Questions tagged [history]
Questions related to how something was in the past, and how it's developed since then.
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Methods of avoiding unintentionally wasting seed at night
Hi I heard there are methods of avoiding unintentionally wasting seed at night like sleeping on your side specifically that it has to be uncomfortable so your body doesn't sin in the night and then ...
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How and why did Rabbi Ishmael's 13 rules make their way into pre-tefillah in shacharit?
There are various customs surrounding the recitation of Rabbi Ishmael's 13 rules of hermeneutics before shacharit. In many shuls I have prayed in (not as much in Israel), this is recited before ...
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Why are the enemies of the Jewish people called "Amalek"?
Throughout history many enemies have stood up to attack and destroy the Jewish people, (most recently the Crusades, Holocaust etc) and they are colloquially referred to as "Amalek".
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Assuming the status of a Beit Knesset or Beit Medrash
I heard Beit HaKnessiot and Medrashot have certain laws like you can't eat or sleep inside a Beit Knesset, for example, and others for Beit Medrash.
Now I heard our synagogue is like a Beit HaMedrash ...
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Where does the custom of staying up all night on Shabbat originate from?
I heard there were some Tzadikim who would stay up all night on Shabbat where did this custom originate from?
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Igros Moshe to R' Shlomo Calerbach
In this video R' Shlomo Calerbach claims there is a teshuva to him in Igros Moshe.
Please help me find it.
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Are Jews allowed to destroy the fruit trees and give bad water to cattle if they're fighting a war outside/unrelated to the Holy Land & Mesopotamia?
Deuteronomy 20:19,20 (NIV) states:
When you lay siege to a city for a long time, fighting against it to capture it, do not destroy its trees by putting an ax to them, because you can eat their fruit. ...
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Date rebuilding Jerusalem appeared in birkas hamazon and me'en shalosh?
Do the references to rebuilding Jerusalem indicate when the birkas hamazon and me'en shalosh were first written, or were these references added at some point to existing brachot?
Do we know when the ...
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When did the Meiri (and his community) wear tefillin?
The common practice today regarding tefillin is for them to be worn every ḥol day (give or take ḥol hamo'ed). Meiri on Brachot 14b describes various other practices, including one to which he ...
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Why do Ethiopian Jews who practice Haymanot Judaism still have roles like Nabiyy (Prophet) or Kahen or Kes (Priest)? How are they allowed this?
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but since the destruction of the Second Temple, (G-d, blessed be He, forbid), the roles such as that of a Priest/High Priest and the like, were removed and similar ...
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Where to Find Original Manuscripts Of Mishne Torah
I have a couple versions of books from Mishne Torah: some of them are from Mishne Torah HaRav Kook edition, and the other book I have is Mishne Torah Hashalem Edition and it says there that it is ...
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Which famous Rabbi had lifelong stomach pain?
I recently heard a shiur that quoted a famous rabbi (I think an Acharon) who talked about having stomach pain every day of his life, and studying torah was the only thing that gave him any joy. Does ...
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How does the existence of Himyarite Kingdom (a Jewish state that formed after the exile) impact the formation of a future Jewish messianic state?
According to the Wikipedia page on this topic, since the reign of Abikarib Asʿad (c. 384-433 CE), Judaism was adopted as the de facto state religion of the Himyarite Kingdom. It seems that Judaism ...
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Can someone point to some pre Holocaust (the older the better) Sefarim that address antisemitism in depth?
Considering all the Jew hatred experienced in every generation from persecution & exile to horrors like Hadrian’s Decrees, the crusades, blood libels, Inquisitions, & pogroms etc one would ...
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Did Adam establish a justice system?
One of the mitzvot given to Adam was to establish laws and courts.
Was Adam successful in setting up a working justice system, and if so, do we know any practical details of how it operated and/or for ...
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The Yetziat Mitrazyim Path
I know there are many opinions on Yitziat Mitzraim. The path taken through the sea and how/where they went.
Is there a sefer/website that shows (picture or text) the different shitas? I am hoping for ...
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Earliest Identification of Ishmael as Arabs / Muslims
Both Jewish sources and Muslim sources seem to take for granted that at least some Arabs and/or Muslims are somehow descended from Abraham's son Ishmael (whether biologically or spiritually). See, for ...
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What Is the "Standard" Shulchan Aruch Page Based On? How Many Dapim Are There?
There are many editions of the Shulchan Aruch and they do not all follow the same pagination. However, many editions I have seen call themselves "tzurat hadaf" and appear to have a similar ...
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The Maharsha accusing Rav Pappa!
The Gemara Shabbos 140b states the following..
וְאָמַר רַב פָּפָּא: הַאי מַאן דְּאֶפְשָׁר לְמִישְׁתֵּי שִׁיכְרָא וְשָׁתֵי חַמְרָא — עוֹבֵר מִשּׁוּם ״בַּל תַּשְׁחִית״. וְלָאו מִילְּתָא הִיא — ״בַּל ...
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Which Jewish Groups Don't Believe in Resurrection of the Dead? [closed]
The Sadducees denied a coming resurrection of the dead, since they accepted only the written Torah as scripture. However, their movement went extinct in the early first millenium. After them, who was ...
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Wonder Child of Jerusalem
I grew up hearing about the story of a wonder child in Jerusalem that was born knowing כל התורה כולה. The Gedolim of that era explained that he didn't receive the flick from the angel at birth to make ...
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State of Judaism before the destruction of the first temple
Can someone recommend some good resources on delving into the state of Judaism between entry to Israel and the destruction of the first temple? Specifically, the state of the religion. What did it ...
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Is there any mention to someone wearing tefillin in Tanach? [duplicate]
Aside from the passages in Shmah, are there any accounts discussing or of Jews wearing tefillin in tanach?
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History of Creation Ex Nihilo
Is it known whether creation from nothing has always been the mainstream jewish belief (as far back as is possible to tell)? Were there notable groups within Judaism that, instead of going with the ex ...
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The beis hillel
Does anyone know at what period in his life the beis hillel (הלל בן ר' נפתלי הירץ) wrote his Sefer. I know it was published after his death I want to know what year he wrote it
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Are there two or three Rabbi Rashash?
How many Rabbi's are there that are named "Rashash"? I can't seem to find any sources that speak of another rashash, besides the ones mentioned below. I was told that there was one that ...
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Are there accounts detailing personal encounters with the Rambam and referring to his personality?
The Rambam, at least in his writing, is often forthright, reassured and direct. It seems to me that sometimes the Rambam can be construed as disparaging of certain groups of people. For example (...
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Do the non-traditional branches of Judaism claim to be rejecting the original foundations and replacing it with something superior?
R Dovid Gottlieb made the following claim to me:
"The non-traditional branches (Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist) of Judaism claim to be rejecting the original foundations and replacing ...
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Origins of Ashkenazi Community
I saw a comment by mevaqesh:
To summarize the thesis set forth by R. Dr. Soloveitchik and in
collected Essays vol. II and elaborated on in vol. III, the Ashkenazic
mesorah was founded by a group of ...
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Which Jewish theologians won't cite Jewish survival as evidence of miracles?
Which Jewish theologians (defined below) disagree with the following conclusion:
"Jewish survival can't be [reasonably] explained in a natural way (and instead needs to be explained as a miracle)...
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When did The Talmud first become available to the readers as a written document?
What was the probable earliest time, when some Jewish readers could get a hold of a document that contains any material that belong to the material that is found in Talmud Sanhedrin?
What was the ...
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Preservation of the text
I read in an article that "rabbinic literature" states there was a preserved copy of a guarded text in the second temple, I was hoping someone could let me know where I can find this text, ...
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בָּרוּךְ אֱלֹקֵינוּ שֶׁבְּרָאָֽנוּ לִכְבוֹדוֹ - What is the background of this prayer?
What is the background of this prayer? I'd like to know who composed it, when, if there was any reason that it was composed, and what the intentions of the composer were that we should absorb when ...
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History of Hashkeim vs. Bo
I learned in this book that in some ancient traditions, they started a new parsha at Hashkeim (barad) instead of at Bo (arbeh), as I'm used to. (This is a variation of the minhag to read the whole ...
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What changed in the later First Temple period that increased interaction with further kingdoms?
If you read the Book of Kings, the nations with which Israel (or later, Judah and Israel) was always either warring or allying themselves are basically its neighbors: Egypt, Lebanon ("Tyre"),...
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To what extent would the kings of Israel and Judah have been involved in the upbringing and instruction of their children?
To what extent would the kings of Israel and Judah have been involved in the upbringing and instruction of their children? Are there any Biblical references that can help determine this?
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Where is Nimrod written about outside Genesis, Chronicles, and Micah? In particular, is he described anywhere as mighty, strong, vigorous, etc?
I am ultimately interested in finding out why Greek scribes translated the Hebrew works as "mighty hunter" in Genesis and Chronicles for the Septuagint. The original Hebrew in those books do ...
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Examples of prophecies that didn't and cannot come to pass?
Are there any examples of prophecies recorded by established Jewish prophets in Tanach which were about a specific time and/or a specific people and did not come to pass, and subsequently cannot come ...
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Is it true that Simeon ben Shetach was summoned to a diplomatic meeting between Parthians and King Alexander Jannaeus by Queen Salome Alexandra?
There is a story on wikipedia for Simeon ben Shetach at this link.. After the civil war between the Pharisees and King Alexander Jannaeus the Judeans are meeting with Parthians. The Parthians asked ...
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Why don't we celebrate Cyrus' edict to grant freedom to the Jews and to erect the Second Temple?
In my understanding of history, Cyrus the Great was the person who saved Judaism from vanishing not only by granting them the freedom of worship and letting them return to the Promised Land but by ...
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Non-Jewish Sources about Chanukah [closed]
I was listening to a podcast about Channukah, he was interviewing an Israeli professor on the subject. The professor was very reluctant to give credence to the ‘Jewish sources’ about Chanukah. ...
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Did ALL the Jews at the time of the closing of the Talmud accept the Talmud as binding?
The Rambam states in his introduction to Mishna Torah that the Talmud Bavli is binding because;
כל אותם הדברים שבתלמוד הסכימו עליהם כל ישראל.
What is the definition of the word "ישראל" in ...
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Sources regarding the Mesorah of the explanations/details of the Torah
It's difficult for me to accept that laws that I see written in a modern day Halacha sefer really originate from what G-d Told Moshe thousands of years ago. This is because there is so much time in ...
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When and by whom were the Piyutim of Channukah written?
There are communities that recite special prayers on Shabbos Channukah they begin with אודך כי אנפת ותשוב. Do we know who wrote these and when?
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Did Rav Dovid Leibowitz write any chiddushei Torah?
Rav Dovid Leibowitz was a talmid of the Chafetz Chaim and the father of Rav Henoch Leibowitz. I have heard in the name of Rav Yitzchak Hutner that out of all the yeshivas in America, only Rav ...
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Recommended edition of Flavius Josephus
I would like to read some of Flavius Josephus works in English regarding early Judaism (e.g., his History of the Jews). I understand many of the translations generally available are from a very old (...
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Who is Matrona which asked Reb Yossi many questions?
The Medrash in last week Parsha says מטרונא שאלה את רבי יוסי בן חלפתא אמרה ליה למה יצא עשו תחלה if we search for Reb Yossi with maternya there are a number of questions which she asked. Jastrow says ...
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Did the early generations do melacha on Chol Ha'moed?
The Gemara in Chagiga says:
that the Torah left it up to Chazal to figure out what constitutes as "work" on Chol Ha'moed.
"הא לא מסרן הכתוב אלא לחכמים, לומר לך אי זה יום אסור ואי זה ...
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What is the origin of Beta Israel?
Some have hypothesized that Beta Israel is the tribe of Dan, others that they originated with a child of Solomon. Is there any prevailing thought on their origin?
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Prior to the destruction of the Temple how did a Jew become either a Pharisee or a Sadducee?
I have been given an assignment which asks various questions about the Pharisees and the Sadducees, relating to the time prior to the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Roman Empire.
The ...
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