More on Yetziv Pitgam
Several years ago I wrote in this column about the Piyut Yetziv Pigam which is recited on the second day of Shavuot before the reading of the Haftara. I remarked […]
The Passover Haggadah of the Talmudic Encyclopedia
A Short time ago the Passover Haggadah of the Talmdic Encyclopedia came off the press in Jerusalem. The Haggadah which is entirely in Hebrew, consists of two parts. The first […]
An Unusual Simhat Torah Custom
Prof. Moshe Bar Asher of the Hebrew University has published in recent years several studies about the particular religious customs of the Jews of southwestern France. Prof. Bar-Asher discusses the […]
The Custom of Hanging an Effigy of Haman
Since the times of the Gemara there has been a custom to not only hang Haman in effigy, but to burn the figure as well. Today, though, you’d be hard […]
Purim of Cairo
For more than four centuries, up until the the years between the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 and the Suez Canal Crisis in 1956, when a mass […]
The Role of the Esrog in Childbirth
Rectifying the Sin of the Tree of Knowledge. Back in the 18th century, a fascinating story circulated among Jews that the Queen of Prussia, Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, wife of King […]
Partaking of Twelve Challos and other Shabbos Customs
Many summers ago, when I was single and studying in Paris at the Sorbonne, I decided to spend Shabbos Mevarchim in Strasbourg in the south of France. I stayed at […]
Purim Vinz
In 1614, one thousand three hundred eighty Jews – the entire Jewish community of Frankfurt, including its rav, Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz, author of the Shlah (Shnei Luchos HaBris) – were […]
The Jewish Pope in the Rosh Hashana Machzor
As you open your machzor this Rosh Hashanah, something you will probably not expect to find is a Jewish pope. But if you read carefully, that’s exactly what you’ll see. […]
Papyrus Scroll Sheds Light on Celebration of Pesach 2,500 Years Ago
Exiled after the destruction of the first Beis Hamikdash, a Jewish community seeks guidance “The Passover Letter” is the name given by scholars to a papyrus scroll discovered over a […]