Questions tagged [history]
Questions related to how something was in the past, and how it's developed since then.
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The beginning of public charity
In the Torah, charity is a private matter. Each person has an obligation to help the poor in various ways, for example, by leaving some wheat on the ground, leaving some fruits on the trees, giving ...
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Empirical sources that "Batei Midrash" existed prior to Chanukkah events [closed]
In anticipation of Chanukah, we had a discussion about the impact of the Chashmonayim dynasty on Judaism, and somebody presented an idea that although they did fight for the continuation of the Jewish ...
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What specifically was the ancient Jewish practice of rubbing an infant's throat?
The Jewish Encyclopedia article on "Consecration" says that the later "rubbing on" of oil aka "anointing" has roots in the practice of rubbing an infant's throat in preparation for receiving a mother'...
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Is there an official haggadah?
Is there an official haggadah?
How does one version of a haggadah have authority over another?
Is there a most popular one, a controversial one?
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Was Rabban Yochanan Ben Zakkai a priest? And was he Nasi of a sanhedrin?
Was Rabban Yochanan Ben Zakkai a priest? And was he Nasi of a sanhedrin?
I ask, because I read here that he was nasi of the sanhedrin from the years 70-80 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanhedrin ...
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What does מצלאים mean? What was said?
In O"C 288:10 the Shulchan Aruch states:
נרדף מפני רוח רעה שאמרו לאו דוקא דה"ה לכל חולי שיש בו סכנת היום זועקים ומתחננין וכן נהגו לומר מצלאים בשבת על חולים המסוכנים סכנות היום: הגה וכן מותר ...
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How did the bible and Chachamim know the time of Chatzot?
In many places in the bible (e.g. here) as well as in the Mishna (e.g.Berakhot 1,1) it's written that some things happened on Chatzot (midnight point-חצות הלילה) or some Mitzva should be done not late ...
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When, why and who originated Chevruta style studying?
From reading various stories mentioned in the mishnah, it seems that students studied directly from their rav. I assume that they reviewed what they studied, and, perhaps, discussed ideas with each ...
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Identifying the author Toras Yekusiel
I recently came across this teaching: [in footnote Aleph.]
http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=3751&st=&pgnum=11
To summarize: during the time when the Vilna Gaon made his cherem ...
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History of Kabbalah
Has anyone attempted to write a historical sketch of the history of the shalsheles HaKabbalah (which, in this instance, I use to refer to Toras HaSod)? In other words, what was megale to Moshe Rabbenu,...
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Does the torah prohibit the consumption of Raw Meat for everyone?
Backstory
I am a Noachide who started to experiment with a raw meat diet, after watching videos such as this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-cuT7q1dZ4
It has certainly peaked my interest, and now I ...
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Source for Rashi's claim that some nations worshiped dust?
Rashi (Gen 18,4) on "יֻקַּח־נָא מְעַט־מַיִם וְרַחֲצוּ רַגְלֵיכֶם׃" says:
כַּסָּבוּר שֶׁהֵם עַרְבִיִּים שֶׁמִּשְׁתַּחֲוִים לַאֲבַק רַגְלֵיהֶם
He thought they were Arabians who worship the dust of ...
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What Rabbis originally supported and opposed Rambam's 13 principles and why?
I heard the when Rambam presented his 13 principles the opinions divided pretty sharply between the Sefardic Rabbis that openly supported it and the Ashkenazi (Rabaney Tzarfat) that opposed it for ...
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Why are Creation and the Mabul not commemorated independently?
Our calendar marks days and dates important to our existence but they all start from the Exodus from Mitzrayim which makes sense because
A -- that's when we started fixing a calendar that related to ...
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What was G-d's plan in having 20 wicked generations before Abraham?
I'm trying to understand G-d's plan for creating wicked and sinful humans, waiting for 1600 years/10 generations for them to sin, wiping them out completely, then waiting for another 400 years for the ...
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What sons of Noach are the nations disposed of by Edom, Ammon, and Moav descended from?
Edom disposed of the Horites, Moav and Ammon the Rephaim/Emim/Zamzumim etc. (Devarim 2:10-12)
What sons of Noach are these peoples descended from?
If they’re giants (Emim/Zamzumim), are they ...
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Ramifications of lack of Brachah for the tribe of Shimon
I have a hard time understanding Moses' Brochos to the tribes and how it correlates to the actual course of history. As I can see, the interpreters felt the same problem and tried to pick single ...
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Who was the first Jew who was called with two names? [closed]
Who was the first Jew who was called with two names?
I'm not asking "Who was the fist Jew who had two names?" like Yaakov [Israel] or Benyamin [Ben-Oni] had, I'm asking who was the first Jew who got "...
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Was there a tradition that Jewish girls desired to be the mother of the messiah?
Are there any Jewish historical traditions that young Jewish girls often hoped and desired to be the mother of the messiah?
For this question, I am interested in the historical time period of the 1st ...
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Different versions of Haazinu song structure
I have heard (in conversation) that there are early Torah scrolls, or sources mentioning this, that don't follow the two-column Haazinu that is now universally written; but rather, something similar ...
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Source of opinion that Talmud Yerushalmi was corrupted by Karaites
In the entry for Talmud Bavli/Yerushalmi in Chida's Shem Hagedolim Hashalem (c.1800, the older versions do not have this paragraph), he references a theory from maskilim of his time that the Rabbis ...
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Do scriptures mention the presence of the Egyptians in the Holy Land after Yehoshua's conquer?
Archaeological sources (only an example) mention such presence/influence in the time of the conquer which gradually faded before David's Kingdom.
Is it mentioned anywhere in the Nac"h that the ...
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Four Minim at the time of the Great Revolt
This is a 5 Agorot coin bearing a copy of a coin from the 4th year of the Great Revolt (70AD) that pictures the 4 Minim:
I can spot two oddities relative to what's commonly accepted: there are two ...
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How Many vav Hahipuchs in each of the 24 books of Tenach
How Many vav Hahipuchs (Conversive vav) are in each of the 24 books of Tenach compared with the number of letters / verses in that book. As far as I know they are only in Tenach rather than Mishna or ...
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When Did Sukkot Lose Its Status As "THE" Hag? [closed]
In the Torah it seems like a few of the Hagim get some special status as being particularly significant. Pesah gets a lot of attention and a lot of rituals, Rosh Hashannah seems barely worth ...
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Did the Sadducees get anything right?
The Sadducee-Pharisee split probably began around 150 B.C.E and disappeared after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 C.E. As a result, the Karaites (9th-century) adopted many Sadducee-ideas ...
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What is meant by "synagogue" in the Temple in Sota 7.8?
THe Mishna (Sotah 7.8) describes the order of transferring a Torah scroll to the King for reading on Hakhel:
חַזַּן הַכְּנֶסֶת נוֹטֵל סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה וְנוֹתְנָהּ לְרֹאשׁ הַכְּנֶסֶת, וְרֹאשׁ הַכְּנֶסֶת ...
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Was Hakhel performed in separation of men and women?
Mitzvat Hakhel requires the presence of men, women, and children in the Azara (135x135 Ama incl. 4 Lishachot), with a tremendous density (for 600K grown-up men it's around 4M people per 4,000 sq.m.), ...
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Heter Bamos - When?
When did the heter bamos (the time when it was permitted for klal yisrael to build their own bamos) begin and end?
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What argument came first - Tanuro Shel Akhnai or Maariv Chovah? [duplicate]
What argument happened first - Tanuro Shel Akhnai (B"M 59b) or Maariv Chovah or Reshut (Brochos 27b)
In the former, R"Y stood against R"E (backed by R"G) and in the later the same story happened to ...
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How many fled to the Cities of Refuge?
Do we know how many people (accidental murderers) took advantage of the Cities of Refuge (Deuteronomy 4:41-43)? Perhaps the size of the cities would put an upper limit on that number, so do we know ...
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Did synagogues exist between the 1st and 2nd temple period? [duplicate]
I'm unaware of the existence of any synagogues having existed between the 1st and 2nd Temple Period. It seems to have begun only after the 2nd Temple existed. Between the two Temples, from what I'm ...
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"Hanukkah 8th day/Tevet 3/New Years Day" triple coincidences - What makes them so Rare?
I very recently became aware that Hanukkah 8th day sometimes (but rarely) falls on Tevet 3. What causes this to happen? At the same time, I also noticed that when Hanukkah 8th day/Tevet 3 happen ...
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Veracity of the Oral Torah [closed]
A Christian blogger commented:
Rabbinic Judaism also has some relatively unconvincing claims of oral transmission from the past. It claims that its interpretations of the Torah (which are compiled ...
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When did Jewish court systems replace Yisro's "chiefs" system?
The Jews in the desert implemented Yisro's "chiefs" system to act as judges, but we know at some point the nation transitioned to the courts system with judges of 3, 23, 71, etc. At what point and ...
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Tosfot quoted Rabbi Yom Tov Myiuni
For the first time I seen in Tosfot Yevamot 57b הרב רבי יום טוב מיוני
I didn't find in Wikipedia about him.
Does someone know who is this Chacham, what is his place in Tosfot constellation?
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Did Rav Akiva turn on Bar Kochba?
I once read that Rav Akiva had a falling out with Bar Kochba before the revolt ended due to the latter refusing to accept the Samaritans as friends. Others say it was because of R. Elazar HaModii's ...
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When was the tzitz lost?
I was reading a translation of Josephus many years ago that mentioned the tzitz (the crown of the high priest with Qdosh Yisrael engraved on it). The commentary to this Josephus said that the tzitz ...
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How many kids did the Tannaim and Amoraim have?
The Gemmorah (Yevomos 62b) brings a statement by R'Yehoshua:
...דתניא: רבי יהושע אומר נשא אדם אשה בילדותו ישא אשה בזקנותו היו לו בנים בילדותו יהיו לו בנים בזקנותו שנא' (קהלת יא, ו): "בבקר זרע את ...
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Websites or books about the Torah and history of the world
I am looking for recommendations of good websites and books that talk about various ways of understanding the 'conflicts' between the Torah and a modern understanding of the age of the universe, the ...
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What would the status of the "Book of the Wars of God" be today?
The Torah makes reference to a Book of the Wars of God (Bamidbar 21:10-16). According to most opinions this was an actual written work which has been lost over time. It is not clear (at least to me) ...
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Where does Flavius Josephus get his description of historical events about the Patriarchs
Josephus lived in the 1st century and would accurately report the history in that time period. However he does report about the activities of the Patriarchs. These stories are found in the Jewish ...
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Who built the first Jerusalem wall and when?
Wikipedia says:
The city of Jerusalem has been surrounded by walls for its defense
since ancient times. In the Middle Bronze Age, a period also known in
biblical terms as the era of the Patriarchs, a ...
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Torah based on Mesopotamian (and other) sources
A lot of parallels that can be found between the earliest docoments of the Torah/Tenach and the Sumerian/Babylonian/Akkadian religions in Mesopotamia. This lead some to believe that the Torah was ...
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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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Does the Talmud discuss "Solomon's Pools"
I recall visiting Solomon's Pools, located a bit south of Bethlehem, years ago, before it became "Area A". Wikipedia says:
The water system based on Solomon's Pools has provided water to
...
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Gender and "Seeding" - Just Torah-Derived or Common Belief?
Niddah 31a writes (Davidson Edition translation):
אמר רבי יצחק אמר רבי אמי אשה מזרעת תחילה יולדת זכר איש מזריע תחילה יולדת נקבה שנאמר (ויקרא יב, ב) אשה כי תזריע וילדה זכר
Rabbi Yitzḥak says that ...
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What are the 35 cardinal principles enumerated by Jedaiah Penini in the last chapter of his Behinat ha-Dat?
Others, like Crescas and David ben Samuel Estella, spoke of seven fundamental articles, laying stress on free-will. On the other hand, David ben Yom-Tob ibn Bilia, in his "Yesodot ha- Maskil" (...
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Suppose you hear a commandment how do you know it’s God and not your own mind, or Satan? [duplicate]
Considering God asked Abraham to kill his son, it seems difficult to differentiate the word of God from that of Satan, how is one to know from whom a commandment is given?
Is there a way to ...
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Which of the 9 Parah Adumahs that have existed was from Dama ben Nesina?
Kiddushin 31a teaches us the famous story of Dama ben Nesina, ie a gentile who refused to sell the Chachamim a precious stone for the ephod since doing so would wake up his father.
The gemara ...
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