז transliterated with an 's' in place of a 'ז' rather than a 'z'?
4
votes
3answers
134 views
History of Birkas haMinim
What is the history behind the bracha of v'lamalshim?
Was there a specific ideology or
group that the baracha was targeting?
Why would someone davening to Hashem
and saying the rest of the barachos
...
1
vote
3answers
161 views
the dress of the followers of Harav Kook
Harav Kook was basically a litai, and dressed like one and even had a shtreimel.
Today his followers and talmidim from his yeshiva don't even use any kind of suit (long or short) or hat and even make ...
3
votes
1answer
121 views
Shmuel Yosef Agnon's Nobel Prize Speech Audio?
Does anyone know where I can find a recording of Shmuel Yosef Agnon's speech for winning the Nobel Prize?
3
votes
1answer
76 views
“The Romans' Book” in Ramba"n
The commentary of Ramba"n on Vayikra 26:16 explains a large swath of parashas B'chukosai as an allegory to the two batei Mikdash and the corresponding exiles. Included therein, he elaborates on the ...
2
votes
5answers
547 views
A natural explanation for the significance of the numbers 7 and 40
In the Jewish religious texts the numbers 7 and 40 seem to appear quite often and carry special significance. Some examples among many:
God's creation lasts 7 days
The Great Flood was from rain ...
13
votes
5answers
665 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 ...
12
votes
4answers
625 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 ...
11
votes
3answers
140 views
What is the explanation for the destruction of the First Temple?
What is the explanation (according to the Jewish Bible, Talmud, etc.) for the destruction of the First Temple?
4
votes
1answer
134 views
g'mara about David's conception
Where's the g'mara about Yishay's divorce (or was it separation?) and David's conception, please?
6
votes
2answers
213 views
Who asked Rav Moshe about capital punishment?
There is an interesting t'shuva in Igros Moshe Choshen Mishpat vol.2 #68 (pt. 1 pt. 2) in which he explains the extreme rarity of capital punishment in Jewish law, especially in modern times. It is ...
10
votes
3answers
368 views
Disparity between male and female pronunciation of Cholam
In many Yeshivish communities in the US, the male segment of the population vocalizes the cholam as "oi," while their female counterparts vocalize it as a long "o". How did this come about? Does the ...
2
votes
1answer
97 views
Why can an Eruv be made in cities nowadays?
Some Facts:
An eruv cannot be made in a reshus harabim.
Many eruvin are made in cities nowadays.
Cities are much bigger now than they were thousands of years ago.
Yet it seems that in those ...
4
votes
1answer
155 views
Aleinu L'Shabeach - Nusach HaTefila
The words "Sheheim Mishtachavim Li-Hevel Voryk Umispallelim El Eil Lo-Yoshiya" - Was this originally part of Aleinu and then removed, or was it added later to Aleinu? Why was this done?
2
votes
1answer
131 views
Ben Petura - The Nazarene?
The Gemara in Bava Metzia 62a talks about two people in the desert and who gets the water first. I heard that the character Ben Petura is the Nazarene; can anyone confirm or deny this with a source?
...
7
votes
3answers
165 views
failed sale of chametz
Are there any recorded (recorded, perhaps, in responsa) instances of a failed sale of chametz (e.g., the gentile refused to buy the stuff and another couldn't be found, or the rabbi forgot to do it), ...
3
votes
1answer
74 views
