The mesorah-tradition tag has no wiki summary.
13
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4answers
235 views
How to reconcile the possibility that Rashi had a slightly different text of the Torah
In the Parshah of Chayei Sara, in Bereishis 25:6, there is a Posuk that refers to הפילגשים - "the concubines". Rashi expounds that since the word is missing a Yud, it must be a reference to the fact ...
12
votes
2answers
221 views
Why aren't Yemenites an ed echad on locusts?
I've heard that the reason we (most of us) don't eat the locusts enumerated as kosher in the Torah is that we cannot identify them. That is, we don't know what type of locust is referred to by the ...
11
votes
5answers
298 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 ...
11
votes
2answers
178 views
What is “emunas chachomim”?
My daughter came home from school with a textbook response for what "emunas chachomim" is. I disagreed strongly with what was written in the book, so I'm not even going to say what they said. ...
11
votes
4answers
199 views
Kashrus status of turkeys
From what I have heard there were those that did not eat turkey (such as Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetzky Zatzal) due to a question whether we have a Mesorah as to the Kashrus of this bird. I know that many ...
10
votes
1answer
147 views
Accent mark in וישבע לו
In many Chumashim, the word וישבע in Parshas Chayei Sara (24:9) contains both a munach and a meseg (meteg). One example:
I do not understand what the meseg is doing there under the beis. Typically ...
10
votes
2answers
158 views
Why is precedent set by individual rabbis, not courts?
The headline on this obituary for R' Eliyashiv ("A One Man Supreme Court") got me thinking - why do we invest so much power in precedents set by individual rabbis, as great as they may be, but not in ...
9
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2answers
112 views
Looking for information on the Savoraim
I am looking for more information on the Savoraim such as a list of who they were, what they wrote outside of comments/amendments in the talmud, meaning do they have responsa, ethical or halachik ...
9
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3answers
202 views
Halachic authority of books
To what extent do books on Halachah have authority? I was taught that the Gemara was "closed" and may no longer be challenged in terms of its Halachic authority. To what extent is this authority ...
8
votes
1answer
180 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 ...
8
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1answer
57 views
What is the genealogy of Judah ben Bava?
Is Judah ben Bava, noted for continuing the tradition of ordination, the son of Bava ben Buta, the Rabbi who was spared by Herod?
7
votes
2answers
187 views
What is the source for Pardes?
What is the source for expounding the torah according to remez, derush and sod (along with 'pshat' the group can be referred to by the acronym PaRDeS)?
These forms of hermeneutics are not found in ...
7
votes
1answer
103 views
Mesorah exchange between communities
Based on this thread
What exactly prevents Ashkenazim from accepting Mesorah from other communities on things that we have not done in our own community?
Taking an extreme reverse example, can ...
6
votes
4answers
331 views
Is one a heretic if he does not believe in Kabbalah?
Is one a heretic if he does not believe in Kabbalah? Not necessarily that the Rashbi authored the Zohar, but in the general tenets of kabbalah including but not limited to: tzimtzum, sefirot, ...
6
votes
0answers
115 views
Can an Ashkenazi write a Sephardi Torah?
If an Ashkenazi Sofer writes a Sefer Torah in the Sephardi or Yemenite tradition:
a) has he fulfilled his obligation of writing a Sefer Torah (thanks, Double AA!), and
b) since a Sefer Torah must be ...
5
votes
4answers
322 views
What ancient sources discuss the meaning of Psalm 22?
Many Christians believe Psalm 22 refers to Jesus of Nazareth. How have Jews historically understood Psalm 22 and interpreted it?
5
votes
3answers
113 views
General understanding of Kri and Ktiv
A number of questions regarding the 'kri and ktiv'
What is the source (talmudic or otherwise) for this concept?
Why is it necessary; meaning why could we not adduce whatever concept is being taught ...
5
votes
1answer
63 views
Source for Rav Avraham Yosef's ruling on Ba'alei Teshuva
A friend mentioned, and I read the same here, that Rav Avraham Yosef and/or Rav Ovadiah Yosef ruled that Ba'alei Teshuva in Israel (with no direct masoret of their own) should adopt the Sepharadi ...
5
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1answer
62 views
the Laws of Noah--how are the nations to know them
If the laws of Noah are the laws for the nations and they are handed down by Jewish oral tradition, how are the nations to know them?
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.
...
5
votes
1answer
111 views
Customs of the parents when the parents don't have past customs
I am of mixed Sephardic and Ashkenazic parentage. I view this as allowing me to behave Sephardically when it suits me (for instance, eating kitniyot for Pessach) or Ashkenacikally when it suits me ...
4
votes
4answers
338 views
Why don't we just follow the shittah of Moshe Rabeinu?
My question can apply to virtually all mitzvos where there is a disagreement in the standard way to fulfill them.
If one reads the hakdama (introduction) to the Rambam's peirush mishnayos (commentary ...
4
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1answer
132 views
Gigantic Tiger Fish - Is it Kosher?
Is this fish Kosher? It apparently has both fins and scales. Is there any problem with its having teeth, or its not having been discovered until now (and therefore being outside of our Mesorah)?
4
votes
1answer
119 views
Rational approaches to superstitious ideas
Can one assume that there is a perfectly rational approach to superstitious ideas? May one go out of one's way to come up with rational approaches if these ideas bother him? My thinking is, ...
4
votes
0answers
76 views
Is there a tradition to pronounce kamatz katan as “a”?
There are many ways of pronouncing Hebrew in prayers and when reading the Tora. Most of these are tradition-based: one pronounces it the same way his parent or teacher did, or a close approximation. ...
4
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0answers
60 views
Dagesh for adornment
On Sh'mos 2:3 and 15:17, Minchas Shay notes that הַצְּפִינוֹ and מִקְּדָשׁ have a dagesh in their respective second letters "for adornment (tif'eres)".
Is this aural or visual adornment?
How/Why is ...
4
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0answers
70 views
Shin on Tefilin - changed in Belz?
I recently heard that in Belz they changed the Shin on the Tefilin Shel Rosh due to an old pair that was found that the Rebbi believed to be the true Mesorah. Is this true? How does the new Shin ...
3
votes
2answers
171 views
Yom Tov Sheni - Seeking All Relevant Sources
There is an article on Wikipedia about Passover that gives a very non-traditional (if not anti-traditional) explanation - rather, a series of explanations - for the origin of Y"T Sheni Shel Galuyoth. ...
3
votes
1answer
139 views
Where can I find a list of differences between the Aleppo Codex and Ashkenazi texts?
Does anyone know of a list of textual differences for all of tanach or at least the chumash between the Aleppo Codex (Keter Aram Soba/Tzova) and the more common text? I already have such a list for ...
3
votes
1answer
115 views
With which Torah can one fulfill the obligation of Parshas Zachor?
There is an argument between texts if the word "Petzua Daka" (Devarim 23:2) should be with an Alef or a Heih. Can someone fulfill his obligation to read Zachor (and normal Torah reading) with a Torah ...
3
votes
1answer
77 views
Acceptable marror species
The Mishnah in Pesachim 39a lists five types of vegetables that can be used for marror. Where did the Sages derive this list from? Is it some kind of Halachah L'Moshe MiSinai, or Chazal figured out ...
3
votes
1answer
158 views
May an Ashkenazi wear Yemenite Tzitzith?
Many Ashkenazim now wear Tzitzith with Techeleth tied in the tradition of the RaMBa"M. However, my understanding is that Ashkenazim minimally require a double-knot at the base of the tassle in order ...
2
votes
1answer
44 views
What are the ways our Balei Mesorah suggest to engage children in the Seder?
What do our Baalei Mesorah suggest we do to engage the children in the Seder night?
Furthermore, how effective do you think those methods would be with children of today?
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 ...
2
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0answers
57 views
How did the knowledge of the pronunciation of the Divine Name get lost?
I have heard that there are, in theory, 22 different ways to pronounce the Divine four-letter Name (Yud Key Vav Key) of Hashem and that the one correct way to say the Name has been lost. How did that ...
2
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0answers
45 views
Who were the pre-Lekh Likha righteous men?
BS"D
In Hilkhoth Avodhah Zarah RaMBaM lists the central figures in the transmission of ethical monotheism, and I was wondering if there were any other figures in our mesora not mentioned. Since the ...
1
vote
1answer
70 views
Updating of holy books
I am curious if such thing is possible, e.g. if some new evidence is found (archeological or other scientific or other). So the next generation will have more accurate interpretation, because we all ...
1
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0answers
41 views
Probing Minhag Avoseinu
As discussed in this question and the comments there, we know, based on Beitza 4b, that there is some halachically binding concept of minhag avoseinu b'yadeinu (the custom of our forbears is in our ...
1
vote
1answer
197 views
Was the Hebrew Alphabet also given with the Tablets and Law?
My research for my answer to Which alphabet were the original Torah scrolls in? gave me an idea--Since the Early Alphabetic alphabet is also called Sinaitic, and the timing seems about right, maybe ...
0
votes
1answer
54 views
How did the Oral Torah survive the years after Joshua died?
In the Book of Judges 2:10 it says that after the death of Joshua and his generation, "there arose another generation after them, who knew not Hashem nor the deed which He had done for Israel." ...
