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The Epistle of Sherira Gaon

ROBERT BRODY

in Rabbinic Texts and the History of Late-Roman Palestine

This chapter comments on the epistle of Sherira Gaon, which is considered an extraordinary instance of the genre of Geonic responsa written in 986 or 987. Sherira's Epistle is exceptional both in ... More

This chapter comments on the epistle of Sherira Gaon, which is considered an extraordinary instance of the genre of Geonic responsa written in 986 or 987. Sherira's Epistle is exceptional both in terms of its length and subject matter and it addresses a number of questions formulated by Rabbi Nissim b. Jacob ibn Shahin on behalf of the scholars of Qayrawan. This chapter questions Sherira's use of talmudic sources and oral traditions in the responsa and suggests that Sherira's statements are almost inversely proportional to the extent to which they are supported by the Talmud itself.Less

Ibn Zimra's Responsum A: The Zohar, the Talmud, and Fixing the Torah Text

B. Barry Levy

in Fixing God's Torah: The Accuracy of the Hebrew Bible Text in Jewish Law

This chapter and Chapters 3–5 explore the principles that underlie medieval rankings of various types of halakhic evidence for deciding on a number of questionable spellings of the Torah text, ... More

This chapter and Chapters 3–5 explore the principles that underlie medieval rankings of various types of halakhic evidence for deciding on a number of questionable spellings of the Torah text, including an important shift in ranking that received much support in the sixteenth century; they centre on a closely related group of four responsa (responses to questions) about the accuracy of the Bible text and closely related matters, by Rabbi David ben Solomon ibn Abi Zimra (popularly known in English as Ibn Zimra, and in Hebrew as HaRaDBaZ). A careful look at Ibn Zimra's responses offers an important glimpse into how a leading sixteenth‐century rabbinic authority evaluated his predecessors’ treatments of textual questions and ranked the conflicting witnesses to the spellings or orthographic irregularities of certain biblical words; it also clarifies the halakhic literature's overall approach to fixing the Bible text and reveals what appears to be a major inconsistency in Ibn Zimra's attitude towards the Masorah (the collective textual notes and other additions to the text of the Torah itself). Translations of each responsum are given, and an analysis made of the sources and nuances of their author's arguments, with observations on the relationships between these documents and other issues and compositions of masoretic and halakhic importance. The first responsum, which is covered in this chapter, discusses the propriety of changing a word in the Torah to conform with the spelling evidenced by the Zohar. Following the Zohar's midrashic exposition, several people had changed the spelling of the word ’tw (’oto ), ‘him’, to ’wtw in two places. .Less

Ibn Zimra's Responsum B: The Masorah and Fixing the Torah Text

B. Barry Levy

in Fixing God's Torah: The Accuracy of the Hebrew Bible Text in Jewish Law

This chapter and Chapters 2 and 4–5 explore the principles that underlie medieval rankings of various types of halakhic evidence for deciding on a number of questionable spellings of the Torah text, ... More

This chapter and Chapters 2 and 4–5 explore the principles that underlie medieval rankings of various types of halakhic evidence for deciding on a number of questionable spellings of the Torah text, including an important shift in ranking that received much support in the sixteenth century; they centre on a closely related group of four responsa (responses to questions) about the accuracy of the Bible text and closely related matters, by Rabbi David ben Solomon ibn Abi Zimra (popularly known in English as Ibn Zimra, and in Hebrew as HaRaDBaZ). A careful look at Ibn Zimra's responses offers an important glimpse into how a leading sixteenth‐century rabbinic authority evaluated his predecessors’ treatments of textual questions and ranked the conflicting witnesses to the spellings or orthographic irregularities of certain biblical words; it also clarifies the halakhic literature's overall approach to fixing the Bible text and reveals what appears to be a major inconsistency in Ibn Zimra's attitude towards the Masorah (the collective textual notes and other additions to the text of the Torah itself). Translations of each responsum are given, and an analysis made of the sources and nuances of their author's arguments, with observations on the relationships between these documents and other issues and compositions of masoretic and halakhic importance. The second responsum, which is covered in this chapter, shares much with some well‐known medieval polemical literature, and is an important statement on the origin and authority of the Masorah and the extent to which it should be used to determine the correct spelling of biblical words.Less

Ibn Zimra's Responsum C: The Talmud, the Torah Scrolls, and Fixing the Torah Text

B. Barry Levy

in Fixing God's Torah: The Accuracy of the Hebrew Bible Text in Jewish Law

This chapter, and Chapters 2–3 and 5 explore the principles that underlie medieval rankings of various types of halakhic evidence for deciding on a number of questionable spellings of the Torah text, ... More

This chapter, and Chapters 2–3 and 5 explore the principles that underlie medieval rankings of various types of halakhic evidence for deciding on a number of questionable spellings of the Torah text, including an important shift in ranking that received much support in the sixteenth century; they centre on a closely related group of four responsa (responses to questions) about the accuracy of the Bible text and closely related matters, by Rabbi David ben Solomon ibn Abi Zimra (popularly known in English as Ibn Zimra, and in Hebrew as HaRaDBaZ). A careful look at Ibn Zimra's responses offers an important glimpse into how a leading sixteenth century rabbinic authority evaluated his predecessors’ treatments of textual questions and ranked the conflicting witnesses to the spellings or orthographic irregularities of certain biblical words; it also clarifies the halakhic literature's overall approach to fixing the Bible text and reveals what appears to be a major inconsistency in Ibn Zimra's attitude towards the Masorah (the collective textual notes and other additions to the text of the Torah itself). Translations of each responsum are given, and an analysis made of the sources and nuances of their author's arguments, with observations on the relationships between these documents and other issues and compositions of masoretic and halakhic importance. The third responsum, which is covered in this chapter, deals with the unusual shape of the letter waw in the word šlwm, ‘peace’, in Num. 25: 12, and whether it was necessary to follow a talmudic teaching that required it to be cut.Less

Ibn Zimra's Responsum D: Logic and Vocalizing the Torah Text

B. Barry Levy

in Fixing God's Torah: The Accuracy of the Hebrew Bible Text in Jewish Law

This chapter and Chapters 2–4 explore the principles that underlie medieval rankings of various types of halakhic evidence for deciding on a number of questionable spellings of the Torah text, ... More

This chapter and Chapters 2–4 explore the principles that underlie medieval rankings of various types of halakhic evidence for deciding on a number of questionable spellings of the Torah text, including an important shift in ranking that received much support in the sixteenth century; they centre on a closely related group of four responsa (responses to questions) about the accuracy of the Bible text and closely related matters, by Rabbi David ben Solomon ibn Abi Zimra (popularly known in English as Ibn Zimra, and in Hebrew as HaRaDBaZ). A careful look at Ibn Zimra's responses offers an important glimpse into how a leading sixteenth century rabbinic authority evaluated his predecessors’ treatments of textual questions and ranked the conflicting witnesses to the spellings or orthographic irregularities of certain biblical words; it also clarifies the halakhic literature's overall approach to fixing the Bible text and reveals what appears to be a major inconsistency in Ibn Zimra's attitude towards the Masorah (the collective textual notes and other additions to the text of the Torah itself). Translations of each responsum are given, and an analysis made of the sources and nuances of their author's arguments, with observations on the relationships between these documents and other issues and compositions of masoretic and halakhic importance. The fourth responsum, which is covered in this chapter, comments on a medieval suggestion to change the traditional reading of hw’, ‘it’, in Lev. 25: 33 from hu’ to hi’.Less

The Literary Background of Ibn Zimra's Responsa: Rabbi Solomon Ben Adret and the Medieval Sefardi Halakhic Literature

B. Barry Levy

in Fixing God's Torah: The Accuracy of the Hebrew Bible Text in Jewish Law

This chapter builds on the previous four, which analysed the closely related group of four responsa (responses to questions) about the accuracy of the Torah text and closely related matters, by Rabbi ... More

This chapter builds on the previous four, which analysed the closely related group of four responsa (responses to questions) about the accuracy of the Torah text and closely related matters, by Rabbi David ben Solomon ibn Abi Zimra (popularly known in English as Ibn Zimra, and in Hebrew as HaRaDBaZ). Ibn Zimra's approach was primarily halakhic, not masoretic, and to appreciate it an examination needs to be made of passages from both the halakhic and masoretic literature (the Masorah is the collective textual notes and other additions to the text of the Torah itself), especially the writings of Solomon ben Abraham Ben Adret, a prolific author and unchallenged rabbinic leader of Spanish Jewry until his death in 1310. Ibn Zimra cited Ben Adret several times, and the analysis presented begins with an anonymous question posed to Ben Adret on matters of spelling in the Torah, and goes on to give his response. Ibn Zimra's use of it is considered in the next chapter.Less

Ibn Zimra, Ben Adret, Ibn Adoniyah, the Masorah, and Fixing the Torah Text in the Sixteenth Century

B. Barry Levy

in Fixing God's Torah: The Accuracy of the Hebrew Bible Text in Jewish Law

This chapter builds on the previous five, four of which (Chapters 2–5) analysed the closely related group of four responsa (responses to questions) about the accuracy of the Torah text and closely ... More

This chapter builds on the previous five, four of which (Chapters 2–5) analysed the closely related group of four responsa (responses to questions) about the accuracy of the Torah text and closely related matters, by Rabbi David ben Solomon ibn Abi Zimra. Ibn Zimra's approach was primarily halakhic, not masoretic, and to appreciate it an examination was made in the previous chapter of passages from both the halakhic and masoretic literature (the Masorah is the collective textual notes and other additions to the text of the Torah itself), especially the writings of Solomon ben Abraham Ben Adret, who was a prolific author and unchallenged rabbinic leader of Spanish Jewry until his death in 1310. The use by Ibn Zimra in his responsa of Ben Adret's responsum on matters of spelling in the Torah is considered. Also considered is the use by Ibn Zimra of Jacob ben Hayyim Ibn Adoniyah's masoretic Bible. A brief note is included on dating Ibn Zimra's responsa.Less

Reading Execution: A Century of Scholarship on the Ancient Jewish Death Penalty

Beth A. Berkowitz

in Execution and Invention: Death Penalty Discourse in Early Rabbinic and Christian Cultures

This chapter examines the history of scholarship on the ancient Jewish death penalty, focusing in particular on the last century of scholarship in the United States and Israel. It includes within its ... More

This chapter examines the history of scholarship on the ancient Jewish death penalty, focusing in particular on the last century of scholarship in the United States and Israel. It includes within its survey a variety of approaches and disciplines: jurisprudence, responsa, New Testament historiography, religious denominational writing, Jewish intellectual history, philosophy, Zionist reformism. It give this scholarship “thick description,” contextualizing it within the social forces that shaped it. It also offers some concluding reflections on what aspects of the scholarship might be most productive for further study.Less

The Search for Religious Authenticity and the Case of Passover Peanut Oil

Zev Eleff

in Feasting and Fasting: The History and Ethics of Jewish Food

This chapter uses the rise and fall of a popular Passover cooking ingredient to explore the role of competing European folkways to determine the religious course of American Orthodox Judaism. In the ... More

This chapter uses the rise and fall of a popular Passover cooking ingredient to explore the role of competing European folkways to determine the religious course of American Orthodox Judaism. In the first half of the twentieth century, traditional-leaning Jews happily used peanut oil in place of chicken fat, relying on the Lithuanian position that peanuts were not considered a “legume,” a category of foods that Ashkenazic Jewry traditionally withheld from during the Passover holiday, in addition to leaven breads. However, late-arriving Hungarian and Israeli folkways fought and triumphed over the Lithuanian foodway by the final decades of the 1900s. This is emblematic of a broader religious confrontation with American Judaism. The use of a variety of sources––responsa, economic, archival, and periodical literature––underscores the importance of “lived religion” and the usefulness of folkways and foodways to gain a fuller appreciation of religious history.Less

Sa’adyah, the Man of Halakhah

Robert Brody

in Sa'adyah Gaon

This chapter examines the variety of genres and structures that Sa'adyah Gaon employed, including their talmudic and halakhic contents. It reveals how Sa'adyah incorporated halakhic and aggadic ... More

This chapter examines the variety of genres and structures that Sa'adyah Gaon employed, including their talmudic and halakhic contents. It reveals how Sa'adyah incorporated halakhic and aggadic elements drawn from the Talmud and midrash in different genres, particularly in his piyutim and biblical commentaries. It also talks about the writing of responsa, which was the only literary activity in which the Babylonian geonim before Sa'adyah's time engaged in. The chapter reviews many of Sa'adyah's responsa that were originally written in Arabic and Hebrew translation. It describes Sa'adyah's responsa, in which he conducts a systematic analysis of principles in order to arrive at a practical solution for the specific case under discussion.Less

Introduction

Marc Saperstein

in Leadership and Conflict: Tensions in Medieval and Early Modern Jewish History and Culture

This introductory chapter provides a brief look into rabbinic leadership and its relationship to the broader population. Throughout the centuries of diaspora history, rabbinic leadership in the ... More

This introductory chapter provides a brief look into rabbinic leadership and its relationship to the broader population. Throughout the centuries of diaspora history, rabbinic leadership in the Jewish community has had a Janus-like function. Facing inwards, it has sought to exercise authority in defence of unity and tradition: mediating and communicating the sacred texts, interpreting and applying them in a manner that is both rooted in the past and that refracts them with novel insight; providing guidance and making decisions to address the various internal problems that arise; speaking out or acting to secure any breach in the discipline necessary for Jewish continuity and survival under trying circumstances. Facing outwards, rabbinic leadership (sometimes the same individuals, often others) has been expected to represent the Jewish community before the Gentile world, whether in symbolic rituals that dramatize the Jewish role in the larger society or by active intervention at the highest levels of government to defend Jewish needs. Sometimes the leaders function in solidarity with their own people and the external society; frequently, however, there is tension and conflict with one group or another.Less

Rabbis, Martyrs, and Merchants: Jewish Communal Conflict as Reflected in the Responsa on the Boycott of Ancona

Marc Saperstein

in Leadership and Conflict: Tensions in Medieval and Early Modern Jewish History and Culture

This chapter reviews the rabbinic responsa regarding the Boycott of Ancona. It was written by Ottoman rabbis addressing dramatic issues of international significance that affected both the morale and ... More

This chapter reviews the rabbinic responsa regarding the Boycott of Ancona. It was written by Ottoman rabbis addressing dramatic issues of international significance that affected both the morale and the economic well-being of many Jews. These texts, grappling with legal issues on the basis of conflicting narratives of what had happened, reveal that the boycott was far more complicated than it originally appears. The boycott of the port of Ancona in 1556 was an unparalleled event in early modern Jewish history, the only attempt before the twentieth century to organize Jewish economic pressure and to wield it in the arena of international affairs for the benefit of Jews persecuted in other lands. Powerful forces converged in this event.Less

The Land of Israel in Pre-Modern Jewish Thought: A History of Two Rabbinic Statements

Marc Saperstein

in Leadership and Conflict: Tensions in Medieval and Early Modern Jewish History and Culture

This chapter analyses the history of interpretation of two well-known talmudic statements about the diaspora. The first has practical, legal, and financial consequences, pertaining to the right of a ... More

This chapter analyses the history of interpretation of two well-known talmudic statements about the diaspora. The first has practical, legal, and financial consequences, pertaining to the right of a husband to be freed from the financial obligation stipulated in the ketubah (marriage contract) if he divorced his wife because she refused to accompany him to live in the Land of Israel. The statement of the Talmud is clear, but the responsa literature reveals that in real-life cases, justifications were frequently found to protect the rights of the divorced wife against enforcement of the talmudic principle. The second statement is of powerful theological significance, addressing the relationship between God and the Land of Israel. It asserts that God may not be accessible outside the Land of Israel, implying that the possibilities for legitimate religious life in the diaspora were extremely limited. Here too exegetical literature sometimes explained the statement but frequently dissented from it, showing that diaspora Jews often refused to be bound by the more extreme anti-diaspora sentiments of their classical texts.Less

Judah Loew: Writings and Sources

Byron L. Sherwin

in Mystical Theology and Social Dissent: The Life and Works of Judah Loew of Prague

This chapter explores the nature and the scope of Judah Loew's literary work. Rabbi Loew's first published work was the Gur Aryeh (The Lion's Whelp, 1578), a supercommentary on Solomon ben Isaac's ... More

This chapter explores the nature and the scope of Judah Loew's literary work. Rabbi Loew's first published work was the Gur Aryeh (The Lion's Whelp, 1578), a supercommentary on Solomon ben Isaac's (Rashi) eleventh-century commentary to the Pentateuch. In 1582, Loew's second published work appeared, entitled Gevurot Ha-Shem. At the end of the introduction to this work, Loew outlines the titles and contents of six projected works, which would discuss theological and, to a lesser extent, halakhic problems relating to the religious holidays of the Jewish yearly cycle. However, of the six projected works, only three survived, albeit with slightly changed titles. Loew also wrote two works on the moral and religious values of Judaism: Derekh Ha-Ḥayyim (1589) and Netivot Olam (1595). In 1600, Loew published a polemical defense of rabbinic literature, entitled Be'er Ha-Golah (Well of the Exile). In addition, five of Loew's sermons were also published. From what must have been extensive writings on Jewish religious law, only scanty documents have survived. From what must have been many responsa, only one has been preserved and published during Loew's lifetime, namely, the Responsum on the Deserted Wife. The chapter then considers the nature of the sources from which Rabbi Loew drew to compose his works and to help formulate his ideas.Less

Hasidic Prayer in the Responsa

Louis Jacobs

in Hasidic Prayer

This chapter examines some rabbinic responsa relating to Hasidic prayer. Alongside R. Ezekiel Landau, multiple prominent rabbis who were either opposed or neutral to the growing Hasidic movement in ... More

This chapter examines some rabbinic responsa relating to Hasidic prayer. Alongside R. Ezekiel Landau, multiple prominent rabbis who were either opposed or neutral to the growing Hasidic movement in the eighteenth century issued several responsa regarding Hasidism. The chapter thus takes up responsa regarding a wide variety of subjects relating to Hasidic prayer, including the appropriate garments for prayer, the use of individuals for officiating, the issue of taking meals before prayer, and even which prayer book to use. In doing so, this chapter reveals a long series of dialogue and response from multiple rabbi. These shed light on many different views regarding Hasidic practice at the time.Less

Rulings, Responsa, Liturgical Poems, and Commentaries on Liturgical Poems

Avraham Grossman

in Rashi

This chapter focuses on rulings, responsa, liturgical poems, and commentaries on liturgical poems. Books of halakhic rulings were not an accepted literary genre in eleventh-century Germany and ... More

This chapter focuses on rulings, responsa, liturgical poems, and commentaries on liturgical poems. Books of halakhic rulings were not an accepted literary genre in eleventh-century Germany and northern France. Like the French sages who preceded him, Rashi couched his halakhic decision-making primarily in the form of responsa. Rashi, however, can be seen as one who inspired and contributed to the development of another important branch of the tree of halakhic creativity: the writing of halakhic monographs. Meanwhile, he cannot be counted among the greatest of the liturgical poets active in Germany and France during the eleventh century, but his poems are important for what they say about his personality and about the feelings of his contemporaries. In them, Rashi describes the persecution and suffering of the Jews, their yearning for redemption, their degradation and humiliation, the economic decrees issued against them, and their devotion to the study of Torah.Less

Responsa

Shira Weiss

in Joseph Albo on Free Choice: Exegetical Innovation in Medieval Jewish Philosophy

Free choice figures prominently, in fact decisively, in Albo’s only surviving halakhic responsum. His responsum, concerning the permissibility of allowing a qatlanit, a woman whose previous two ... More

Free choice figures prominently, in fact decisively, in Albo’s only surviving halakhic responsum. His responsum, concerning the permissibility of allowing a qatlanit, a woman whose previous two husbands had died, to remarry, reflects the interplay of philosophy and halakha in the late medieval era. Albo demonstrates innovation in his use of broader theological concepts, such as human free choice, to impact his halakhic ruling. The concept of free choice is not included in responsa regarding the case of the qatlanit of any of Albo’s predecessors. Thus, Albo may be original in his focus on beḥira (choice), thereby highlighting the significance of the concept in his thinking and preaching to his generation, which suffered religious coercion.Less

Introduction Who Is a Jew? What Is a Jew?: Jewish Identity, Jewish Status, and the Challenge of Conversion

in Pledges of Jewish Allegiance: Conversion, Law, and Policymaking in Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Orthodox Responsa

This book examines the debate surrounding the definition of a Jew, Jewish status, and the nature of the Jewish community, focusing on the modern period of Jewish history as well as nineteenth- and ... More

This book examines the debate surrounding the definition of a Jew, Jewish status, and the nature of the Jewish community, focusing on the modern period of Jewish history as well as nineteenth- and twentieth-century legal opinions and other writings by Orthodox rabbis regarding conversion, including responsa. It discusses the overlapping but distinct ways in which traditionalist religious authorities have defined the core of Jewishness—Jewish identity, status, and community—in the context of modernity. It also analyzes how Jews and Judaism have responded to the challenges of the modern world, such as Israel, Germany, or the United States, regarding the continuity and borders of the Jews. In addition, the book looks at the dynamics of the posekim and the classical sources of Jewish law.Less