Questions tagged [mesorah-tradition]
The different traditions passed down through the generations.
230 questions
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Is there a dagesh in the kuf of קמנו?
I have seen different versions of the second-last posuk in Tehillim 20: ואנחנו קמנו ונתעודד. Some have the kuf with a dagesh (קַּמְנוּ). Others have the kuf without a dagesh (קַמְנוּ). The Minchas ...
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Where does Jewish Oral Tradition address the duration of the enslavement of Israel in Egypt? [duplicate]
In an answer on Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange addressing the duration of Israel's enslavement in Egypt, user conceptualinertia writes,
Gal[atians] 3:16-17 [a reference to a passage in the ...
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Halachic inheritance
Is it possible that one holds differently then his community (i.e. Ashkenazim, Sfardim)? For example, Chuppah (Canopy).the shulchun Aruch says Chuppah is Yichud fit for cohabiting (rauy Libiah).and ...
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Does Judaism acknowledge and accept the principle of absolute, personal bodily autonomy as a foundation behind a right to abortion?
Currently, in the United States, there is a very heated and emotional debate going on over the subject of the right of a woman to an abortion and the principle of abortion on demand.
This is a very ...
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Inverted Nun in Haran?
In Rashi on the last sentence of parashat Noach, Rashi mentions a ׆ (nun hafucha) in בחרן (in Haran). The Torah, however, does not have an inverted Nun there.
Why? Did Rashi use another Mesora than ...
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Why no Halachic codex for the masses appear till the 12th century's Mishneh Torah?
Another "bird's-eye" view of Judaism from the Orthodox tradition:
14th century BCE, the Torah is received and practical laws are passed down orally.
10th-3rd centuries BCE, books of ...
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How do contradictions within Halacha impact the credibility of Judaism?
Given the vast array of interpretations and customs in following Halacha, how does Judaism maintain its credibility and authority when one practice can be considered correct by one group but incorrect ...
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Could someone translate & explain the Mesorah?
I stumbled across this unusual Mesorah note and was wondering if someone could translate & explain it. I've not noticed this before in any other Tanakh and so I'm curious.
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How to Lein Tehillim קלז
In Pereq קלז, the words יום ירושלים have an Oleh Veyored, but preceded by a normal Mehupach instead of the expected Galgal.
I understand that the above may be difficult to follow, so I’ll put some ...
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Segol pausal form
When a word ends in two Seggols (or a Seggol and Patach, depending on whether the final letter is guttural), and the word is in pause, the first Seggol is lengthened to a Kamatz. Why is it not ...
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What really is Ketiv/Kri [duplicate]
Basic question but:
What exactly is Ketiv vs Kri? How do these differentiations pop up? Which one is more authoritative and why is it more prevalent in Nach vs the Torah?
Thanks
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Which source shows the Gamorrahs for each pasuk in the Chumash?
Just the other day in a Shul somebody was trying to tell me about a sefer which for each pasuk in the Chumash gives the places in the Talmud where that pasuk is discussed. I wish I’d paid more ...
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List of Aliyos with Different Stopping Points
Have noticed some Aliyos that seem to be different Mesoros where they should end.
For example
Bereishis Chamishi - From 4:19 - some go until 4:22, others until 4:26 (end of Perek)
Terumah Sheini - ...
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Can one change his minhag to another (equally stringent) minhag?
This has probably been asked before, but I couldn't find the question:
Can one change his minhag to another, equally stringent, minhag (without doing hataras nedarim)? So for example: if one ties his ...
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Where is the rule of mesorah for birds derived from
I’m curious in Halacha how our sages derived the requirement that for a bird to be kosher it had to have a mesorah?
In Tanakh it doesn’t clearly say this so where does this requirement come from?
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Why mention the number of words in parshat mieketz
Why does Parshat Miketz conclude by specifying the total number of words in the parsha, whereas other parshas typically only indicate the number of pesukim?
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Simanim at the end of the Parshah
Does anyone have any coherent history of and/or source for the siman for the amount of pesukim in each parshah?
(I’m sure it’s been asked here before, but I was unable to find anything while searching ...
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Best variety of esrog
What is the best variety of esrog to use for the Mitzvah? Why, and what is this halachic opinion based on?
I know there is not one consensus answer for this, but there are a variety of halachic ...
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What are the peculiarities of a school or company of the prophets לַהֲקַ֚ת הַנְּבִיאִים֙ (1 Samuel 19:20)?
What are the peculiarities of a school or company of the prophets לַהֲקַ֚ת הַנְּבִיאִים֙ (I Samuel 19:20)?
What did one learn in a school of the prophets?
How did one become a student in a school of ...
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Is Vayelech misnumbered
Why is the siman for Parshat Vayelech listed as 70 if it only has 30 pesukim?
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Is the aleph bet of Ben sira canonical? [closed]
Is אלפא ביתא אחרת לבן סירא (excluding the passages brought in the gemara) in the sefer אוצר מדרשים part of the jewish mesorah?
Specifically this passage:
כתיב עושה גדולות עד אין חקר ונפלאות עד אין ...
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Why do we have many teachings from Hillel and Shammai, but very few of earlier zugot?
We venerate our previous generations, and have a principle of yeridat hadorot. Therefore I would imagine that the Torah of Samaya and Avtalyon, for example, would be pure gold for us, and threaded ...
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Change of Eida’s accent of Hebrew
Let’s say a certain Eida has a mesorah on Hebrew pronunciation, and their children learned Israeli Hebrew and within one generation have completely forgotten their parents’ traditional pronunciation.
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Transmission of Kabbalah - what happened after Shlomo Hamelech?
According to Brit Menucha, the chain of transmission of Kabbalah from Adam to Shlomo ends with his sons putting the knowledge in the geniza of the Beit Hamikdash.
After that, there seem to be 2 ...
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Chain of Transmission between Nachum and Rabbi Meyasha
In the Mishnah Peah 2:6, the text seems to suggest that Nachum the scribe received teachings from Rabbi Meyasha:
"אָמַר נַחוּם הַלַּבְלָר, מְקֻבָּל אֲנִי מֵרַבִּי מְיָאשָׁא שקבל מאבא,
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If we have full copies of the Torah in an unchanged form (Dead Sea Scrolls), why don’t we revert our Torah scrolls back?
We have found very old Torah scrolls, which were named the Dead Sea Scrolls. These scrolls are some of the oldest Torah scrolls out there; however, there are some discrepancies between these ancient ...
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Rambam controversy
I don’t like that I have to ask this but I haven’t heard of this before and would like some information on it.
If one holds, for example, that the Rambam literally holds that demons don’t exist, ...
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Na Nach Nachma Nachman Meuman
What is the background of the "Na Nach" movement within the greater Breslav chasidus?
Are they accepted within mainstream Breslav?
Is their belief system (something to do with finding a note ...
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Does prioritizing one's mental health supersede adherence to Torah commandments?
Does prioritizing one's mental health supersede adherence to Torah commandments until they have under control / recover from the intense mental health issues at hand?
For instance:
If attending ...
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Missing vav or not in Bamidbar 7:2
In parshat Nasso (Bamidbar 7:2), the Torah says
וַיַּקְרִ֙יבוּ֙ נְשִׂיאֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל רָאשֵׁ֖י בֵּ֣ית אֲבֹתָ֑ם הֵ֚ם נְשִׂיאֵ֣י הַמַּטֹּ֔ת הֵ֥ם הָעֹמְדִ֖ים עַל־הַפְּקֻדִֽים׃
On this verse, the Minchat ...
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Gezeira Shava - They were taught the word? or the verse?
There's a semi famous idea regarding gezeira shavas (learning one law to another context through the use of parallel language in both locations), that Chazal had a tradition for which words to use but ...
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When did R’ Hillel make the calendar?
I noticed that the Sefer HaChinukh (§4) attributes the calendar to Rabbi Hillel II, whom the mechaber says was the son of Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi. I have never before encountered the idea that Rabbi ...
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Why are the Niqqud different for the name of God sometimes? [duplicate]
Through my research of the Tanakh, I have observed that the tetragrammaton appears with varying niqqud in different locations. Additionally, I have noted that the niqqud used may differ but produce a ...
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Daniel or Danel [closed]
These days I saw an exegete argue that the Daniel in Ezekiel 14:14 and 28:3 does not refer to the Daniel of the homonymous book but to Danel of the Epic of Aqhat, who according to the Book of Jubilees ...
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The Rediscovered Torah Scroll in the times of King Yoshiyahu [closed]
The following question was asked here a bunch of years ago, however it wasn't treated with any great sources or analysis, so here I am attempting to give the topic another shot. In Melachim 2, 22: and ...
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Why did Joshua only burn Hazor
Joshua 11:13 reads:
But all the cities that stood in their strength, Israel burned none of them, save Hazor only, did Joshua burn.
Rashi says to this verse that there was a tradition that he burned ...
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Is there an Ashkenazi equivalent to the Rambam's introduction to the MT?
In the Rambam's introduction to the Mishneh Torah, he claims he received a direct transmission of the true rabbinic tradition from the academies of Babylonia to him and traces it.
For Ashkenazim, is ...
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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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Does Ramban's 8th principle require holding the Masoretic Text to be perfectly preserved? [duplicate]
If Rambam's 8th principle is accepted, is it neccessary to hold that the Masoretic Text is perfectly preserved, and superior to the Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint in all cases where there are ...
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Satmarer minhogim
I'm looking for a source to learn the minhogim of Satmar chassidus. I wonder how different or similar it is from a galitzianer chassidus for example, maybe it has non-chassidic hungarian influences, ...
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Problem in the text of Kings and Chronicles
I was watching a video of an exegete in which he claimed that according to the Masoretic treatise Sefer Oklah we-Oklah in topic 168 in Ezra's corrections, there was a Tiqqun soferim in 1 Kings 12:16 ...
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Is there a Jewish source for the saying: "only the father knows when the wedding would take place"?
The website below describes what is apparently an ancient Jewish wedding custom, in which it was apparently said that "only the Father" of the groom "knows" when the wedding would ...
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How do poskim in shulchan aruch disagree about the existence of a rabbinical decree?
There are times when Chazal says something and the meaning is debated and there are other times when whether an entire category even exists. How is this so? To give specific examples of what I'm ...
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Changes to the name of Hashem in written texts
I have seen an article which cites a text called Massorah and this text supposedly catalogs 134 instances (referenced here) in which the written text "originally" used the 4 letter name of ...
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Does "Not in Heaven" approach break of the chain of tradition (B"M 59b)?
In the famous argument about Tanuro Shel Akhnai (Bava Metzia.59b) R' Eliezer claims to faithfully represent the Heavenly tradition and he's supported by the Heaven. Neither R' Yehoshua, nor God admits ...
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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 ...
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What is the relationship between Ezra's scroll and the Aleppo/Leningrad codeces?
I'm a little bit confused. If Ezra re-established a singular text to the Torah, how is it that we have the Aleppo Codex and the Leningrad Codex and three different scribal traditions for Ashkenaz, ...
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What version of the Masoretic Text is used in synagogues of Rabbinic Judaism? [duplicate]
In this Wikipedia article it is indicated that there are several editions of the Masoretic Text. It seems they are not identical to one another. Is there a standardized text for official use in ...
gEoRgE
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Is there a Jewish principle: "To sleep on a big decision"?
In Anglo society, there is the principle to "sleep on" a big decision before pulling the trigger on it. (Be it a large purchase, a business deal, or other substantial decision in work or ...
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Differences between Breuer Tanachim
I stayed with Dr. Gabriel Wasserman for Shabbos over the summer and he mentioned that the different editions of R' Mordochai Breuer's זצ"ל Tana"ch have some small differences (eg. the Mosad ...
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