Questions tagged [history]
Questions related to how something was in the past, and how it's developed since then.
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Did any Achronim comment on the American Revolutionary or Civil Wars?
I've heard that for instance, in the 1800s, the American rabbis in the South were pro-slavery, and the American rabbis in the North opposed to it. But what were the views towards America of the more-...
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How do we know that the civil Saturday is the correct Shabbat?
Disclaimer: I am not a religious Jew, this question is only out of curiosity.
I understand that observant Jews observe Shabbat from Friday night to Saturday. And from this question and this it seems ...
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About what were rabbis ahead of the times?
I have heard claims that experts in the world of Torah were significantly ahead of their counterparts in the world of natural science (or mathematics, or psychology, or…) in that they knew X (...
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Were slave-related commandments observed in America?
Since there was slavery in the Americas between their discovery and 1865, do we know of any Jewish slave-owners there who observed slavery-related laws of Judaism?
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Questions about Polygamy in Jewish Law and Culture
I've recently been studying polygamy (having more than 1 wife), and had a few cultural questions.
Was polygamy accepted at the time of David and Solomon? Were there any laws about it?
Was polygamy ...
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Where does the concept of Gilgulim (reincarnations) in Judaism come from?
What is the source of Gilgulim (reincarnations) in Judaism? Are there people who disagree with its existence? Who was the first to mention it? What I am asking essentially is what is the historical ...
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Why don't Jews think Jesus is the messiah?
Christians say that Jesus is the Messiah spoken of in the Old Testament; Jews disagree. Why couldn't Jesus be the Messiah spoken of? Or could he possibly have been?
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Avot keeping Mitzvot
How are we to understand the tradition that the patriarchs kept all of the mitzvot in the Torah (see for example: the last mishna in Kiddushin (4:14), Rashi on Bereshit 32:5, etc.) in light of the ...
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Is there any evidence that Rabbi Akiva's students fought alongside Bar Kochba?
Various sources say that "12,000 pairs" of Rabbi Akiva's students died between Pesach and Shavuos because they did not treat each other with respect. See Genesis Rabba 61:3, Ecclesiastes Rabba 11, ...
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How are pre-creation >4000 BCE human civilization and pre-flood >2300 BCE civilizations that continued reconciled with Judaism?
How does human history fit in with the Torah's timeline? (This is not about why the universe and Earth look so old.)
There is extensive evidence of a human population and human civilizations from ...
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Why is the Jewish Population so small?
Judaism is one of the oldest religions, but there aren't many Jews compared to Muslims and Christians.
What are main reasons behind that?
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Was Malbim an innovator?
The Malbim - Meir Leibush ben Yechiel Michel(1809 – 1879) - wrote a commentary on most of Tanach. In his introduction (to Yeshayahu) he writes the assumptions with which he operates in his commentary:
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What kind of seder did a non-oleh l'regel have during the time of the Bais Hamikdash (and for that matter, the entire 40 years in the desert)?
Our haggadah did not always exist - it appears to be primarily from the time of the Mishna. Before then, there was a Korban Pesach and specific procedures for organizing family and/or friends to eat ...
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Archeological proof of Exodus?
Is there empirical proof that the exodus from Egypt and related happenings (like Har Sinai etc) did in fact occur (i.e: Archeological proof)?
I believe in the Torah, but how would you prove to someone ...
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Did Jews in Arab countries ever rely on Islamic calls to prayer?
It just occurred to me that Jews in Arab/Islamic countries would most likely have heard the adhan call the populace to prayer five times a day.
Upon looking at an Islamic time-table and doing some ...
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What is the original halachic source for a woman covering her collarbones out of modesty (tznius)?
Many contemporary instructions on women's modesty (tznius) say that necklines have to be high enough to cover the collarbones.
I can certainly accept that if this is the communal standard, it should ...
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What happened to the Yeshivas Shem v'Aiver?
What happened to the Yeshiva of Shem v'Aiver and all who learnt there?
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What is the oldest manuscript of Torah Shebaal Peh?
We don't have (and more's the pity!) R' Yehudah Hanassi's autograph copy of the Mishnah (well, okay, it's a controversial issue whether he actually wrote it or only arranged it orally), or Ravina and ...
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What is the source of the Magen Dovid (Star of David)?
What is the source of the Magen Dovid (Star of David) in Rabbinic Judaism?
When was it first used, and for what?
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Are there other extant Chabad groups besides Chabad-Lubavitch?
Wikipedia lists a number of different Chabad groups including:
Chabad-Lubavitch
Chabad-Bobroisk
Chabad-Kapust
Chabad-Liadi
Chabad-Nezhin
Chabad-Strashelye
I was told that these different groups were ...
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Providing wine for Christian ceremonial purposes: in the 8th century, what did the rabbis write?
Under Charlemagne in the 8th century and the Carolingian emperors, Jews were official importers of exotic foods from the Holy Land;[1] they also provided wine for Christian mass.
At the time, what ...
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Have Jews believed that Ezra was the son of God?
In reading the Qur'an, I noticed this passage:
Qur'an 9:30 The Jews say, "Ezra is the son of Allah "; and the Christians say, "The Messiah is the son of Allah ." That is their statement from their ...
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Is this the Chofetz Chaim? [closed]
What is the story behind this picture being known as the image of the great Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan(Chafetz Chaim)? Is it him in fact? Where does it come from?
The only true picture (that I am aware ...
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Why do we bow down in the direction of the ark?
This is a question I've had for many years, to which I've never received a satisfactory answer:
In Hebrew school, we were taught that idolaters bowed to a idol of their god. They would claim that ...
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Did courts ever execute?
The laws of capital crimes elucidated in Sanhedrin and elsewhere make conviction very unlikely. Makkot 1:10 famously tells us that a court that executes once in seven years is considered "destructive",...
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Why did nobody succeed the Lubavitcher Rebbe?
The late Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson zt"l had no successor as the rebbe of Chabad-Lubavitch. Why is this? Was it simply because he had no children? If so, why was nobody else ...
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Why don't we see magic today?
Throughout Tanach and Talmud, there are numerous recorded uses and practitioners of magic1.
From Pharaoh's magicians to Shaul's necromancer, and magic cucumbers to were-donkeys, the references are ...
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What kind of kippah is this?
This photo of my great great grandfather was taken around 1900. He's a Lubavitch Jew from Belarus. His name is Zalman Malkin. He is from Liozna. The story of his life is here.
I was wondering if his ...
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Why the custom to switch around negative-sounding numbers, such as שד?
Often in sefarim we find that if the number of the siman spells out something negative, such as siman 304 which has a letter value of שד, we switch it around so it no longer reads as a "bad" word. ...
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Are there any Jewish people alive today who can identify themselves as coming from a particular tribe?
The Christian "New Testament" claims Paul (Saul) was of the tribe of Benjamin.
Since Roman times have there been any people who can validly claim they were from a particular tribe?
At least at that ...
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Is there "Torah Inerrancy"?
Is there Torah inerrancy?
In other words, does the Torah contain no factual errors: the Noah flood did occur, Garden of Eden did exist, Adam and Eve did live there and were subsequently expelled, etc ...
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Is it heresy to follow secular dating on the destruction of the first Temple?
There is a discrepancy between rabbinic and secular sources regarding when the first Temple was destroyed -- a difference of some 165 years or so, which are called the "Missing Years."
My question is ...
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Gezeira of Rabbeinu Gershom text
Does anyone know where I can find the actual text of the Gezeira of Rabbeinu Gershom? It keeps popping up in my learning, but only as being referenced, I would like to read that actual text.
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When did we start counting the Year since Creation?
This year is 5772 / תשעב (Taf-Shin-Ayin-Bet) on the Hebrew Calendar.
What is the earliest reference to the Year counting from the Creation of the world?
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Why isn't the book of the Maccabees part of the Jewish canon?
I believe they are in the Christian canon... why not Jewish?
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What was wrong with the word Talmud?
The Wikipedia article on The Talmud says:
and Pope Pius IV commanded, in 1565, that the Talmud be deprived of its very name. The convention of referring to the work as "Shas" (shishah sidre Mishnah)...
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Has the Torah been changed over the ages?
It is quite a famous argument from Muslims for authenticity of the Quran that the previous Holy Books (Bible and Torah) sent by God have been corrupted or changed by their followers and that Quran is ...
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G'dolim or Rabbis Owning Pets
Are there any g'dolim (or rabbis of major influence) - past or present - who are known to have owned pets/kept animals for non-agricultural purposes?
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Origin of the term Yoshke?
I have often heard Jews refer to Jesus as "Yoshke". Is the origin of that appellation based on halachic issues regarding mentioning names of foreign deities, or some other Jewish law or custom? When ...
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Anonymous glosses in the Shulchan Aruch
The Rama wrote a series of glosses to the Shulchan Aruch to reflect standard Ashkenazi practice, as the Shulchan Aruch was weighted towards the Sephardim. These glosses have been reprinted in almost ...
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When did Matza become dry?
It's pretty commonly accepted that Matza used to be soft (sort of like a tortilla) and was used by Hillel to make a wrap (not a sandwich).
When did this change in various geographic locations which ...
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Critical Jewish analysis of the Ipuwer papyrus
I just stumbled across information about the Ipuwer papyrus, and I was wondering how many Jewish Egyptologists have had an opportunity to review and study it at length. Other than this very brief ...
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What are the oldest Jewish songs (tune plus words) that are still popular today?
When I say "song", I mean the combination of tune and words; and yes I'm probably thinking Ashkenazically here. It seems like any European old-timer I've met knows the "good old fashioned" tune for ...
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How are Spartans the son of Abraham?
I was reading the Book of Maccabees (I and II) over Shabbat and in it there is a letter written to Sparta to ask for peace, goodwill and friendship.
In the reply letter back from Sparta, they affirm ...
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Was it ever the norm for children to get married?
The Gemara describes many Halachos that apply when someone gets married at very young ages, many under 12, and even a few for the age of 3. There are stories of people who did get married at such ages ...
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Killing somebody with the keys to the synagogue
In Yoreh Deah 339:1, the mechaber brings a variety of things that one is not permitted to do to a goses (a person on the brink of death), since each of these things causes the goses to die sooner. ...
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Halachot of Shul Mechitzot
What are some good books, articles, websites, or seforim for learning about the Halachot of constructing and maintaining a Shul Mechitza (the barrier between the men and women sections)?
Issues ...
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When did kosher bakeries, restaurants, etc. start requiring supervision?
If my neighbor Shmerel keeps kosher and otherwise appears to be observant to the best of my knowledge, then I'd be allowed to eat in his house (assuming I'm invited), eid echad ne'eman b'issurin, his "...
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How long did Chava (Eve) live?
The Torah tells us that Adam HaRishon lived for 930 years. Is there a source that tells us for how long Chava (Eve) lived?
I have been unable to find any source that discusses how old Chava was when ...
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What defines a country to be a legitimate country?
There are a few Halachas that apply to a Jew's relationship with his country. For example, Dina Dmalchusa, another is not to rebel (although its Halachic strength is disputed, all agree that under ...
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