Hot answers tagged sephardi-mizrachi-eastern
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There is no one simple answer for this; however, if you had to pick the one biggest name among Sefardi rabbis living today, that would be Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, shlit'a.
While not all Sefardim follow him all the time, his word is definitely given a great deal of weight. Is that who you had in mind?
The Shulchan Aruch (written about 450 years ago) is ...
13
The Rema 139:11 says To say Chazak from the passuk in Yehoshua that says Chazak vametz .The passuk before it says that Torah should not leave your mouth and it will be a blessing for you. So there are those who say Chazak u'baruch and others answer Chazak vametz.
The Kaf Hachaim 139:56 brings down the minhag to say Chazak U'baruch from this Rema.
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Its source may be the Arabic name Farida, which means "unique / precious" (as opposed to the Germanic name Frida, which means "peace"). [link]
10
What I find interesting about the Rosh is that he remained an Ashkenazi-centrist, even in his host country. He started a Yeshibha based on the Ashkenaz model, married his sons, exclusively, to members of his own extended family (although he did marry his daughters to Sephardim, probably students at his Yeshibha..).
Another interesting thing to point out is ...
9
Sephardi Jews is a general term referring to the descendants of Spanish and Portuguese Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula before their expulsion in 1492 by the Alhambra Decree. It can also refer to those who use a Sephardic style of liturgy, or would otherwise define themselves in terms of Jewish customs and traditions from the Iberian Peninsula. ...
8
Rav Yosef Karo, in Beit Yosef (131),
cites the Zohar, which describes the
tikkun (improvement, repair) of
falling upon one's face while reciting
Tehillim 25:
And this tikkun should be recited with
great sincerity; then God shows
compassion to His people and forgives
their sins. Happy is the person who
can entice and ...
8
I think the main issue is not how close/far they were from one another, but who was in charge. By and large, Sepharadim were under Muslim rule, which allowed them freedoms that were not given to Ashkenazim by their Christian overlords. It was more of an Iron Curtain barrier than a distance barrier.
One might also note the consistency with which Sepharadim ...
8
There are lots of differences. Among the more obvious ones:
Dialect - the Bavli is written in Eastern Aramaic, the Yerushalmi in Western Aramaic. There are differences in vocabulary (such as B. חזי = Y. חמי, both meaning "see" - we in fact use both of these in the second Kol Chamira on Erev Pesach morning), in word forms (the Bavli tends to drop final ן in ...
8
While it is on the bimah, turn the Torah around so that the opening is away from you and then open up the scroll. You should be looking at the back of the Torah, standing immediately next to the bimah.
Put your right hand so that it is on the right vertical edge of the right side of the case (reverse instructions for lefties), about half way up.
Slowly ...
8
The Jews of Bagdad and Morocco stayed away from rice because they were afraid that it was mixed with wheat.
See Ben Ish Chai Tzav 41 , Rav Pe’alim 3:30
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Hazon Ovadia Purim pg. 199
מה שנוהגים להתחפש וללבוש מסיכות בפורים, אין כל איסור בדבר.
It is Mutar to dress up Purim.
What is Asur on Purim?
Cross dressing
Inviting magicians
Making fun of the Rabbis on Purim
(All from Yalkut Yosef 695)
7
When their community first started to take root in the US many of their men began to date gentile women. This lead naturally of course to them wanting to marry these women. However given the strong social stigma and taboo associated with intermarriage (not to mention the halachic issur) many of them preferred to encourage their romantic partners to convert ...
7
The Kaf Hachaim (9:15) brings many sources and reasons why the Talit itself should be completely white (although he says black stripes at the bottom do not invalidate this, since we look at the majority of the Talit).
A couple of the reasons he brings:
Shulchan Aruch says that the Tzitzit should be the same color as the garment, since the strings are ...
7
Sefer Ben Ish Hai Year 2 Bereshit Ot 29(Quoting from the English Edition published by Ahavat Shalom):
One then commences the physical preparations for qiddush. It should be noted that there are profound kabbalistic kawwanoth in each of these actions, so one should not omit any of them. One should recieve the cup of wine with both hands form someone ...
7
The simple answer is because Shulhan Arukh 581:1 and the Arizal Sha'ar HaKavvanot 89d, Pri Etz Haim 128b(see also Likutei Torah 106b, Shaar Ruah HaKodesh 48a and Shaar HPesukim 41a) say so. For a more thorough answer according to halakha and Kabbalah see Divrei Shalom with perush Ner Shalom by R' Shalom Afjin(unfortunately not online). He essentially ...
7
http://www.midrash.org/halakha/roshana.html
Ashkenazim have the Minhag of dipping the Hamotzi in honey on Rosh
Hashana, and this is the appropriate custom according to Ashkenazi
tradition. According to the BEN ISH HAI, the Hammosi must be dipped three times in sugar and three
times in salt. Salt must be used because the table is likened to the
...
7
Rav Yosef Messas a"h (he served as Rav in Tilimsan Algeria, Meknes Morocco, and as Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Haifa) held that wearing costumes/disguises on Purim is absolutely forbidden as hukas hagoyim and that its origins stem from an imitation of the pre-Lent festivity of Carnavale which itself has origins in the orgiastic paganism of Bacchanalia. He ...
7
The Beit Yosef there quotes many Rishonim who have a version of the story (Yevamot 62b) that Rabbi Akiva's students died until פרוס העצרת a half [month] before Shavuot. So 49-15=34 and on the last day we say that a partial day counts as the whole day so on the 34th in the morning, the mourning ends.
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Like all things dealing with Sephardi minhagim, it is Kabbalistic and complicated. First the reason to have them is founded in the Zohar Helek 2, 68b, and Helek 3, 219, where it states that Hadas is a deterrent to the sitra ahra, ayyin hara and other negative spiritual forces.
Going on from there, highly mystical reasons of tikkun olam are involved as the ...
6
As mentioned by Shalom, Rav Ovadia would probably be called the "Sefardi rav." Other Sefardi rabbis that people also follow such as:
Rav Mordechai Eliyahu (who passed away very recently 1-2 years ago);
Rav BenSion Aba Shaul (passed away 1998);
Rav BenSion Musafi Shelita;
Rav Shelomo Amar (Sephardic Chief rabbi);
Rav Eliyahu Bakshi Doron (former chief ...
6
Another point to add to Seth's:
Jewish communities have gotten pretty "mixed up" over time. Ashkenazic Jewry basically descends from the Italian communities of the early Middle Ages, and some historians trace them and their traditions back to the Jews of Eretz Yisrael (as contrasted with the Sephardim, who derive their traditions from the Jews of ...
6
This question ought to be, "Why can Ashkenazi Jews not eat rice on Passover?"
There are 5 grains that make Ḥametz when mixed with water and allowed to rise: barley, rye, oats, wheat, and spelt. Any others that have been added by communal custom are just that - additions by virtue of communal custom.
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The only source I have yet to find acknowledging this switch in clothing from a Sephardic perspective is in the English edition to the Yalkut Yosef Hilkhot Shabbat. Under Siman 242, Halakhah 5, regarding the mitzvah to change from weekday clothes into more elegant garments, the editor (R. Yisrael Bitan) added a special footnote:
The Kabbalists ruled that ...
6
http://ohr.edu/ask_db/ask_main.php/38/Q1/
I spoke to Rav Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg, Zatzal, about the Halacha in
this case. He told me that Sephardic Jews rule according to Rav Yosef
Karo, and therefore use glass dishes for both meat and milk, while
Ashkenazic Jews conduct themselves according to the opinion of Rav
Moshe Isserlish, therefore ...
6
After-the-fact, Ashkenazim rule that glass never "treifs" up food. The question is whether I may go eat at his house in the first place, is that called "choosing to use glass dishes"?
An easy way out is Rabbi Moshe Heinemann's view (shlit'a). From the Star-K:
Q: There are many varieties of glass on the market. Do arcoroc,
duralex, pyrex, corelle and ...
5
The -ach-final form is not just a feminine form (even in Biblical but also in later Hebrew) but also:
a Biblical-Hebrew pausal masculine form. (E.g., 2 Sh'muel 7:9 has וָאֶהְיֶה עִמְּךָ whereas Sh'mos 3:12 has כִּי אֶהְיֶה עִמָּךְ.) This explanation seems unlikely to me for things like nakdishach (at the start of k'dusha).
a rabbinic-Hebrew[1] masculine ...
5
The Chasam Sofer is infuriated that people are gambling on Chanukah. He says if it was up to him, he'd say "if you'll pick one night to gamble anyhow, do it on December 25th when you're not learning Torah anyhow", but that would mean he'd be telling people to gamble on a night when they might not otherwise be (years such as this when chanukah falls out well ...
5
http://andalusiaonmymind.wordpress.com/2011/10/06/qabbalah-or-kabbalah-nefilat-apayim-and-authentic-mesorah/
The first source for the custom of not putting one’s head down seems
to be the Ben Ish Hai (Year 1, Perashat Ki Tisa §13), who says that
the minhag in his city, Baghdad, was not to put one’s head down at
all. The reason he gives is that, ...
5
This answer is to an earlier version of the question.
During havdala, Ashk'nazim say bore mine b'samim no matter what they smell (MB 297:1), whereas S'faradim say the appropriate b'racha for the particular thing they smell (Kaf Hachayim 297:31).
5
Biur Halacha 113 (hakoreah) says it is based on Divrei haYamim I 29:20:
וַיֹּאמֶר דָּוִיד לְכָל-הַקָּהָל, בָּרְכוּ-נָא אֶת-יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם; וַיְבָרְכוּ כָל-הַקָּהָל, לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֵי אֲבֹתֵיהֶם, וַיִּקְּדוּ וַיִּשְׁתַּחֲווּ לַיהוָה, וְלַמֶּלֶךְ.
And David said to all the congregation: 'Now bless the LORD your God.' And all the congregation blessed the ...
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