319) Some Perplexing Mourning-related Minhagim

 A GUEST POST BY RABBI BORUCH CLINTON:

LEARNING MISHNA:

Is there a connection between mourning and learning chapters of the Mishna? I’m not sure. But popular Jewish practice certainly assumes that there’s something going on. There’s no escaping advice to recite carefully chosen chapters during the course of shiva, and then to gather participants in an effort to complete larger segments before key subsequent milestones.

But why? Some will note that the words נשמה and משנה share the same letters. But then, so do השמן and מנשה (not to mention the verb “meshaneh” – to change). Others will quote “ספרים הקדושים” extolling the power such study has in positively improving one’s status in the next world. The only specific references I came across pointed to titles (אלף המגן ,יוסף אומץ ,תורה אור etc.) that could each refer to multiple lesser-known and relatively modern books. Gesher Hachaim mentions the custom but, uncharacteristically, quotes no sources.

318) AUTHORSHIP OF THE BOOK OF PSALMS – THE DISCOVERY OF A LOST TEXT FROM CHASSIDEI ASHKENAZ:

 

A commentary on the Book of Psalms by Rashbam (1085-1158) from just before the period of R. Eleazar of Worms. 

INTODUCTION:

Pursuant to previous posts about lost texts (and even lost Talmudim) which were discovered in what became known as the “European Geniza”, this article - based extensively on the research of Professor Simcha Emanuel^[1] - explores another fascinating text with interesting implications.

The European Geniza is a term that has come to refer to old texts that were glued together and ‘repurposed’ as binding material to form a hardcover for newer books. These books are scattered throughout Europe in various libraries and archives. Their often-accidental discoveries yield important information about works from towards the end of the Middle Ages[2] which were until recently either not known or thought to have been lost.

317) SHEMIRA: WHY PROTECT THE DEAD?

 

A GUEST POST BY RABBI BORUCH CLINTON:

As Rabbi Michal notes on his Kotzk Blog, many of the customs currently associated with death in Judaism were formalized only in the last few centuries. Reading that article got me thinking about some specific practises and their origins.

The first of those that came to mind was the protection (shemira) we insist in providing bodies before they reach burial. Besides the obvious fact that it’s perverse and cruel to just abandon a human body – especially that of a loved one – to its fate, is there any reason to continue watching it even once it’s safely reached, say, a hospital or funeral home morgue?

316) PATTERNS IN THE SUPERCOMMENTARIES ON RASHI:

 

b. Yevamot 63a.

INTRODUCTION:

Rashi’s commentaries on the Torah are well known. However, the commentaries on his commentaries - known as supercommentaries - are less known, even “wholly neglected”. These supercommentaries or Parshanei Rashi number in the dozens by conservative estimates and possibly even in the hundreds.[1]

In this article, based extensively in the research by Professor Eric Lawee[2] of Bar Illan University, we shall explore a sample of different supercommentaries on one single Rashi commentary on a verse in Genesis.

NOTE: The quotation from Rashi upon which this article is based may upset sensitive readers. The intention, however, is not to focus on the subject but rather on the patterns which emerge in the supercommentaries which deal with it.

 

315) A GLIMPSE INTO THE 18th CENTURY WORLD OF SEGULOT AND ‘COUNTER SEGULOT’:

 

 

One of Segulot disributed by R. Yonatan Eibeschuetz (1690-1764) 

INTRODUCTION:

We have dealt with the issue of Segulot (religious amulets) on a number of previous occasions, particularly in relation to the Emden-Eybeschuetz controversies (see links provided below).

In this article, based extensively on the research of Shai A. Alleson-Gerberg[1], we shall examine the strange world of Segulot which was rife within some quarters of rabbinic leadership during the eighteenth century.

 

314) THE DISCOVERY OF THE LOST SPANISH TALMUD:

 

A leaf from Seridei Bavli.

INTRODUCTION:

I have always been fascinated by the often incidental discovery of old important texts that are constantly being made in modern times. These include writings like those of Abulafia, for example, which Gershom Scholem happened to identify in Archives of the Bavarian State Library when he was writing his dissertation in 1919. There were also recent discoveries of the Meiri texts, as well as unpublished Rashi commentaries and other works and even the recovery of some of the more recent censored writing of Rav Kook.

In this article, we shall explore the accidental discovery of parts of the 500-year-old Spanish Talmud which was thought to have been lost forever.[1]

 

313) THE BEGINNINGS OF THE FINAL RITUALS:

 

Ma'avar Yabbok by R. Aaron Berechia of Modena (d.1639) - a book with prayers for the ill the deceased.

INTRODUCTION:

During the 16^th and 17^th centuries, new rituals and liturgy relating to sickness and dying were introduced to Judaism. In this article, based extensively on the research by Professor Avriel Bar-Levav[1], we will look at how these rituals were first innovated. The intention is not to dwell on uncomfortable matters but rather to show the mechanics of how customs are sometimes brought into Jewish practice from various sources.

 

1) “DYING BY THE BOOK”[2]:

Bar-Levav points out that:

 [a]lthough Jewish mourning rituals were already highly developed early in the rabbinic era, structure was not imparted to the deathbed setting itself until the early modern period.

312) WHAT DOES MODEH ANI MEAN?

Modeh Ani mentioned in Seder haYom by R. Moshe ben Machir. Published in Venice 1599.

 GUEST POST BY RABBI BORUCH CLINTON:  (See  Boruch Clinton's Finding Tradition project)

What Does Modeh Ani Mean? 

                         מודה אני לפניך מלך חי וקים שהחזרת בי נשמתי בחמלה רבה אמונתך 

Those 12 words mark the start of each day for many Jews. It's a beautiful prayer and an expression of the many debts we owe to God. But three of those words might, on reflection, represent a significant theological innovation. 

Here's the whole thing translated: 

"I acknowledge before you, the living, eternal God, that you returned to me my soul, with grace and good faith." 

The three words in question are: שהחזרת בי נשמתי  - "that you returned to me my soul." Where's the innovation in that? 

Well for God to have returned our souls first thing each morning, He would have had to have first taken them. And, while relevant but ambiguous language can be found in a few midrashim (see עיון תפילה לספר  אוצר התפילות) I'm not sure we should be so quick to assume that death and rebirth is what literally happens each night. 

311) THE EMERGENCE OF CHARISMATIC JUDAISM:

 

The Pledge of Allegiance to R. Chaim Vital effectively making him the keeper of the secrets of the Ari Zal.

INTRODUCTION:

From around the sixteenth century, rabbinic leadership experienced a dramatic change. No longer were the credentials of leadership solely based on knowledge and erudition. Now leadership became largely defined by personal charisma.

This does not mean that knowledge played no role at all, but it does mean that it was no longer the main criterion.

In this article, based extensively on the work by Professor Morris Faierstein[1], we shall explore some of the effects of this change in the style of rabbinic leadership.

310) HOW THE TZADIK IS DEPICTED IN SOME CHASSIDIC LITERATURE:

 INTRODUCTION:

In early Chassidic literature we find some fascinating and sometimes curious notions concerning the Tzadik-G-d relationship which seem to be the antithesis of the purer form of monotheism as defined by Maimonides.

In this article, which I have drawn extensively from the research of Professor Shaul Magid[1], we will explore some Chassidic texts which speak of such ideas as the Tzadik pre-existing creation and sharing the power to create.

309) WERE JEWS EVER MISSIONARIES?

 

 

1887 Schechter edition of Avot deRabi Natan.

INTRODUCTION:

It is a well-known fact that Jews do not proselytise or actively try to convert non-Jews to Judaism. It is also well-known how difficult the process of conversion to Judaism is. But was this always the case?

In this article, we shall explore historical examples of apparent active and even forceful conversions to Judaism, and also look at the possibility of there being some textual precedent for such a phenomenon.

 

PART 1.

THE JEWS OF ARABIA:

In a previous article, we looked at the fascinating story of the Jews of Arabia (present-day Saudi Arabia). A brief overview follows:

Jews had lived in Arabia since biblical times and this was no small community. According to Hagai Mazuz:

308) THE TURKISH JEWS STILL WAVE:

 

A 17th-century manuscript of Me'orot Natan by R. Natan Nata Shapira in Italian script. (Bodleian Library) 

INTRODUCTION

Turkish and Syrian Jews have the unusual custom of gesturing with their hands to other members of the congregation just prior to reciting the Amidah.  What are the origins of this little-known custom where the hand and fingers are held upwards, the palm inclined inwards and then moved back and forth three or four times, while making eye contact with fellow congregants in the synagogue?

In this article, based extensively on the research of Rabbi Dr Levi Cooper[1], we will explore the origins of this unusual custom which appear to be at least four centuries old.