Questions tagged [history]
Questions related to how something was in the past, and how it's developed since then.
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What is this intro to this rendition of Kah Echsof?
My inability to hear lyrics, and my inabilities in Yiddish require me to ask the fine folk here what exactly is being said in the first words that precede Kah Echsof in this rendition.
Could someone ...
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Story about moving on in life?
Is there any story about a tragedy or something bad happening, yet someone moved on in life and continued fulfilling their duties? This can be from the Torah, but preferabally a more modern time story!...
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Who is the Pharaoh of the Exodus? [duplicate]
Which Pharaoh was reigning in Egypt during the Exodus according to our mesorah? Do any traditional Jewish sources discuss his name?
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Does anybody know of a story about how someone lowered his limitations of his knowledge?
The מזרחי says that one should train himself to admit to the limitations of his knowledge, even when he is certain that he is correct.
Does anybody have a story of a Jew / Gadol / from the Torah of ...
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Does anybody know of a story of a smart aleck?
Does anyone know of a story from תנ"ך \ גמרא \ or a famous Gadol or even some random Jew - where somebody acted like a smart aleck (אובר חכם) / know-it-all and it really caused them to mess up?
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What are the oldest manuscripts of the Nevi'im books and specifically Melakhim?
I am especially interested in the oldest version of Melakhim/Kings, including any fragmentary sources like incomplete manuscripts in the dead sea scrolls.
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Who is Achashverosh the Mede found in Daniel 9:1?
In Daniel 9:1, Darius the Mede's father is said to be someone called Achashverosh. This is obviously not to be identified with the Achashverosh in Esther, as many meforshim make clear. Is there any ...
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What else happened in Jewish history on Pesach
I know that many other monumental occasions occurred to happen on Pesach, specifically the first day eg; the birth of Yitzchak, Eisav selling the birthright to Yaakov, parts of the Purim story. Are ...
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Egyptian slavery: State or Private?
Was the slavery in Egypt only state slavery, or was there also private slavery (as in the USA)?
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What is a frum maskil?
What is a frum maskil?
I have seen people use the term to describe certain people from history. What exactly does this description mean? Was it used by any legitimate historians? And can some examples ...
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Do we know if the ancient Jews embraced or refused the fourth century BCE observation of Aristotle that the Earth was a globe?
The Catholic Church fought long and hard for a fixed (stationary) earth, with the sky moving around it (a geocentric "universe"). Did it similarly take a long time for the Jews to accept the ...
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What is the magical tree in this SE site's logo? [migrated]
Finally my curiosity got the best of me, after seeing the icon for Mi Yodeya appear in the "Hot Network Questions" sidebar so many times. I joined this community just to ask:
What is the ...
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What is the origin of the division of the Torah into five books [duplicate]
As we start Sefer Vayikra, my chavruta and I have again looked for and been unable to find a satisfactory answer to the question:
“What is the origin of the division of the Torah into five books and ...
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What is the evidence for the Noahide Laws, outside of the Talmud? [closed]
This question may be "closed" but it's not "settled" if you follow the Noahide Laws as taught in Orthodox Judaism.
I haven't found any references to the Noahide Laws in non-...
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Halachot on geirut during times of persecution
I’ve often heard that a reason that conversions take years and require nearly full observance prior to the tevilah is that this we do not live in a period of persecution, but the relatively light ...
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Egypt 2309-2362
If Am Israel went out of Egypt in 2448, 210 years after the moment yaakov avinu and the brothers joined yosef, that would be the year 2238.
Yosef was 39 years old then and died at the age of 110. ...
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The Status of the Deuterocanonical Books
I was wondering to what degree, if any, the Deuterocanonical books of the Septuagint are used in Judaism? I could not find a good answer on this anywhere.
Obviously, the books get used in histories of ...
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Sefer Yismach Yisroel digitized
Does anyone know where I can find a pdf or digital version of a modern print of the Sefer Yismach Yisroel (Aleksander Rebbe)?
I have tried the version on HebrewBooks, but it doesn't seem to match up ...
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Did King David and his men living among the Philistines transition Israel into the iron age?
Apparently, during the reign of Saul, Israel was not yet in its iron age. See passage below, but Israel seems to be in the iron age during King David's reign. Did David's men learn how to work with ...
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What's the source for a rabbinic statement that 'when one country expels the Jews, another lets them in'?
I'm very confident that I once saw a statement from a rabbi (probably in the Medieval era, but maybe later) to the effect that "God has ensured that when one country expels its Jewish population, ...
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History of religiosity decline after haskalah
Is any reason given by religiously Jewish theologians and thinkers for why religiosity and observance amongst Jews declined after the Haskalah?
Are there any opinions rabbinic authorities have given ...
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Free Will after Exodus
There are many sourcese.g. 1,2, that discuss what happened to the world after the splitting of the sea, and the giving of the Torah, implying that the whole world heard what happened. Everyone knew ...
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What is the historic background to the first Rashi?
The first Rashi on Genesis says:
Rabbi Isaac said: The Torah, which is the Law book of Israel, should have commenced with the verse (Exodus 12:2) “This month shall be unto you the first of the months”...
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What does the maid's ration consist of?
In Eshet Chayil (“Woman of Valor”) that is sung on Friday nights is the phrase, "gives food to her household and a ration to her maids".
From the wording, I take it that the maid's ration ...
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Does Eilat belong to Bney Israel?
1 Kings 9:26 "King Solomon made a ship in Etzion Geber, which is beside Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom."
Does Eilat (which spelling is also spelled Eloth) belong to &...
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What is the etymology of "oy vey"?
I'd always associated "oy vey" with "oy vavoy" in my mind. But I've seen sefarim that use the term אוי ואבוי, and I don't even know how to spell "oy vey" - much less ever ...
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Is the original nation of Amalek extinct?
Is it inaccurate to say that the nation of amalek is extinct?
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Historical references for non-halachic conversion
As of late much ado has been made about in the Torah world about the non-halachic conversion crisis. This is especially controversial in Israel due to halachic problems with gentiles owning land there....
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Did Ramban ever cite kabbalah books?
Is there any evidence Ramban (Nachmanides) had access to books of kabbalah and did he ever cite them? I believe he is generally seen as Maimonides’ mystical counterpart. Is there any historical record ...
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Was Judaism originally henotheistic? [duplicate]
I’ve been trying to learn more about Jewish history and better my relationship with Hashem and as I’ve been doing research on Jewish history I’ve come across the notion that the Torah and Judaism as a ...
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Earliest source of 24,000?
There is said to be a connection between the 24k shechemites killed by shimon and Levi, the 24k who died in the plague with the midianites, and the 24k students of Rabbi Akiva.
I just noticed that the ...
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If we know for certain that certain types of Hebrew pronunciation aren't correct to the biblical standard, why still use them? [duplicate]
This question may be controversial but it isn't meant as an insult to any specific community. In fact, it kind of targets everyone if the hypothesis is correct. It speaks to the reality of the exile ...
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When did the Zohar become near universally accepted
In Jewish history, when did the Zohar become the near universally accepted Sefer it is today? Was it shortly after it was re circulated by Moshe de Leon? Or was it in a later century?
What is the ...
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Horaas Shaa (emergency order) of kollel [duplicate]
I've been told in conversation that kollel, i.e. learning for an extended period of time after marriage, was a horaas Shaa — a temporary emergency order of Rabbinical ruling, made to fight the ...
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War after the miracle of oil?
One popular explanation for the name Chanukah is that on 25th of Kislev (כ"ה) they had a respite of their enemies (חנו מאויביהם). (Actually I am not so sure about the first source of this either. ...
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Are there some humans in history who are an exception to the idea of free will?
We all talk about the idea that God has an ultimate plan and that we are all existing within that plan.
That said, humans have free will as we are judged by our actions due to this free will.
My ...
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How does a Jewish community recognize a Jewish person they hadn't seen ever before?
Let's say there is a Jewish community where everybody knows each other, for example in a city. Let's say a new Jewish person arrives and manifests their will to get integrated with them. Nobody knows ...
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Did the Israelites know the future?
The Torah was revealed to Israel at a certain point in time, and recounts many significant events that happened after that point. When the Torah was revealed, did the Israelites know about these ...
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If Jews conquer a random new land does it become holy like Eretz Yisrael? How might this relate to kibbush yachid? And does kibbush yachid even count?
If Jews conquered New York City let's say does New York City become holy just like Eretz Yisrael?
What if a "Jewish king" declared it as a Jewish state? I'm very curious..
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Why didn't the Jews of Persia leave after Haman's decree?
After Haman's genocidal edict was sent out to all the people of the Persian kingdom why was there not a mass exodus of Jews to parts of the world not under the dominion of Achashveirosh and his law?
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רִבּוֹן כָּל הָעוֹלָמִים אֲדוֹן כָּל הַנְּשָׁמוֹת אֲדוֹן הַשָּׁלוֹם - source of this Shabbat prayer
Here is its entry in the open siddur project.
The open siddur project demonstrates that the claim that this was composed by Rabbi Joseph of Rashkow, Posen can't be true as it is found in the siddur ...
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Rosh Chodesh - importance in history?
In the Wikipedia article on Rosh Chodesh it says that historically it had much more importance, why did it change? Do Rabbinic sources or commentators attest to this? Is there evidence during the ...
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What happened to King Achashverosh?
All the main characters in the story of Purim were either killed, or raised to a level of authority. additionally, it is mentioned in the megillah what happened to them (Vashti was killed, Haman and ...
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Do the Hasideans have a connection to the House of David?
What primary sources have scholars examined to investigate potential genealogical ties between the Hasideans and the house of David or other tribes? Does linguistic analysis of the name "Hasid&...
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Confused about the layout of this
Joshua 6:12-13 Speaks about the Kohanim, armed men, and rear guard and how they were ordered when they walked with the Aron. Is there a representation of this actually looked, I'm not sure who was in ...
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Seeking copy of Torah in Ktav Ivri (Paleo-Hebrew)
Is there a copy of the Torah in Ktav Ivri (Paleo-Hebrew)?
If so, is there a copy online? If not, where might I find it in print?
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Is there any special mitzvah connected with the upcoming “March for Israel” rally on November 14 at the National Mall in Washington DC?
Upon reflection, the last time there was a potentially world altering convergence of Jews in the United States was for the Freedom Sunday for Soviet Jewry Rally on December 6, 1987. It was estimated ...
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Why were the Bnei Yisrael exiled to Egypt?
I'm not asking why they literally went down (e.g. to look for food). I'm asking, what did they do wrong to deserve it. They were the direct descendants of some of the greatest people in all of history ...
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Slavic People are called K'nan in jewish sources
Why is the slavic languages or people reffered to as Cannanim in Jewish sources? Who is the first to do this?
See for instance Minchas Yehuda in Mechokekei Yehuda explaining Rashi on Devarim 3:9 Here.
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Why do we follow matrilineal descent of Judaism when there's evidence to suggest that it used to be patrilineal? How to resolve the contradiction?
According to the contemporary scholarship, even though modern Orthodox Judaism follows matrilineal descent, there is evidence to suggest that this was a shift that occurred during the second century, ...
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