Skip to main content

All Questions

Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
0 votes
1 answer
157 views

Was the Talmud written with diacritcs?

This might sound like a strange question, but was the Talmud written with diacritics? The MT today is written with critical marks that were added in the middle of the first millennium. But the Talmud ...
Bob's user avatar
  • 257
7 votes
4 answers
2k views

When the Torah was almost lost and one (or several) Rabbis saved it?

I heard several times from numerous sources, that there were times in history (during the 1st and the 2nd Temples) when the Torah (incl. Oral) was almost completely lost and just one Rabbi (or a ...
Al Berko's user avatar
  • 28k
2 votes
3 answers
169 views

Who are the Elders in the beginning of Avot

The Pirkei Avot 1:1 says משֶׁה קִבֵּל תּוֹרָה מִסִּינַי, וּמְסָרָהּ לִיהוֹשֻׁעַ, וִיהוֹשֻׁעַ לִזְקֵנִים, וּזְקֵנִים לִנְבִיאִים, וּנְבִיאִים מְסָרוּהָ לְאַנְשֵׁי כְנֶסֶת הַגְּדוֹלָה. Moshe received ...
Rh Haokip's user avatar
  • 1,849
4 votes
1 answer
380 views

How was brit milah practiced during the First Century?

The Christian New Testament records that both John the Baptist and Jesus were circumcised on the eighth day in accordance with Jewish Law. Luke 1:57-60 English Standard Version (ESV) Now the time ...
MutluAnne's user avatar
  • 143
2 votes
0 answers
41 views

Why were different pronunciations allowed in the first place? [duplicate]

The following question might be a duplicate of How could different pronunciations arise when we are obligated to pronounce the Shema precisely? Why did our Rabbonim however many hundreds of years ...
Joshua Pearl's user avatar
  • 3,692
1 vote
0 answers
145 views

Who was Rav Moshe Margolis's Rav?

I'm currently making a Mesorah chart (I know there are some out there, I just wanted to do it myself). I've gotten all the way back to the Vilna Gaon's Rav, Rav Moshe Margolis, but I can't find any ...
M. Broder's user avatar
  • 995
2 votes
1 answer
242 views

Tracing the Tradition of HaRaM"A (Moshe Isserles)

In tracing the tradition of HaRav Shimshon Rafa'el Hirsch, I arrived at the famed RaM"A (Rav Moshe Isserles) with help from the beloved MY community. As Rabbi Lawrence Kelemen mentions having done in ...
Lee's user avatar
  • 7,532
5 votes
1 answer
190 views

Tracing the Tradition of HaRav Shimshon Rafa'el Hirsch

I'm not sure if this is the proper forum for such an investigation; but, I'll pose the question and find out. I'm trying to trace the tradition received by HaRav Shimshon Rafa'el Hirsch through the ...
Lee's user avatar
  • 7,532
6 votes
2 answers
2k views

What is the Anshei Knesset HaGedolah?

I've heard many things about this "Great Assembly," mostly about how they established davening (prayers). However, there appears to be a lack of specific information about this institution. So: Who ...
Shmuel's user avatar
  • 10.7k
3 votes
1 answer
390 views

Teacher and tradition of R' Judah ben Meir HaKohen

Who was the teacher of R' Judah ben Meir HaKohen, and from which chain of tradition does he derive? I ask because I cannot find much information about him online, other than many references to his ...
Seth J's user avatar
  • 41.9k
6 votes
3 answers
594 views

How do I know if a midrash is accepted?

I have found many different types of midrashic works. Some are, as far as I can tell, accepted as being authoritative. Meaning they were written (compiled?) by the sages in roughly the Talmudic era. ...
user avatar
9 votes
1 answer
192 views

What is the genealogy of Judah ben Bava?

Is Judah ben Bava, noted for continuing the tradition of ordination, the son of Bava ben Buta, the Rabbi who was spared by Herod?
user avatar
11 votes
2 answers
282 views

Why is precedent set by individual rabbis, but not courts?

The headline on this obituary for R' Eliyashiv ("A One Man Supreme Court") got me thinking - why do we invest so much power in precedents set by individual rabbis, as great as they may be, but not in ...
Seth J's user avatar
  • 41.9k
4 votes
1 answer
196 views

Rational approaches to superstitious ideas

Can one assume that there is a perfectly rational approach to superstitious ideas? May one go out of one's way to come up with rational approaches if these ideas bother him? My thinking is, LeHavdil,...
Seth J's user avatar
  • 41.9k