Fetishization of Poverty

I posted this on the Facebook group Society for Medieval Feminist Scholarship, but nobody reacted:

This passage is not medieval, but I'm wondering whether any of you know any medieval parallels. (Early modern or modern parallels would also be great!) And it doesn't deal with women, but it deals with the poor, so, in the spirit of intersectionality, I perhaps many of you will be interested. In addition to the 19th-century text, which I am presenting in my own translation from the Hebrew, I am including also a link also to a parallel from our own day: An example of a wedding, a few years ago, where (apparently) well-to-do people fetishized poverty and made a hobo-themed party.

Here's the 19th-century text:

Rabbi Moses Sofer (born 1762, in Frankfurt, died 1839, in Pressburg), writes the following homily (for the Festival of Shavu‘oth [Pentecost – the festival celebrating God’s giving of the Law to the Israelites at the Theophany of Mt. Sinai], 1829):

Let us explain the words of the Sages of the Talmud: ‘All agree that on Shavu‘oth we need it also to be for you. [That is, not just for God, in Torah-study and prayer, but also for you, in food and drink.]’ (Babylonian Talmud, Pesahim 68b) We can explain this with a parable, in which the king’s ministers honor the king by making him a feast each year. This feast is typically made with great riches, like the feasts of King Solomon. One time, they considered what to make further, for there was nothing lacking from them or from their table, and [the king] had already become accustomed to this, so this feast, which was so routine, became considered less valuable. What did they do? They made a feast like that of poor people, with the vessels of one in exile [cf. Ezekiel 12:3], and they invited the king. And this was a novelty in his eyes; and it was made with the ultimate beauty, and the king was greatly pleased with it.

Here, too, to show honor to God with Torah-study and songs and praises is something that we do all the time; so how can we honor him more? With the feast of a poor person – that is, with food and drink and drinking wine; and through this He is praised, through the songs and praises of this poor feast, and this is his glory. This is what is meant in the words [of the Talmudic Sages]: ‘All agree that on Shavu‘oth, we need it also to be for you, [with food and drink].

And here's the link:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/regretsy/etsy-regretsy-hobo-wedding_b_916527.html

To protect against link-rot, I'm going to copy the whole Huffington Post article here:

It’s Called “Poverty,” You’ve Probably Never Heard of It

By Regretsy

Here’s the great thing about Etsy. As repellant as some of the shit is that I find there, there is always something worse.

Today I present one of the most insensitive features I’ve ever seen on the Etsy blog. And as usual, it’s celebrated in a circle jerk of obliviousness, complete with hipstermatic photos and dipshit Etsy drones yammering in approval.

Yes it’s a poverty wedding! How fun is that? They dressed like actual poor people! They even did some research:

We got to work researching the Depression era and hobo culture. As we prepared to make everything for our wedding, we collected feed sack dresses and old work boots, antique hand-stitched quilts and jug band instruments. After reading that the word “hobo” may be a syllabic abbreviation of “homeward bound,” we fell in love with the notion!

They fell in love with the very idea of penniless, homeless migrants, drifting from town to town, looking for work! Those hobos were just yummy, with their faded antique quilts and feed sacks, and those super cute boots they always wore. That whole period was just so desaturated and Brother Where Art Thou, which is also totes adorbs.

Okay, maybe many hobos found themselves having to leave their families in order to find enough work to support them, or maybe they escaped from harsh lives in orphanages. And, okay, maybe they died on train tracks or sweltered to death in locked box-cars. And maybe when they did finally find some work, they were set upon by thieves who took everything from them and threw them off of fast moving trains.

Don’t be such a downer! They had totally awesome trash can fires!

The important thing is, hobos were all clowns who had bandanas tied on sticks, like in cartoons.

Anyhoo, it was a super cute wedding. But I can’t help thinking that they could have done so much more with it.

Here are some ideas you can use when you have your own hobo themed depression era wedding!

• Souvenir photos on a lice ridden mattress in the weeds

• Tuberculosis screening tent

• Steal your own dinner

• Cigarette rolling contest with butts you find on the street

• Sterno martinis

• Hobo Stew bar

I’m sure you can think of lots more. Just remember to have fun with it. Golly, that’s why the Flying Spaghetti Monster made poor people in the first place!

רעיון על "אגרת השבועות" של אלקבץ

יש מתח ב"איגרת השבועות" של ר' שלמה אלקבץ. כי מחד גיסא, לכאורה, תכלית האיגרת היא לשכנע את הנמענים (בני סלוניקי, לפי ורבלובסקי) למעבד תיקונים גם בלילה השני של שבועות, כמו שהכותב עשה עם החסיד והחברים (בניקופוליס, לפי ורבלובסקי). אבל מאידך גיסא, הוא כותב שבכוונתו לעלות לארץ ישראל בקרוב ממש, ונראה (אך לא מוכרח) שהוא מעודד אף את הנמענים לעלות לארץ ישראל. ובכל זאת, לא מוזכר בשום מקום באיגרת שאין יו"ט שני בארץ ישראל.

Two Days of Yom Tov in a World of Modern Communication

Turkey blocks access to Wikipedia. Rabbis in Israel move Yom Ha'atzma'ut to a different day. How are these events related?

One sometimes hears the claim that today, the observance of two days of Yom Tov in the diaspora is no longer relevant, because of the advent of the internet age. That is, perhaps 150 years ago one could not rely on the published, calculated calendars, because the Sages of the Land of Israel could have re-established the practice of declaring the month on the basis of moon-sighting, and one would not have heard of this in faraway lands, because of the lack of reliable telegraph lines; but today, with the internet, everyone would know about this immediately.

Yet this is not so. First of all, we see that the internet spreads as much misinformation, and fake news, as it spreads real information; while the internet is an amazing tool, it has not removed ignorance from the world. And, moreover, we see that governments can prevent whole populations from using whole parts of the internet.

Second of all, the Sages of the Land of Israel have become much more prominent and aggressive. Moving around the date of Yom Ha'atzma'ut may only be relevant to the Religious-Zionist community, in the Land and in the diaspora, but rabbis of all the various Jewish communities have come to have influence throughout the diaspora; see, for example, the influence of rulings of the late Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv and Rav Ovadya Yosef on communities around the diaspora. Moreover, rabbis in the Land of Israel have brought back practices that had fallen into disuse centuries earlier; lighting Hanukka lamps at the outside of the doorway is, perhaps, a trivial example, but the restoration of tekheleth in tzitzith is a more significant example. Restoring the establishment of the calendar by moon-sighting could fit into this whole tendency.

Yet would we be sure of it? Would it be real? Would it be a hoax? The media spread claims, before Passover, that a far-right-wing political group of rabbis had performed a Paschal Sacrifice this year. Consumers of information, around the world, believed this, and many were ready to critique it, as if it were a declaration of World War III. In fact, no such event had happened; all that had happened was a historical re-enactment, in the wrong location, on the wrong day, with no claims of being a Paschal Sacrifice. (And, I believe, it wasn't even the first time that this had been done in the past few years. Moreover, the event wasn't very political. And if they ever do get a permit to do an actual Paschal Sacrifice, it won't be a declaration of WWIII; it will be people practicing their religion, in a way that they have been looking forward to for over a millennium.)

If rabbis restore the establishment of the calendar by means of moon-sighting -- or if they do not, but they do something that looks somewhat similar -- the internet wiil be abuzz with misinformation about it. And in some countries, the governments may close off relevant avenues to find out about this, as Turkey did to Wikipedia a few days ago.

So yes. The observance of two days of Yom Tov is still quite relevant.

Ideas for scholarly projects

1. Collecting quotations of earlier paytanim in piyyutim of later paytanim.

2. Research into prayers surrounding the Priestly Blessing. Today's Ashkenazic machzorim have the prayer about the dream, from the Babylonian Talmud, and the one about the 22-letter divine name, (ostensibly?) from Sha‘aré Tziyyon of the 17th-century Kabbalist Nathan Nete Hanover. Were there other such prayers, and are there many different versions of these prayers? (Certainly there's the fact that 19th-century editors, uncomfortable with Kabbalah and divine names, removed the name from the second prayer, even though the name is the whole point of the prayer.)

3. A study of the Biblical verses that are presented before the various poems in Ashkenazic Selichoth rites. The selection of verses are inconsistent even for the same poems among the different Ashkenazic rites. Where do the verses come from -- do any of them come from the authors of the poems? Has anyone gone through the verses to determine the relevance of each one to the poem that follows? (Probably not a project for me; I'm not so interested in Selichoth.)

Songs for Sukkoth

In response to popular demand, I am posting the text of these zemiroth for the upcoming holiday. חג שמח!

אסדר תושבחתא (שיר על האושפיזין), מאת ר' דויד בר חסין

אֲסַדַּר תֻּשְׁבַּחְתָּא / בְּמִלִּין וְרַחְשִׁין
לִיקָר אֲבָהָתָא / אֻשְׁפִּיזִין קַדִּישִׁין

אֻשְׁפִּיזִין קַדִּישִׁין / אִילָנִין תַּקִּיפִין
קָיְמִין דְּעָלְמָא / אֲחִידֵי שַׁיְפִין
וּמָארֵי דְגַדְפִין / עֲלַ֫נָא מְכַסִּין

אֻשְׁפִּיזִין קַדִּישִׁין / נְזַמֵּן לְהוֹן הַשְׁתָּא
יֵעְלוּן יִתְּבוּן יֵיכְלוּן / נַהְמָא דְאוֹרָיְתָא
בְּהָדֵין מְטַלַּלְתָּא / יִתְאַמְרוּן חִדּוּשִׁין

אֻשְׁפִּיזִין קַדִּישִׁין / יוֹמִין שַׁבְעָא נִינְהוּ
מַגְּנָא וּמַצְּלָא / תְּהִי זְכוּתַ֫יְהוּ
בְּאַכְסַנְיָא כֻּלְּהוּ / יְהוֹן מִתְכַּנְּשִׁין

אֻשְׁפִּיזִין קַדִּישִׁין / דְּרוֹעָא יַמִּינָא
רַב חִסְדָּ"א רַב חִנָּ"א / אַבְרָהָם אֲבוּנָא
מָארֵהּ דְּרֻחְצָנָא / וּבְדִק בְּנִסִּין

אֻשְׁפִּיזִין קַדִּישִׁין / וְתַמָּן נְיָחָא
לְיִצְחָק דְּאִיעֲקַד / עַל גַּבֵּי מַדְבְּחָא
וֶאֱלָהּ כָּל־רוּחָא / רַחְמוֹי נְפִישִׁין

אֻשְׁפִּיזִין קַדִּישִׁין / דֵּן הֲדַר יִתְקְרֵי
יַעֲקֹב שְׁלִימָא / אֲחִיד בִּתְרֵין סִטְרֵי
אִתְגַּבַּר עַל גַּבְרֵי / וְעִירִין קַדִּישִׁין

אֻשְׁפִּיזִין קַדִּישִׁין / בַּר עַמְרָם לֵוָיָא
מֹשֶׁה רִבֹּונַ֫נָא / רֵישׁ כָּל־נְבִיאַיָּא
הוּא מְהֵימְנָא רַעְיָא / אוֹרָיְתָא לַן אַחְסִן

אֻשְׁפִּיזִין קַדִּישִׁין / אַהֲרֹן כָּהֲנָא
בְּמַדְבְּרָא הֲוָה / בִּזְכוּתֵיהּ עֲנָנָא
וַעֲלֵי חוֹבַ֫נָא / קֻרְבָּנוֹי מְרַצִּין

אֻשְׁפִּיזִין קַדִּישִׁין / חַסִּידָא פְרִישָׁא
יוֹסֵף צַדִּיק, נָטֵר / קְיָמָא קַדִּישָׁא
כַּד עֲרַק טָשׁ טִישָׁה / וְאַנַּח לְבוּשִׁין

אֻשְׁפִּיזִין קַדִּישִׁין / זַכָּאָה אַחְסַנְתֵּהּ
דְּדָוִד מְשִׁיחָא / בַּת־שֶׁבַע אִנְתְּתֵהּ
עַל־כֻּרְסֵי מַלְכוּתֵהּ / יִתֵּב וְלֵית אַוְשִׁין

אֻשְׁפִּיזִין קַדִּישִׁין / קֳדָם רִבּוֹן עָלְמִין
יְקוּמוּן לָקֳבֵל / רֵישֵׁי שַׁבְעִין אֻמִּין
יָתַן יִטַּר יַטְמִין / מִכָּל־עַקְתִין בִּישִׁין

אֻשְׁפִּיזִין קַדִּישִׁין / נַעְטֵר מוֹתְבֵיהוֹן
כָּל־יוֹמָא בְרֵישָׁא / אָתֵי חַד מִנְּהוֹן
וּלְעֵ֫לָּא מִכֻּלְּהוֹן / רֵישָׁא דְכָל־רֵישִׁין

אֻשְׁפִּיזִין קַדִּישִׁין / רַב הַמְנוּנָא סָבָא
כַּד עָיֵל לְגַוַּהּ / אָמַר מִלָּה טָבָא
עוּלוּ לְאוֹתָבָא / אֻשְׁפִּיזִין קַדִּישִׁין

אֻשְׁפִּיזִין קַדִּישִׁין / וְגֻבְרִין גִּבָּרִין
זַכַּאי חֻלְקַ֫נָא / דְּעַ֫לוּ לְאַתְרִין
עֲלַן יְהוֹן שְׁרִין / בִּרְכָן דִּי נְפִישִׁין

זרע חכמים, מאת ר' ישועה

זֶ֫רַע חֲכָמִים / אָבוֹת הַתְּמִימִים

בַּסֻּכּוֹת תֵּשְׁבוּ שִׁבְעַת יָמִים

יַ֫֯חַד שִׂמְחוּ / וְגִילוּ צַדִּיקִים

בְּמוֹעֲדֵי צוּרְכֶם / וּמִשְׁפָּטִים וְחֻקִּים

עֲרֵבִים מִדְּבַשׁ / וּמִנֹּ֫פֶת מְתוּקִים

וְאֵל שׁוֹכֵן שְׁחָקִים / יִתֵּן לָכֶם רַחֲמִים

בַּסֻּכּוֹת תֵּשְׁבוּ שִׁבְעַת יָמִים

שְׁ֯בוּעַת בְּרִיתוֹ / יִזְכֹּר לֶאֱמוּנַי

וְיִבְנֶה בֵיתוֹ / וְיַאְדִּיר דּוּכָנַי

וְאָז בְּתוֹרָתוֹ / יֶהְגּוּ כָּל־הֲמוֹנַי

וְיִשְׁמְעוּ עֲגוּמִים / דִּבְרֵי נִחוּמִים

בַּסֻּכּוֹת תֵּשְׁבוּ שִׁבְעַת יָמִים

וְ֯אֵל שׁוֹכֵן שִׁבְעָה / צִוָּה לַעֲמוּסִים

לָחֹג לְפָנָיו / שְׂמֵחִים וְשָׂשִׂים

בְּלוּלָב וַעֲרָבָה / וּפְרִי עֵץ הָדָר וַהֲדַסִּים

וְאָז יִהְיוּ שְׁלוֹמִים / לָהֶם כִּימֵי יָמִים

בַּסֻּכּוֹת תֵּשְׁבוּ שִׁבְעַת יָמִים

עַ֯ם יהוה וְחֶבְלוֹ / קְרוּאִים סְגֻלָּה

שִׂמְחוּ כִּי לוֹ / מִשְׁפַּט הַגְּאֻלָּה

וְאֶל תּוֹךְ הֵיכָלוֹ / יָשִׁיב הֲמֻלָּה

וְיָעִיר כָּל־רְדוּמִים / בַּעֲבוֹדָתוֹ קְרוּאִים

בַּסֻּכּוֹת תֵּשְׁבוּ שִׁבְעַת יָמִים

הִ֯פְלִיא עֵצוֹת / יְקַבֵּץ הֲמוֹנְכֶם

וְיָשִׁיב נְפוּצוֹת / אֶל־תּוֹךְ מְעוֹנְכֶם

וְגוֹדֵר פְּרָצוֹת / יָחִישׁ בִּימֵיכֶם

תְּשׁוּעַת רַחֲמִים / תְּשׁוּעַת עוֹלָמִים

בַּסֻּכּוֹת תֵּשְׁבוּ שִׁבְעַת יָמִים

Garden Leisure on the Sabbath

Today I was looking at the sugya in b. Sukka 37a, which becomes the halakha in the Shulchan `Arukh Orach Chayyim 336:10:

הדס מחובר, מותר להריח בו; אבל אתרוג ותפוח וכל דבר הראוי לאכילה, אסור להריח בו במחובר שמא יקוץ אותו לאכלו.

The Sha‘aré Teshuva writes:

אבל אתרוג כו'. עיין מ"ש אא"ז בבכור שור בשבת דף ע"ג שרש"י בסוכה דף ל"ז כת' דהאוכלו במחובר אין לך תולש גדול מזה ולכן יש למחות ביד הטועים והולכים לגנות בשבת וי"ט וקוטפים פירות מן המחובר ואוכלים וראוי למנות אנשים ע"ז עד שישתקע הדבר כו' וע"ש דמייתי מעירובין דף ק' דתלישה ברגל הוי תלישה וע' בהר הכרמל סימן ט' וע' בספר מטה יהודה הביאו במח"ב דברים הצריך ליזהר היושבים בגנים בשבת שלא יטלו ידיהם בשבת אפילו בפרדס חבירו גם לא ישליך זרעים במקום ירידת גשמים שסופם להצמיח גם לענין טלטול בכל הגן ולהוציא מן הבתים לגן צריך ליזהר שיש כמה מציאות לאיסור וצריך לשאול פי חכם באיזה מציאות מותר, (ועיין לקמן סימן שנ"ח בט"ז ס"ק ה' שכתב מה"ט ראוי שלא לאכול בגנה בשבת כו' והביאו בה"ט שם), גם הקושרים חבלים באילן ומושיבים קטנים בהולכה והובאה עושים כמה איסורים וצריך למחות בידם ע"ש וע' בשו"ת נ"ב מ"ת סימן ל"ח בביאור דברי הרמב"ם במשקה מים לזרעים ע"ש:

Translation of the bolded portion: And see in the book Matté Yehuda, who cites this law in MH"B [?], matters that one needs to warn the people that sit in gardens on the Sabbath, that they shouldn't wash their hands on the Sabbath even in their neighbor's orchard; and they should not throw seeds in a place where the rain falls, for they will ultimately sprout; and regarding carrying in the garden, and carrying from the houses to the garden, there are various situations where it is prohibited, and one must ask a rabbi in what situation it is permitted....

This could actually be pretty interesting material for a study on the history of leisure activities on the Sabbath, specifically visiting gardens/parks. If there are rabbis giving specific halakhic advice to "people that sit in gardens on the Sabbath", this means that this must have been a practice. What other sources do we have?

Proprietors of Artscroll give money for a "real" sefer

I went to the Glueck Beth Midrash at YU today, and was looking for a copy of Tractate Rosh Ha-shana in the Talmud Yerushalmi. The only one that was on the shelf was the one with the commentary of R' Chaim Kanievsky. I have seen this edition on shelves, but don't think I have ever looked inside. I opened up to the front pages, and found the following dedication page:

לישרים נאוה תהילה

שלום רב לאוהבי תורתך

התודה והברכה התהילה והתפארת

לכבוד ידידינו היקרים והישרים,

הרבנים הגאונים, מגדולי מפיצי התורה בדורינו,

הרב נתן שערמאן שליט"א

והרב יעקב מאיר זלוטוביץ שליט"א

שנדבו בשמחה הוצאות הספר

That is, R' Nosson Scherman and R' Meir Zlotowitz, the proprietors of ArtScroll, gave the money to fund this book. The dedication goes on to list the various people in whose memory Scherman and Zlotowitz are dedicating the book. So, although they have devoted the last several decades to publishing ArtScroll books, they have financed the publication of this book. And who published this book? It is self-published! The title page says only the city and the year: בני ברק, תשס"א.

  Do Rabbis Scherman and Zlotowitz think that only a book like this is a "real sefer", as opposed to an ArtScroll book, and thus that funding it is a way to do something truly relevant with their lives? Now, who distributes the sefer? Apparently Rav Chaim Kanievsky, bikhvodo u-ve'atmzo, at his own home address (and one other distributor):  

את הספר אפשר להשיג ע"פ הכתובת:

הרב קניבסקי

רשב"ם 32

ברוורמן

רב סעדי' גאון 11 בני ברק

So a man who is considered one of the greatest rabbis in the Israeli Lita'i world is self-publishing and self-distributing his works, and the proprietors of ArtScroll are funding the project.

Machol as name of Instrument

For posterity:

 Gabriel Wasserman On another topic: Do you know anything about the בתוף ומחול thing?

Fred MacDowell You mean to define them? No clue what you mean.

Gabriel Wasserman The Iyyun Tefillo, in the 19th or 20th century -- Reb Arye Leib Gordon of Jerusalem -- insists that מחול can't mean "dance", but must be some kind of musical instrument, and he insists that the Targum חנגין is a musical instrument. (But I'm pretty sure that that's the usual Targumic Aramaic word for "dance".)

Fred MacDowell Interesting. Should I look or is that it?

Fred MacDowell http://books.google.com/books?id=OIYpAAAAYAAJ...
Haschiloah

Gabriel Wasserman And that makes its way, interestingly, into the Siddur Meforash of Weingarten, which I davvened out of from ages 13 to 17 or so, and learned tons from. But what's interested is that Weingarten presents it as a complete דבר פשוט. Until today, I assumed that it must be in Rashi, possibly even Chazal! Do you have an ArtScroll siddur? How do they translate it? Oh, let me look at your Haschiloah link; I assumed it would be about the maskil and the Gaon, but it's about musical instruments.

Fred MacDowell Artscroll, drum and dance.

Gabriel Wasserman Oh. Interesting! We should check some other translations of the siddur.

Fred MacDowell Especially old ones, English, French, Dutch, Italian, Spanish. See what the goyim say too.

Gabriel Wasserman Goyim say dance; I checked that earlier today.http://www.biblestudytools.com/psalms/150-4-compare.html Interesting that in the old ones, they use "choir" for _dance_. (As in Greek _khoros_.) In Wycliffe, it's spelled "quire".

Fred MacDowell Ben Yehuda milon also. Sounds like one of those clever chiddushim type things. What do the Syriacs and the Old Slavonics say?

Gabriel Wasserman Yes, but fascinating that it made its way -- as a דבר פשוט -- into Weingarten. I assume the old ones all say "dance", though we could check. What I'm more curious about is how far this clever chiddush spread.

Fred MacDowell Yeah, worth checking.

Gabriel Wasserman Weingarten says: ומחול -- אולי הוא כלי השיר "מחלת" הנזכר בתהלים (פח:א). ובמשנה (ביכורים פ"ג מ"ג) נקרא "חליל". אך אין פירושו כאן בריקוד (עיין בתרגום כאן ובתרגום מ"א א, מ; ובפירוש עיון תפילה).

Fred MacDowell I just saw someone in the 19th century write "a small flute or a dance"

Gabriel Wasserman Who, a yit or a notzri?

Fred MacDowell Notzri. Jeremy Montagu's Musical instruments of the Bible seems to say that there is an argument to be made for instrument in Psalms, while dance elsewhere. I bet it was a 19th century scholarly thing that may or may not have been "borrowed" by R Aryeh Leib.

Gabriel Wasserman Fascinating. And then by Weingarten, in late 20th-century chareidi Israel. There's haskala-type stuff all around the Iyyun Tefillo, IIRC. He talks about the Hyksos when commenting on the Haggodo Shel Pesach.

Fred MacDowell Yeah, in the 19th century they were all over machol as an instrument: https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&hl=en...

Gabriel Wasserman Etz Yoisef has it, too: ומחול. הוא חליל והוא נבוב וחלול. If any have illustrations, we could make this into a great post. Did you try "mahol", too?

Fred MacDowell The question seems to center around the idea that it means both, the instrument assuming the name of a dance, or even the opposite. No, I have not even begun to research, as John Paul Jones would say.

Gabriel Wasserman But you have! Anyway, Who was this Etz Yoisef guy? I once asked Prof. Hananel Mak:

בקרב לומדי מדרשי האגדה, סידור התפילה, ו"עין יעקב", ידועים פירושיו של חנוך זונדל, שקראם "עץ יוסף" ו"ענף יוסף". ברם, לא מצאתי אף אחד שידע פרטים על חיי האיש הזה. מסתמא הוא חי במאה הי"ט, אבל איפה? בליטא? מי היו רבותיו? מתי בדיוק הוא חי? האם כתב ספרים אחרים חוץ מן הפירושים "עץ יוסף" וענף יוסף?

(Wow, that email was about 4.5 years ago. I would have guessed *maybe* two years ago.)

He responded:

[...]

לצערי אינני יכול להוסיף הרבה על דבריך. כנראה היה האיש צנוע וכמעט שלא דבר על
עצמו וגם אחרים אינם מזכירים אותו בפרטים. אביו של ר' חנוך נקרא בשם יוסף ועל
שמו קרא הבן את ספריו הוא כתב גם חיבור בשם יד יוסף שהנו פירוש על מדרש איכה
וכן על "סדר עולם". ר' חנוך חי בביאליסטוק שבצפון מזרח פולין, סמוך לליטא
(שהיתה מאוחדת באותם ימים עם פולין) וברור שניכרת בכתביו השפעה ליטאית אבל יש
שם גם הרבה מאוד קבלה. הוא חי בסוף המאה השמונה עשרה ובתחילת התשע עשרה. כתב
גם מבוא נרחב לסידור התפילה בשם "בשמים ראש". בלי ספק ניתן וראוי למצוא חומר
נוסף על האיש, אולי ימצא משהו בספר הזיכרון לקהילת ביאליסטוק
[...]

Well, there you go. Next step is the Memorbuch of the Bialistok community.

Fred MacDowell Adam Clarke. Love him. 1833. "It never means dance." http://books.google.com/books?id=Q2pCAQAAIAAJ...

Gabriel Wasserman "Never means dance" sounds like Weingarten. אך אין פירושו כאן בריקוד But at least Weingarten qualifies it by saying "here". Hey, this is retroactively a parasha-post for last week; after all, we had: ותצאן כל הנשים אחריה בתפים ובמחולות. I realized that only now.

Gabriel Wasserman What does Malbim have?

Fred MacDowell Have to wait and see.

Gabriel Wasserman And, on Exodus 15:20, what have Hirsch, Mecklenberg, the Netziv, Shadal, Reggio... This could definitely be a post.

Fred MacDowell Yup.

A single letter (and abbreviation sign)

Sometimes a single letter in a book has a story behind it.

Here is a passage from the seder vayyosha‘ of Meshullam bar Qalonymos, as it is printed in the 1832 Rödelheim Maḥzor (and followed in subsequent printings), for the seventh or eighth day of Pesaḥ:

As you can see, in the middle of the third line there is a little cursive letter ḥeth, with an abbreviation sign, indicating that the cantor (חזן) should begin reading here out loud.

If one examines the other sections of this composition, one will see that this printing does not have any explicit indication of where the cantor should begin. Rather, there is a long paragraph, and then a short paragraph, leading into the large letters indicating the first words of the next verse of the Song of the Sea. Presumably, the cantor is expected to begin out loud at the beginning of each short paragraph.

However, in this section, if the cantor begins at the beginning of the short paragraph, the following situation is likely to occur:

The people mumble the entire long paragraph, and the beginning of the short paragraph, but not the quote from the next verse, because they'll want to say the quote together with the cantor. Thus, they will say: נרדם ואבד שאון בוגדיך / ובני חסידיך: "The multitudes of those that betray Thee slumber and perish, / and [also] the children of Thy pious people." That is, both the Egyptians and the Israelites perish!

(The poem is meant to be understood thus: נרדם ואבד שאון בוגדיך. ובני חסידיך נחית בחסדך: "The multitudes of those that betray Thee slumber and perish. [But] Thou hast led, with Thy mercy, the children of Thy pious people.)

This situation bothered R' Ḥayyim Mordecai Margolies, in the late 18th century, so he wrote, in his famous commentary Sha‘aré Teshuva on Shulḥan ‘Arukh Oraḥ Ḥayyim §490:

ויש ליזהר בפייט השירה באחרון של פסח בחרוז נרדם ואבד כו' רגילין ההמון להפסיק בתיבת חסידך ולהמתין בתיבת נחית בחסדך עד שיגמור החזן כמנהגם בשאר החרוזים ומשנה הוא כי כאן צריך לו' בדבור אחד כל החרוז דהיינו גם תיבות נחית בחסדך המקושר למעלה אל ובני זרע חסידיך כמובן:

One should be careful, in the piyyut of the Song of the Sea on the last day of Pesaḥ, in the stanza beginning "nirdam ve-’avad". For the masses are accustomed to stop after the word ḥasidekha, and wait until the cantor finishes, as they do in the other sections. But this is a mistake, for here one needs to say the whole sentence together, that is, one must include the words "Thou hast led with Thy mercy" [from the next verse of the Song of the Sea], which refers to the previous words, "the children of Thy pious people", of course.

R' Wolf Heidenheim, the editor of the Rödelheim Maḥzor, seems to have decided to solve this problem in an aggressive way: He indicated that the cantor should pick up several lines before the end, already at the words שדי המשלם לשונאיו. This way, the people will see the indication ח' before those words, and stop there, and expect the cantor to pick up there; so nobody will stop after the words נרדם ואבד. And thus, Heidenheim marks the cantor's beginning in this section of the composition, alone out of all the twenty sections (and it is in a different place from the implied place for the cantor's beginning in all the other sections).

A single letter. A story.

Medieval Tu Be-Av Poem

Perhaps it's a bit late, since Tu Be-Av is now over, but it's still worth my while to post this.

Here's a poem for Tu Be'Av by Avraham ben Khalfun, published by Israel Davidson in an article in ציונים : קובץ לזכרונו של י. נ. שמחוני ז''ל (Berlin, 1928-1929). Davidson says that this poet is "not earlier than the Spanish period" (i.e. no earlier than 950), and "not later than 1473". Maybe Egypt, maybe Yemen, maybe elsewhere. Clearly in an Islamic region.

I don't quite understand the context for the poem -- it's clearly not a Yotzer, Qerova, Ma'ariv, or any of the major genres which are inserted into berakhoth. Perhaps it is a table-song? Or a secular poem? I don't know....

The poem lists all the various events which the Gemara (Bavli, end of Ta`anith) says took place on the Fifteenth of Av.

הִתְבַּשְּׂרוּ בְנֵי עֶלְיוֹן כִּי נִיחַם יְיָ צִיּוֹן

אַזְכִּיר חֲסָדֶיךָ מַלְכִּי לְנֶגֶד כָּל נִבְרָאֶיךָ
וּדְבַר גְּבוּרוֹת יְחַו חִכִּי אֲשֶׁר פְּעַלְתֶּם לִירֵאֶיךָ
בַּחֲמִשָּׁה עָשָׂר בְּאָב כִּי נִמְלְצוּ לְחִכִּי פְלָאֶיךָ
וְאֶכְתְּבֵימוֹ עַל גִּלָּיוֹן וְאָשִׁיר בָּם עֲלֵי הִגָּיוֹן

הִתְבַּשְּׂרוּ בְנֵי עֶלְיוֹן כִּי נִיחַם יְיָ צִיּוֹן

בְּיוֹם זֶה נֶעְצַר מִקֶּדֶם נֶגֶף מִמֵּיתֵי מִדְבָּר
וּבִנְיָמִין צָעִיר רוֹדֵם לְשִׁבְטֵי יָהּ בּוֹ הִתְחַבָּר
וְרָצָה בָהֶם צוּר פּוֹדָם אַחֲרֵי בָמוֹ הִתְעַבָּר
כִּי טִיהֲרוּ לֵבָב וְרַעְיוֹן וְרָחֲצוּ כַפָּם בְּנִקָּיוֹן

הִתְבַּשְּׂרוּ בְנֵי עֶלְיוֹן כִּי נִיחַם יְיָ צִיּוֹן

רוֹן פָּצְחוּ שְׁבָטִים בְּיוֹם זֶה וְיֶשַׁע וְעוֹז הִתְאַזָּרוּ
כִּי בוֹ לָבוֹא זֶה בָזֶה וּלְהִתְחַבֵּר הֻותָּרוּ
וַהֲרוּגִים בְּיַד צָר נִבְזֶה בְּבֵית-תֵּר הַיּוֹם נִקְבָּרוּ
כִּי לֹא יַעֲשֶׂה כִּלָּיוֹן צוּר וְיָחוֹס עַל דַּל וְאֶבְיוֹן

הִתְבַּשְּׂרוּ בְנֵי עֶלְיוֹן כִּי נִיחַם יְיָ צִיּוֹן

הַיּוֹם בִּיטֵּל בֶּן אֵלָה שׁוֹמְרֵי אוֹרַח תַּהֲלוּכָה
שָׂם יְרָבְעָם עַל מְסִלָּה לְהַשְׁמִיד חַג מֵעִיר בְּרוּכָה
וּבוֹ פָסְקוּ שָׂרֵי סְגוּלָּה לִכְרוֹת עֵצִים לְמַעֲרָכָה
כִּי מָצְאוּ בַשֶּׁמֶשׁ רִפְיוֹן וְחֻומָּהּ נִסְתַּר בְּתוֹךְ חֶבְיוֹן

הִתְבַּשְּׂרוּ בְנֵי עֶלְיוֹן כִּי נִיחַם יְיָ צִיּוֹן

מָתַי יְחֻודַּשׁ הוֹד בּוֹלֶה לְבֵן בַּגּוֹלָה זָנוּחַ
וּמָתַי יְנוּחַם לֵב חוֹלֶה וּמֵעוֹל אוֹיְבַי אָנוּחַ
מְהֵרָה מְשִׁיחִי יִגָּלֶה וְנָחָה עָלָיו הָרוּחַ
וְיִקְרָא לַאֲסִירַי פִּדְיוֹן קוּמוּ וְנַעֲלֶה צִיּוֹן

American Orthodox Wedding Rituals (AOWR)

It is interesting that the non-Jewish world, and the non-Orthodox world, and now the Orthodox world have this whole thing with engagement rings and wedding rings. Engagement rings are always in one direction: The bridegroom buys a very expensive item, with real economic value, for the bride -- and receives nothing in exchange.

Then (except in certain sectors of the Orthodox world), afterwards, the two parties perform a ceremony, in which each gives the other a ring, which is much less expensive than the engagement ring.

Thus, the engagement-ring thing is really a sort of a קנין -- the husband buys the wife with a 20K diamond ring. On the other hand, the wedding-ring thing is just a ceremony.

This is parallel to the halakhic Jewish way, in which Qiddushin (a קנין) is followed by Nissu'in (some kind of ritual).

But it's interesting, because the Orthodox Jews of today's America have grafted the WESTERN nissu'in onto the JEWISH qiddushin, by doing the wedding-ring ritual at the moment of the qiddushin

Isn't that interesting?

New book

Kabbalat HaAri - Yosef Avivi

Kabbalat HaAri is an entirely new work which after decades of research appeared for the first time in Kislev 5768 (12-08). R. Yosef Avivi one of the foremost authorities on Kabbala in the world has documented for the first time which all of the writings of the ARI and his students, their origins, their relationship andhow they were edited and printed. An entirely new theory to explain the system of thought of the ARI is presented.The Sefer appears in 3 volumes comprising 1568 pages (weighing almost 5 kilo) and includes 40 facsimile pages from manuscripts. It is available for a limited period through VirtualGeula for 350 shekels which is significantly less than the price in bookstores.

I think they mean "Kislev 5769". It seems that the book just came out. I was looking at it at the YU library — very interesting and well researched, and beautifully printed.

I was just now reading the section about what the Ari preferred from the Ashkenazic liturgy (viz. piyyutim on Yomim Nôro'im, 3 Regolim, and Purim), and what he preferred from the Sephardic liturgy (daily viddui in Shaharit and Minha, and more mizmorim).

La Traviata

When Alfredo first sings the "Di quell'amor", in "Un di, felice" (http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/variations/scores/bhr7293/index.html , p 40 ff.), at the syllable "cro-" (of "croce") he reaches the high "mi" note of the scale, which, in this case, is a high A, because we are in the key of F major. The same is true (albeit one octave higher) when Violetta repeats the tune (and words) as part of "A fors' è lui".

Later on, Alfredo sings the same "Amor, amor è palpito" tune from the balcony, in the middle of "Sempre Libera" (p. 66), which is in the key of A-flat major. In order to reach the "mi" note of the scale on "cro-" (of "croce"), the tenor would need to sing a high C. Either Verdi did not want to impose this on the tenor, or he had some other (artistic?) reason to not write in the high C (perhaps to diminish Alfredo's rôle here, since he's only on the sidelines), so he wrote in an G, which always sounds terribly unsatisfying to me.

But that's the whole point -- the tension between whether the tenor will sing the G or the high C! Most tenors should do the G, because most of them would sound bad on the high C. But there's an implicit high C there, because, of course, it's the same tune from before, which reached the "mi" note every time it was merely in the key of F.

And thus, one waits there to hear whether the tenor will or will not sing the higher note, and there's a time-period of tension, and then disappointment if he sings the G, but orgasmic release-of-tension if he sings the high C.

When I was growing up, we had a recording of Maria Callas and Alfredo Krauss, in which he does sing the high C. I looked on Youtube, and found no other recordings with the high C, but I did find the Callas/Krauss one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vofYDpBKAhY

Very Cute Piyyut for Shabbath Hanukka

(This poem is published in Anthology of Hebrew Poetry in Greece, Anatolia and the Balkans. Leon J. Weinberger. Cincinnati, 1975.)

Weinberger writes: Fourteenth century poets from Greece, Anatolia, and the Balkans include [ . . . ] Solomon Sharbit ha-Zahab from Ephesus who wrote works on grammar [ . . . ] . His ten surviving liturgical works were included mostly in the Maḥzor Roumania as well as in the rituals of Korfu and Kaffa. In his Mi Kamocha for the Sabbath that falls on Hanukka he describes in jesting form a lively debate between the Sabbath and Hanukka each of which claims priority in Jewish law and tradition.

(A "Mi Kamokha" is a piyyut inserted in the berakha after קראית שמע, before the verse מי כמכה. Minhag Roumania has not existed for the past few centuries; sadly, the Jews of Romania, Greece, and the Balkans [and their descendants] have adopted the Sepharadic rite instead of the old Maḥzor Roumania. --G.W.)

מִי כָמוֹךָ שַׁבָּת וַחֲנוּכָּה נִגְּשׁוּ וַיְרִיבוּן לְפָנָי / זֶה יֹאמַר לַיְיָ אָנִי וְזֶה יִקְרָא בְאָזְנָי
מָה אֶעֱשֶׂה לָאֵלֶּה הַיּוֹם נֶגֶד נְכוֹנָי / עָשִׁיר וְרָשׁ נִפְגָּשׁוּ עוֹשֶׂה כֻלָּם יְיָ.

אָמַר שַׁבָּת לַחֲנוּכָּה: לִי מִשְׁפַּט הַבְּכוֹרָה / וּמִי אַתְּ וּמִי מִשְׁפַּחְתֵּךְ הַצְּעִירָה
כִּי בִי שָׁבַת אֵ-ל גָּדוֹל וְנוֹרָא / מִכָּל מְלַאכְתּוֹ אֲשֶׁר בָּרָא

אָמְרָה חֲנוּכָּה לַשַּׁבָּת: מַה תִּתְנַפֵּל עָלַי וְתִתְגּוֹלֵל / כִּי שְׁמוֹנָה יָמִים גּוֹמְרִין לִי הַלִֵּל
וְאַתְּ בְּיוֹם אֶחָד בְּלֹא זֶה, וּמַה תְּמַלֵּל? / שׁוֹמֵר מַה-מִלַּיְלָה שׁוֹמֵר מַה-מִלֵּיל.

אָמַר שַׁבָּת לַחֲנוּכָּה: מוּסָפִי יוֹרֶה עָלַי דִּין עֲלִיָּה / עוֹלַת שַׁבַּת בְּשַׁבַּתּוֹ עַל עוֹלַת הַתָּמִיד עֲשׂוּיָה
וּמַה תִּתְהַלֵּל עָלַי בְּעַד הַלְלוּיָ-הּ? וְאַתְּ מִמּוּסָף עֵרוֹם וְעֶרְיָה.

אָמְרָה חֲנוּכָּה לַשַּׁבָּת: זִיו נֵרוֹתַי מַדְלִיקִין תְּחִלָּה וְנֵרוֹתֶיךָ אַחֲרֵיהֶם / וְזִכְרִי בְּבִרְכַּת הָאָרֶץ וְזִכְרְךָ בְּבִרְכַּת רַחֵם
וְכָל עִנְיָינֶיךָ וּדְבָרֶיךָ הֲלֹא הֵם / אַחֲרוֹנָה יִסְעוּ לְדִגְלֵיהֶם.

אָמַר שַׁבָּת לַחֲנוּכָּה: הִנֵּה אֲנִי תָדִיר כְּאֵשֶׁת נְעוּרִים תְּמִימָה / קְרוּאָה לְשִׁבְעַת יָמִים כִּכְבוּדָּה בַּת מֶלֶךְ פְּנִימָה
וְאַתְּ כְּפִלֶגֶשׁ בַּלֵּילוֹת בְּאֵימָה / לְמוֹעֲדָהּ מִיָּמִים יָמִימָה.

אָמְרָה חֲנוּכָּה לַשַּׁבָּת: בְּנֵרְךָ מִסְתַּכְּלִין וּמִשְׁתַּמְּשִׁין / וַאֲנִי כִּגְבֶרֶת עַל אֲנָשִׁים וְנָשִׁים
וְשִׁירְךָ לְשָׁרִים וּלְשִׁירַי יוֹרְשִׁים / יְהִי הַמִּקְדָּשׁ קֹדֶשׁ קֳדָשִׁים.

אָמַר שַׁבָּת לַחֲנוּכָּה: אֲנִי הַגֶּבֶר הַמְשׁוּבָּח וְהַמְהוּלָּל / וְאַתְּ כְּאִשָּׁה הֵעֵזָה פָנֶיהָ וְתִשְׁלוֹל שָׁלָל
וַהֲרֵי אָמְרוּ חַכְמֵי הַיּוֹפִי וְהַמִּכְלָל / אֵין מִשְׁתַּמְּשִׁין בְּאִשָּׁה כְלָל.

אֲנִי עָנִיתִי: שׁוּבוּ לָכֶם מִן הַמְּרִיבָה / כִּי הַיּוֹם חֻבַּרְתֶּם בְּחִיבָּה
שׁוּבוּ נָא אַל תְּהִי עַוְלָה וְשוּבוּ עוֹד צִדְקִי בָהּ / הִשְׁבַּעְתִּי אֶתְכֶם אַל נָא תְהִי מְרִיבָה
מַה תָּעִירוּ וּמַה תְּעוֹרְרוּ אֶת הָאַהֲבָה.

שַׁבָּת רִאשׁוֹן בְּמוֹעֲדִים יִכְלוּ טַעֲנוֹתֶיךָ / יָפְיָפִיתָ מִבְּנֵי אָדָם הוּצַק חֵן בְּשִׂפְתוֹתֶיךָ
אַךְ גּוֹאֵל אַתָּה וְאֵין לִגְאוֹל זוּלָתֶךָ / וּפָרַשְׂתָּ כְנָפֶיךָ עַל אֲמָתֶךָ.

הַמְּשׁוּבֶּצֶת זָהָב הַיּוֹשֶׁבֶת בִּגְבוּלוֹ / הִנֵּה מַלְאָךְ יָבֹא לַָךְ צַדִּיק וְנוֹשַׁע הוּא וְחֵילוֹ
וַיִּתְאַו הַמֶּלֶךְ יוֹפְיֵךְ וְהַטִּי אָזְנֵךְ לְקוֹלוֹ / כִּי הוּא אֲדוֹנַיִךְ וְהִשְׁתַּחֲוִי לוֹ.

אֱ-לֹהַי מִמְּכוֹן שִׁבְתְּךָ הוֹפִיעָה / וַהֲשִׁיבֵנוּ וְהָאֵר פָּנֶיךָ וְנִוָּשֵׁעָה
כִּי אַתָּה תַּשְׁקִיט וּמִי יַרְשִׁיעַ / וּמִבַּלְעָדֶיךָ אֵין לָנוּ גּוֹאֵל וּמוֹשִׁיעַ.

Weinberger writes: In this poem he [the paytan] also satirizes what was probably a form of Platonic love in his day as may be seen from the following:

"אמר שבת לחנוכה: 'אני הגבר המשובח והמהולל / ואת כאשה העזה פניה ותשלל שלל
והרי אמרו חכמי היופי והמכלל: אין משתמשין באשה כלל.' "

note 65: Cf. I Davidson, Thesaurus of Mediaeval Hebrew Poetry, (New York, 1924-33), Shin 317. See below poem #34. There is a double entendre in the use of the word ’isha which means both “woman” and “fire”. Used in the former sense it is a polemic against the sexless love of the Platonist; in the latter sense it refers to the Rabbinic prohibition against making use of the light from the Chanukka candles.

Sandek

Hillel I. Newman. "Sandak and Godparent in Midrash and Medieval Practice. JQR (Jewish Quarterly Review), Winter 2007. pp. 1-28 (+four pages of appendix).

Basically, he argues that the Jewish institution of sandak is derived from a similar Christian institution: not compater* (co-parent, who has a social link to the parents), but patrinus (godfather, who has a social link to the child).The problem is that the Greek word for compater is anadokhos, whereas the Greek word for patrinus is synteknos.

Why, then, should the Jewish compater be called "sandak" (or, in many manuscripts, sandiknus, seemingly from synteknos)? Newman argues that it is based on a misinterpration of a passage from Midrash Tehillim, which says that one uses one's knees to make a sandikos for an infant who is being circumcised. Newman argues that the original meaning of this passage is "to make a box [sandyx] for the infant.*

*(The common distinction in modern practice between sandak and Yiddish קוואַטער is a late development; see A.N.Z. Roth, "Millim be-milah", Yeda‘ ‘Am 13 (1968), 52-53.)

Medieval Censorship

There is a famous poem by Yehuda Hallevi, beginnnig יום שבתון אין לשכוח, which many of us sing every Sabbath (usually at the lunch table).

The first two stanzas are well known, and are not relevant to this post. However, the third and fourth stanzas, as written by Yehuda Hallevi himself, read as follows:

ומתוך ערפל האיר אופל
ועל עב הרים יושבי שפל
ומגדל צרי אראה נופל
אך אנכי מלאתי כח

(יונה מצאה בו מנוח
ושם ינוחו יגיעי כח)

דרוך בנעל אויבים וצרים
וגם המעד קרסולי זרים
ואז יענו לך עמי בשירים
אל המהלך על כנפי רוח

(יונה מצאה בו מנוח ושם ינוחו יגיעי כח)

Because these stanzas ask for the destruction of the enemies of the Jewish people, they were removed at some point, and replaced with the following stanzas:

ובאו כולם בברית יחד
נעשה ונשמע אמרו כאחד
ופתחו וענו יי אחד
ברוך הנותן ליעף כח

(יונה מצאה בו מנוח
ושם ינוחו יגיעי כח)

דבר בקדשו בהר המור
יום השביעי זכור ושמור
וכל פקודיו יחד לגמור
חזק מתנים ואמץ כח

(יונה מצאה בו מנוח
ושם ינוחו יגיעי כח)

Moshe Menachem-Mendel (Morris Mitchel) Siegel has pointed out to me the interesting fact that unlike many cases of censorship, which result in an ugly (and sometimes meaningless) text, the replacement stanzas here are quite poetic and beautiful. Thus, the censor, whoever this was, must have been a skillful poet.

Interesting.

Beis Halleivi on Beshallach

I saw a beautiful בית הלוי today, on פרשת בשלח. I don't have the text in front of me, so let's see how well I can recall it:

כשושנה בין החוחים כן רעיתי בין הבנות -- the Medrosh says that God compares Israel to a שושנה (lily or rose), because at the moment of the Exodus, Israel gave up her idolatrous ways, and immediately started performing mitzvôs, singing praises to God in the שירה. Thus, she smelled fragrant like a rose.

The בית הלוי points out that this is because Israel's naughty behavior had not been due to internal causes, but to environmental causes. (See the Rishônim on the verse שחורה אני ונאוה.) Thus, she was like a fragrant flower, which has been placed near a pile of filth. As soon as you remove the flower from the filth, its fragrance will again clearly fill the air. Similarly, as soon as Israel was removed from the idolatrous environment of Egypt, her fragrant deeds were exuded, strong and clear.

On the other hand, when bad deeds are due to internal causes, the habituation (הרגל) of doing them makes it difficult for one to stop. Thus, in order to set a new pattern of behavior, one must go through a perioud of habituation to the good behavior.

The בית הלוי compares this distinction to a distinction in the Laws of Niddo. If a woman has a וסת קבוע, a set time each month when her period always comes, this וסת is assumed to be halakhically still valid until she has lived through three months without seeing blood on the scheduled day. However, if this וסת קבוע is due not to her internal biological clock, but to some other, external factor (such as eating garlic), then even having a single time (of, say, eating garlic) without seeing blood is enough to annul the halakhic validity of this וסת. Thus, even though an externally-caused וסת can be a וסת קבוע, we treat it as a וסת שאינו קבוע with regard to this rule.

Thus, we see that habituation that is caused by external causes is much easier to break than habituation that is caused by internal causes, because the former does not require a new habituation-period to break the old habituation.

Shemoth Rabba

The first derasha in Shemoth Rabba on Parashath Vayyera. (I imagine that it is taken somehow from the Tanchuma, but haven't gotten a chance to look it up.)

The Medrosh talks about the verse וּפָנִיתִי אֲנִי לִרְאוֹת חָכְמָה וְהוֹלֵלוֹת וְסִכְלוּת; כִּי מֶה הָאָדָם שֶׁיָּבוֹא אַחֲרֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ אֵת אֲשֶׁר-כְּבָר עָשׂוּהוּ (Ecclesiastes 2:12).

The Medrosh applies the verse first to King Solomon, then to Moses, and implicitly compares them.

Solomon heard (or rather, read in the Torah): "ולא ירבה לא נשים, ולא יסור לבבו"-- The king should not have too many wives, so that his heart not go astray. Yet he said: "Feh! I don't believe what God said. I shall have as many wives as I like, and my heart will not go astray." So, what happened? He married many wives, and his heart went astray, and he worshipped עבודה זרה, and his kingdom was torn apart.

Moses, too, didn't believe God's word.

God had said to him (Exodus 3:19-20): וַאֲנִי יָדַעְתִּי כִּי לֹא-יִתֵּן אֶתְכֶם מֶלֶךְ מִצְרַיִם לַהֲלֹךְ, וְלֹא בְּיָד חֲזָקָה. וְשָׁלַחְתִּי אֶת-יָדִי וְהִכֵּיתִי אֶת-מִצְרַיִם בְּכֹל נִפְלְאֹתַי אֲשֶׁר אֶעֱשֶׂה בְּקִרְבּוֹ, וְאַחֲרֵי-כֵן יְשַׁלַּח אֶתְכֶם. And I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go, not even with a strong hand. So I shall send forth My hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I shall do there-- and then he will send you out. Nevertheless, he complained to God after only a single meeting with Pharaoh, before performing any of the wonders, וְהַצֵּל לֹא הִצַּלְתָּ את-עַמֶּךָ, Yet Thou hast not redeemed Thy people!

So, the Middath Haddin, God's "Attribute of Justice", was furious at Moses, and began: וַיְדַבֵּר אֱלֹהִים אֶל-מֹשֶׁה (Elôhim spoke to Moses). The midrashic thought-process often associates the words דַּבֵּר and אֱלֹהִים with the Attribute of stern Justice.

But then, the Middath Harahamim, God's "Attribute of Mercy", kicked in-- וַיּׁאמֶר אֵלָיו אֲנִי יי. The midrashic thought-process often associates the verb אָמַר and the Tetragrammaton with the Attribute of Mercy.

The medrosh asks: What was it that caused the Middath Harahamim to take over, even though Moses had doubted God's prediction? It was that God saw what Moses's cause for complaint was-- namely, the fact that he felt compassion and caring for the poor, suffering Israelites.

Great are compassion and caring-- and altruism-- for they can turn divine Stern Justice into Divine Mercy.

(By implication, the medrosh is criticizing Solomon, who doubted God's prediction because he cared only about himself and his own desires, and therefore was punished.)

Group identification

Some people find it very strange when I say things such as "Back when KAJ was in Frankfurt, we used to not have laayning at the hashkomo minyon."

They say: "What do you mean, we? When were you ever in Frankfurt?"

Well, I identify with my community. And my community was in Frankfurt until 1939ish.And what's more-- I say it entirely unselfconsciously and naturally.

First Post

Dear Readers,

I used to run a pseudonymous blog, which was fairly well known among certain sectors of the JudeoBlogging world.

However, I have come to the conclusion that it is best for me to post under my own name, so that I will not have a false sense of security, which could encourage me to post silly or stupid posts, or content that I would not want to be traced back to me.

This new blog will give me a voice.

I am a first-year rabbinical student at RIETS, and a member (and chorister) at KAJ.