Down The Rabbi Hole
By Elli Fischer
Down The Rabbi HoleDec 12, 2021
Picking up the Pieces: On the Oven of Akhnai
Some Thoughts on the Purim Story and Senator Lieberman zt"l
An idea developed by the Ketav Sofer on Megillat Esther resonates with something that appeared in Daf Yomi a few days ago and with the life and legacy of Senator Joe Lieberman.
The idea of the Ketav Sofer appears here: https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=14083&pgnum=337
The idea that emerges on Bava Metzia 32b is here: Rashi s.v. אי אמרת https://shas.alhatorah.org/Full/Bava_Metzia/32b.9#e0n6
The link to Rabbi Ethan Tucker's eulogy for Senator Lieberman is here: https://www.youtube.com/live/_NTVjFB_FnU?si=8fu-kCINHVPhlHnc&t=5515
Radbaz vol. 1, no. 40 - Ransoming Captives
This episode gets into the economic and political realities of the 16th century in the Mediterranean basin, including the burgeoning slave trade, and the resulting attention to the great mitzvah of pidyon shevuyim, ransoming captives.
Here's a link to the responsum: www.sefaria.org/Teshuvot_HaRadbaz_Volume_1.40.1?lang=bi
And here's a link to the first part of my series on Rav Ovadiah Yosef's teshuvah on the Entebbe hostages: jewishreviewofbooks.com/contemporary-israel/14972/rabbi-ovadia-yosefs-and-the-halakhot-of-hostages-part-i/
Krakenfruit (the Buddha's Hand Etrog)
Two of the greatest rabbis of the Bavli Jewish community in recent centuries address the status of a new type of fruit that arrived from the Far East. Is it a kosher etrog?
The question is addressed in two responsa, one by R. Abdullah Somekh and one by his student, R. Yosef Hayyim, both of Baghdad.
Link to the responsum: https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=32212&st=&pgnum=379
Public and Private Penance (Responsa Maharam Lublin)
We generally think of confession and penance as either a private matter between a person and God, or as a matter between the perpetrator and victim of a wrong. But not that long ago there were forms of penance that were very public. What's the idea behind them, and what can they teach us about social healing today?
We will be studying and discussing a series of responsa by Maharam Lublin. Here is a link to the responsa: https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=1937&pgnum=39
Book Journeys, Some Updates, and the Hoshanot Mosh Pit
18forty.org/bookjourney/
This is an outgrowth of the 18forty podcast episode in which R. David Bashevkin and I discussed the vision and reality of a Jewish polity governed by Halakhah. Here's a link to the episode:
18forty.org/podcast/elli-fischer-can-israel-follow-jewish-law/
I was also a recent guest on two other podcasts. First, Rav David Silverstein and I discussed the nature of rabbinic authority on Yeshivat Orayta's "Tzarich Iyun" podcast:
open.spotify.com/episode/71aX8L9IA2j1QY78dOoGff?si=577b0ae9ed414716
Finally, a few months ago I was hosted by Darcy Walters for an episode of her "Desert Island Torah" podcast. Here's a link:
podcasters.spotify.com/pod/pod/show/desert-island-torah/episodes/Ep-81-with-Rav-Elli-Fischer-e23me3f
The responsum that we study in this episode was penned by R. Yisrael Isserlein, better known as the Terumat HaDeshen. We spend some time discussing when and where he lived, who his influences were, why his rulings are so influential, and what makes his Sefer Terumat HaDeshen so unique.
Then we go on to the teshuvah itself, which addresses an issue that is not-quite-halakhah. The setting is almost surreal: Person A allegedly used the crush of hoshanot in shul as cover to maim Person B while maintaining plausible deniability. This is an important matter of social and communal governance, but halakhic standards of evidence seem to set too high a bar to take any action. How did R. Isserlein resolve the matter?
Here's a link to the teshuvah in Sefariah, with my translation:
www.sefaria.org.il/Terumat_HaDeshen%2C_Part_II.210?lang=bi
Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, Part III: The Debate
Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai, Part II: The Return to Yavneh
We look (again) at the institution of the fourth berakhah of Birkat Hamazon, the successive exiles of the Sanhedrin, and a discussion among the tanna'im about the causes of a terrible disease.
This sets the stage for the more famous discussion between Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai and Rabbi Yehuda Bar Ilai concerning attitudes toward Rome.
Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai and his Generation, Part I: The Debacle and the Challenge
In this series, we will look not only at the famous aggadot about Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai from Shabbat 33b-34a, but at a series of passages from the Gemara that broaden the story into something much bigger.
Throughout the series, I will offer occasional historical and methodological points about the composition of the Gemara (specifically the Bavli) and how to learn it. We will make extensive use of parallel passages from elsewhere in Rabbinic literature in order to understand what the Bavli's editors are trying to teach when they reshape the materials they received into the stories before us. This is not a history series. We may occasionally discuss historical events, but the primary focus is to understand the Gemara itself.
In this first episode, we discuss the setting of the Rashbi stories: when and where Rashbi lived, who his contemporaries were, who his teachers and students were, and what momentous events transpired in his lifetime.
Chacham Tzvi vs. Chasam Sofer on Marror
Some people use lettuce, and some use horseradish. But which is the "real" marror? Both? One or the other? In this episode we look at how two different sages, living a century apart, addressed this issue. It also gives us some insight into the personalities of these two great sages.
The texts that we will study can be found here:
Chacham Tzvi #120: https://www.sefaria.org.il/Chakham_Tzvi.120.1?lang=he
Chasam Soder, Orach Chaim 132: https://www.sefaria.org/Responsa_Chatam_Sofer%2C_Orach_Chayim.132.5?lang=he
חג כשר ושמח!
Counting a Golem for a Minyan: Two Responsa from a Father and Son
Using Non-Jewish Names - a Close Reading of Rav Asher Weiss's Essay
Radbaz (1479-1573) on the Status of an Abyssinian Jew
Recently there has been a lot of discussion about the origins of the people of Israel and who are the "real" descendants of the tribes of Israel. In this episode, we look at a responsum from the 1500s that indirectly addresses questions about how we "know" who is a Jew or Israelite. The question of how we know things is crucial for understanding the history of Halakhah, but also for understanding the world we inhabit and the beliefs if the people who are shaping it. This responsum from 500 years ago therefore has a great deal of contemporary importance, on many levels.
Here's a link to the responsum we studied, with my English translation: https://www.sefaria.org/Teshuvot_HaRadbaz_Volume_4.1290.1?lang=bi
Here's a link to Radbaz's related responsum: https://he.wikisource.org/wiki/%D7%A9%D7%95%22%D7%AA_%D7%A8%D7%93%D7%91%22%D7%96/%D7%97%D7%9C%D7%A7_%D7%96/%D7%94
The letter of Eldad HaDani: http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/history/tkufot/eldad1-2.htm
Menasheh ben Israel on American tribes as lost Israelite tribes, early 1600s: https://archive.org/details/menassehbenisrae00manauoft/page/16/mode/2up?view=theater
Chavos Yair 222 on Women Reciting Kaddish
Names Matter: How Turkey became Kosher (and Corn became Kitniyot)
Yom Kippur and Collective Bargaining
The Invention of Elluuulllll, Part II
How Elul became Elllluuuuullll!!!!!
Understanding the "Break" in Birkat Hamazon: A Halakhic, Aggadic, and Historical Journey
Bonus Episode with More Discussion of Yom Haatzma'ut Practices with Prof. Chaim Saiman
There was an entire section of our conversation that I forgot to publish. This was supposed to be part of the first episode with Prof. Saiman. I've added the recordings to that episode and also posted it as a "standalone" episode for people who already listened.
Shlissel Challah, Reb Shayale, and the universalization of niche observances
In this episode we discuss observances - specifically pilgrimages to the grave of Reb Shayale of Kerestir and other kivrei tzadikim in far-flung places, as well as schlissel challah, which are observed during this time of year - and consider the factors that may drive the significant surge in their popularity.
I am joined once again by Prof. Chaim Saiman, author of Halakhah: The Rabbinic Idea of Law, a professor at the Charles Widger School of Law at Villanova University, and a close friend of almost 30 years.
The reception of Yom Ha'atzma'ut 'Halakhah'; the value of halfhearted observance; considering how customs develop - with Prof. Chaim Saiman
I am joined by Prof. Chaim Saiman, author of Halakhah: The Rabbinic Idea of Law, a professor at the Charles Widger School of Law at Villanova University, and a close friend of almost 30 years (!).
On the Origin of the Custom to Avoid Kitniyot; thoughts on Ha Lachma Anya, Yachatz, and Afikoman
Tattoos According to R. Chaim Kanievsky and... Lenny Bruce (lehavdil)?
In this episode we delve into R. Chaim Kanievsky's treatise on tattoos, called Patshegen HaKetav, as an example of how he thought, organized, and wrote. Along the way, we get a bit sidetracked by halakhic questions pertaining to tattoos and even suggest a "mekor" for the mistaken belief that someone with a tattoo cannot be buried in a Jewish cemetery.
Link to the first page of R. Chaim Kanievsky's Patshegen HaKetav: https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=47701&st=&pgnum=58
Link to an article I wrote on tattoos 9 years ago: https://www.jta.org/2013/03/07/ny/the-tattoo-still-taboo
A blog post from 15 years ago in which I discuss the issue and present the responsum of Minhat Yitzhak: http://adderabbi.blogspot.com/2007/04/tattoos.html
On Rav Chaim Kanievsky zt"l and on the "New" Role of Sar HaTorah
Rav Melamed and Peninei Halakha 4: Responsa vs. Codes, Wholesale vs. Retail Halakha
R Melamed and Peninei Halakha 3: Codes, Commentaries, and Responsa
Rav Melamed and Peninei Halakha II: R. Melamed's "Civilizational" Approach to Halakha
Rav Eliezer Melamed and Peninei Halakhah I: Introducing a Phenomenon
The Torah's Rhetoric/Punishment Gap on Sexual Transgression; Thoughts on Responses to Walder
Down the Rabbinate Hole II: Halakhah and Hierarchy
Down the Rabbinate Hole I: Conversion in the State of Israel
Episode 7: A Little on Nittel
The 8th of Teves and Chasam Sofer's Fascination with it
In this episode we cover:
- A bit on the Chabad celebration of 5 Teves, "Yom Didan Natzach"
- Background on Megillas Taanis - both the Tannaitic and Geonic versions
- Attitudes toward the translation of the Torah into Greek - in Chazal and among other groups
- The Chasam Sofer's fascination with the 8th of Teves as the day commemorating the translation
Links to articles mentioned:
- Moshe Simon-Shoshan, "The Tasks of the Translators: The Rabbis, The Septuagint, and the Cultural Politics of Translation"
- Maoz Kahana, "How Chatam Sofer Vanquished Spinoza" (Hebrew)
- Elli Fischer, "Azariah de Rossi's Fascination with the Septuagint"
Judaizers
Rav David Zvi Hoffmann, part 4 (and final)
Final episode, on RDZH, discussing his combination of different ways of learning Torah (academic, pilpulistic, halakhic), commentary on the Germany of his era, and his hopes for the future.
Link to a poster with the schedule of the conference on RDZH on January 3, 2022.
Rav David Zvi Hoffmann, part 3
Rav David Zvi Hoffmann, part 2