thetakeaway@jtslibrary

Abraham, Sarah and Abimelech -- in Genesis 20

2011-12-19T17:17:00.004-05:00

Question: A pastor from a small Florida town requested the Jewish explanation of the obscure term "kesut einayim" in Genesis 20:16. He also wanted an explanation of how 1,000 pieces of silver could clear Sarah's reputation, and what was its significance in the context of ancient Near Eastern law and custom.

Answer: Although this term is often translated as "vindication", its literal meaning is "covering of the eyes."

Nahum Sarna's The JPS Torah Commentary: Genesis (1989) provides a succinct summary of the literal and figurative meanings of this phrase (p. 144). The ArtScroll Tanach Series commentary on Genesis by Zlotowitz provides a variety of explanations by a range of classical rabbinic commentators. For example:

According to Rashbam, the 1,000 pieces of silver refers to the dowry Abimelech gave Abraham (Sarah's supposed brother) demonstrating Abimelech's honorable intention to legally marry Sarah. Regarding "kesut einayim" Rashi says "The gifts I have given to you will serve to close the eyes of all those who would otherwise have regarded you contemptuously" (Artscroll p. 738)--again emphasizing Abimelech's honorable intentions, the restoration of Sarah's honor and the removal of any disgrace. R' Bachya and Rav Yehudah bar Ilia emphasize the literal meaning of "kesut": a garment. Sarah should wear a garment which will distract the public from noticing her beauty, or a veil which will actually hide Sarah from public view.

Sarna refers us to Moshe Weinfeld's article "Sarah and Abimelech (Genesis 20) Against the Background of an Assyrian Law and the Genesis Apocryphon" in Mélanges Bibliques et Orientaux en l’Honneur de M. Mathias Delcor (1985). Weinfeld demonstrates how a text of Genesis Apocryphon found at Qumran partially verifies Cassuto's 1944 hypothesis that that the transfer of money from Abimelech to Abraham was a standard legal practice in the Middle East in such situations. This Qumran text includes an additional detail in the Abraham/Sarah/Abimelech narrative, which is absent in the Biblical text. An oath is uttered by Abimelech.

Weinfeld quotes a translation of Middle Assyrian Laws: “a man who takes a married woman on a . . . journey with him, without knowing that she is married, must make an oath to that effect [that he did not know she was married] and give two talents of tin to the woman’s husband (Middle Assyrian Laws, I, sect. 22)” p. 431. Weinfeld's conclusion: “we can assume that we have here a practice widespread over the ancient Near East for a period of more than a thousand years.” p. 432

An Interesting Image - Where Does It Come From?

2011-12-01T18:18:00.003-05:00

The above image was sent to the JTS Library. The sender did not know the source of the image. He wanted to know more about it and where it came from. Here is the analysis of the image that I wrote in response:

The design contains two quotes in RaShi script. They read as follows:
1]
Starting from the top left of the circle and heading left and downwards, the words read:

הענן לא היה יכול / לב[ו]א נסתלק ה / הענן נכנס ומדבר / עמו
the cloud he was not able / to enter when the cloud lifted he would enter and speak / with Him

The forward-slashes in my transcription represent spaces. The italicized letter represents the insertion of the first letter of the "word-following-the-space", at the end of the "group-of-words-coming-before-the-space", possibly to guide the reader as to which section to read next. The bracketed letter represents a letter that is found in the source text that I examined (i.e. RaSHI's commentary to the Humash)but is missing from the design.
These words of the design are a quote of some of RaShI’s commentary to Exodus 40:35. I have transcribed RaShi’s commentary from the Bar Ilan Responsa online database’s transcription of the Jerusalem 1959 edition of RaShi’s commentary (itself a reprint of the Vienna 1859 edition). RaShI’s comment here is based on Sifra (Beraita de-Rabi Yishmael, parshah 1, paragraph 8). RaShI’s comment reads as follows:

ולא יכול משה לבוא אל אהל מועד - וכתוב אחד אומר (במדבר ז פט) ובבא משה אל אהל מועד, בא הכתוב השלישי והכריע ביניהם, כי שכן עליו הענן, אמור מעתה כל זמן שהיה עליו הענן לא היה יכול לבוא, נסתלק הענן נכנס ומדבר עמו:
And Moshe was not able to enter the Tent of Meeting – But another verse states (Numbers 7:89) “and when Moshe entered the Tent of Meeting” [a seeming contradiction]? A third verse comes and resolves [the contradiction] between them “because the cloud rested on [the Tent of Meeting]”. We can now explain: as long as the cloud rested on [the Tent of Meeting], he [Moshe] was not able to enter. When the cloud lifted, he [Moshe] would enter and speak with Him:

The bolded words represent the portion of RaShI’s comment included in the design.

2]
Starting from the bottom right of the circle and heading right and upwards and then into the Star of David, the words read:

לעיני כל בני / י' / ישר[א]ל בכל מסעי/הם בכל מסע ש? / שהיו נוסעים ה[י]ה הענן שוכן ב / במקום אשר יחנו שם מקום ח / חנייתם אף הוא קרוי מסע וכן / וילך למס/עיו וכן / אלה מסעי לפי ש[מ]מ/קום הח/נייה חזרו / ונסעו ל / לפיכך / נקראו
Before the eyes of all the Children of Israel in all their journeys in every journey that they journeyed the cloud would rest in the place that they were to encamp the place that they encamped is also called a journey and so and he went according to his journeys and so these are the journeys because from the place of encampment they again journeyed therefore they were called

The meaning of the forward-slashes, small italicized letters, and brackets has been discussed above. The question mark signifies that the preceding letter is unclear and conjectured. The text in blue indicate words that deviate from the version found in the source text I examined.
This part of the design is a quote (with some minor differences) of most of RaShI’s commentary to Exodus 40:38:

לעיני כל בית ישראל בכל מסעיהם – בכל מסע שהיו נוסעים היה הענן שוכן במקום אשר יחנו שם. מקום חנייתן אף הוא קרוי מסע, וכן (בראשית יג ג) וילך למסעיו, וכן (במדבר לג א) אלה מסעי לפי שממקום החנייה חזרו ונסעו, לכך נקראו כולן מסעות:
Before the eyes of all the House of Israel in all their journeys - In every journey that they journeyed the cloud would rest in the place that they were to encamp. The place that they encamped is also called a “journey” and so [we find this expression used elsewhere, as in] “and he went according to his journeys” (Genesis 13:3) and so [as in] “these are the journeys” (Numbers 33:1). [The reason for the word journey being used to mean encampment is] because from the place of encampment they again journeyed, therefore [the places of encampment] were all called “journeys”:

Again, the bolded words represent the portion of RaShI’s commentary included in the design and the text in blue indicates differences from the wording or spelling found in the design.

Despite the identification of the text on which this design is based. We have not yet been able to find the source of the image or understand its significance. If anyone can assist us in doing so, please, let us know in the comments section. Thank you

Bibliography of the works of Rabbi Yaakov Hayim Sofer, rosh Yeshivat Kaf ha-Hayim - Part II

2011-10-03T14:21:00.002-04:00

The Bibliography

As I mentioned in a post on 7/18/2011, I have prepared a preliminary bibliography of the works of the contemporary rabbinic scholar, Rabbi Yaakov Hayim Sofer (rosh Yeshivat Kaf ha-Hayim in Israel). See that post for more information about Rabbi Sofer's writings and the methodology of the bibliography. Here is a link to a downloadable PDF of the bibliography:

https://www.yousendit.com/sharedFolder?phi_action=app/orchestrateSharedFolder&id=A4Y6wi9CEaUcHSVZD-Mk2ckQtjWm0JQWme6o8gT8lUU

Demons in the House?

2011-08-04T13:51:00.005-04:00

Question:

I'm moving to a new house, and friends begged me to be sure previous owners had not remodeled, causing doors or windows to be closed up. They urged me not to make such door or window changes either -- all because of Jewish law. I am not familiar with these laws, so please provide me with more information.

Answer:

This may suprise you, but your friend is probably urging you to avoid provoking demons.

According to Rabbi Yehudah HeChasid (of 12-century Germany) in his Sefer Chasidim: The Book of the Pious and his Ethical Will and Testament, translated by Avraham Finkel (Jason Aronson, 1997) demons travel via habitual and unwavering paths, and one must avoid blocking their paths. "...angels and demons cannot deviate from the route to which they are assigned" (p. 76). "One should not seal up a window or door completely, otherwise the demons that usually pass through these openings will cause harm. One should make a hole in the sealed door or window [to allow the demons passage]" (p. 378)

It may be difficult for many readers to take seriously the notion that demons exist and could harm us--or that these concepts are part of Judaism. Indeed, Finkel points out that "many of the instructions in Rabbi Yehudah's...ethical will...are based on Kabbalah and do not have the binding character of halachah" [Jewish law] (p. xxxiii).

Although Biblical, Rabbinic and Kabbalistic texts mention demons, the text of the Tanakh makes it clear that the source of misfortune is the Lord, and sorcery is not to be tolerated. Popular belief in demons has waxed and waned over the centuries, often reflecting the beliefs of surrounding communities. Notably, Maimonides and Ibn Ezra have rejected the the existence of demons. The article on "Demons and Demonology" in the Encyclopedia Judaica provides an overview on the topic of demons in Judaism, and how the concept has varied in different eras and geographic areas.

Joshua Trachtenberg, in Jewish Magic and Superstition (1939), prefaces his book saying that "alongside ...[the]... formal development [of Judaism] there was a constant elaboration of what we may call 'folk religion' -- ideas and practices that never met with the whole-hearted approval of the religious leaders, but which enjoyed such wide popularity that they could not be altogether excluded from the field of religion. Of this sort were the beliefs concerning demons and angels, and the many superstitious usages based on these beliefs...(p. vii). Trachtenberg discusses demons, and avoiding demons in the home, on pages 32-33.

A more recent scholarly treatment of the supernatural (including demons) in ancient rabbinic literature is Yuval Harari's "The sages and the occult" in The Literature of the Sages, part 2 (2006) p. 521-564.

Bibliography of the works of Rabbi Yaakov Hayim Sofer, rosh Yeshivat Kaf ha-Hayim - Part I

2011-07-18T10:17:00.007-04:00

Introduction

Rabbi Yaakov Hayim Sofer, rosh yeshivah of Yeshivat Kaf ha-Hayim in Yerushalayim (http://kafhahaim.streenet.com/he/home.htm), is a prolific author who writes on a myriad of topics relating to all aspects of Torah study (including important bio-bibliographic studies). His works are distinguished by a very impressive command of the entire corpus of rabbinic writings - from the writings of the Tanaim up until the writings of present day scholars.

Although Rabbi Sofer has published many works containing his own essays, much of his output has been in the form of extensive notes written on the works of previous scholars. These notes have often been published at the backs of new editions of these scholars’ publications. Contemporary scholars who receive approbations from Rabbi Sofer for their works are often rewarded with his comments on their book’s subject, appended to his approbation. These practices make the identification and collation of all Rabbi Sofer’s writings difficult. In addition, Rabbi Sofer shares his name with his grandfather, the famous posek and kabbalist who wrote Kaf ha-Hayim and other works. This may confuse some people.

In order to distinguish them, the Library of Congress authority file lists the contemporary rosh yeshivah as: “Sofer, Yaakov Haim”. The author of Kaf ha-Hayim is identified in the authority record as: “Sofer, Ya‘akov Hayim, 1869 or 70-1939”. Another difference recorded by the Library of Congress is that the contemporary rosh yeshivah is “ben Yitshak Shalom” whereas the author of Kaf ha-Hayim is “ben Yitshak Barukh”.

In order to assist in the recognition of the contemporary Rabbi Sofer’s writings, I have prepared a bibliography of his publications. It can only be said to be a preliminary bibliography since I have been unable to personally examine some of the works and editions. Furthermore, I have not taken what would, surely, be the great amount of time necessary to compare the contents of all the books and note what, if any, essays or notes appear in multiple publications. It is, also, to be presumed that many of Rabbi Sofer’s articles that have been published in periodical literature, have been reprinted in his self-published works. Again, I have not taken the time to ascertain when this has occurred. Finally, I am certain that due to their lack of mention in the databases I have consulted, I have completely omitted many of Rabbi Sofer’s articles printed in periodical literature.

I have divided the bibliography into three sections:
1) Books containing primarily Rabbi Sofer’s own writings
2) Books written primarily by other authors that have been published together with Rabbi Sofer’s notes and comments. Each section is arranged alphabetically. I have generally listed only the latest edition of each work, except where the Jewish Theological Seminary Library has only an earlier edition, in which case I have listed the edition that we have and the later edition. Where the JTS Library owns a copy of the work, I have noted the call number assigned to the item. Where the JTS Library does not own a copy, I have so noted.
3) Periodicals (and other collections of articles, such as festschriften) containing articles and notes written by Rabbi Sofer. The periodicals have been arranged alphabetically by periodical title and the articles within each periodical have been arranged alphabetically by article title.

In preparing the bibliography I made use of the list of Rabbi Sofer’s works published at the back of the various volumes of his work, Sefer Hadar Yaakov. I have also used the following catalogs and databases: JTS Library catalogue, JNUL catalogue, RAMBI, RAMBISH, COTAR, and the index to periodicals (and other collections of articles), on the "Bar Ilan ShuT Project CD" (version 15). I have also made use of the index to the journal Mekabtsiel (issues 1-30) published in v.30 (Adar II 5765) of that journal. I have, also, examined many of the works and items personally. I would like to thank my colleague, Ina Rubin Cohen, for her helpful suggestions of databases to search.

I intend, be-ezrat HaShem, to publish the bibliography on this blog over the coming weeks.

As mentioned above, there are certainly many lacunae to be found in this preliminary bibliography. (One desideratum is articles by Rabbi Sofer published in v.35-36 of Mekabtsiel, which I have been unable to examine.) I welcome any additions or corrections that can be supplied by our readers. I also welcome any biographical information regarding Rabbi Yaakov Hayim Sofer that can be supplied by our readers.

Digital Articles from Beit Mikra

2011-07-14T18:55:00.010-04:00

Question: How can I access a digital version of articles from the journal Beit Mikra, published by the World Jewish Bible Center?

Answer: Electronic access to selected Beit Mikra articles from the 1960's - 1980's is available from daat.ac.il here (by date) and here (alphabetically by author).

A quick way to access digitized Hebrew articles, including these Beit Mikra articles, is from the English/Hebrew Periodicals section of the website of the JTS Library

Beit Mikra is indexed in RAMBI without the full text -- RAMBI just provides the citations. Be sure to search RAMBI in the Hebrew alphabet to retrieve results for Beit Mikra.

Beit Mikra is also indexed in our subscription database ATLA/ATLAS, also just providing the citations. It includes articles published from 1998-2010. ATLA/ATLAS has transliterated the titles and authors of the Beit Mikra articles; you must search using the English alphabet. ATLA/ATLAS has spelled the journal "Bet Mikra".

On the JTS campus, you can access ATLA/ATLAS here. ATLA/ATLAS is available remotely to JTS students and faculty via our Remote Access service.

Rabbis During The Depression

2011-06-02T15:53:00.003-04:00

Question: I have a 1937 pamphlet published by Temple Emanu-el of Boro Park, Brooklyn, the synagogue of my childhood. This pamphlet was published to mark an anniversary of the synagogue's founding. There is no mention of any rabbis, past or present, in this pamphlet, and I am concerned that during the depression the synagogue was unable to hire a rabbi. This publication includes a history of the temple, it lists past & present presidents and committee members; it also inludes sections on educating oneself and one's children about Judaism. But no rabbis are mentioned at all!

Can you please tell me if Emanu-el had a rabbi during the depression years?

Answer: Temple Emanu-el certainly did have rabbis in the 1930's: The proceedings of the Rabbinical Assembly 1930-32 volume lists Rabbi Moses J. S. Abels as being at Temple Emanuel; the 1933-38 volumes list Rabbi Jesse Bienenfeld as being at Temple Emanuel. Who's Who in American Jewry (1938-39) states that Rabbi Abels served from 1927-1935 and Rabbi Bienenfeld served beginning in 1935.

Jewish Renewal Movement in Secular Israel

2011-05-22T22:38:00.007-04:00

Question: Can you recommend research materials on the recent interest in studying classical Jewish texts among secular Israelis.

Answer: The following resources focus your topic and have all been published within the last two years.

Ackerman, Ari. "Eliezer Schweid on the Religious Dimension of a Secular Jewish Renewal" Modern Judaism 30:2 (2010) p . 209-228.

Sheleg, Yair. מעברי ישן ליהודי חדש : רנסנס היהדות בחברה הישראלית Jerusalem, Ha-Makhon ha-Yisraeli lle-demokratyah, 2010.

Sheleg, Yair.

קץ המרד החילוני : מקהילות תפילה חדשניות, בתי מדרש חילוניים ותיקוני ליל שבועות אינטלקטואליים ועד חוגי קבלה, טורי פרשת שבוע, וחידוש פיוטי תפילה עתיקים על ידי זמרי פופ - ישראל עוברת רנסנס יהודי

דרשני

2 (2010) p. 10-16.

Werczberger, Rachel and Na'ama Azulay. "The Jewish Renewal Movement in Israeli Secular Society" Contemporary Jewry [forthcoming in 2011].

"Jewish Renewal in Israel" [3 articles in] Journal of Jewish Communal Service 85:1 (2010):

Hartmen, Donniel. "Renewing Jewish Identity in Israel" p. 73-76

Calderon, Ruth. "Tel Aviv and the Flowering of Jewish Renewal" p. 77-80.

Kelman, Naamah. "Seeding the Field of Jewish Renewal in Israel" p. 81-83.

When the wicked perish, there is song?

2011-05-16T17:24:00.003-04:00

Question:
I am searching for a rabbinic teaching in which God tells the angels not to rejoice over the destruction of the Egyptians at the Reed Sea. Would you help me locate an English translation of this teaching?

Answer:
The teaching can be found in the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin, folio 39b. Here is a copy of the Soncino translation(with notes)of the relevant passage (from here: http://www.halakhah.com/sanhedrin/sanhedrin_39.html#PARTb):

THEREFORE EVERY SINGLE PERSON etc. And there went out the song5 throughout the host:6 R. Aha b. Hanina said: [It is the song referred to in the verse.] When the wicked perish, there is song;7 [thus] when Ahab b. Omri perished there was 'song'. But does the Holy One, blessed be He, rejoice over the downfall of the wicked? Is it not written, [That they should praise] as they went out before the army, and say, Give thanks unto the Lord for His mercy endureth for ever;8 concerning which R. Jonathan asked: Why are the words, He is good9 omitted from this expression of thanks? Because the Holy One, blessed be He, does not rejoice in the downfall of the wicked.10 For R. Samuel b. Nahman said in R. Jonathan's name: What is meant by, And one approached not the other all night?11 In that hour the ministering angels wished to utter the song [of praise]12 before the Holy One, blessed be He, but He rebuked them, saying: My handiwork [the Egyptians] is drowning in the sea; would ye utter song before me!13 — Said R. Jose b. Hanina: He Himself does not rejoice, yet He causes others to rejoice. Scripture supports this too, for it is written, [And it shall come to pass, that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do good … so yasis will the Lord] cause rejoicing [over you by destroying you],14 and not yasus [so will the Lord rejoice etc.]15 This prove it.

1. [H], E.V. 'cry'.
2. I Kings XXII, 36, with reference to Ahab's death at Ramoth in Gilead.
3. [H] Prov. XI, 10.
4. II. Chron. XX, 21, with reference to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, when he went to engage in war with the Ammonites and Moabites.
5. [H], as in Ps. CVII, 1.
6. [H], can also be rendered 'it is good'.
7. Ex. XIV, 20.
8. Cf. Isa. VI, 3. And one (angel) called unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, etc.
9. The verse is thus taken to mean that one (angel) did not approach the other, calling upon him to join in the Song (Maharsha).
10. Deut. XXVIII, 63. [H], in the Hiphil (causative).
11. [H], in the Kal.

Dots in Rashi

2011-04-06T11:16:00.003-04:00

Question:
I am interested in the dots used to separate the various sections of Rashi's commentary to Torah and Talmud. Are these dots found in early printed editions of Rashi or are they a later innovation?
Answer:
There are two considerations in separators, one is the marker of the end of the lemma, the other is the marker of the end of the comment. Usage has not been consistent, but development may be seen. There is enough variation to suggest that a wider range may even be found in mss., but that would be another inquiry. In Rashi on the Torah, I looked at ed. Rome 1489/92 and Soncino 1487. Ed. Rome used no punctuation only spaces to separate lemmata and commentary, as well as divisions within commentary, nothing even at the end of a chapter. Soncino, OTOH, separated lemma with one dot and marked end of comment with two vertical ones or one. In Talmud, progress went from nothing after lemma to marking it. Soncino 1487 used one dot to mark end of comment. An unkown Spanish edition, ca. 1482, used two vertical dits or two horizontal ones (sometimes just one). Other printed edns. (random sampling of 16th & 17th cent., items) separated comments with two vertical dots, but did not mark end of lemmata, except for Cracow 1603 Pesahim which sometimes separated lemma with single dot. By the 18th cent., many editions separated comments with two dots and ended lemmata with single dot, e.g., Frankfurt a/M 1720, Berlin 1734, Sulsbach, 1766, and so into the 19th cent. (except that Slavuta 1817 did not mark end of lemmata). It should be noted that some editions also used spacing to separate comments. Also noteworthy is that single dots can come at top of line, bottom, and center.
(Answer provided by Dr. Jay Rovner, JTS Library's Manuscript Bibliographer.)

The Number Thirteen in Judaism

2011-03-31T16:19:00.007-04:00

Question: An ecumenical organization in our community is planning a Spring holiday event on April 13, and the Jewish part of the program will be a model seder. They would like to mention the significance of the number thirteen in connection with Passover, since the event is taking place on the 13th of the month. What should I tell them? Answer: The number thirteen has few connections to Passover and the seder. A notable exception is the Ehad Mi Yodea (Who Knows One) song traditionally sung at the end of the Seder. This song has thirteen stanzas and the thirteenth stanza proclaims there are thirteen attributes of God. The full text of God's thirteen attributes are recited during specific prayers over the course of the year, including during Yom Kippur, other fast days, and on the three Pilgrimage Festivals (Passover being one of these festivals). The number thirteen has a few other connections to Judaism in general, not specifically Passover: A boy becomes Bar Mitzvah at age thirteen. Maimonides summarized Jewish belief in his Thirteen Articles of Faith. In Ashkenazi tradition, the Yigdal hymn of 13 verses (based on Maimonides' Thirteen Articles of Faith) is recited during daily prayers. The ancient sage, Rabbi Ishmael, organized Biblical analysis into 13 Rules of Interpretation.

Tekhines

2011-03-17T17:25:00.010-04:00

Question: My Grandmother used to tell me how devout her mother in Europe was, frequently praying to the Almighty in Yiddish, in connection with major events in her life, in addition to the usual synagogue prayers. Although my synagogue's prayerbook includes a selection of blessings for specific occassions, I somehow feel this is not what my Grandmother was telling me about. How can I find out more information (in English) about those prayers?

Answer: Your great-grandmother may have been reciting tekhines, Yiddish supplicatory prayers, very personal and intimate prayers, often written by women, and certainly meant for women. Tekhines were an important part of Jewish women's spiritual lives in central and Eastern Europe from the 17th to the 20th century; they were published both in small booklets and as apppendices to prayerbooks (notably the Korban Minchah Siddur).

These prayers were typically composed for women's life-cycle events, holidays, sabbath and other special situations, such as: various situations during pregnancy, childbirth and nursing; on the occasion of a son's circumcision or bar mitzvah; when one's child is ill; or when one's husband is traveling. Tekhines "offered women a direct pipeline to God. The tone of tehines is conversational, addressing God respectfully but as a Yiddish-speaking friend or neighbor who will listen in time of need" (Berger, 1992)

In the last 20 years there has been renewed interest in tekhines in the scholarly community, and many tekines have been reprinted and translated into English collections along with historical background and analysis. Below is a listing of some of these editions; also listed are scholarly articles about the genre of tekhinos.

Interestingly, in 2005 ArtScroll published Ashkenazi and Sephardi siddur editions for women: Ohel Sarah Women's siddur. These are full daily, sabbath and festival prayerbooks, each with the same appendix of "Additional Prayers and Supplications." According to the publisher, these siddurim are meant to be "a Korban Minchah [siddur] for today" p. xix.

Resources in English for the Study of Tekhines:

Berger, Shulamith Z. "Tehines: A Brief Survey of Women's Prayers" Daughters of the King (1992) 73-83

Breger, Jennifer "Women's Devotional Literature: an Essay in Jewish Bibliography" Jewish Book Annual vol 52 (1994-1995) p73-98.

Cardin, Rabbi Nina Beth, ed. and tr. Out of the Depths I call to You: A Book of Prayers for the Married Jewish Woman. (1992)

Kay, Devra, translator, editor and commentator. Seyder Tkhines: The Forgotten Book of Common Prayer for Jewish Women. (2004)

Kay, Devra "An Alternative Prayer Canon for Women: the Yiddish 'Seyder Tkhines' " Zur Geschichte der jüdischen Frau in Deutschland (1993) 49-96

Klirs, Tracy Guren, compiler and commentator. The Merit of Our Mothers: A Bilingual Anthology of Jewish Women's Prayers. (1992)

Salmon-Mack, Tami. [On] Devra Kay, "Seyder Tkhines; the Forgotten Book of Common Prayer for Jewish Women" Nashim 12 (2006) p. 289-294.

Scherr, Robert S. "Voices from the Balcony" Conservative Judaism 54:3 (2002) p. 89-94

Tarnor, Norman, translator and commentator. A Book of Jewish Women's Prayers (1995)

Weinberger, Rabbi Dovid, compiler and annotator. Ohel Sarah Women's Siddur. With Special Prayers, Laws and Customs for Women. (2005)

Weissler, Chava. Traditional Yiddish Literature: A Source for the Study of Women's Religious Lives. (Jacob Pat Memorial Lecture, 1987)

Weissler, Chava. " 'Tkhines' for the Sabbath Before the New Moon." Jewish Studies at the Turn of the Twentieth Century II (1999) 406-412

Weissler, Chava. "Women's Studies and Women's Prayers: Reconstructing the Religious History of Ashkenazic Women" Jewish Social Studies, New Series 1:2 (1995) p. 28-47

Weissler, Chava "The 'Tkhines' and Women’s Prayer" CCAR Journal 40,4 (1993) 75-88

Weissler, Chava. " 'Mizvot' Built into the Body: 'Tkhines' for 'Niddah', Pregnancy, and Childbirth" People of the Body (1992) 101-115

Weissler, Chava. Prayers in Yiddish and the Religious World of Ashkenazic Women" Jewish Women in Historical Perspective (1991) 159-181

The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia

2011-03-10T17:37:00.014-05:00

Question: Our family has an illustrated encyclopedia, the Universal Jewish Encyclopedia. I seldom see references to this set and I wonder if it is of any use today.

Answer: The articles in the Universal Jewish Encyclopedia are not as scholarly as those in the Jewish Encyclopedia (originally published 1901-1906) or as those in the Encyclopedia Judaica (originally published in 1972, and now available in an updated second edition--2007--in printed format and electronically to JTS faculty, students and other subscribers). The intended readers of the Universal Jewish Encyclopedia were laymen.

Important goals of its editors were to combat antisemitism and to improve Jewish-Gentile relations, and therefore its articles emphasized interfaith relations. In fact, the main editor, Isaac Landman, had organized an interfaith group, the Permanent Commission on Better Understanding between Christians and Jews, as a result of his awareness of the vulnerability of Eastern European Jewry at the close of World War I.

As a result of this perspective, the Universal Jewish Encyclopedia provides an important window into American Jewish life in the 1930's and the beginning of World World II. In addition, it provides information on events and people who were of importance at the time, but whose significance was eclipsed in later decades. It would of particular use to a student of American Jewish history, or of political and social aspects of the American Jewish community.

Although publication of this encyclopedia was completed in 1944, its text was completed approximately two years earlier. Therefore the articles describe only the beginnings of the destruction of European Jewry. The juxtapostion of its emphasis on American Jewry with the facts of World War II which were ocurring as the printing presses were rolling, is disturbing.

More information about this enyclopedia, and other Jewish encyclopedias, is available in Shimeon Brisman's A History and Guide to Judaic Encyclopedias and Lexicons (1987). The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia (10 volumes, New York, 1939-1944) is available in the Encyclopedia Room of the Reference Collection, DS102.8 .U5 in The Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary.

Educational Materials Related to the Haftarot

2011-03-08T11:05:00.003-05:00

Question:

Would you suggest educational materials related to the Haftarot?

Answer:

Here is a list of some educational materials related to the Haftarot:

- Chiel, Arthur A. Guide to Sidrot and Haftarot [New York : Ktav Pub. House, 1971]

- Cogan, Lainie Blum. Teaching Haftarah : background, insights and strategies [Denver : A.R.E. Publishing, 2002]

- Fishbane, Michael. Haftarot : the traditional Hebrew text with the new JPS translation[Philadelphia : The Jewish Publication Society, 2002] – with commentary by Michael Fishbane

- Goldstein, Elyse. The women's haftarah commentary : new insights from women rabbis on the 54 weekly haftarah portions, the 5 megillot & special Shabbatot [Woodstock, Vt. : Jewish Lights Publishing, c2004]

- Hirsch, Samson Raphael. Hirsch commentary on the Torah [Brooklyn, N.Y. : Judaica Press, [2005], c1966] - 6 vol., including one on Haftarot

- Lieber, Laura Suzanne. Study guide to the JPS Bible commentary : Haftarot [Philadelphia : Jewish Publication Society, 2002]

- Rosenberg, Stephen (Stephen G.). The Haphtara cycle : a handbook to the Jewish year [Northvale, NJ : Jason Aronson, 2000]

- Scharfstein, Sol. [Sefer hafṭarot] = The book of Haftarot for Shabbat, festivals and fast days : an easy-to-read translation with commentary [Jersey City, NJ : Ktav Pub. House, 2007]

- Weissman, Moshe. Sefer hafṭarot = The Midrash says on the weekly haftaros [Brooklyn, N.Y. : Benei Yakov Publications, c1993-]

Terminology: Ashkenazic or Ashkenazi; Sephardic or Sephardi

2011-02-24T16:16:00.007-05:00

Question: In an essay I am writing, I am describing the handwriting of medieval Hebrew manuscripts from Spain. Should I use the descriptive term Sephardic or Sephardi? Likewise, in describing manuscripts from Germany would the appropriate term be Ashkenazi or Ashkenazic?

Answer: All four terms are used in scholarly books and journals when referring to Hebrew manuscripts.

The Oxford English Dictionary (online version accessed 22 February 2011) includes entries for both Ashkenazic and Sephardic, both as adjectives. There is an entry for Sephardi, but it is defined primarily as a noun, “A Spanish or Portuguese Jew” . There is no entry for Ashkenazi, although ironically OED uses this term in its definitions and etymologies of other entries!
Other English-language dictionaries include entries for all four terms.

The 2011 JTS Style Guide, issued by the JTS Communications Department, lists Ashkenazi and Sephardi in its section on transliterated words.

In short, if your editor requires all your terminology to be in the English language, I suggest you use Ashkenazic and Sephardic which have been fully incorporated into the English language as adjectives. Alternatively, if you have the option of using transliterated Hebrew words, you may prefer to use the terms Ashkenazi and Sephardi.

Finding Book Reviews in Digitized Journals

2011-02-10T16:11:00.019-05:00

Question: How can I find English & Hebrew book reviews of specific scholarly books published in the last few decades?

Answer: Use the following article databases to locate book reviews:

RAMBI:
1. Use BASIC SEARCH, SUBJECT STARTING WITH...
2. Type the name of the author [of the book to be reviewed], last name first, in the SEARCH FOR box. The results list will specify the title of the book reviewed, followed by (Review) or (ביקורת).

Although the results list may list both English and Hebrew reviews, to be absolutely sure you retrieve all the reviews search twice: once spelling the author's name in English, and a second time spelling the author's name in Hebrew.

ATLA/ATLAS Religion Database:
1. Use ADVANCED SEARCH
2. Type the author's last name in the first text box [author of the book to be reviewed]
3. Type the first few words of the title in the second text box

PROJECT MUSE:
1. Choose BROWSE JOURNALS tab
2. Choose BROWSE SUBJECT HEADINGS FOR ARTICLES from left-hand margin of screen
3. Type the author's last name, comma, first name in the text box [author of the book to be reviewed]

The results list will specify the author & titles of each book reviewed, followed by the number of reviews.

INDEX to JEWISH PERIODICALS:
1. Type short title of the book in the text box

JSTOR:
1. Use ADVANCED SEARCH (Mouse over search option to reveal Advanced Search)
2. In the text box, type: rt: "short title of the book whose review you want"
Be sure to include the colon after rt, and put the title in quotes.
3. If you retrieve reviews of various books with the same title, you can also type, in the next text box:
ra: last name of author of book whose reviews you want.
For example, if you want reviews of Moshe Idel's book Kabbalah: New Perspectives, in the first text box type:
rt: "Kabbalah New Perspectives"
In the second text box type:
ra: Idel

Click on the image below to enlarge it

Please access these subscription databases from our Online Resources pages (when on campus) or via Remote Access when off campus, using your JTS email ID and password. Rambi is freely available to all, courtesy of the Jewish National Library in Jerusalem.

Academic Blogs on Jewish Studies

2011-02-07T11:28:00.002-05:00

Recently, an article by Heidi Lerner, entitled: “Online Resources for Talmud Research, Study, and Teaching”, was published in: AJS Perspectives : The Magazine of the Association for Jewish Studies [Fall 2010 – p.46-47]. The following blogs that deal with Jewish Studies from an academic perspective were recommended:

- http://academictalmud.blogspot.com/
- http://menachemmendel.net/blog/
- http://onthemainline.blogspot.com/

To this list, I would add the following blog:

- http://www.seforim.blogspot.com/

Can any readers suggest (in the comments section) other academic Jewish Studies blogs that may be of interest?

Cross-dressing

2011-01-24T11:43:00.004-05:00

Question:
I am interested in learning what traditional Judaism has to say about the following Biblical verse: "A woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment; for whosoever doeth these things is an abomination unto the LORD thy God" (Deuteronomy 22:5 - translation: Jewish Publication Society, 1917). Would you give me a basic overview of the subject and recommend some sources that discuss this matter?

Answer:
Deuteronomy 22:5 and the laws derived from it, are discussed (among other places), in the following rabbinic works:
- Sifre, Devarim, piska 226
- Talmud Bavli, Nazir 58b-59a
- RaMBaM's Mishneh Torah, Sefer Mada, Hilkhot Avodah Zarah, chpt. 12, halakhot 9-10
- Sefer ha-Hinukh, mitzvah 542 and 543
- Shulhan Arukh, Yoreh Deah, chpt. 182

For a short, historically oriented, overview, in English of the topic, see Louis M. Epstein’s Sex Laws and Customs in Judaism [New York : Bloch, 1948 – p.64-67].

According to Jewish law, it is forbidden for a male to wear a “female-type” garment or for a female to wear a “male-type” garment. Furthermore, it is generally forbidden for males to engage in certain female practices - such as shaving the armpits or dyeing the hair, or for a female to engage in certain male practices - such as bearing weapons. This is a very general overview of the laws involved. There is much discussion in rabbinic texts regarding (among other things):
- which practices are forbidden from the Torah and which are forbidden by rabbinic decree;
- whether the intent of the person doing the act makes a difference in the law (e.g. is it permissible for a woman to put on a man’s garment to protect her from the rain);
- to what extent the customs of a particular place effect what is considered a male or female garment or act;
- if there is any reason to permit the temporary cross-dressing often done on Purim.

The modern work, Sefer Kedushat Yisrael, by Rabbi Itamar ben Aharon Mahfud [Ashdod : Itamar Mahfud ; Yavneh : ʻAmutat "Binah la-shavim", 765 (2005) – chpt. 6], has an extensive discussion (with many citations) of the issues. All queries related to actual practice should, of course, be directed to a competent Rabbinic authority.

Jews and the American Revolution

2011-01-10T13:46:00.003-05:00

Question:
Would you recommend books that discuss the contribution of Jews (besides the famous Haym Salomon) to the Revolutionary War?

Answer:
Here are a list of books owned by the JTS library that deal with the connections between Jews and the American Revolutionary War:
- Hirschfeld, Fritz. George Washington and the Jews [Newark : University of Delaware Press, c2005]
- Schwartz, Laurens R. Jews and the American Revolution : Haym Salomon and others [Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland & Co., 1987]
- Korn, Bertram Wallace. Jews and the revolutionary struggle for American freedom [Philadelphia, Pa. : Gratz College, 1975]
- Rezneck, Samuel. Unrecognized patriots : the Jews in the American Revolution [Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 1975]
- Marcus, Jacob Rader. The Jew and the American Revolution [Cincinnati : American Jewish Archives, c1974]
- Peters, Madison Clinton. The Jews who stood by Washington : an unwritten chapter in American history [New York : The Trow Press, 1915]

Library Open House

2010-12-21T14:33:00.002-05:00

The Library hosted an open house on December 14, featuring many treasures of The Library including historic kettubot, Biblical and religious prints by the artist Bernard Picart, the digitized diaries of Mordecai Kaplan, and much more.

A wonderful write up can be found by one of the attendees on her blog, Healing and Hope 2011.

Enjoy a photo slideshow of the event below:

Confusing Rabbinic Citation

2010-12-16T16:11:00.002-05:00

Question: I am confused about references to Kelim and Baba Metzia, and I can't find the text in either tractate. The citation I have is: Kelim Baba Metzia Chapter 4 Halacha 3.

Answer: This is a citation to the Baba Metzia "section" of tractate Kelim of Tosefta. Perhaps you are not finding the citation because you tried looking in the Mishna (Tractate Kelim in Seder Tohorot, or Tractate Baba Metzia in Seder Nezikin), or in the Talmud...

Because of its large size, Tosefta Kelim is divided into three sections: Kelim Baba Kama, Kelim Baba Metzia and Kelim Baba Batra (first gate, middle gate and final gate). Each of these sections is divided into perakim (chapters), which in turn are divided into halachot (laws).

These three sections of tractate Kelim in Seder Tohorot should not be confused with the three tractates in Seder Nezikin, also called Baba Kama, Baba Metzia and Baba Batra. Scholars theorize that there had originally been a tractate Nezikin in Seder Nezikin, which had been divided into these three sections, but the overarching title had become eclipsed with time, and the sections became tractates in their own right.

Kelim is the only tractate of the Tosefta with this type of tripartate "gate" arrangement. This arrangement has not survived into the Mishna, which divides tractate Kelim directly into chapters and mishnayot like all the other tractates of the Mishna. There is no Gemera for Kelim.

Ramat Yishai

2010-12-13T16:26:00.003-05:00

Question:
Would you tell me where to look to obtain information about the early history of a town in Israel known as Ramat Yishai?

Answer:
With gratitude to Dr. Avraham Holtz for locating these sources:
- Erets-Yisrael Entsiklopedyah (spine title: Entsiklopedyah Erets-Yisrael) [Yerushalayim : Reuven Mas, 1955], v.4, p.875: entry on Ramat Yishai gives a short history of the yishuv (settelment).
- Ariel : Entsiklopedyah le-Yediat Erets Yisrael [Tel Aviv : Am Oved, 1982], Supplementary Volume 1, p. 560: picture of Ramat Yishai’s local council’s seal, containing a drawing of the first building built there.

Jewish Journalism

2010-12-08T12:54:00.016-05:00

Question: Can you recommend resources on Jewish journalism, especially on how Jewish journalism has impacted the Jewish community. I need both primary resources and secondary resources (including back issues of Jewish periodicals, especially the New York Jewish Week).

Answer: The JTS Library holds back issues of many Jewish newspapers from the US and other countries; to get an idea of the breadth of our collection search our catalog using ADVANCED SEARCH. Type newspaper? in the text box. In the LIMIT SEARCH TO section, for FORMAT choose SERIALS. The question mark after the word newspaper is not an accident; it is a "wild card" designation meant to include additional letters at the end of the word--thereby retrieving listings for both newspaper and newspapers.

The JTS Library holds selected issues of the New York Jewish week from 1993-2001. The New York Public Library Jewish Division has prepared an index to the Jewish Week for 1993-2001.

However, the quickest way to access full-text articles from Jewish newspapers published in the last 20 years is to use the Ethnic NewsWatch database, available at the New York Public Library's research sites, many of the branch libraries, and at many universities.

Regarding the secondary literature, I suggest you use the RAMBI index. Use BASIC SEARCH - KEYWORDS IN SUBJECT and type periodicals in the text box. To focus on one country, for example the United States, specify SUBJECT STARTING WITH and type USA: periodicals.

The Berman Jewish Policy Archive, at NYU, provides full-text articles on journalsim and the Jews. A typical article available is Barbara Kirschenblatt-Gimblett's "Participatory Journalism" published in Jewish Family and Life (June 2005).

The ProQuest Dissertatons and Theses database (available on the JTS campus, and remotely for JTS faculty/students) includes full-text documents on your topic; do a BASIC search on these terms: journalism AND judaic studies

Two other indexes to check are: Index to Jewish Periodicals, and Jewish Studies Source (a very new full-text database).

Here are a selection of books and theses in the JTS Library about Jewish journalism:

The Religious Press in America by Martin E. Marty [and others] (1963)
PN4888 R4 R4

A People In Print: Jewish Journalism In America (1987)
PN5650 P46 1987

Forward: The Jewish Daily Forward (Forverts) Newspaper: Immigrants, Socialism and Jewish Politics in New York, 1890-1927 by Ehud Manor (2009) PN 4885 Y54 F6713 2009

The Creation of a Jewish Cartoon Space in the New York and Warsaw Yiddish Press by Edward A. Portnoy (2008) NC1420 P67 2009

Grandma Never Lived in America: The New Journalism of Abraham Cahan compiled by Roses Rischen (1985) F128.9 J5 C35 1985

Making Jews Modern: The Yiddish and Ladino Press in the Russian and Ottoman Empires by Sara Abrevaya Stein (2004) PN5274 S786 2004

The Rise and Decline of the Yiddish-American Press by Sidney J. Weissberger (1982) PN4885 Y5 W4

European Dissertations

2010-11-24T17:41:00.005-05:00

Question: I would like to access dissertations submitted to European universities, in particular K. Wolff's 2009 dissertation submitted to Leiden University entitled "Bal Tashchit: The Jewish Prohibition Against Needless Destruction"

Answer: Although a great many dissertations are available via JTS's subscription to ProQuest Dissertations, this one is not included. However, the DART-Europe E-theses Portal provides additional access to European dissertations, some of them available in full text, at no charge.

As of November 2010 Woff has made available the beginning, the conclusions, and a summary (all in English) of his Bal Tashchit dissertation; in June 2011 the full text will be available.

Badeken

2010-11-22T17:34:00.004-05:00

Question: What is the source for the custom of "badeken" - the hatan (groom) covers the face of the kalah (bride) with a veil, prior to the marriage ceremony?

Answer: Various reasons and sources are given for this custom. the most fundamental may be that which is indicated in Tosafot (Tractate Yoma 13b s.v. le-hada amar lah) and cited in Shulhan Arukh by ReMA (Even ha-Ezer, chpt. 55, paragraph 1). There are two stages to Jewish marriage: arusin and nisuin. Arusin is, nowadays, usually accomplished by the hatan giving the kalah a ring. There are various opinions regarding how nisuin is accomplished. The custom is therefore to do as many potential acts of nisuin as possible. According to Tosafot, the covering of the kalah with the hinuma (veil) is an act of nisuin. This may be the source for the custom of badeken. To learn more about this custom and Jewish marriage see the following:
http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/477333/jewish/Badeken-Veiling.htm
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=995&letter=B
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=215&letter=M

Project Ben Yehuda

2010-11-15T13:00:00.007-05:00

Question: I would like to research the development of the modern Hebrew language, as seen through translations of world literature into Hebrew. Unfortunately I am not located near a research library with Hebrew books. Can you help me access these texts.

Answer: You could start your research with the Translations section of Project Ben Yehuda. This website is a collection of early modern Hebrew writings, including fiction, essays, poetry, drama and translations.

It includes Hebrew translations of worldwide authors such as Homer, Schiller, Heine, Byron, Rudyard Kipling, Pushkin, Baudelaire, Oscar Wilde, and others.

Most of the texts on Project Ben Yehuda are no longer under copyright; those still under copyright have been made available with permission from the copyright holder. In Israel copyright extends 70 years after the death of the author.

A serious study on the translation of world literature into Hebrew would require that you consult Jewish Translation History: A Bibliography of Bibliographies and Studies, by Robert Singerman (2002) REF Z 6514 J48 J49 2002. This comprehensive work will refer you to both lists of translations, and to studies about translation. Chapter 5 "Translations into Hebrew, 1850-2000" will be particularly relevant. This books is available in over 150 libraries throughout the world; you can identify the closest location by using worldcat.org.

"Rabbi, Teacher and Preacher"

2010-11-08T16:20:00.005-05:00

A question was received at the JTS Library's Reference Desk:

The Jewish Theological Seminary's certificate of rabbinical ordination proclaims the recepient as worthy of being a "rabbi, teacher and preacher". What is the history of this phrase and why was it chosen?

So far our inquiries have not turned up any relevant information on this matter. If anyone has information on this topic, we are interested in hearing from you in the "Comments" section. Thank you.

A Dire Medical Diagnosis--Should We Tell the Patient?

2010-10-28T16:47:00.005-04:00

Question:
Where can I find a summary of Jewish law on the the issue of whether or not to tell a seriously ill patient the truth, or the entire truth, regarding his medical condition?

Answer: The Encyclopedia of Jewish Medical Ethics, compiled and written by Avraham Steinberg and translated by Fred Rosner (Feldheim, 2003) includes a section entitled "Disclosure of Illness to the Patient" in vol. 1, p. 317-328. Steinberg covers multiple aspects of this issue by tracing relevant Jewish sources from the Tanakh, Talmud, codes, commentaries and Responsa (both early and current opinion). He also provides medical, scientific, and secular ethical background.

This monumental 3-volume encyclopedia is an excellent resource for all aspects of Jewish biomedical ethics; Steinberg earned the 1999 Israel Prize for producing this work.

The Encyclopedia of Jewish Medical Ethics is available in the Encyclopedia Room of the JTS Library at R 135.5 S6713 2003.

2010-10-21T18:03:00.010-04:00

Question: I saw a reference to Ms. 16 at the Breslau Seminary in a Jewish Quarterly Review article published in 1891 (I. Abrahams "Jewish Ethical Wills" JQR vol. 3 no. 3, p. 483). Which seminary is this, and where can I find that manuscript today?

Answer: The seminary was the Juedisch-Theologosches Seminar in Breslau, the "first modern rabbinical seminary in Central Europe" according to the Jewish Virtual Library.

The Breslau ms 16 is currently at the Jewish National and University Library is Jerusalem, and is now known as JNUL ms 28° 2264.

The history of the Breslau Hebrew manuscript collection is in Benjamin Richler's invaluable Guide to Hebrew Manuscript Collections (Jerusalem, 1994), p 24. The core of the Breslau collection was formed by the gift of 69 manuscripts from Leon Saraval; other donations were from Bernhard Beer and Raphael Kirchheim. By World War II the collection held 405 Hebrew manuscripts. During the war the manuscripts were confiscated by the Nazis, and dispersed to multiple locales including a Gestapo cellar. Various research institutions now hold many of the manuscripts, and Richler has conveniently listed the current locations of approximately one half of the collection in Appendix V, p. 213.

Richler's Guide describes the histories, catalogs, and outstanding holdings of hundreds of collections, allowing researchers to trace the wanderings of the manuscripts and to match up older manuscript references with later catalogs, numbering systems and locations. Updates and corrections are available from the Institute of Microfilmed Hebrew Manuscripts.

Richler's Guide is available at the Jewish Theological Seminary Library Reference Desk.

Number of Words and Letters in Torah, Neviim, and Ketuvim

2010-10-18T13:37:00.005-04:00

As a follow up to my blog post of Monday, October 11, 2010: "Number of Verses in Neviim and Ketuvim", I was informed by JTS professor Dr. David Marcus, that the following article has tables showing word and letter counts for the books of the TaNaKh (Hebrew Bible): “What Did the Scribes Count?” by Francis I. Andersen and A. Dean Forbes. This article is found as Appendix A (p.297-318) in the work Studies in Hebrew and Aramaic Orthography [Winona Lake, Indiana : Eisenbrauns, 1992].

2010-10-14T17:15:00.004-04:00

Question: The prayer for rain is recited annually during the Musaf Amidah (Ashkenazi rite) on Shemini Atzeret. Has there been any recent academic research on this prayer?

Answer: The prayer for rain is treated briefly in the "Af Beri" article in The Encyclopedia of Jewish Prayer by Macy Nulman (1993), and in the 1993 translation (Jewish Liturgy: A Comprehensive History) of Ismar Elbogen's earlier work.

Brigitte Kern-Ulmer discusses rain as theological redemption and regeneration, as understood in early rabbinic texts: "Consistency and Change in Rabbinic Literature as Reflected in the Terms Rain and Dew" in Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic and Roman Period v 26, no 1 (April 1995), p. 55-75. The article focuses on the general prayer for rain, not specifically the Shemini Atzeret prayer.

Micahel Rand looks at the Shemini Atzeret prayer from a completely different point of view. He analyses paytan Eliezer Kallir's attempt to provide a rational meteorological explanation for the production of rain, based on Kallir's understanding of earlier rabbinic midrashim. The article is "Clouds, Rain and the Upper Waters: From Bereshit Rabbah to the Piyyutim of Eleazar be-Rabbi Qullir" in Aleph v 9, no. 1 (2009) p. 13-39.

Number of Verses in Neviim and Ketuvim

2010-10-11T16:19:00.003-04:00

Question:
I am interested in knowing how many verses are in each of the books that comprise the Neviim (Prophets) and the Ketuvim (Writings) in the TaNaKh (Bible). The editions that I consulted do not give me that data. Would you recommend an edition that will give me that information?

Answer:
In those editions of the TaNaKH that contain masoretic notes (see here for information on the Masoretes and their notes: http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=246&letter=M&search=masorah), the verse-counts for each of the books that comprise the Neviim and Ketuvim can be found at the end of each book. A popular edition of the TaNaKH that records masoretic notes is: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia [Stuttgart : Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1997].

Sifra, Sifre, and Sifrei

2010-09-16T15:36:00.006-04:00

Question: What is the difference bewteen Sifra, Sifre, and Sifrei?

Answer: Sifra ספרא is an halakhic midrash on Leviticus, and is also known as Torah Kohanim or Sifra de-Vei Rav.

Passages from Sifra are usually cited from I. H. Weiss's edition (Vienna, 1862, reprinted in New York, 1947) Reference Oversize BM517.S63 W42 1862a. A partial critical edition was edited by Finkelstein: Sifra on Leviticus, According to Vatican Manuscript Assemani 66 with Variants...Reference to Parallel Passages and Commentaries (New York, 1983-1991) Reference BM517 .S6 1983. Neusner has translated the text into English in Sifra: An Analytical Translation (Atlanta, 1998) Reference BM517.S6 E5 1988

Sifrei and Sifre are alternate transliterations of the Hebrew term ספרי

Sifre Bamidbar and Sifre Devarim are halakhic midrashim on Numbers and Deuteronomy, respectively. Sifre is also known as Sifrei de-Vei Rav. Sifre Zutta is an halakhic midrash on Bamidbar which exists only in fragmentary form.

A critical edition of Sifrei Numbers was edited by H. S. Horovitz: Siphre d'be Rab (Leipzig, 1917; 2nd ed. Jerusalem, 1966). BM517 .S74 1917. English translations are: Midrash Sifre on Numbers...by Levertoff (London, 1926) BM 517 S74 A3 1926 and Sifre to Numbers: An American Translation and Explanation by Jacob Neusner (Atlanta, 1986) BM 517 S74 A3 1986.

The critical edition of Sifre Devarim is: Sifre on Deuteronomy, by Finkelstein (NY, 1969) BM517 .S75 1940a. English translations are: Sifre: A Tannaitic Commentary on the Book of Deuteronomy...translated by Reuven Hammer (New Haven, 1986) BM517 S75 A3 1986 and Sifre to Deuteronomy: An Analytical Translation by Jacob Neusner (Atlanta, 1987) BM517 S75 A3 1987.

A good introduction to these and other midrashim is found in H. L. Strack's Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash, located in the JTS Library at Reference BM 503.5 S7 .

List of Haftarot According to Various Minhagim

2010-09-14T16:51:00.003-04:00

Question:
I am looking for a volume that lists ALL or nearly all the different traditional lists of weekly/holiday haftarot -- not just Ashkenaz and Sefardic, which everyone lists, but such lesser known minhagim as Italian and Yemenite and others.

Answer:
In the Entsiklopedyah Talmudit [Yerushala[y]im : Hotsaʾat Entsiḳlopedyah Talmudit be-siyuʻa Mosad ha-Rav Ḳuḳ, 707- (1947- )] volume that has the entry “haftarah” (v.10) there is a very extensive list of the various minhagim for which haftarah to read on which occasion. Not only are minhagim listed for Ashkenazim, Sefardim, Temanim, Italkim, and Romanians – the customs of various cities and the customs found in Rishonim, piyutim, mahzorim, and other works are listed (some of these customs were found in unpublished manuscripts). In the edition of this volume that I consulted (published in 722 [1961]) this list can be found in an Appendix on on p.[701]-728.

Surname: Mitkokher

2010-08-31T10:22:00.004-04:00

Question:
My surname is "Mitkokher". From my experience this is not a very common Jewish surname. I do know that my fanily came from somewhere in the Russian Empire. Would you be able to tell me what my surname means?

Answer:
According to Alexander Beider in his work A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Russian Empire [Teaneck, NJ : Avotaynu, 1993 - p.408, column 2] the surname "Mitkokher" is derived from an occupation. The name is from the Yiddish "mit kukher" and means "with cook" i.e. cook assistant. Beider also indicates that he found evidence for this surname being used in the Novograd district (part of the Volhynia guberniya in what is today the Ukraine) during the early 20th century.

Josephus and Josippon and More Mixups

2010-08-24T17:36:00.019-04:00

We've received queries involving mixups between the following pairs of names, and we'd like to clarify their meanings:

Josephus vs Yosippon

Yosippon [or Josippon] is an anonymous Hebrew book describing Jewish history during the Second Temple period. Written in 10th century southern Italy, it treats the history of ancient Italy and other European nations, but focuses on the Jewish-Roman wars. The author based his work on earlier books (Josephus's works, a Latin translation of the Apocrypha, medieval chronicles, and the Talmud ) intending to compile a summary for the benefit of his readers. Sefer Yosippon was mistakenly attributed to Flavius Josephus and to Joseph ben Gorion, and became well-known, respected, and frequently quoted by medieval gentile writers. Manuscript and early printed editions were significantly changed from the original Sefer Yosippon; it has been translated into Arabic, Ethiopic, Russian, Polish, Czech, Latin, French, Judeo-German and English. Dr. David Flusser has edited a critical edition ספר יוסיפון :... סדור ומוגה על-פי כתבי-יד בלוויית מבוא, ביאורים וחילופי גרסאות (vol. 1 1978, vol. 2 1980) DS122 Y574 1978b in JTS Library.

Josephus [also known as Josephus Flavius]

Josephus was a Hellenistic Jewish historian of the first century CE. He was born into an aristocratic family of priests in Jerusalem, and he became a military leader against the Romans in the Jewish-Roman wars. Later, through shrewd political moves, he became a favorite of the Roman leaders and moved to Rome. He wrote The Jewish War, Jewish Antiquities (historical), The Life (autobiographical), and Against Apion (a defense of Judaism). Although his works are hardly unbiased, they remain eye-witness accounts of first century Judaism in its political mileiu. The standard English translation of his works was published as part of the Loeb Classical Library, located at PA3612 .J6 1926 in the JTS Library.

Two of the many in-depth encyclopedia articles on Joesphus are in the Encyclopedia Judaica (by Abraham Schalit), and The Encyclopedia of Judaism: "Josephus and Judaism" by Steve Mason, and "Josephus, Biblical Figures in" by Louis H. Feldman.

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Kairouan vs Cairo

Cairo, of course, is the capital of Egypt. The Cairo Jewish community was first established appproximately 640 CE, when the old city of Fostat was founded. Fostat is also the site of the Synagogue of Elijah the Prophet which held the famous Cairo Genizah manuscripts. Through the generations, Cairo has been the home of outstanding Jewish scholars, including Maimonides.

Kairouan is a town in Tunisia which was a prominent economic, cultural and halakhic Jewish center during the Middle Ages (8th-11th centuries). We have extensive documentary evidence of the community and its activities from letters found in the Cairo Genizah.

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Philadelphia [ancient city] vs Philadelphia Route

The Philadelphia Route is the buffer area along the Egypt-Gaza Strip border; arms have been smuggled from Egypt into Gaza via tunnels beneath this area.

There were a number of ancient cities called Philadelphia, in Egypt, Turkey, and Jordan. The Jordanian Philadelphia was originally Rabbath-Ammon, capital of the Ammonite kingdom in Biblical times; in the Hellenistic period it was called Philadelphia; today it is Amman, the capital of Jordan.

Rebbetsen?

2010-08-23T16:44:00.002-04:00

Question:
Someone told me that there is a custom not to refer to the wife of a rabbi as a "rebbetsen" unless that rabbi is functioning as a the rabbi of a synagogue or as the head of a yeshiva. Is that correct? What is the source of this custom?

Answer:
I have never heard of such a custom. Nor have the colleagues that I have consulted. I have been unable to locate mention of such a custom in the literature that I have consulted. If any readers of this blog have anything to contribute on this matter, it would be appreciated.

King David and Mikhal daughter of King Shaul

2010-08-16T16:42:00.007-04:00

Question:
I have a couple of questions regarding Mikhal the daughter of Shaul and her relationship with David.
1) In I Samuel 25:44 we find Mikhal being given as a wife to Palti son of Layish. Did this marriage take place before or after she became David's wife?
2) In II Samuel 6:23, after Mikhal rebukes David upon his dancing before the Ark, the verse states that Mikhal had no children. However, in II Samuel 21:8 we find that Mikhal had five children.

Answer:
1) The commentaries understand that Mikhal was already David’s wife when she was given to Palti. This follows both the straightforward meaning of the verse “And Shaul gave Mikhal, his daughter, the wife of David, to Palti ben Layish who was from Galim” and the order of the events as recorded in the Book of Samuel – the verse stating she was given to Palti is I Samuel 25:44, while the verse stating that she was given to David as a wife is earlier - I Samuel 18:27. The Babylonian Talmud, tractate Sanhedrin, fol. 19b has a discussion of David’s relationship with Mikhal and Merav - two of Shaul’s daughters . As we see in I Samuel 17:25 it was at least claimed that whoever killed Galyat would be given the king’s (i.e. Shaul’s) daughter in marriage. After David slew Galyat, Shaul did offer Merav, his oldest daughter to David as a wife if David would continue to fight the “battles of God” - as we find in I Samuel 18:17. In I Samuel 18:19 we find the enigmatic verse “And it was at the time of Merav, the daughter of Shaul, being given to David – and she was given to Adriel the Meholat as a wife”. The Rabbis in Sanhedrin argue about whether David considered that he was also married to Merav, or only to Mikhal. Both agree, however, that he considered a marriage to have taken place between himself and Mikhal. Shaul did not consider what had occurred to be deemed a marriage in either the case of Merav or of Mikhal, hence he felt entitled to give both of them in marriage to someone other than David. In II Samuel 3:14-16 we find Mikhal being returned to David. According to the Rabbis in Sanhedrin (ibid.) in all the years Mikhal had been with Palt, Palti (who was very righteous) had not attempted to be intimate with her.

2) Various opinions are expressed. One opinion found in the Babylonian Talmud, tractate Sanhedrin, fol. 21a is that she had children before the incident in II Samuel 6:20-23 where she rebuked David. Another opinion focuses on the words in the verse “had no children until the day of her death” and states that she did have a child on the day of her death, i.e. she died in childbirth. Rabenu Yeshaya ben Mali of Trani (b. ca. 1200) in his commentary on this verse seems to take the straightforward approach that she never had children. An opinion is expressed in the Babylonian Talmud, tractate Sanhedrin, fol. 19b that the children mentioned in II Samuel 21:8 were actually Merav’s children – this would explain why the father is Adriel of Meholat who we know from I Samuel 18:19 to be Merav’s husband. Mikhal had raised Merav’s children and thereby merited that the verse treated them as if they were hers. According to the Talmud (ibid.), this teaches that whoever raises an orphan in their house is considered by the Torah as if they had given birth to that orphan.

Modern Lamedvovniks

2010-08-12T17:04:00.004-04:00

Question: Please refer me to modern literary works based on the Jewish folktale of the 36 lamedvovniks.

Answer: According to the lamedvovnik folktale, in each generation there are 36 humble and righteous people, whose goodness is so profound, that the entire world is sustained for the sake of their merit. The identity of these 36 is unknown, and thus they are considered hidden saints.

Two of the sources of this folktale are from the Talmud: Sanhedrin 97B and Sukkah 45B. The tale developed more fully from the 16th – 18th centuries in kabbalistic and chassidic communities.

Andre Schwartz-Bart’s The Last of the Just (1959) is probably the most famous modern work based on this theme. However he twisted the concept and added the idea of martyrdom.

Other works based on the lamedvovniks are:

The "Legend of the Three Nephites" in the Book of Mormon.
Nelly Sach's play "Eli: A Mystery Play of the Sufferings of Israel," included in the O the Chimneys (1967).
Hans Jose Rehfisch’s play Nickel und die 36 Gerechten (1925).
Marilyn Satlof argues that Saul Bellow has modified the traditional lamedvovnik into a character who saves the world through his intellect rather than through his mitzvot, in Him With His Foot in His Mouth And Other Stories (1984)
Screenwriter Henryk Bojm’s Lamedvovnik, a 1925 film
Aleksandr Sollzhenitsyn’s Matryona’s Home (1959)
Ben-Zion Weinman’s The 36 Unknown: Thirty-Six Etchings (1975) (poetry and art)

Targum Onkelos in Hebrew

2010-08-05T15:31:00.006-04:00

Question: Is there a modern Hebrew translation of Targum Onkelos (Aramaic translation of the Torah)?

Answer: אלתר טובי' וין Alter Toviyah Vain has translated Targum Onkelos in the first 2 volumes of his 6-volume set:
ספר יין הטוב על התרגומים: מתורגמים ומבוארים ללשון הקדש
(Mekhon Yerushalayim, 1976 - )
Location in JTS Library: BS 1224 A78 1976b

Receiving Permission to Copy Manuscripts from Microfilm

2010-08-02T15:53:00.005-04:00

Question:
I am interested in making copies of manuscripts from microfilm reels that the JTS library owns. The original manuscripts that I am interested in are owned by libraries other than the JTS library. I understand that I will need to show written permission from the libraries that own the original manuscripts in order for the JTS library to allow me to make the copies. How do I get in contact with these other libraries?

Answer:
The IMHM - Institute for Microfilmed Hebrew Manuscripts in Jerusalem (http://jnul.huji.ac.il/imhm/) has contact information for all the libraries from whom they have microfilms of manuscripts. You can see the contact information at the following webaddress: http://jnul.huji.ac.il/imhm/#reproduction . Incidentally, with written permission, you can order copies directly from the IMHM (a lot of these microfilms have already been digitized), here is their catalog of MSS on microfilm: http://aleph518.huji.ac.il/F/Y7PP3R76L217RS81C7C5UL794C8BNRD8PYYFD7PTFR56UJU7VR-24858?func=find-b-0&local_base=nnlmss. If you do come to the JTS library to make copies, it is recommended that you bring a USB "Flash" drive to save the copies to.

Death of the RAMBAM's brother

2010-07-29T16:44:00.003-04:00

Question: What was the year of the death of David ben Maimon, the younger brother of the RAMBAM. He was on a business voyage when his ship sank.

Answer: Various biographies mention different dates for this incident, which was pivotal in the life of the RAMBAM. The Encyclopedia Judaica, 2nd ed (2007) states it ocurred in 1169. Joel Kraemer, in Maimonides: The Life and World of One of Civilizations' Greatest Minds, (2008) has provided two different calculations of the year.

One possibility is 1177: In a letter dated 1185 that Maimonides had written to a friend, Japheth ben Elijah, in Acre, he describes the terrible disaster of losing his brother 8 years before. (p. 255 and p. 545 note 46).

Another possibility is sometime just after 1169-1171, the probable time period that David wrote to the RAMBAM describing his upcoming voyage. (p. 252). However, Kraemer points out that perhaps this letter is describing a voyage prior to the ill-fated final voyage (p. 252).

David's trading business had supported the extended family. When David died, not only did the RAMBAM fall into a depression, but he also needed to find a new means of support (p. 257). He did not believe it was proper to earn a livelihood through his rabbinical duties. He instead devoted more time to his medical practice and became a renowned physician. At the same time he continued his illustrious scholarly career as a philosopher, jurist and community leader.

Mezuzot in Places of Business?

2010-07-27T14:05:00.004-04:00

Question:
Does one install mezuzot on the doorways of one's business?

Answer:
We do not answer questions of practical halakhah. I suggest that you consult with a halakhic authority.
For your own theoretical knowledge, I can tell you it seems that while the question appears to be dependent on an argument mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud (Yoma 11a), the present day consensus seems to be that mezuzot should be put up in places of business – though, possibly without the recital of the usual blessing. This is based on the opinion found in Yoma (ibid.) and subsequently codified in the Shulhan Arukh (Yoreh Deah, chpt. 286, paragraph 1) that warehouses (such as) for wine or oil are obligated in mezuzah. I saw this ruling expressed in the work Pithe Mezuzot by Yisakhar Hazan [(Betar Ilit : Yisakhar Hazan), 5766] both in his commentary on the Shulhan Arukh’s laws of mezuzah entitled Pithe Mezuzot (see chpt. 286, notes 9-11) and in his summary of the laws of mezuzah entitled Bet Mezuzah (see chpt. 8, p.205-208). The same opinion is also expressed in the work Shaare Mezuzah by Shemuel Yosef Shtitsburg [(Bet Shemesh : Shemuel Yosef Shtitsburg, 2008)] – see chpt.6 paragraph 1 and see note 1 (ibid.) where he references the Arukh ha-Shulhan (chpt. 286, paragraph 28 – see also Arukh ha-Shulhan, ibid. paragraph 4).

Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia

2010-07-22T13:37:00.013-04:00

Question: Please explain to me how to use the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, the critical edition of the Biblical text based on the Leningrad Codex.

Answer: I suggest you consult the following brief summary by Dr. Marc Brettler (Professor of Biblical Studies at Brandeis University) of how to use Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS). This 2-page guide is found on the Scholarly Bible Editions section of his home page. Limitations of Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia are summarized in Dr. William H. C. Propp’s Guide to Biblical Research, revised and updated by Dr. Jeffrey H. Tigay.

Some of the more complete guides to BHS mentioned by Brettler, Propp and Tigay are:

Scott, William R. A Simplified Guide to BHS: Critical Apparatus, Masora, Accents, Unusual Letters & Other Markings, 2nd ed. (1990) BS715 1977c

Wonneberger, Reinhard. Understanding BHS: A Manual For The Users of Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (1984). REF BS178 W582 1984

A more recent guide is: Kelley, P. et al. The Masorah of Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia: Introduction and Annotated Glossary (1998) BS718 K38 1998.

For broader reference: the JTS Library’s Research Guide to Jewish Studies: Bible identifies key texts, editions, commentaries, translations and reference books in the field of Biblical Studies.

19th Century Rabbis

2010-07-15T15:18:00.004-04:00

Question: Can you please recommend a resource that can quickly help me identify some of the rabbis in the towns of 19th century Europe. I would also like some biographical information about them.

Answer: I suggest you use זכרון לאחרונים Latter Day Leaders, Sages and Scholars Born Between Late 18th and Early 20th Century, compiled by Emanuel Rosenstein and Neil Rosenstein (1983). This "computerized bibliographic index, alphabetized by first name, surname and town" will list the rabbi's names, birth dates and death dates, and point you to biographical information in 10 different biographical dictionaries. Most of these biographical works were published in the late 18-hundreds and early 19-hundreds, providing contemporary information. Latter Day Leaders also includes rabbis active in the Western Hemisphere, Israel, Australia, and sections of Africa. It is available at the Reference Desk of the JTS Library; the biographical dictionaries are also available in the JTS Library.

Year of Sir Moses Montefiore's marriage

2010-07-12T14:23:00.003-04:00

Question:
In what year did Sir Moses Montefiore marry his wife Judith?

Answer:
According to the work Moses Montefiore : Jewish Liberator ; Imperial Hero by Abigail Green [Cambridge, MA : Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2010 - p.28], Moses Montefiore married Judith Barent-Cohen in 1812. Judith was an Ashkenazi whose father was a succesful merchant (ibid.). Both Moses and Judith were in their late twenties at the time of the marriage.

Number Of Women Ordained at JTS

2010-07-08T14:02:00.013-04:00

We are often asked how many women have been ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary, or what percentage of the rabbinic graduates are women. The Rabbinical Assembly has provided the following statistics:

Please note that these totals reflect only JTS graduates, not rabbis ordained at the Ziegler School of Rabbinic studies (Los Angeles ), Schechter Rabbinical Seminary (in Jerusalem), or the Seminario Rabbinico Latinoamericano (in Buenos Aires).

Jewish Communal Service Webliography

2010-07-01T15:28:00.005-04:00

The Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary has added an annotated webliography on Jewish Communal Service and Jewish Public Administration to its Online Resources webpage. The webliography emphasizes sites with full-text articles and reports, authoritative statistics, comprehensive directories, traditional Jewish texts, and extensive bibliographies.

We invite our readers to submit suggestions for additions -- please submit them as comments to this blog entry.

Encyclopedia of Jewish Prayer

2010-06-17T17:15:00.005-04:00

Question: I am researching various tefillot, and I need background information on each prayer, especially the relevant laws and traditions guiding the recitation of the prayers, and the differences between the Ashkenazi and Sefardi customs. The Encyclopedia Judaica and Jewish Encyclopedia do not have the details I need. What resource do you suggest?

Answer: The comprehensive Encyclopedia of Jewish Prayer (1993) by Macy Nulman provides this information for over 1300 individual Hebrew prayers. Nulman explains when and how the prayer is recited, specifies variations in the text, identifies the author (or attributed author), and provides a partial translation or information about the prayer's contents and meaning. Differences between various Ashkenaic and various Sephardic tradtions are also noted.

Although the entries are listed alphabetically according to their transliterated spellings, a Hebrew-language index of "first lines" is provided. A bibliography of additional resources for each prayer is also provided.

The Encyclopedia of Jewish Prayer is located in the Reserve section of The JTS Library at BM 660 N85 1993.

Online Audio Lectures on Judaism

2010-06-14T16:56:00.004-04:00

Question:
Would you suggest some websites that contain online audio of lectures related to Judaism?

Answer:
Here are some sites with online audio of lectures on Judaism. Most of these sites contain many free lectures.

http://www.ishiur.com/
http://www.yutorah.org/index.cfm
http://www.kolhashiurim.com/semiWeb/khl/khl.htm
http://torahanytime.com/index.html
http://www.simpletoremember.com/media/
http://judaicseminar.org/lectures/lecture%20series.htm
http://www.ravmosheweinberger.com/
http://www.rayimahuvim.org/pages/adam_talks.html
http://www.rayimahuvim.org/pages/summer_audio/summer_lect09.htm

I am sure that there are many other good sites out there. The readers of this blog are encouraged to "join the conversation" by listing other sites that they enjoy using.

You might also want to check out the "Audio Roundup" series on http://hirhurim.blogspot.com/. New online lectures are listed, linked to, and summarized. For an example, see here: http://hirhurim.blogspot.com/2010/06/audio-roundup-xcvii.html.

Mikraot Gedolot HaKeter on CD-ROM

2010-06-10T16:30:00.010-04:00

Bar Ilan University has produced a CD-ROM version of Mikraot Gedolot HaKeter, based on the Aleppo Codex (the most accurate surviving text of the Tanakh) and early medieval manuscripts. Edited by Menachem Cohen, it provides much of the same content as his printed critical edition, which began publication in 1992 [located at Reference Oversize BS715 1992 in the JTS Library]. It includes the Tanakh, the Mikraot Gedolot commentaries, the mesorah, the vocalization and the cantillation.

The outstanding feature of the CD-ROM version is its searching capabilities. The Biblical text, the commentaries and the mesorah are all fully searchable--not only by Hebrew words, but also by vowels and ta'amim. This allows the researcher to retrieve all words with a particular pattern of vowel combinations, or all words with a particular pattern of trope notation.

The CD-ROM also provides additional functionalities, such as the Hebrew shoresh search option, a Keri/Ketiv list, and statistics of the numbers of verses, words and letters in the manuscript as a whole, and in its parts.

Ya'akov Aronson has written a detailed article outlining the contents of the printed and CD-ROM editions of Mikraot Gedolot HaKeter. Three instruction documents for the CD-ROM edition are available at the JTS Library's Reference Desk.

Quality images of the Aleppo Codex manuscript itself, along with background information, have been made available via the Ben Zvi Institute.

To access this unique CD-ROM resource, which is available on-site at the JTS Library, please contact the Reference staff at library@jtsa.edu or 212-678-8081

Hebrew Text of Prayer that References Pomegranates

2010-06-07T15:32:00.004-04:00

Question:
I am looking for the Hebrew text of a certain prayer. It has something to do with asking God to grant us the opportunity to do as many mistvot (good deeds) as there are seeds in a pomegranate. Can you tell me the exact wording?

Answer:
I believe you are referring to the prayer that is said while eating a pomegranate on the night of Rosh ha-Shanah: "May it be Your Will, Hashem, our God, and the God of our forefathers, that our merits increase as [the seeds of] a pomegranate". Here is the prayer in Hebrew, with nikud (vowel points), based on the text found in The Complete Artscroll Machzor : Rosh Hashanah [Brooklyn, NY : Mesorah, 1985 - p.98]:
יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְפָנֶיךָ ,ה' אֶלֹהֵינוּ וֵאלֹהֵי אַבוֹתֵינוּ ,שֶנִרְבֶּה ְזכֻיוֹת כְּרִמוֹן

Articles in Festschriften or Jubilee Volumes

2010-06-03T17:37:00.008-04:00

Question: I am trying to identify an article about dreams, and how they have inspired medieval Hebrew writers. A colleague believes it was published in the early part of the 20th century, in an "honorary volume", but he does not remember the author or any other information. How can I find it?

Answer: Most likely your colleague, using the term "honorary volume," is referring to a festschrift, a book of scholarly articles published in honor or in memory of a professor, a scholar, or an academic institution. A festschrift is sometimes called a "jubilee volume" or "sefer yovel".

Festschriften in Jewish studies published since approximately 1960 are systematically indexed in the web-based RAMBI Index of Articles on Jewish Studies. Access is by subject, author, and keywords from the article title.

Earlier Jewish studies festschriften have been indexed in two printed volumes: Charles Berlin's Index to Festschriften in Jewish Studies (1971) covering 243 publications from approximately 1936-1970, and Jacob R. Marcus' and Albert Bilgray's An Index to Jewish Festscriften (1937) covering 53 festschriften from the mid-1800's until 1936. Access to individual articles, in both volumes, is by author and subject.

Marcus and Bilgray also provide access by article title, and this leads us to what is probably the article you seek: "Dreams as a Cause of Literary Compositions", by Henry Malter, published in Studies in Jewish Literature Issued in Honor of Professor Kaufmann Kohler on the Occasion of His Seventieth Birthday (Berlin, 1913), p. 199-203.

Sheelot u-Teshuvot Besamim Rosh

2010-06-01T17:07:00.007-04:00

On March 10, 2008 I posted, on the shortlived JTS library blog Mekorot, what was intended to be the first in a series of posts on the topic of "Rabbinic Forgeries". The Mekorot blog was later discontinued and the series was never completed. The new JTS library blog, The Takeaway, has a different format and I do not intend to continue the series. I do want to present a link to the original Mekorot blog post in case any one is interested in seeing it. Here it is: http://jtslibrary.wordpress.com/2008/03/10/rabbinic-forgeries-part-1/.

Cemetery Plots, Synagogues, Landsmanschaft Societies and NY State Law

2010-05-27T15:43:00.012-04:00

Question:
Does JTS have information in the synagogue archives that will help me sell the unused cemetery plots that my grandparents purchased in 1937 through a synagogue which is no longer in existence (the Brooklyn Jewish Center). The cemetery is in Queens, I live in Georgia, and I am the only living descendent of my grandparents. The cemetery says that I do not have the right to sell the plots; only the (defunct) synagogue has that right.

Answer: JTS's Ratner Center Archives indeed holds archives of the Brooklyn Jewish Center and the archives other Conservative synagogues and their rabbis. This archive includes cemetery files, and partial records of deeds and plots.

However, there is a missing link: who can act on behalf of the defunct synagogue? Or does the law require the cemetery to purchase the plots directly from the grandson?

In this case, the New York State Department of State, Division of Cemeteries can handle the situation. According to their Cemetery Bulletin, the lot owner must offer to sell the lot back to the cemetery at the original purchase price plus 4 percent simple interest per annum.

We'd like to thank the Community Association for At-Risk Jewish Cemeteries (CAJAC) for assisting with this query.

For families needing to handle other cemetery plot issues, including arranging permission for a burial in cases where the plots were purchased early in the 20th century through a no-longer-extant landsmanschaft group, we suggest you contact the Office of Miscellaneous Estates, in the Liquidation Bureau of the New York State Insurance Department 212-341-6400.

As this New York Times article explains, the Office of Miscellaneous Estates quickly untangles the legalities and acts as a surrogate for the now-defunct landsmaschaft societies to settle issues regarding burials and cemetery plots--permitting a timely burial.

Document of Conversion to Judaism

2010-05-24T14:41:00.005-04:00

Question: I would like to know what a teudat giyur (a document issued by a rabbinic court testifying to someone's conversion to Judaism) looks like. Can you recommend a book that would contain an example of such a document?

Answer: An example of a teudat giyur is found in the work Gerut ke-hilkhatah by Shemuel Eliezer Shtern on p.86-87 [Bene Beraḳ : Mekhon Mayim ḥayim, 1998 - BM729.P7 S8 1998]. Various conversion related teudot are also found in vol.2, p.J-39 – J-70 of the Conservative movement’s Moreh Derekh [New York : The Rabbinical Assembly, 758, 1998 - BM676 .M66 1998].

Israel Najara's Piyut Yaarat Dvash יערת דבש

2010-05-13T16:07:00.017-04:00

Question: "Youtube has a rousing and exquisite version" of the piyyut Yaarat Dvash יערת דבש with Moshe Haboucha singing and playing the oud. This piyyut is so compelling, I would like to find more information about it, and its author Israel Najara.

Answer:
Detailed information about this piyyut is available in Hebrew on the outstanding "Invitation to Piyut" website. It provides the piyut text, photos of the text from a manuscript and early printings, word-by-word commentary on the text, short essays on its meaning and poetic art, and a biography of Najara. Click the MELODIES and MORE RENDITIONS buttons to hear 10 different recordings of this piyyut in the Algerian, Babylonian [Iraqi] and Moroccan traditions. Click on NOTES to retrieve the score of the melody in the Babylonian tradition. A background article on the poetry and piyutim of the Babylonian Jewish community is also available.

The Thesaurus of Jewish Music, from the Hebrew University, provides links to a series of biographical articles about Najara in English, and web-based recordings of other Najara piyyutim .

Many Hebrew articles about Najara and his writings are listed in RAMBI, by searching for נגארה as the subject.

Scholarly/Critical Edition of RaMBaM's Mishneh Torah

2010-05-03T15:16:00.002-04:00

Question: Can you suggest a scholarly/critical edition of RaMBaM's Mishneh Torah?

Answer: The Shabse Frenkel edition of the Mishneh Torah [Nyu Yorḳ : Ḳehilat Bene Yosef, 1975-], is complete and has extensive textual variants listed on the side of the page and, especially, in the back of the volume. The RaMBaM Meduyak [Maʻaleh Adumim : Hotsaʾa Shilat, 2004 -], edited by Yitshak Shilat, is devoted to producing a critical “meduyak” edition of the Mishneh Torah. I do not believe it has been completed yet. However, a good number of volumes have been done already and it may be completed soon.

Torah Scroll Preservation

2010-05-02T14:32:00.006-04:00

Question: I am putting together a storage cabinet in which our small congregation will store its Torah between services, since we do not have a permanent shul. Can you tell me what optimal storage conditions for parchment are.

Answer: The most important considerations for storing a Torah scroll, as far as preservation is concerned, are constant temperature and constant humidity. Changes in temperature and humidity will cause the parchment and ink to contract and expand, and the parchment will contract/expand at a different rate from that of the ink--resulting in the ink separating from the parchment.

The optimal temperature is 70 degrees F; optimal humidity is 55%.

Also, the scroll should not be exposed to light, as light would cause the ink to fade.

What are the "fifty levels of defilement"?

2010-04-26T16:03:00.006-04:00

Question: I have heard that there is a Jewish concept known as the "fifty levels of defilement". Would you recommend a source that would name and explain these "levels of defilement"?

Answer: The tumah (ritual impurity or defilement) caused by a corpse and other impurities is divided in halakhah (Jewish law) into only six levels. My colleague, Ina Rubin Cohen, suggested that you are referring to the "fiftieth gate of tumah" that the Jews would have descended to had they remained in Egypt a moment longer then they had (see, for example, the Bible commentary Or ha-Hayim, by Rabbi Hayim ibn Atar, on Exodus 3:7 s.v. va-yomer Hashem ra’oh raiti). This concept of tumah is not a halakhic one related to ritual impurity, but rather a kabbalistic one that uses the term "tumah" to indicate sin and estrangement from God. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sefirot#Latent_interinclusion_of_the_Sephirot, where it discusses the concept of 49 gates of holiness that correspond with the counting of the Omer. The holiday of Shavuot represents the fiftieth gate of holiness that encompasses the other 49. In kabbalistic thought what exists on the side of holiness is mirrored on the side of impurity. Hence, the Jews had descended to the 49th gate of impurity in Egypt. Had they remained any longer they would have fallen to the fiftieth and been lost. Through the redemption from Egypt and improving themselves during the 49 days between leaving Egypt and receiving the Torah on Mt. Sinai they merited to leave the 49 gates of impurity and ascend through the 49 gates of holiness. On the fiftieth day they received the Torah. During the counting of the Omer we reenact this process every year. A good book for introducing kabbalistic concepts is Innerspace by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan [Jerusalem : Moznaim, 1990].

Midrash Yelamdeinu

2010-04-22T16:46:00.005-04:00

Question: Where can I find the Hebrew text of
מדרש ילמדנו (מאן) ילקוט תלמוד תורה - פרשת בהעלתך
Midrash Yelamdeinu, Yalkut Talmud Torah, Parshat Beha'alotecha
The citation I have states that it was published as the "Mann edtition", in Cincinnati, 1940. No other details are provided.

Answer: This midrash was published in volume 2 of The Bible As Read and Preached in the Old Synagogue, by Jacob Mann. Although this book appears to be in English, both volumes include extensive Hebrew sections with the texts of midrashim. Volume 1 was published in 1940; Volume 2, published in 1966, includes this midrash on Bamidbar, Parshat Beha'alotecha. This chapter is entitled:
ילקוט תלמוד תורה לבמדבר ודברים
At JTS, this book is in the Reference and Main collections at BM 660 M3.

Books Containing Photographs of Torah Scripts

2010-04-19T16:32:00.006-04:00

Question: Would you suggest some works that contain photo-reproductions of scripts used in Torah scrolls? I am trying to learn about the various scribal styles used in Torah scrolls throughout the world and in various time periods.

Answer: Dr. Jay Rovner, the library's Manuscript Bibliographer, made the following suggestions:

- Muʻalem, Shelomoh. Sefer Yeriʻot Shelomoh : kolel pisḳe dinim be-hilkhot Sefer Torah, tefilin u-mezuzah : ʻim beʾur Śefat ha-yeriʻah : tsiyunim u-meḳorot u-maśa u-matan be-divre ha-posḳim, rishonim ṿe-aḥaronim ʻad aḥarone zemanenu ʻal ha-halakhot sheba-sefer [Bene Beraḳ : Sh. Muʻalem, 755 (1995)]. BM659.S3 M83 1995

- Perets, Mikhaʾel ben Yosef. Masoret tsurat ha-otiyot : kollel tsurat ha-otiyot, gedrehen ve-hilkhotahen, pesakim ha-keshurim le-otiyot ha-shonot, halakhot kalaliyot ha-kedoshim le-S.T.M. [Yerushalayim : Hotsaat "ha-Mekhon le-heker ha-halakhah veha-musar : Yerid ha-Sefarim, 755 (1994 ot 1995)]. BM659.S3 P47 1995

- Kohen, Aharon. Masoret ha-otiyot : Sefer Mishmeret ha-emet. [Yerushalayim : n.p., 761 (2000 or 2001)]. BM659.S3 K8 2001

- O svitku = Form of the scroll : [katalog k výstavě konané v Galerii Roberta Guttmanna Židovského muzea v Praze od 22. června do 26. července 2006]. [V Praze : Židovské muzeum, 2006]. OVERSIZE BM657.T6 O22 2006

Lower East Side Synagogues

2010-04-14T18:30:00.004-04:00

Question: We are attempting to locate a source identifying synagogues and temples no longer functioning or destroyed, in the lower east side of New York City.

Answer: Joyce Mendelsohn's guidebook, The Lower East Side Remembered and Revisited: History and Guide to a Legendary New York Neighborhood (2001) identifies some of the synagogues which are no longer functioning. Oscar Israelowitz's Guide to the Lower East Side mentions both former and "current" (in 1991) synagogues in walking-tour format.

You could compare these brief lists with the extensive lists of synagogues in the American Jewish Yearbooks of 1899/1900 and 1907/1908 [see the "Directory of Local Organizations" section]. The Yearbook volumes list synagogues (and their addresses, rabbis, and officers, activities) in existence at the time of publication. Another extensive list of synagogues, dating from 1917/18, is in the Jewish Communal Register of New York City (1919).
In addition, you may be interested in David Kaufman's "Constructions of Memory: the Synagogues of the Lower East Side" in Remembering the Lower East Side: American Jewish Reflections, edited by Hasia Diner et. al. (2000), p. 113-136.

Seder Kiddush Score

2010-03-25T16:54:00.003-04:00

Question:
Where can I find the score (notated music) of the seder kiddush?

Answer:
The score of the seder kiddush is available in The Songs of the Haggadah, compiled and edited by Cantor Binyamin Glickman (Tara Publications, 1977) p. 2. [Oversize MB 695 P3 S545 1977 in the JTS Music Library]

It is also in Seder Melodies (a booklet accompanying Celebrate With Song: Holiday Melodies, Music of Israel), compiled and edited by Velvel Pasternak and Richard Neumann (Board of Jewish Education of Greater New York and Tara Publications, 1977) p. 4 [KIT 19, and M2079.5 .S52 1982 in the JTS Music Library].

Lomdut, Pilpul, and the Brisker Method of Talmud Study

2010-03-22T16:50:00.003-04:00

Question: Would you suggest some resources in English that would provide an introduction to the Talmudic study methodologies that are referred to as "lomdut", "pilpul", and (especially) the "Brisker derekh (method)"?

Answer: Here are some resources that might be of assistance:
- The Analytic Movement : Hayyim Soloveitchik and his circle / by Norman Solomon [Atlanta, Ga. : Scholars Press, c1993].
- Contemporary Halakhic Problems / by J. David Bleich [New York : Ktav, 1977- ]. In volume 5, Rabbi Bleich (p.xi-xxxvi) provides a lengthy introduction regarding the role “lomdut” plays in the halakhah.
- Iyun be-Lomdut / by Yitzchak Adler [New York : Y. Adler (182-11 Henley Rd., Jamaica Estates 11432), 1989]. This book is mostly in Hebrew but it has an English section that illustrates some of the methodology.
- Wikipedia article on the Brisker method: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brisker_method (there are links at the end of the article to articles on this topic found on other websites).
- Important article on the Brisker method: http://www.yutorah.org/_shiurim/%2FTU9_Lichtenstein.pdf.
- Discussion of the study methodology used in Yeshivat Telz and a comparison with other methodologies: http://www.aishdas.org/rygb/telshe.htm and http://www.aishdas.org/rygb/derachim.htm.
- Article from the Jewish Encyclopedia on “pilpul”: http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=318&letter=P&search=memorizing.
- Article from Wikipedia on "pilpul": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilpul.

Online Hebrew Manuscripts and Rare Books

2010-03-18T14:29:00.012-04:00

QUESTION: Can I see images of JTS Hebrew manuscripts and rare books via the Internet?

ANSWER:

1. The Library's Events, Exhibitions and Programs webpage provides access to both Current Exhibitions and Past Exhibitions (still available via the Internet). Click on the exhibition title highlighted in red to view each exhibition. This will provide you with images of the manuscripts along with explanations of their significance. Be sure to see the remarkable exhibit JTS Library Treasures ~~ An online visit to The Library's Rare Book Room featuring the Maimonides fragments, the Prato Haggadah, Cairo Genizah fragments and more!

2. Additional digitized materials are available via Search the Digital Collections on The Library's webpage. In addition to selected manuscripts, rare books, Ketubot and wedding poems, these collections also include rare music scores, audio files, portraits, bookplates, early American Jewish pamphlets, 19th century newspaper articles about Jews in the US, and more.

Constantine P. Cavafy's poetry in Hebrew Translation

2010-03-15T17:01:00.003-04:00

Question: I am interested in obtaining the poetry of Constantine P. Cavafy (also known as Konstantinos Petrou Kavafis) in Hebrew translation. I am especially interested in his poems "Ithaca" and "Of the Jews". Has his work been translated into Hebrew?

Answer: Constantine P. Cavafy (April 29, 1863 – April 29, 1933) was a poet of Greek origin who lived in Alexandria, Egypt. For more information on him, see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_Cavafy. A translation of Cafavy's poems into Hebrew was done by Yoram Bronowski and published under the title Kol ha-Shirim : 1891-1933 by Carmel Publishing House in 1993 (ISBN: 9654070502). The book can be purchased here: http://www.magnespress.co.il/website_en/index.asp?id=2772#aaa. Cafavy's’ poem “Ithaca” is available online in Hebrew translation here: http://www.raz-ram.org/poetry-ithaca1.htm.

Castelferrus: Holocaust Documentation in JTS's French Archives

2010-03-11T17:22:00.008-05:00

Question: A lawyer requested World War II documentation of Jewish residents in Castelferrus, a remote village of Vichy France, in connection with a reparations application.

Answer: The French Jewish Community Records, one of the archival collections held in the JTS Library, includes census records, by department and town, from Vichy France in 1941. The documents state that 25 Jewish families were in Castelferrus on May 27, 1941; an earlier census does not list any Jewish families at this location.

Request: If any readers of this blog can provide additional information about Jews in Castelferrus during World War II, we would appreciate it if you would post it as a comment.

Strategy: We have not found mention of any Jewish population in the remote and sparsely populated town of Castelferrus in published books or articles. However, this location is listed in Zosa Szajkowski's Analytical Franco Jewish Gazetteer, 1935-1945 . The index entry for Castelferrus in the Gazetteer notes that this location is "(cs,r)" p. 301, which means it is a site where a census of Jews was taken, and a site where relief was distributed. The Castelferrus entry refers to archives at JTS and Yad Vashem for census data, without any other specifics.

An Inventory to the French Jewish Communities Record Group 1648-1946 [at the Jewish Theological Seminary], by Roger S. Kohn (1991) has been helpful in locating the census documentation. Although the Inventory does not list Castelferrus in its index, its date index refers to a few sets of documents from a May 27 1941 census of Jews, and from an earlier census.

All the items listed in the Inventory are readily available on microfilm at the JTS Library. Most of the census documents are handwritten; a few are typed. Each page lists villages by department, although not all French departments are included. Three different pages exist for the Tarn-et-Garonne department; two of these pages list Castelferrus.

For each village listed, the number of Jews (or number of Jewish families) is stated. The names of the local rabbi, mohel, shochet, or other official (such as a notary or Jewish scouts contact), some with an address, are also listed for many of the villages.

The census later facilitated the arrest and deportation of the Jews.

Where is the Jewish Music?

2010-03-07T22:45:00.007-05:00

Question: When I visited the JTS Library I noticed the vinyl records on display, but I didn't see any CDs or cassette tapes. How can I find those recordings?

Answer: The JTS Library houses over 1000 CDs of Jewish music, as well as many hundreds of audio cassette tapes, vinyl records and other recordings. Most of the these recordings must be identified via the ALEPH catalog, since they are not stored in a public area.

At the BASIC SEARCH page type the keywords: sound, CD (or cassette) and any other desired specifications: composer, performer, title of album, type of music (e.g. children's, passover, synagogue, sephardic, dance, or tenor) -- other possibilities are available here .

The results list will provide you with the CD number for each recording; please ask Library staff to retrieve that recording for you. CDs can be borrowed by those readers with book-borrowing priviledges; all Library users can listen to the recordings in the Library's AV room.

For additional details on how to find audio recordings in the ALEPH catalog, including seaching for Hebrew song-titles, see our Research Guides to Jewish Studies: Jewish Music .

Haredim

2010-03-03T13:09:00.002-05:00

What is the origin of the term "Haredim?" From where did it originate, and when did it start being used in the way in which it currently is used? Also, is there a formal distinction between the term "Haredi" and the designation "ultra-Orthodox?"

Request for Information about the "Synagogue Rescue Project"

2010-03-02T10:53:00.003-05:00

The following question was received at the JTS library:

I would like to find more information on the Synagogue Rescue Project. An organization that existed in the 1970s which gathered Judaica objects (including Torah scrolls) from abandoned and deserted synagogues in and around NY. I would like to know who founded this organization and how long it existed.

We invite any readers of the blog who have information on this organization to "join the conversation" by posting the information in our "comments" section. Thank you.

Isaac Davidson Hebrew School

2010-02-22T11:35:00.005-05:00

Question: I would like information about one of Baltimore's early Hebrew schools - the Isaac Davidson Hebrew School. When did it open and who was it named for?

Answer: According to the work Jewish Baltimore : A Family Album by Gilbert Sandler [Baltimore : The Johns Hopkins University Press in association with the Jewish Museum of Maryland, 2000], the Isaac Davidson Hebrew School opened on October 4, 1925 (Sandler, p.134). The school was located on Shirley Avenue between Park Heights Avenue and Reisterstown Road (ibid., p.130). The Isaac Davidson Hebrew School was named for a German-born businessman who was interested in assisting Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. Davidson immigrated to the United States in 1869 and started a furniture business in Baltimore in 1884. Mr. Davidson died the same year that the Hebrew school opened but there are no records that state why his name was chosen for the school (ibid., p.135-136). There is much more information relating to the Isaac Davidson Hebrew School and the history of the Jews in Baltimore in Sandler's book.

2010-02-18T18:38:00.009-05:00

Question: My elderly neighbor tells me his grandfather was an actor in the Yiddish theatre around the turn of the previous century. He'd like to find out if anything was written about his grandfather's career.

Answer: We suggest he check the Leksikon Fun Yidishn Teater [Lexicon of the Yiddish Theatre], compiled and edited by Zalmen Zylbercwaig (1931-1969). It's 6 volumes attempt to provide biographical entries on actors, singers, writers and all those involved in the Yiddish theatre, in all geographic areas. The entries range from one paragraph to many pages in length. Many entries include a bibliography listing newspaper and magazine articles. The Lexikon is in Yiddish.

The New York Public Library has compiled a Cumulative Index of names [in Yiddish] to all the Lexikon's volumes. Here is a more complete description of this reference work.

Jewishgen.org has compiled two name indexes, transliterated into the Roman alphabet, of Zylbercwaig's works: this is a name index to vol. 5 of his Leksikon, and this is a name index to his Album of the Yiddish Theatre (1937)

There is no comprehensive Yiddish theater biographical dictionary written in English. However, English readers interested in the Yiddish theater may enjoy the following resources:

Vagabond Stars: A World History of Yiddish Theater by Nahma Sandrow (1977)
Yiddish Theatre: New Approaches edited by Joel Berkowitz (2003)
Jewish Theatre: A Global View edited by Edna Nahshon (2009)

An article about the Yiddish theater from the Encyclopedia Judaica is available via jewishvirtuallibrary.org

All About Jewish Theatre provides research materials, as well as current news in the world of Jewish performing arts.

Political and Social Action in the Conservative Movement

2010-02-09T18:17:00.015-05:00

Question: Multiple researchers recently requested documentation of the Conservative movement’s political and social action on national and international public issues from the 1930’s to the 1960’s. Their interest concerned not only rabbinic action, but also activities of the lay leadership.

Answer: Most well-known is Dr. Abraham Heschel’s public support of the civil rights movement demonstrated by his marching arm-in-arm with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Selma Alabama in 1965. In March 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered an address at the Rabbinical Assembly convention, which is transcribed along with the associated discussion in the 1968 Proceedings of the Rabbincal Assembly. Heschel eulogized King at his funeral in April 1968, and then Coretta Scott King delivered an address at a memorial service for Heschel in 1972. More information about Heschel's and King's relationship is available at: A Journey Among Leaders.

A wealth of information has been published in the "Resolutions" and "Committee Reports" sections of the Proceedings of: the Rabbinical Assembly, the United Synagogue and the Women’s League of Conservative Judaism.

RABBINICAL ASSMBLY:

In the Proceedings of the Rabbinical Assembly, published annually almost each year since 1927, a sampling of the public affairs issues included are: civil rights, nuclear proliferation, conscientious objectors, unions and labor issues. An index to 1927-2000 Proceedings provides limited access to public affairs issues. For example, the following list of entries concerns civil rights; but please note that there is relevant content in the Proceedings that this Index will not retrieve--for example, the Resolutions entries for the earlier volumes do not specify the political issues covered.

King, Coretta Scott. “Black-Jewish Relations,” 49 (1987): 57–60.
King, Jr., Martin Luther. “Address and Discussion,” delivered at the 1968 convention. Also published in Conservative
Judaism, Vol. 22, 3, Spring 1968.
Ofseyer, Jordan S. “In Memory of Martin Luther King, Jr.,” 49 (1987): 61–65.
Shapiro, Alexander M. “The Future of Black-Jewish Relations,” 47 (1985): 15–20.
Young, Andrew. “The Future of Black-Jewish Relations,” 47 (1985): 3–11.
“Discussion: The Future of Black-Jewish Relations,” Andrew Young, 47 (1985): 11–14.

Conservative Judaisim (the journal published by the Rabbinical Assembly from 1945 to the present) includes a number of relevant articles; for example:
"The Rabbi's Involvement in Social Issues" by Rabbi Sidney Shanken (Spring/Summer 1963) p. 49
"To Birmingham and Back" by Rabbi Andre Ungar (Fall 1963) p. 1
"The Jew and the Negro: The Jew of the South in the Conflict on Segregation" by W. S. Malev (Fall 1958), p. 35; letters and replies were published in this issue and subsequent issues.

An index to articles in Conservative Judaism, 1945-2000 is available via The Internet.

Recent political and social activity by the Rabbinical Assembly is documented at their website

WOMEN'S LEAGUE FOR CONSERVATIVE JUDAISM

The following publications about and by the Women's League include much material about the League's social action activities:

Women's League Outlook (a magazine) was published 1930-1970. For example, the December 1951 issue has a full page detailing activities of the Social Action committee, including a message sent to Truman and top congressional leaders about civil rights, civil liberties and the United Nations. In addition, this issue includes highlights from the national Women's League Social Action Conference held in 1951.

Proceedings of the Biennial Convention (of the Women's League) includes a great detail of social action content, including speeches, committee reports and resolutions. For example, the 1950-52 resolutions concern civil liberties, immigration, federal aid to education, religion in the public schools, the Senate Cloture Rule, Point IV Program (foreign policy), the United Nations, genocide, disarmament, Israel and Germany. The JTS Library has volumes from 1950- 1977.

Our library holds three histories of the Women's League: They Dared To Dream (1967), The Sixth Decade (1978), and 75 Years of Vision and Voluntarism (1992). All of them include social action content.

Current social and political activity of the Women's League is documented on their website

UNITED SYNAGOGUE OF AMERICA

United Synagogue has its own social action group, and also a Joint Comission on Social Action with the Rabbinical Assembly. Some social action content is in A History of the United Synagogue of America 1913-1963 by Abraham Karp (1964)

The Proceedings of the Biennial Conventions of United Synagogue of America (volumes from 1950-1977) include reports of the social action committes, and social action resolutions. Some of the topics covered are: personal freedom and the McCarren Act, world peace, civil liberties and civil rights, immigration, integration in the schools, nuclear testing, the genocide convention, the war against poverty, and Vietnam.

United Synagogue Review, a magazine published by United Synagogue aimed at all synagogue members, included articles on the following topics in the 1950's-1960's: civil disobedience, prejudice, Vietnam, civil rights, and the American tax system.

Recent political and social activity by the United Synagogue is documented at their website.

Hebrew rhyming dictionaries?

2010-02-02T14:57:00.001-05:00

Question: I am searching for a Hebrew language rhyming dictionary. Can you be of assistance?

Answer: You might try ha-Milon ha-Shalem la-Haruze Lashon by Aryeh Uri'el (Giv'atayim : Oranit, 1997) or Haruzim le-khol et : ha-milon ha-Ivri la-harizah (note the word “et” in the title is spelled “ayin tet” as opposed to “ayin tav”)by Etan Avne'on (Israel : Etav, 2001). If you search for a word in the Rav Milim online dictionary of the Hebrew language, there is a tab entitled “harizah” that allows you to see all the words that rhyme with your chosen word. The Rav Milim dictionary is available as a subscription online resource through the library’s website.

Khazntes

2010-01-27T14:43:00.019-05:00

Question: My grandmother used to tell me about female vocalists who performed synagogue music on the stage in the decades of yesteryear, in the earlier half of the 20th century. Who were these women and what phenomenon was my grandmother reminiscing about?

Answer: Your grandmother was probably referring to the Khazntes, observant women who became popular performers of Jewish liturgical music. They attracted large audiences on the secular and Jewish stage: resorts, Yiddish musicals, night-club cabarets, formal concert halls, radio broadcasts and even the Ed Sullivan Show. They were most active during the "Golden Age" of the cantorate, especially from the 1930's and even up until the 1960's. Many of these women were from families of the great cantors; other were from families involved in the Yiddish theatre.

Two excellent articles on the Khazntes were published in the Fall 2007 issue of the Journal of Synagogue Music (vol. 32):

The Khazntes — The Life Stories of Sophie Kurtzer, Bas Sheva, Sheindele the Khaznte, Perele Feig, Goldie Malavsky andFraydele Oysher" by Arianne Brown (p. 51-79)

"Kol Ishah--An Analysis of the 'Khazntes' Phenomenon" by Hayley Kobilinsky Poserow (p. 80 - 99).

Both articles are available via the Internet on the Cantors Assembly website , where volumes 1-34 (1967-2009) of the Journal of Synagogue Music are freely available to the public.

The Cantors Assembly has also digitized the Proceedings of their annual conventions (most years from 1947 to 2008), and Words About Music , newsletter articles by Hazzan Samuel Rosenbaum. The full text of all of these resources are searchable via the PDF search engine.

These excellent resources include articles about hazzanut, Jewish music and liturgy, in addition to notated music. The Journal of Synagogue Music and the Proceedings of the Cantors Assembly are also available in printed format in the Music Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary.

You do recognize this story!

2010-01-25T14:41:00.010-05:00

On 12/30/2009 a query was posted on this blog requesting help in locating a certain short story dealing with boys playing draydel on Hanukah (see: http://jtslibrarytakeaway.blogspot.com/2009/12/do-you-recognize-this-story.html). The patron who had sent the query was trying to locate the story but could only remember parts of the story's plot, not the story's title and author. As the librarians here were unable to be of assistance, I posted the query on this blog and on the listserv of the Association of Jewish Libraries in the hopes of receiving the needed information.

I was contacted separately by a Ms. Faith Jones and a Ms. Rose Myers who both knew the story we were looking for - "Dos dreydl" by Sholom Aleichem (1859-1916). Ms. Jones also provided the following link to an index of Sholom Aleichem's stories: http://yiddish.haifa.ac.il/SholAley/indices.pdf. The index lists where the stories were published and includes a listing of English translations of the stories. According to the index, "Dos Dreydl" was published in English translation on three occasions. The titles of the books that contain the translation are as follows:

- Jewish Children [New York : Knopf, 1920,1922,1926; Bloch, 1937] under the title “The Spinning Top”
- Some Laughter, Some Tears [New York, Putnam, 1968] under the title “The Dreydl”
- Holiday Tales of Sholem Aleichem [New York, Scribner’s, 1979] under the title “Benny’s Luck”

I passed the information on to the patron and he was very pleased.

Palestine Post As A Mandate-Era Primary Resource

2010-01-11T18:15:00.010-05:00

Question:
I need primary source material for a paper I am writing on social conditions in Palestine during the British Mandate. Can you recommend any resources that are in English?

Answer:
I suggest you use the Palestine Post, the daily newspaper published in Jerusalem from 1932 to1950. (In 1950 the newspaper's name changed to the Jerusalem Post, and it is still being published today).

Sample headlines of Mandate era articles on your topic are:

School for Backward Children; Petah Tikva Sets An Example (Thursday March 8, 1945, p. 4)

Palestine's Most Recent Import: Agricultural Clubs (Friday March 30, 1945, p. 8)

Daily Milk Ration For Children (Sunday, November 28, 1948, p. 1)

Food Sense For Mothers (Tuesday July 13, 1948, p. 4)

Education Bill Rouses Stormy Knesset Debate (Wed. Sept 7, 1949, p. 1)

The Kibbutz Struggles To Preserve Unity (Monday October 31, 1949 p. 2)

The JTS Library has 1948-1950 issues available on microfilm.
The New York Public Library Jewish Division has 1932-1950 issues available on microfilm.

The issues from 1932-1950 are available on the Internet, at no charge, from the Historical Jewish Press section of the Hebrew University Library's website. The articles in these issues are searchable by keyword and browsable by date.

Kitsur SMaK? - No! Kitsur SMaG!

2010-01-11T14:04:00.007-05:00

Last week a question was posted on this blog requesting information regarding an abridgement of the SMaK done by a Christian Hebraist (see post entitled: Kitsur SMaK? - Monday, January 4, 2010). A reader known as “Manuscriptboy” posted a helpful response. He wrote: “See Avraham Yosef Havatselet's article, 'Kitzur ha-Semag le-mi?', Moriah 16, 5-6 (1988), pp. 34-40.” I consulted Manuscriptboy’s citation and learnt that a translation of an abridgement of Moses ben Jacob of Coucy's (13th cent.) Sefer Mitsvot Gadol (also known by the abbreviation: SMaG) was done by a Christian Hebraist. I contacted the patron who had made the original request for information. I wrote as follows:

I looked in the referenced article and saw that the Kitsur SMaG was first published in Basel in 293 (1533). This 1533 edition was published by a Christian by the name of Sebastian Minster [sic] who also translated the work into Latin and added an introduction. Havatselet does not believe that Minster [sic] actually wrote the original. He feels that Minster [sic] translated an MS that may have been written by a Jew. Notwithstanding the assertion made in your original email not to confuse the Kitsur SMaK with the Kitsur SMaG, is it possible that the introduction you are looking for is in reality that which Minster [sic] published with the Kitsur SMaG?

The patron wrote back that this translation of an abridgement of the SMaG may indeed be what he is looking for and he will attempt to examine it. Later, a reader named Yakov Shafranovich posted the following response on the blog:

You might be referring to: "Mitsvot haTorah - Catalogus omnium praeceptorum legis Mosaicae quae ab Hebraeis" It was translated into Latin and published by Sebastian Munster in 1533 in Basel. However, that is a translation of the Smag, not the Smak.

Shafranovich has, helpfully, supplied us with the proper spelling of Munster’s name and the title of the work he published. I would like to thank Manuscriptboy and Yakov Shafranovich for their assistance.

Kitsur SMaK?

2010-01-04T14:31:00.002-05:00

The following question was received at the library’s reference email:

The Kitzur Sma"k (which I'm sure you won't confuse with the Kitzur Sma"g) was compiled by a Christian Hebraist, and for that reason is of no interest to Jews and is not found in any university library that I have been able to find in Israel, nor in yours, Oxford's, Harvard's, nor in the Bibliothèque nationale de France -- at least as far as I can tell by internet. I once saw its Latin introduction, in which the author requests (unlike every other author I have ever seen) that if the reader finds anything objectionable, he should blame not the author, but his (Jewish) source. I would like to quote this, but cannot find the book anywhere. Do you know where it is? Can you at least tell me the name of its author?

The reference appears to be to a book that summarizes Isaac ben Joseph of Corbeil’s 13th century work on the commandments. Isaac ben Joseph’s original work is entitled Amude Golah or Sefer Mitsvot Katan (and is often referred to by the latter title’s acronym: SMaK). The librarians here have, so far, been unable to identify a work that attempts to summarize the SMaK. We would like to put this question to all the readers of this blog in the hope that someone may have the needed information. Is there anyone out there who can identify the author and exact title of the referenced work? Does anyone know of a library that owns this item?

Articles on Jewish Prayers

2009-12-30T17:26:00.008-05:00

Question:

Where can I find articles about the history of weekday shaharit prayers? I have identified many articles published since the mid-1960's in RAMBI, but I would also like to find articles published earlier in the 20th century.

Answer:

Joseph Tabory's magnificent bibliography Jewish Prayer and the Yearly Cycle רשימת מאמרים בענייני תפילה ומועדים , published as a Supplement to volume 64 of Kiryat Sefer (The Jewish National and University Library, 1993) is a comprehensive listing of articles, in Hebrew and European languages, published from the mid-1800's up to the 1990's.

It covers not only individual prayers and prayer services, but also historical aspects of Jewish prayer, prayer in specific geographic and ethnic communities, Shabbat and the holidays, the reading the Torah, the language of prayer, concepts expressed in the liturgy, and more.

Tabory has compiled corrections and additions to this bibliography, published with his facsimile edition of the 1628 Siddur Hanau סידור הנאו שפ"ח : מהדורה פקסימילית : עם פרקי מבוא ונספח ביבליוגרפי (Bar Ilan University, 1994). Reference BM 656 S5

Jewish Prayer and the Yearly Cycle is located in the JTS Library’s Reference collection at Z6371.L5 T3 1993

Do you recognize this story?

2009-12-30T13:37:00.004-05:00

The following question was received at the library’s reference email:

I have been searching for a Hanukkah short story for several years. I heard it on NPR 15 years ago, got it out of the library and read it aloud to my family. But I have lost track of the name. It concerns a young cheder boy who gambles everything, including his prized siddur at dreidle. He is humiliated. Years later he is causally told that the winner's dreidle had a gimmel on all four sides. Can you help me learn the title and author?

The librarians here have, so far, been unable to answer this question. We would like to put this question to all the readers of this blog in the hope that someone may have the needed information. Is there anyone out there who can identify the title and author of the referenced story?

Second Temple Literature and Historical Events

2009-12-24T16:30:00.014-05:00

Question: Please direct me to a chronology of Second Temple literature, including Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha and the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Answer: This Timeline , developed by Dr. Charles Ess of Drury University in Missouri, provides a chronology of selected Second Temple literature in its historical context--both by date, by political event, and by milestone in the development of early Judaism.

Two of the resources described in the December 10 posting include selected apocrypha, pseudepigrapha and Dead Sea Scrolls in their historical context. The Timetables of Jewish History: a Chronology of the Most Important People and Events in Jewish History by Judah Gribetz (Simon & Schuster, 1993) is best used for Second Temple writings via its index. Look up the title of the ancient book you are researching; you will be referred to the relevant listing by date and column. A Timeline of Jewish Texts also includes a few Second Temple compositions.

The Chronology of Jewish Literature provides a dated listing of selected Biblical and post-Biblical books, with dates of composition, co-related to major historical events. This website was created by a Dutch historian, Jona Lendering.

More comprehensive information about the dating and historical background of Second Temple literature can be found in individual articles in standard encyclopedias such as the Encyclopedia Judaica, The Anchor Bible Dictionary, the Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Cambridge History of Judaism:

-- The "Apocyrpha and Pseudepigrapha" article in the Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls (Oxford University Press, 2000) indicates which of these texts are represented among the Dead Sea Scrolls, along with a probable date for these particular copies. This encyclopedia is an excellent resource for an overview on each Dead Sea text and on the genres found in the Judean Desert -- for example, see these articles: "The Damascus Document" , "Hodayot", "Psalms, Hymns, and Prayers" and "Rules" .

--The "Apocrypha" article in The Anchor Bible Dictionary (Doubleday, 1992) lists the main texts along with probable dates of composition.

--The Table of Contents of James Charlesworth's The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, 2 volumes (Doubleday, 1983) clearly lists the title of each document, along with a range of dates for its probably composition. The introduction to each chapter goes into much more detail about the composition dates, including different dates for different parts of each text.

--A "Chronological Table" listing concurrent events in Palestine, Rome/Italy, Egypt and other parts of the ancient Near East is in the back (or front) of volumes 1, 2 and 3 of the Cambridge History of Judaism (Cambridge University Press, 1984-2006). These tables focus on political and military events, merely providing the historical background, without mentioning any texts.

Brothers of Alter Rebbe

2009-12-21T11:45:00.003-05:00

Question:
I believe that I may be descended from one of the brothers of the first HaBaD Rebbe. Would you help me find out what their names were?

Answer:
The first HaBaD rebbe was Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Lyady (1745-1813). He is often referred to as the “Alter (elder) Rebbe”. The famous Hasidic movement known as Lubavitch belongs to the HaBaD tradition. According to the work The Rebbeim : the life of the Alter Rebbe, compiled by Rabbi Sholom D. Avtzon (Brooklyn, NY : S.D. Avtzon, 2005), Rabbi Shneur Zalman had three brothers (see p.253-254). Their names were:
- Rabbi Yehudah Leib of Yanovitch (often referred to as the MaHaRYL, author of the work She'erit Yehudah)
- Rabbi Mordechai (served as rabbi of the town of Orsha)
- Rabbi Moshe (served as rabbi of the town of Bayov)

Can an unborn child learn?

2009-12-15T14:37:00.002-05:00

Question:
Is there any source in the Talmud for the concept that an unborn child has awareness and can learn during the gestation period?

Answer:
In the Babylonian Talmud (Tractate Nidah, p.30b, s.v. darash Rabi Simlai) there is an extensive description of the state of the fetus in its mother's womb. The Talmud teaches that the unborn child is taught the entire Torah while in the womb. When the fetus exits the womb in order to be born an angel comes, strikes it on its mouth, and makes it forget everything it has studied. It will be necessary for the newborn to relearn the Torah during its lifetime. The Talmud (ibid.) records many other fascinating teachings about the life of the unborn child during the months of gestation.

Rabbinic Texts and Historical Events

2009-12-10T18:36:00.009-05:00

Question: Where can I find a graphic historical overview of the eras when the classic Rabbinic texts (Mishna, Talmud, Midrash, Biblical commentaries, legal codes, etc) were written and edited?

Answer: I suggest you look at one of these Jewish history timelines:

Codex Judaica: Chronological Index of Jewish History by Mattis Kantor (Zichron Press, 2005) covers Creation to the 2000’s with an emphasis on the eras of the Bible, Talmud, Rishonim and Ahronim. This volume is especially useful because it allows the reader to choose from 4 levels of detail. Timeline 1 is a simple 1-page summary. Timelines 2 and 3 (8-page and 14-page charts) position major Rabbinic texts in the context of major Jewish historical events. Timeline 4 (the bulk of the book) provides year-by-year details on Rabbinic writings and Jewish history. (REFERENCE OVERSIZE DS 114 K34 2005)

A Timeline of Jewish Texts is a 1-page chart highlighting the major Rabbinic accomplishments in each century in the last 2300+ years. The texts are classified by category: Bible (commentaries and translations); Mishna, Talmud and commentaries; Law Codes, Liturgy, Thought and Ethics, Mysticism, and History.

The Timetables of Jewish History: a Chronology of the Most Important People and Events in Jewish History by Judah Gribetz (Simon & Schuster, 1993) covers Jewish history from the events of Genesis up to the 1990’s, year by year or decade by decade. For each time period, this volume provides 5 parallel columns showing
1) Jewish cultural milestones including Rabbinic and literary accomplishments,
what was happening to 2) the Jews of Europe,
3)the Jews in the Middle East, and
4) Jews in the Americas, and
5) what was happening in the secular world.
The juxtaposition is quite striking—for example, in the year 1135 “Samuel ben Meir… authors a commentary on the Torah that supplements that of his grandfather and teacher, Rashi” and “Henry I of England conquers Normandy back from his brother Robert” (p. 113) (REFERENCE OVERSIZE DS 114 G74 1993)

Timelines for the History of Judaism This easy-to-use set of charts emphasizes history. Hypertext links provide details about selected Rabbinic texts.

Dor L’Dor: A Year-By-Year Graphic Timeline of Jewish History From Creation to the Present by Ephraim Waxman (Feldheim, 2006) is a full-color 60-page fold-out chart. This volume emphasizes Rabbinic personalities and the writing of Rabbinic texts, against the background of Jewish history and world events. The graphic format makes this volume useful for teenage students (ERC OVERSIZE DS 114 W38 2006)

“The Generations of the Tannaim andthe Amoraim”, a chapter in Adin Steinsaltz’s The Talmud: The Steinsaltz Edition: A Reference Guide (Israeli Institute for Talmudic Publications, 1989) provides charts listing Tannaim and Amoroaim by name, date, and generation—juxtaposed with concurrent Eretz Israel and Babylonian historial events/personalities and world events. (REFERENCE OVERSIZE BM 503.5 s652 1989)

Naming children after Alexander the Great

2009-12-09T15:01:00.003-05:00

Question: What is the source of the legend that during the Second Temple era the Jews promised Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C.E.) that they would name their children after him?

Answer: The earliest source for this legend that I could locate is the work Sefer Yosipon. According to Encyclopedia Judaica [2007 ed., v.11, p.461-462] Sefer Yosipon (also known as Josippon) is an anonymous history of the Second Temple era that was composed in Hebrew during the 10th century in southern Italy. During the Middle Ages the work was mistakenly ascribed to the Jewish historian Josephus Flavius (c.37 – after 100 C.E.) and became known as Yosipon (a Jewish-Greek form of Josephus). In the scholarly edition of Sefer Yosipon edited by David Flusser [Yerushalayim, Mosad Byalik, 1978-1980] the story is found in v.1, p.56-57, lines 37-45. Alexander is visiting the Temple in Jerusalem. After proclaiming his belief in the God of the Jews, Alexander asks the Jewish High Priest to create a memorial for Alexander in the Temple. Alexander will donate gold which will be crafted into a statue in his likeness. The statue will remain in the Temple to honor Alexander. The High Priest replied that it was forbidden to maintain a statue in the Temple but that Alexander’s memory would not be forgotten. All the priestly children born that year in Judea and Jerusalem would be named Alexander. Eventually, these children would serve in the Temple, thereby providing a memorial for Alexander. Flusser comments (ibid., p.56, note to line 41) that a similar story was recorded by the German poet Rudolf von Ems (c.1200-1254) in his work Alexanderroman. In von Ems’ version no mention is made of Alexander requesting a statue. Out of gratitude to Alexander’s kindness to them, the Jews spontaneously make the offer that henceforth one member of the Levitical house will always bear the name Alexander. Flusser thinks it likely that in recording their slightly different versions of the legend, both Yosipon and von Ems were drawing on a shared source that is at present lost to us.

How To Access the Bar Ilan Responsa Database

2009-12-03T17:13:00.011-05:00

Question: How can I access the Bar Ilan database from campus and from home?

Answer: JTS Campus Access: The Bar Ilan database, sometimes called the Responsa database, is available as a web-based resource from the Available Online section of the JTS Library’s website. Click on E-books or E-Reference. Then click on Bar Ilan Responsa Project

This database is also available as a CD-ROM in the Reference section of the JTS Library, at selected computers.

Off-Campus Access (JTS students, faculty and staff): The web-based version of the Bar Ilan database is also available via the “Remote Access” link on the JTS Library’s website. Input the same username and password that you use for your JTS email. The next page will give you access to all The Library’s subscription databases; click on “Responsa” for the Bar Ilan database.

Recent Jewish Studies Research

2009-11-25T15:49:00.006-05:00

Question: Where can I find an overview of the various scholarly approaches in recent research on Jewish liturgy?

Answer: Lawrence A. Hoffman’s essay “Jewish Liturgy and Jewish Scholarship: Method and Cosmology” in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies (Oxford University Press, 2002) p. 733-755 presents a survey of research in Jewish liturgy, focusing on the attitudes and points of view of the various scholars. In addition to earlier studies, publications of the last 20 years are presented.

The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies provides a similar “snapshot of the current state of research” (p. xiii) in each of 39 sub-disciplines, ranging from Biblical studies and medieval Jewish history to Jewish mysticism, Jewish music, and demography of the Jews. This handbook will help a student evaluate a particular scholar’s work against the backdrop of the accomplishments of his fellow researchers.

Most chapters include an introduction to the field, a survey of early research (19th and early/mid 20th century publications), as well as a detailed emphasis on more recent scholarship. Many essays also suggest areas that have not been well-studied, in the hope that future scholars will investigate those topics further. Each chapter concludes with a paragraph highlighting the strengths of “Suggested Reading,” and a more extensive “Bibliography.”

The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies is located in the JTS Library’s Reference collection at: REF BM 70 O95 2002.

Finding Articles About the Tanakh (Part 2 - RAMBI)

2009-11-19T18:50:00.014-05:00

Question: Where can I find articles about a specific passage in the Tanakh?

Answer: [Continued from blog posting Nov 12, 2009 which focused on ATLA/ATLAS]. Another quick way to identify scholarly articles and essays on biblical passages is via the RAMBI Index of Articles on Jewish Studies.

1. Use the SUBJECT option from the drop-down list.

2. Type the name of the Biblical book in either English or Hebrew (with the Hebrew alphabet) like this:
Genesis (Book of) or
(בראשית (ספר

For best results, do not use transliterated Hebrew book names, like “bereshit”, when using the SUBJECT option. Exceptions: KOHELTH, OVADIAH.

3. Type the chapter (or range of chapters) after the name of the book:
Ezekiel (book of): 8
יחזקאל (ספר) ח - יב

Specifying Verses: You can not specify verses using the SUBJECT option. However, if particular verses are mentioned in the title of the article, it is easy to notice those articles when you peruse the listing of article titles.

You can search for articles on specific verses using a KEYWORD SEARCH; they will be in your results list only if that chapter/verse combination happens to be in the title of the article.

General Articles:
Articles on the entire Five Books of Moses are listed under the subjects PENTATEUCH or תורה .
Articles on the entire Tanakh are listed under the subjects: BIBLE or BIBLE: EXEGESIS or מקרא . Additional general articles are listed under: PROPHETS, נביאים , כתובים

Languages: Using English search terms will retrieve a listing of articles in all European languages, including Russian. Using Hebrew will retrieve a listing of articles in Hebrew and Yiddish.

Journals and books included: RAMBI’s unique strength is its emphasis on Jewish and Israeli publications such as: Dine Israel, Dor le Dor, Hebraic Political Studies, Iberia Judaica, Jewish History, Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society, Niv Hamidrashia, Shdemot, and most significantly, the multitude of Hebrew language publications.

RAMBI’s wide range of European-language journals are similar to those in ATLA/ATLAS, from Journal of Biblical Studies to the Annual of the Japanese Biblical Institute. In addition, RAMBI includes articles in feschriften and other essay collections.

Name, Title, or Honorific?

2009-11-18T16:46:00.002-05:00

Question:
I am a researcher involved in an oral history project and am dealing with an individual who is referred to as: “HaRav HaGaon, HaTzaddik, Avraham HaLevi Jungreis”. I suspect that some of these words may in fact be honorifics rather than part of the subject’s actual name. Can you help me to determine if this is so?

Answer:
Here is how this mixture of name, title, and honorifics breaks down:

HaRav = the Rabbi
HaGaon = the Genius
HaTzaddik = the Righteous
Avraham = [given name]
HaLevi = the Levite [meaning: from the tribe of Levi but not a Kohen (priestly family)]
Jungreis = [family name]

Finding Articles About the Tanakh

2009-11-12T16:48:00.025-05:00

Question: Where can I find articles about a specific passage in the Tanakh?
Answer: A quick way to find scholarly articles on Biblical verses is the Scriptural Index in the ATLA/ATLAS database [access details below].

1. Choose SCRIPTURES from the blue band at the top of the screen. You will be presented with a list of Biblical books. (Clicking on any of the books will retrieve ALL the articles about that book, a list much too long to be useful)

2. Click on EXPAND to be presented with a choice of chapters within that book
3.Click on EXPAND again next to chapter of your choice, to get a choice of verses.
4. Click on the desired verse number to finally retrieve a list of relevant articles.

Note the options in the left-hand column NARROW RESULTS BY: SUBJECT (on the green bar). You will see headings specifying a range of verses in the Biblical book. For example, “Bible. Genesis 12-25”. Clicking on this heading will retrieve articles covering all those verses, as a group.

An important “subject” option is the PEER REVIEWED specification. Clicking this option will limit your results list to articles published in refereed journals. This means the articles have been screened and approved by experts in that academic discipline before publication is permitted. Although some scholars have been dissatisfied with this process, its goal is to ensure that only quality scholarship is being published.

An alternate method of retrieving peer reviewed articles is in right-hand column of the screen: LIMIT YOUR RESULTS (on the green bar). Check the SCHOLARLY (PEER REVIEWED) JOURNALS box, and then click UPDATE RESULTS (on the blue rectangle).

As always in ATLA/ATLAS, some articles will be full-text, while others will appear only as citations. Full-text articles are viewable via Adobe PDF software, and have PDF Full Text right after the citation.

Please note that ATLA/ATLAS, compiled by the American Theological Libraries Association, includes journals published by all world religions, as well as by academic institutions. For example: Jewish Bible Quarterly, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, Trinity Journal, Journal of Biblical Literature, Conservative Judaism, Mennonite Quarterly Review, Anglican Theological Review. Therefore the authors’ attitudes represent a wide variety of interests and viewpoints.

ACCESSING ATLA/ATLAS:

ATLA/ATLAS is available via JTS campus computers from the AVAILABLE ONLINE page. JTS students and faculty can access this database remotely.

To be continued in the future with a posting on Using RAMBI to Find Articles About the Tanakh.

Checking Lettuce for Bugs - Video Tutorial

2009-11-09T16:24:00.001-05:00

Question:
In order to properly observe the Jewish dietary laws (kashrut) I want to check my lettuce for bugs before eating. I have read descriptions about how this should be done but I am still unsure how to do it. Would you, please, direct me to an online video that shows the procedure?

Answer:
You may find the following video helpful: http://star-k.org/cons-appr-vegetables-videos01.htm. It was produced by the Star-K kashrut organization and it depicts the procedure for checking lettuce for bugs. Helpful tips for how to best do this examination are given. Other Star-K bug-checking videos are found here: http://star-k.org/cons-appr-vegetables-videos-list.htm. Happy hunting!

Synagogue Records from Europe

2009-11-05T18:02:00.025-05:00

Question:
Have you access to synagogue records in Europe for genealogical research?

Answer:
Our Library holds a selection of "Pinkasim" or community record books (manuscripts), which usually list births, marriages and deaths, for individual towns in Eastern Europe.

You can find them listed in our catalog by doing an ADVANCED SEARCH In LIMIT SEARCH TO choose the FORMAT of manuscripts. Search the word: pinkas or פנקס

To cast a wider net, do a BASIC SEARCH. Specify SUBJECT BEGINS WITH from the drop-down menu. In the text-box, type: pinkasim .

Some of the listings you retrieve will be community record books with vital statistics.
For example:
Pinkas of the Venice synagogue (1611-1833)
Memorbuch from Mainz, Germany (1586-1837)

You will also retrieve listings of record books of various types of organizations:

Pinkas min ha-Havurah Magide Tehilim u-Gemilut Hasadim (Kiev, 1895)
[record book from the society of those who recite Psalms and perform acts of loving kindness]
Pinkas Hevrah Mishnayot (Siladi, Romania, 1907-1933)
[record book of the Mishna society]
Pinkas Ozer Dalim (Venice1641-1726)
[record book of those who help the poor]
Minute Book of the Budapest Chevra Shas (1907-1932)
Pinkas nedarim (Mantua, Italy, 1753)
[record book of vows]
Pinkas hevra kadisha (Lissa, Poland, 1833-1854)
[record book of the burial society]

One of the special collections in the JTS Archives is the French Jewish Communities Record Group, including documents from 1648-1946. This collection holds many record books, such as a Taxes roll of the Jews in the district of Metz in 1785.
This collection is described in An Inventory to the French Jewish Communities Record Group (1648-1946) by Roger S. Kohn (1991) Z6373 F7 Y47 1997

Holocaust survivors from many European towns have published memorial books which include local histories, lists of former residents who were killed, and lists of those who survived. The JTS Library holds many such memorial books. The New York Public Library has a collection of digitized yizkor books.

Other resources for Eastern European genealogical documentation are:
http://www.jewishgen.org/
http://www.centropa.org/
The Genealogy Institue at the Center for Jewish History

Jewish Roots in Ukraine and Moldova; Pages From the Past and Archival Inventories, by Miriam Wiener et. al. (1999) DS 135 U4 W45 1999

Jewish Roots in Poland: Pages From the Past and Archival Inventories, by Miriam Wiener et. al. (1997) CS877 J4 W45 1997

Some Archival Sources for Ukrainian-Jewish Genealogy, compiled by Aleksander Kronik and Sallyann A. Sack (1997) DS135 U4 K76 1997

Sources on Polish Jewry at the Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People. Compiled by Hanna Volovici, et. al. (2004) Z6373 P7 S68 2004

New DVDs in the JTS Library

2009-11-05T11:26:00.002-05:00

In this season of film festivals, enjoy your own, personal Jewish and Israeli film festival by viewing the following newly arrived DVD’s in the JTS Library Collection. All DVDs are located in the Asher Audio-Visual Library and circulate for one week. They can also be viewed on our in-house DVD players.

Blessed is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh (2008)-Directed by Roberta Grossman. In English, Hebrew and Hungarian with subtitles in English. The first documentary feature about Hannah Senesh, Blessed Is the Match tells the life story of the Hungarian-born poet and Holocaust heroine, who was only 22 when she parachuted into Nazi-occupied Europe in 1944 as part of a rescue mission to save the Jews of Hungary, the only outside rescue mission for Jews during the Holocaust. Hannah parachuted behind enemy lines, was captured, tortured and ultimately executed by the Nazis. Dramatizations, interviews, photographs, newsreel footage, letters, and diary entries are used to illuminate Senesh's early years, her immigration to Palestine and her involvement in the perilous rescue mission.With unprecedented access to the Senesh family archive, this powerful story unfolds through the writings and photographs of Hannah and her mother, Catherine Senesh. (DVD 153)

Defiance (2008)-Directed by Edward Zwick and starring Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber. The deep forests of Poland and Belorussia are the domain of the occupying Germans during World War II. Four Jewish brothers, the Bielskis, go into these forests after the murder of their parents by local authorities working with the German invaders. They undertake the impossible task of foraging for food, weapons and survival, not just for themselves but for a large mass of Jews fleeing from the German war machine. The brothers, living with the fear of discovery, must contend with neighboring Soviet partisans and deciding whom to trust. They take on the responsibility of guardians and motivate hundreds of women, men, children and elderly to join their fight against the Nazi regime while hiding in makeshift homes in the dark, cold, unforgiving forest. At the same time, the brothers turn a band of war defectors into powerful freedom fighters. At the war’s end, 1200 members of the Bielski group survived. Their children and grandchildren number in the tens of thousands. Based on the book “Defiance: The Bielski Partisans” by Nechama Tec. (DVD 150)

Hatunah Me’uheret/Late Marriage (2001)-Written and directed by Dover Kasashvili and starring Lior Ashkenazi and Ronit Elkabetz. In Georgian and Hebrew with English subtitles. Zaza is a 31-year-old bachelor Georgian/Israeli Ph.D. student at Tel Aviv University whose family is trying to arrange a marriage for him. Unknown to them, he is secretly dating a 34-year-old divorcée, Judith, who has a 6-year-old daughter. Zaza must choose between his family traditions or his love in this comedy/melodrama. (DVD 149)

Live and Become (2008)-Written and directed by Radu Mihaileanu and starring Moshe Agazai, Mosche Abebe, Sirak M. Sabahat, Yael Abecassis and Roschdy Zem. In French, Hebrew and Amharic with English subtitles. The story begins in 1985 when, in a wrenching opening scene set in a squalid refugee camp in the Sudan, a mother forces her weeping 9 year old son to leave her side and join the transport of Ethiopian Jews to Israel in the secret Israeli airlift code-named Operation Moses. The boy, too young to understand that his mother is probably saving his life, is substituted for Solomon, the dead son of a Falasha woman, who agrees to take him. Under the provisions of Israel’s Law of Return, those Ethiopian refugees with Jewish parents and grandparents could settle in Israel and become citizens; thousands emigrated. The enigmatic final words of the boy’s mother, “Live and become,” resonate through the rest of the film. Based on real events. (DVD 145)

Waltz with Bashir (2008)-Written and directed by Ari Folman. In Hebrew with English subtitles. An animated film about a real person and real events. After not being able to recall the time he spent on an Israeli Army mission during the Lebanon War, Ari attempts to unravel the mystery by traveling around the world to interview old friends and comrades. As the pieces of the puzzle begin to come together, his memory begins to return in illustrations that are surreal. At the end of the animated film, a very short part of the film shows real people. The film includes disturbing images of atrocities and violence as well as brief nudity and a scene of graphic sexual content. Winner of the Israeli Film Academy’s award for the best film of 2008, and the USA’s Golden Globe for best foreign language film of 2008. (DVD 151)

Watermarks (2004)-Written and directed by Yaron Zilberman. In English, Hebrew and German with subtitles in English. The story of the champion women swimmers of the legendary Jewish sports club, Hakoah Vienna. Hakoah was founded in 1909 in response to the notorious Aryan Paragraph, which forbade Austrian sports clubs from accepting Jewish athletes. Its founders were eager to popularize sport among a community renowned for such great minds as Freud, Mahler and Zweig, but traditionally alien to physical recreation. Hakoah rapidly grew into one of Europe's biggest athletic clubs, while achieving astonishing success in many diverse sports. In the 1930s Hakoah's best-known triumphs came from its women swimmers, who dominated national competitions in Austria. After the Anschluss, in 1938, the Nazis shut down the club, but the swimmers all managed to flee the country before the war broke out, thanks to an escape operation initiated by Hakoah's functionaries. Sixty-five years later, director Yaron Zilberman meets the members of the swimming team in their homes around the world, and arranges for them to have a reunion in their old swimming pool in Vienna, a journey that evokes memories of youth, femininity, and strengthens lifelong bonds. Told by the swimmers, now in their eighties. (DVD 148)

Jews in Sports

2009-11-03T12:25:00.003-05:00

In honor of the World Series –

Question:
Would you suggest a few books that discuss Jewish participation in sports, especially in the United States?

Answer:
Here are some books that might interest you:

Gurock, Jeffrey S.
Judaism's encounter with American sports.
Bloomington : Indiana University Press, c2005
GV709.6 .G87 2005 [CIRC]

Mendelsohn, Ezra.
Jews and the sporting life.
Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2008
GV709.6 .J47 2008 [CIRC]

Ribalow, Harold Uriel.
The Jew in American sports.
New York : Hippocrene Books, 1985
GV697.A1 R5 1985 [CIRC]

Riess, Steven A.
Sports and the American Jew.
Syracuse, N.Y. : Syracuse University Press, 1997
GV709.6 .S76 1997 [CIRC]

Siegman, Joseph.
Jewish sports legends : the international Jewish sports Hall of Fame.
Washington : Brassey's, c1997
OVR GV697.A1 S4797 1997 [CIRC]

Silverman, B. P. Robert Stephen.
The 100 greatest Jews in sports : ranked according to achievement.
Lanham, Md. ; Oxford : Scarecrow Press, 2003
GV697.A1 S522 2003 [CIRC]

Wechsler, Bob.
Day by day in Jewish sports history.
Jersey City, NJ : KTAV ; [New York] : in association with the American Jewish Historical Society, c2008
GV709.6 .W43 2008 [CIRC]

Decoding Dead Sea Scrolls Designations

2009-10-29T18:29:00.030-04:00

Question:

What exactly is 1Q22 I 1-2 ? I know it is from one of the Dead Sea Scrolls, but which one, and what do the letters and numbers mean? I also saw a reference to 1QDM – what is that?

Answer:

To understand citations from Dead Sea Scrolls, it is helpful to segment the elements:

In this example, 1Q22 and 1QDM are two different ways of referring to the same scroll.

The first two elements, 1Q, identify the cave number and location: Qumran cave one.

Knowing the possible cave (or site) abbreviations will help you distinguish the elements of the citation. Here is a selected list of additional sites where Judean Desert documents have been found:

There are multiple methods of identifying the individual manuscripts. Each document found at a site has been assigned a unique number. Thus 1Q22 means manuscript number 22 found at Qumran cave number 1.

An alternate method of identifying a manuscript is by using a standard abbreviation for its contents. This standard abbreviation is often based on a transliteration of the Hebrew name for the text. In this example, DM is the abbreviation for Dibre Mosheh, or Sayings of Moses. In some cases, the abbreviation is based on a description in a European language. In addition, some of Dead Sea Scrolls are also known by a “popular” title.

Here is a sample list of typical names of Dead Sea Scroll texts, and their abbreviations:

Many texts have been found in multiple copies. These copies are distinguished from one another with a superscript after the text designation. For example, these three different copies of Hodayot were all found in Qumran cave 4:

4QHa (also known as 4Q427)
4QHb (also known as 4Q428)
4QHc (also known as 4Q429)

The next element in your citation is Roman numeral I, referring to column one of the scroll. The final element, the Arabic numerals 1-2, refer to lines one and two, within the specified column.

There are many exceptions to these generalities, in part because the field of Dead Sea Scroll research is still actively evolving. For more a more detailed explanation of scroll nomenclature, extensive lists of Dead Sea Scroll manuscripts, and the texts themselves, please consult the following sources:

The Dead Sea Scrolls: Hebrew Aramaic and Greek texts with English translations. James Charlesworth, ed. (1994- )
REF BM 487 A3 1994a
[Document numbers and document names listed at the end of each volume]

Encyclopedia Of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Lawrence Schiffman and James VanderKam, eds. (2000)
REF Oversize BM 487 E53 2000
[Document lists and indexes in volume 2]

The SBL Handbook of Style for Ancient Near Eastern, Biblical, and Early Christian Studies. Alexander, Patrick, et al, eds. (1999)
Reserve PN147 .S26 1999
[8.3.5 Dead Sea Scrolls and related Texts, and Appendix F: Texts From the Judean Desert]

Discoveries in the Judaean Desert . Emanuel Tov, ed. (1955-)
REF Oversize BM 487 A1

Source of Quote

2009-10-27T12:38:00.005-04:00

Question:
I am trying to locate the source of the following quote which I have heard attributed to the Torah: "One person's candle is the light for many." Can you assist me?

Answer:
I could not find that exact quote, but while looking in Joseph L. Baron's A Treasury of Jewish Quotations (J. Aronson, 1985) I found a reference (found on p.279 and assigned the number 489.20 in Baron's work) to the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Shabat, p.122a where it says "ner le-ehad ner le-me'ah" meaning "a candle for one is a candle for one hundred", perhaps that is the quote you are searching for.

"Wonder working rabbis" and "Golems"

2009-10-22T14:27:00.005-04:00

Question:
Would you recommend works that will assist me in learning about "wonder-working rabbis" and/or about "golems"?

Answer:
In regards to "wonder-working rabbis" (often known as Baale Shem - "masters of the name", referring to their usage of God's name to effect magic), I would recommend the following titles:

- Etkes, I. The Besht : magician, mystic, and leader. [Hanover : Brandeis University Press, published by University Press of New England, 2005].
- Rosman, Murray Jay. Founder of Hasidism : a quest for the historical Ba’al Shem Tov.[Berkeley, Calif. : University of California Press, 1996].

Even though these works deal primarily with Rabbi Yisrael Ba'al Shem Tov, they also give important overviews of the Ba'al Shem phenomenon in general. These items will also have citations which you can trace back to other important sources.

In regards to research on the "golem" phenomenon I would recommend the following titles:

- Scholem, Gershom Gerhard. "The Idea of the Golem" in: On the Kabbalah and its symbolism. [New York : Schocken Books, 1965], p.158-204.
- Idel, Moshe. Golem : Jewish mystical and magical traditions on the artificial anthropoid. [Albany, NY : State University of New York Press, 1990].

These texts contain extensive coverage of this topic and can point you to other sources that discuss the matter.

Tashlikh on Hoshana Rabah

2009-10-15T15:59:00.002-04:00

The Jewish custom of tashlikh is recorded by Rabbi Mosheh Isserles (ReMA) in Shulhan Arukh, Orah Hayim, chpt. 583, paragraph 2. Speaking about Rosh ha-Shanah, ReMA says: “[people] go to the river to say the verse ‘and throw (ve-tashlikh) all our sins into the depths of the sea etc.’ (cf. Micah 7:19)”. Mishnah Berurah (ibid., note 8) codifies that tashlikh should be done on the first day of Rosh ha-Shanah after the minhah service but before sunset. Mishnah Berurah also records the custom that if the first day of Rosh ha-Shanah falls on Shabbat, tashlikh should be performed on the second day of Rosh ha-Shanah in order to avoid any danger of transgressing Shabbat by carrying in a public domain. The contemporary expert in Jewish law (posek) Rabbi Gavriel Zinner quotes sources that state that if someone was unable to perform tashlikh on Rosh ha-Shanah they are allowed to do it throughout the Ten Days of Repentance (aseret yeme teshuvah) – see: Sefer Nite Gavriel : hilkhot Rosh ha-Shanah [Yerushalayim : 2001], chpt.69, paragraphs 15-16 and footnotes 25-28, p.424. Furthermore, Rabbi Zinner quotes many sources that indicate a custom to specifically perform tashlikh on the same day of the aseret yeme teshuvah as the penitential prayers (selihot) contain the responsive liturgical poem (pizmon) which incorporates the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy (derived from Exodus 34:6-7) into its structure (either the fourth or fifth day of the aseret yeme teshuvah, depending on the year). Rabbi Betsalel Majersdorf, Technical Services Librarian at Jewish Theological Seminary, mentioned to me that he has recently become aware of a practice to specifically wait until after the aseret yeme teshuvah and recite tashlikh on the seventh day of Sukkot, Hoshanah Rabah. Rabbi Majersdorf was unaware of the source for this practice. I searched the literature but have also been unable to locate such a source. We would like to request that any readers of this blog who know of any sources on this matter please note them in the “comments” section. Thank you.