Questions tagged [story-identification]
Please add as much detail as possible when you ask for the source of a story you heard – this will improve the quality of the question, and make it easier for people to answer the question.
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Story on tefillah
My grandfather told me a chassidic story about three Rabbis. The story goes as follows:
There once was a Rabbi who would go to his neareast forest to pray to G-d. When he went into the forest, he ...
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Is there a source for this story of the seven brothers?
This is part of the story:
"There were once seven brothers, the sons of one woman, in the city of Tzippori. They were wealthy, but one day they went to a certain city in the land of India. They ...
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Story with the maharam schick
I'm looking for where a certain story with the maharam Schick is printed.
It goes as follows : the ruler of the maharam Schicks area wished to see a Jewish wedding and ordered that one take place in ...
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Source of Chofetz Chaim's story
This article quotes the Chofetz Chaim, on the words "that the land not vomit you out" (Vayikra 20:22), where the Chofetz Chaim allegedly would say (according to his son):
“The Zionists err ...
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Source for story about a Rabbi being happy to bury Sheimot
I heard a story many years ago about a community that was burying Sheimot. Most of the people were sad/crying, but the rabbi was happy and singing. When they asked him why he was happy, he gave them a ...
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Landlord special tzedakah for renter?
ArtScroll's Tzedakah Treasury (p.200) quotes a story from "Rosh Golas Ariel" saying that the Imrei Emes told a landlord to pay his poor tenant's rent rather than have the community help pay ...
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Why were you not Moses?’ They’ll ask me, ‘Why were you not Zusya?
The story and final quote “Before his death, Rabbi Zusya said, ‘In the coming world, they will not ask me: Why were you not Moses?’ They will ask me: ‘Why were you not Zusya?’ ” is often ascribed to &...
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Source for story of authority of the halacha of the majority
I once heard a story that there was a certain (talmudic) rabbi who held that the halacha is a certain way with regard to produce from the field (when you can harvest it or something like that) but ...
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Story source: rabbi sweeping streets, take pride in your work?
I once heard a story that when a European gadol first came to America he had to take a job as a street sweeper and "nobody ever swept the streets as well as he did." The message of the story ...
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Where does the gemara say not to say "I heard it already"
I remember hearing many years ago that there is a story in the gemara in which one amora says "I will make a feast if anyone can tell me a teaching from my rebbi that I have never heard before&...
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Any Stories of Tzadikim Praying for their Children?
I am trying to find some stories of tzadikim praying for the success and righteousness of their children. Are there any?
I remember only one of the Chatam Sofer saying that his hat was full of tears ...
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Where can I find the story about the cow that kept shabbos?
I think this might be in the Yershalmi (Jerusalem Talmud) but which meseches and which page?
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Trying to track down the textual source of a Jewish quote about a Rabbi Neskizh
I found the below quote in a a book called Spiritual Midwifery. I would love to know if the quote is real, and where it comes from. Thanks!
The Quote:
Rabbi Mordecai of Neskizh said to his son, the ...
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Source for story about the Rebbe Maharash
I asked this question to my Rabbi last week and my Rabbi quoted for me an interesting story about the Rebbe Maharash. The story goes as follow (paraphrased):
The Rebbe Maharash would have personal ...
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Source for this Vilna Gaon?
With the recent events surrounding Russia and Ukraine, I happened to come across this article:
The worrying escalation in military tension has been cited by scholars as the fulfilment of Vilna Gaon's ...
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Rav Sa'adyah Gaon Rolling in Snow?
There is a well-known claim that Rav Sa'adyah Gaon would roll in snow daily due to an earlier incident (see, e.g., here). According to this article, the story first appears in the late 1700s. Is ...
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Story ID: Woman named Chagigah
I remember hearing/seeing a מעשה about someone who constantly reviewed מסכת חגיגה to the point of knowing it בעל פה.
One day he died and no one knew about it,
when an unknown woman suddenly appeared ...
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Seeking source for story of someone who communicates from the next world about concepts not understood in this world
There is a story of 2 great Rabbis who made a pact between themselves that whoever died first would come back in a dream and tell the other one why certain bad things happened in the world. But when ...
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Story of the Shach and the Chmielnicki massacres
I heard a story in the name of Rav Shmuel Auerbach which is incredible, but I was hoping someone can confirm if it's true or not.
He says that during the times of the Shach (Sifsei Kohen commentary on ...
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Chofetz Chaim Story
Asking for someone else:
In the Artscroll "Pirkei Avos Treasury" they bring a story on the mishnah "All Israel has a share in Olam Haba." Someone asked the Chofetz Chaim if all ...
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Where is this quote from?
This is consistent with the dictum that a person should earn a living by “the labor of [his] hands,” rather than accepting a scholar’s stipend.
It is from Chabad.org (here) but where did it find the ...
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When should we not to correct the ignorant? Search for sugya in Masechet Shabbat
I am searching for a sugya in Masechet Shabbat relating to two Rabbis who did not correct the towns people in relation to wearing certain type of footwear because they were concerned that if corrected,...
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Oft-Repeated Rabbi and East to West Distance Story, what's the source?
There are countless references to this story, often in the context of teshuvah:
There once was a rabbi who said to his students: “we are as far from where God wants us to be as East is from West”? And ...
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Source for a quotation from a Rabbi (or Jewish story)
My apologies if this question isn't within the typical scope of this site. I'm trying to locate the source of a quotation I saved long ago, it was from I believe an academic text collecting various ...
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Story of a famous rav and a questioner
There’s a wonderful, supposedly true story about a revered rabbi. A woman comes to him with a Halachic question. According to the story, the question was not a very sophisticated one. Indeed, the ...
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Source for story of how Lubavitcher Rebbe returned a letter with all the "I"s circled
I have heard the following story, where the "sage" in question was the Lubavitcher Rebbe, and am trying to track down a more authoritative source. So far the only written reference I have ...
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Source for the statement that there's a message in everything a Jew sees or hears?
I heard or read once that, according to Hasidic masters, there was a message one should learn from in everything a Jew sees or hears in a given day. I often think of it when faced with unusual ...
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Is there a rabinical ruling where coins that circulate decides who the legitimate king is?
I've heard there is a story. The story is that David got angry to a civilian because the civilian doesn't obey him.
However, he is told by somebody that his coins didn't circulate yet.
So the ...
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Source for story about origins of Chayei Adam
I recently heard a story that when the Vilna Gaon found out that the Alter Rebbe made his own Shulchan Aruch (Shulchan Aruch HaRav), he told his relative (through marriage) Rav Avraham Danzig to write ...
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Which Rav was this?
I heard a rabbi tell a famous true story of a certain other rabbi. A black man broke into his house in the middle of the night and demanded at gunpoint all of the rabbi’s money/valuables. The rabbi ...
user24573
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Looking for source of story about the Noda Beyehuda and the Baal Shem Tov
I'm looking for a source of a supposed conversation between the Node Beyehuda and the Baal Shem Tov regarding the reliablitiy of a mystical 'halachic sixth sense' in halacha. It involved the Baal Shem ...
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During which plague did the Baal Shem Tov advise writing a Sefer Torah
The United for Protection campaign says:
In the times of the Baal Shem Tov a terrible disease swept through his town of Mezibush. (…)
Only by uniting together in the creation of a new Torah scroll, ...
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Source for a Rashi gem story
There's a well-known and widely repeated story that Rashi's father Reb Yitzchak deliberately threw a jewel into the sea, intending to make this appear accidental.
What's the origin of this story?
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R. Meir and Reish Lakish on Gan Eden and Gehinnom
I remember reading humble statements by both R. Meir and Reish Lakish, saying about themselves that they would probably need to go through Gehinnom to some degree, because of unknown sins and ...
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Story of surgery in the Gemara
I remember hearing about a story in the Gemara where a "surgery" was done on someone who was very overweight, and they ended up removing an amount of fat that doctors nowadays cant do.
Does ...
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Source for Rav Shach story (bentsching from a book from age 100)
In Torah Tidbits, issue 1372, Rabbi Shalom Rosner wrote, in part:
When Rav Shach turned 100, he told his students that he was going to accept upon himself a new resolution. The students were ...
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Source of a story about Rav Salanter and limited time to learn Torah
Is there an authentic source for the below story?
The story is told of a man who asked Rabbi Yisroel Salanter a question. "Rebbi, I have only 15 minutes a day to learn Torah. What should I study?" ...
user17319
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Source for story about a boy who asked to be given a scar on his face instead of it being given to his wife [closed]
I remember once hearing a story, the gist of which is:
Once there was a young girl who was going to be mugged/ accosted by a bandit. A similar aged boy saw what was about to happen, and was able to ...
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Deceased individuals appearing after death
Inspired by this answer:
Are there any documented stories of deceased people appearing after death to live people? [I am not looking for stories where someone dead appeared in a dream]
The Gemara in ...
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Story identification: Rabbeinu Tam argues with Moshe Rabbeinu
In this answer, a strange and rather fascinating story is quoted from the Seder Hadoros:
Seder Hadoros (year 4930) brings the story of an argument between
Rabeynu Tam and other Rishonim regarding ...
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Source of story about the Vilna Gaon and immigration policy
Internet Judaism gadfly Dov Bear related the following story about the Vilna Gaon on Facebook, saying he'd heard it somewhere, and asked if anyone knows a source for it.
The great Gaon of Vilna sat ...
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Source for a Chassidic story
I recall this story about a rebbe who is given a Sefer by some Malach. Or maybe he wrote it himself, I don't remember. He tells his chassidim that if any of them copy it, they will be sent to gehinom. ...
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Translation of Pichifkes
Rav Henoch Teller has a book titled Pichifkes (most of which can be read here) on stories of Divine Providence. What does "Pichifkes" mean?
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Source for a story about the Mir Yeshiva on the train to Shanghai?
I remember hearing a story told by R' Hershel Schachter about the
Mir Yeshiva's journey to Shanghai, that took place on the train ride from Eastern Europe to Shanghai.
The gist of the story is that ...
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Source for parable about two twins in the womb
I once heard/read a parable about two babies in their mother's womb. It goes something like this.
Two twins in the womb are speaking of the world to come, one believes it exists, the
other not. ...
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Origin of pigs as a species
I heard an explanation about pigs that they were not included in Noah's ark. They were in fact from worms. One ate the other and kept growing.
Is there any authentic source for this?
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Elijah and the dying man
I remember reading long ago that the prophet Elijah sometimes will appear to a dying man pretending to be a beggar asking charity, to give the man one last chance of doing an act of tzedakah. Is this ...
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Story about a soldier promising to go to yeshiva
I remember hearing a story about Shlomo Zalman Auerbach with a soldier who had a near death experience and promised Hashem that if he was saved he would go to yeshivah, but since he waited a couple of ...
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Story of Megaddalela, rabbi tells man to marry woman of ill-repute
I once read a story in the Talmud about a woman of ill-repute named Megaddalela, whom a rabbi told a man to marry. I used it for a research project and can no longer find the original source. And I do ...
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Story of the "marching" version of the song Kel Adon
I recall once hearing that a chassidic rebbe composed a marching-style tune for the Shabbat piyut Kel Adon. This was the closest thing I could find to the tune. I found very few references to it ...
- 13.6k