Questions tagged [history]
Questions related to how something was in the past, and how it's developed since then.
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Why do we have different names today than in ancient Judaism?
There are definitely exceptions, but for the most part, it seems that from the Beis Hamikdash period up until the era of the Rishonim, the traditional names we use today were relatively uncommon (such ...
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Is it all Leah's doing?
As we know from the commentaries and midrashim, Leah's eyes were weak from praying to Hashem to not have to marry Esav. If she had, her job would have been to cause him to turn into a "good guy&...
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How was Rabban Gamliel’s successor chosen?
Rabban Gamliel held of office of Nasi (patriarch) and was deposed. His successor was chosen to be Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya (Berachot 27b-28a). R' Elazar was a Kohen and therefore could not have been of ...
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Did Chazal ever divorce?
I'm wondering, out of pure interest, if we know of any Tannaim, Amoraim, Savoraim, Geonim or Rishonim who divorced their wives?
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(Why) are bereitot, especially those not found in the tosefta and midrash halacha considered canonical?
A bereita is a teaching from the time of the Tannaim or before which was not recorded as part of the Mishnah. There are breitot found in the Tosefta and midrash halacha as well as other collections of ...
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(How) did Rebbi Eliezer and Rebbi Yehoshua survive the destruction of Jerusalem?
In Gittin 56a we read the story of how Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai escaped the siege of Jerusalem. He was smuggled out in a coffin borne by his two students Rebbi Eliezer and Rebbi Yehoshua. When he ...
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How would a person become a rabbi around 1 CE?
Given the general illiteracy, the lack of public libraries, the high cost of Torah copies and writing materials, how would a person become a rabbi in 1 CE?
Given the costs and reading/writing ...
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No yetzer hora of idolatry, so no nevuah?
I remember learning in a shiur (sorry, can't think of the reference) that Chazal was able to essentially destroy the yetzer hora of avodah zora but with the side effect that there wouldn't be nevuah ...
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Source for not referring to Chanuka lights as a "menora"
Following up on this question about the use of the words "menora" or "chanukiya" to refer to Chanuka lights:
I find it interesting that the use of "chanukiya," popularized in 1897 through a secular ...
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Is Moshe Idel’s scholarship considered kosher by the Orthodox Jewish community [closed]
I’m curious whether the scholarship of Moshe Idel, a contemporary scholar of Kabbalah, is considered kosher (i.e., that his scholarship doesn't contradict the Mesorah) and reliable (i.e., that a ...
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Who was/were the leaders during the Asarah Harugei Malchus?
I know that the Asarah Harugei Malchus took place over generations. Nonetheless, who is recognized as being the original antagonist? Who is the one who went to Chazal about the claim about Yosef's ...
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What kingdom was Melchizedek the king of?
Practically all commentators learn that Salem was Jerusalem, as it says (Gen 14.18): "And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was a priest of God Most High."
What do we ...
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What is the dating of Herod and Pompey's conquests of Jerusalem and the solemn fast
According to Josephus, Pompey took Jerusalem in the third month (Sivan) of 63 BCE during the solemn fast. He then later states that Herod captured Jerusalem in the third month, on the same day, also ...
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What happened to Sefer Yechezkel before Chananyah ben Chizkiyah ben Guriyon?
There's a famous Gemara in Shabbos 13b:
אמר רב יהודה אמר רב: ברם זכור אותו האיש לטוב וחנניה בן חזקיה שמו, שאלמלא הוא נגנז ספר יחזקאל, שהיו דבריו סותרין דברי תורה. מה עשה? — העלו לו שלש מאות גרבי שמן, ...
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Question about Binyanim – Hebrew linguistics [closed]
I've looked into lots of linguistic works and found discussion of the 7 Binyanim (verb patterns) in much of modern Hebrew linguistics and even going back before. Obviously verbs in Tanakh (and all of ...
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B'siyata D'shmaya or Baruch Hashem
B"H
Often, at the top of written work, Jews write either ב"ה, which stands for Baruch Hashem =blessed is the Name i.e., God, or בס"ד, which stands for b'siyata d'shmaya =with Heavenly ...
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Why did Tunisian Jews not celebrate Purim for a long time?
From Jewish Virtual Library
The Jews of Tunis at that time scrupulously observed most of the festivals but did not celebrate the second day; they entirely ignored the festival of Purim, although they ...
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Are the people and the events in the book of Esther accepted as historically true?
Recently I have revisited the book of Esther and have learned more about the power struggle between Haman and Mordechai and the events that prevented the annihilation of the Jews back then. The ...
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Ma'agel Tov of the Chida: why was the sefer called "the good circle"?
The book Ma'agal Tov is essentially the personal diary of Rabbi Chida,
in which he recorded the events that occurred during his travels to
European countries on a mission from the Hebron community. ...
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What is the relationship between Mecca, Saudi Arabia and the Capital city of Mitzrayim?
It surely has not been lost on anyone that in this year, 5779 (2019), for this parsha, parshat Bo, the parsha which mentions the plague of 4 varieties of the single species of locusts which were ...
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Waiting between meat and milk
I once heard that the historical reason of why we wait between meat and milk comes from the rivalry between the Sadducees and Pharisees; In order to separate one group from the other, one of the ...
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Akhenaten, Monotheism, King Paro, and Midrashim
Background and Reason I am Asking
I would like to know if there is any reason to believe, or disbelieve, that Akhenaten might have been the Pharaoh that faced the plagues. According to the Midrash, he ...
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Akeidah and Ketoret
The earliest siddur I own (London, 5569 [1808-09]) does not include Ketoret or Akeidah, despite purporting to follow the customs of the "German and Polish" communities [emphasis mine]. Since ...
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A Question Concerning Genealogy
Assuming someone who discovers through rigorous genealogical methods, that down their maternal lineage one woman was Jewish. To add to the question, let's assume that this maternal ancestor lived in ...
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Where does the Medrash quote the Torah differently from the masoretic text?
The Wikipedia page on Midrash says as follows:
Although this material treats the biblical texts as the authoritative word of God, it is clear that not all of the Hebrew Bible was fixed in its wording ...
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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 is כתיבת מלאכים, what is it for, and where does it derive from? [duplicate]
I have seen various writings called כתיבת מלאכים. In one case, I saw symbols in the end of Sefer Raziel haMalach written in a distinct script. In another case, a while back, I was in a shtieble and ...
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Chad Gadya and Echad Mi Yodeya in the Haggadah
My question is about the history of the Passover song Chad Gadya. I have long suspected this song was originally conceived as a pastiche of Echad Mi Yodeya--the thematic, musical, and phonetic ...
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Why did the writing of magic bowls stop?
We have the archaeological remains of thousands of "magic bowls" written by Jews from the 3rd - 7th century (source). After that period the existence of these bowls seems to dwindle and soon ...
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Did the Arizal's daughter marry the son of R' Yosef Karo?
Is there any source [historical, academic, mystical] that the Arizal's daughter married the son of R' Yosef Karo, author of Shulchan Aruch?
I see this mentioned in this article (unsourced), and ...
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Where is Iyov buried?
I was researching where the tomb of the prophets were. I saw that the tomb of Iyov is claimed to be in Oman. Do we know if he was buried there?
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Did Dovid hamelech write music?
Do we have any music notes or tunes attributed to him?
On the same note, do we have any music or songs attributed to biblical times? If not, why is that?
EDIT: do we know any tunes or songs even ...
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Why doesn't Josephus mention the golden calf?
When studying the text of the Jewish Antiquities written by the Roman historian Josephus, I found that events related to Moses and the travels of Hebrews in the wilderness are covered in considerable ...
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What is the context, in Sefer Yossipon, of this? “Because in their fury they killed an Ox” (Gen. 49)
The author is making a list of places where the LXX translators changed the wording and meaning.
The sixth, “Because in their fury they killed an Ox” (Gen. 49). That phrase was replaced for, “in their ...
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Why were the Jews chosen?
I know there is a midrash quoted in Avodah Zara 2b which says that G-d went to all the nations and asked them if they wanted to accept the Torah, and they all refused until G-d came to the Jews. ...
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Evidence for pre-Greek Jewish currency?
The Torah is full with money statements - such as acquisitions, donations, fines and payments, presenting different names and values for money - such as Shekel, Sela, Kesef, Ksitah and more. But the ...
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How could different pronunciations arise when we are obligated to pronounce the Shema precisely?
If one does not pronounce the Shema correctly, one has not fulfilled their obligation (שולחן ערוך או"ח סימן סב). If so, then how could different pronunciations of the Hebrew words arise? Shouldn't at ...
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Whose side Rachel and Leah were on?
According to Ariz"l's tradition (as described in R' Moshe Luria's book "Beis Gnozay" on the Torah, parshas "Vayetse"), the sequence of Yaacov's marriages (Rachel first and ...
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Does Jacob's Well in present-day Nablus/Shechem have a Jewish tradition associated with it?
There's a well in present-day Shechem (Nablus) called "Jacob's Well." It has an Orthodox Christian church on top of it right now. I was wondering if there is any Jewish tradition that Jacob dug this ...
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Is the Book of Enoch part of Judaism?
The Book (or Books) of Enoch is a collection of works purportedly made by Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noach, before the flood. I read that they are not part of the Tanach, even though they contain ...
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Was "If thou forgettest Me one day, I will forget thee two days" found in the DSS?
In a class he gave in the 90s, Rabbi Prof. Shnayer Leiman said that he believes that once all of the fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls are properly analyzed and made public, it is very likely that the ...
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Were Levites allowed to enter the Holy Place or was it only for priests?
The Bible shows that Aaron and his sons were chosen from the rest of the sons of Levi to officiate as priests, and these "other" Levites had secondary functions in religious service. There ...
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Archeological, geological and astronomical correlations to the flood of Noah
In reviewing tractate Rosh HaShanah 12a in connection with the rules regarding determining halacha between Rabbi Yehosuah and Rabbi Eliezer, I stumbled across an interesting detail concerning them.
It ...
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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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Origins of the diagrams in Rashi, Rashbam or Tosefos
In Bava Basra 62 there are some diagrams/illustrations in the commentaries Rashbam and Tosefos, related to the topic of borders of fields, as well as in many other places in the Talmud.
My question is,...
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how much Jewish DNA does one have to have, to be considered Jewish/decent? [duplicate]
I have Jewish DNA in my bloodline, How much of a percentage is needed to be considered Jewish and I was wondering if anyone knows how to find more information about this or who can I talk to find this ...
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Was the Chasam Sofer known for having an interesting way of learning?
I have a lot of experience learning Gemara and find myself oft dealing with the views of the Achronim to understand the Pshat in Rishonim. Unfortunately, I have inside me a slight aversion to the ...
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Why isn’t ‘Zechor yemot olam…’ a mitzvah?
In Parshas Haazinu (32:7) we are told:
זְכֹר יְמוֹת עוֹלָם בִּינוּ שְׁנוֹת דּוֹר־וָדוֹר שְׁאַל אָבִיךָ וְיַגֵּדְךָ זְקֵנֶיךָ וְיֹאמְרוּ לָךְ׃
Remember the days of old consider the years of many ...
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(How) did the South African rabbinate deal with non-white conversion candidates during apartheid?
As I understand it, during apartheid, the South African government treated the Jews as "white."
Did it ever happen that someone in a different racial group expressed interest in converting to Judaism ...
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Did the ancient Jews embrace Aristotle's observation 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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