Tashlikh on Hoshana Rabah

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.

Batyah or Bityah

The name Batyah is a common Hebrew female given name. The source of the name is the daughter of Pharaoh who drew Mosheh from the water when he was an infant and raised him like a son. The midrash in Vayikra Rabah (chpt.1 , paragraph 3, s.v. ve-eleh bene Bityah) homiletically interprets her name as being composed of two words: “bat” and “Yah” meaning “daughter of God”. God says to Batyah that just as Mosheh was not her actual son but she called him son (and took care of him as one), so too, even though Batyah is not God’s daughter (i.e. she was not born a Jew), He refers to her as His daughter. Rabbi Betsalel Majersdorf, Technical Services Librarian at Jewish Theological Seminary, pointed me to the work Arukh ha-Shulhan by Rabbi Yehiel Mikhel Epstein. Rabbi Epstein opines (Arukh ha-Shulhan, Even ha-Ezer, chpt.129, “shemot nashim”, s.v. [b] Basha) that notwithstanding the common practice (and the homiletic teaching of the midrash) the proper pronunciation of this name is Bityah (with a hirik under the letter bet) and not Batyah (with a patah under the letter bet). He reasons that the only time this name is mentioned in the Bible is in Divre ha-Yamim I 4:18 where it is given as Bityah bat Par’oh. An edition of the Bible based on authoritative Masoretic sources (especially the Aleppo Codex) was printed by Mosad ha-Rav Kuk in 1977 under the editorship of Mordechai Breuer. I examined this edition and found that the reading was, indeed, Bityah.

Identifying members of a Hasidic dynasty

A patron found references to various contemporary Hasidic rabbis (Admorim) in a Yiddish newspaper of the 1920’s. The rabbis’ names were not given, only the name of the town they or their dynasty was associated with. The particular dynasties that were referenced were not from the more well known ones. How could the patron identify the individuals referred to in the newspaper article and learn more about them?

Mosad ha-Rav Kook has a project to create an encyclopedia of Hasidut. One of the parts of this project is entitled Entsiklopedyah la-Hasidut : Ishim [Yerushalayim, Mosad ha-Rav Kuk, 1986-2004]. The JTS Library call number for this work is REF BM198.A1 E582 1986. This three volume work by Yitshak Alfasi is a biographical encyclopedia of Hasidic personalities. However, it is arranged alphabetically by first name and does not have an index of towns or dynasties.

Yitshak Alfasi produced another encyclopedia of Hasidic personalities. It is entitled ha-Hasidut mi-Dor la-Dor [Yerushalayim : Mekhon Daat Yosef, 1995-1998]. (Credit to Rabbi Betsalel Majersdorf, Technical Services Librarian at JTS, for bringing this work to my attention.) The JTS Library call number for this work is REF OVR BM198.A2 A435 1995. This two volume work is arranged according to dynasty. It is divided into sections according to which generation a given dynasty began in. The first volume covers from the first generation of Hasidut (the Baal Shem Tov) through the fifth. The second covers the sixth through the eighth generations (the present day). A list of dynasties covered in the first volume is found on p.381-383 of volume 1. A list of dynasties covered in the second volume is found on p.[531-532] of volume 2. It is important to note that many dynasties have sub-dynasties and rabbis who were known by the names of towns other than that which their dynasty bore. In order to locate these individuals one may consult the index of place names found at the back of volume 2 (p.70-98). Also provided are an index arranged alphabetically by first-name, and an index of works authored by the personalities and mentioned in the encyclopedia.

Alfasi’s second work greatly assisted the patron in his research.