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Hiddushim
In Rabbinic literature, ḥiddush (; plural ḥiddushim, ) refers to a novel interpretation or approach to previously-existing ideas or works. The term often describes a form of innovation that is made inside the system of ''Halakha'', as distinguished from '' shinuy'', an innovation outside tradition. Etymology comes from the Hebrew root , meaning . The usage of the word in this context originated from the language of Talmudic analysis and argumentation in the Gemara. It passed into Yiddish, where it is at times used informally. In rabbinic literature Nachmanides states that it is an "obligation imposed upon us to search through the subjects of the Torah and the precepts and bring to light their hidden contents". What "powers" ḥiddushim? ''MaaYana Shel Torah'' asks regarding "VaYayLech Moshe" (31:1)—where did he go? and answers that he went into everyone: ''NichNas Moshe Rabbeinu LeToch ToCho Shel Kol Adam MiYisroel.'' This, he writes, is the basis of people having/writin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rabbinic Literature
Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, is the entire corpus of works authored by rabbis throughout Jewish history. The term typically refers to literature from the Talmudic era (70–640 CE), as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writings. It aligns with the Hebrew term ''Sifrut Chazal'' (), which translates to “literature f oursages” and generally pertains only to the sages (''Chazal'') from the Talmudic period. This more specific sense of "Rabbinic literature"—referring to the Talmud, Midrashim (), and related writings, but hardly ever to later texts—is how the term is generally intended when used in contemporary academic writing. The terms ''mefareshim'' and ''parshanim'' (commentaries and commentators) almost always refer to later, post-Talmudic writers of rabbinic glosses on Biblical and Talmudic texts. Mishnaic literature The Midr'she halakha, Mishnah, and Tosefta (compiled from materials pre-dating the year 200 CE) are the earliest extan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shemini Atzeret
Shemini Atzeret (—"Eighth [day] of Assembly") is a Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday. It is celebrated on the 22nd day of the Hebrew calendar, Hebrew month of Tishrei, usually coinciding with late September or early October. It directly follows the festival of Sukkot, which is celebrated for ''seven'' days; thus, Shemini Atzeret is literally the ''eighth'' day [of assembly]. It is a separate—yet connected—holy day devoted to the spiritual aspects of the festival of Sukkot. Part of its duality as a holy day is that it is simultaneously considered to be connected to Sukkot and a separate festival in its own right. Outside the Land of Israel, this is further complicated by the Yom tov sheni shel galuyot, additional day added to all Biblical holidays except Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.Talmud, ''Beitza'' 4b. Shemini Atzeret is thus sometimes wrongly regarded as the eighth day of Sukkot outside the Land of Israel, leading to sometimes involved analysis as to which practices of ea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Halakah
''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is based on biblical commandments (''mitzvot''), subsequent Talmudic and rabbinic laws, and the customs and traditions which were compiled in the many books such as the ''Shulchan Aruch'' or ''Mishneh Torah''. ''Halakha'' is often translated as "Jewish law", although a more literal translation might be "the way to behave" or "the way of walking". The word is derived from the root, which means "to behave" (also "to go" or "to walk"). ''Halakha'' not only guides religious practices and beliefs; it also guides numerous aspects of day-to-day life. Historically, widespread observance of the laws of the Torah is first in evidence beginning in the second century BCE, and some say that the first evidence was even earlier. In the Jewish diaspora, ''halakha'' served many Jewish communitie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chumash (Judaism)
''Chumash'' (also Ḥumash; , or or Yiddish: ; plural Ḥumashim) is a copy of the Torah (the Five Books of Moses that begin the Hebrew bible), printed and bound in the form of a book (i.e. a codex) for convenience when studying. In comparison, a Torah scroll is handwritten, with rigorous production standards, on a special type of parchment and sewn together as a single scroll for use in the synagogue. The word 'Chumash' comes from the Hebrew word for five, (). A more formal term is , "five fifths of Torah". It is also known by the Latinised Greek term Pentateuch in common printed editions. Etymology The word has the standard Ashkenazi Hebrew vowel shift of , meaning "one-fifth", alluding to any one of the five books; by synecdoche, it came to mean the five fifths of the Torah. The Modern Hebrew pronunciation is an erroneous reconstruction based on the assumption that the Ashkenazic accent, which is almost uniformly penultimately stressed, had also changed the stres ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meir Abulafia
:''Meir Abulafia is commonly known as "the Ramah" (Hebrew: רמ"ה). He should not be confused with Moses Isserles, known as "the Rema" or "the Rama" (Hebrew: רמ"א).'' Meir ben Todros HaLevi Abulafia ( ; c. 1170 – 1244), also known as the Ramah () (an acronym of his Hebrew name), was a major Sephardic Talmudist and Halachic authority in medieval Spain. Biography He was the scion of a wealthy and scholarly family, the son of Todros ben Judah, to whom the physician Judah ben Isaac dedicated his poem, ''The Conflict of Wisdom and Wealth,'' published in 1214. In his 30s, he was already one of the three appointed rabbis on the Toledo Beth Din (one of the other two was Joseph ibn Migash's son, Meir). As the Spanish kings gave the Jews more self-rule, Rabbi Abulafia played a substantial role in establishing ritual regulations for Spanish Jewry. He was also the head of an important yeshiva in Toledo. He was so highly esteemed in Toledo that on his father's death in 1225 the latt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abraham Ben David
Abraham ben David ( – 27 November 1198), also known by the abbreviation RABaD (for ''Rabbeinu'' Abraham ben David) Ravad or RABaD III, was a Provençal ḥakham, an important commentator on the Talmud, ''Sefer Halachot'' of Isaac Alfasi, and '' Mishneh Torah'' of Maimonides, and is regarded as a father of Kabbalah and one of the key links in the chain of Jewish mystics. Biography RABaD's maternal grandfather, Rabbi Yitzhak b. Yaakov Ibn Baruch of Mérida (1035–1094), who had compiled astronomical tables for the son of Shemuel ha-Nagid, was one of five rabbis in Spain renowned for their learning. Concerning the oral history of his maternal grandfather's family and how they came to Spain, the RABaD wrote: "When Titus prevailed over Jerusalem, his officer who was appointed over Hispania appeased him, requesting that he send to him captives made-up of the nobles of Jerusalem, and so he sent a few of them to him, and there were amongst them those who made curtains and who ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Talmud
The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewish culture, Jewish cultural life and was foundational to "all Jewish thought and aspirations", serving also as "the guide for the daily life" of Jews. The Talmud includes the teachings and opinions of thousands of rabbis on a variety of subjects, including halakha, Jewish ethics, Jewish philosophy, philosophy, Jewish customs, customs, Jewish history, history, and Jewish folklore, folklore, and many other topics. The Talmud is a commentary on the Mishnah. This text is made up of 63 Masekhet, tractates, each covering one subject area. The language of the Talmud is Jewish Babylonian Aramaic. Talmudic tradition emerged and was compiled between the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE and the Arab conquest in the early seve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Halakha
''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Judaism, Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Torah, Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is based on biblical commandments (''Mitzvah, mitzvot''), subsequent Talmudic and Mitzvah#Rabbinic mitzvot, rabbinic laws, and the customs and traditions which were compiled in the many books such as the ''Shulchan Aruch'' or ''Mishneh Torah''. ''Halakha'' is often translated as "Jewish law", although a more literal translation might be "the way to behave" or "the way of walking". The word is derived from the Semitic root, root, which means "to behave" (also "to go" or "to walk"). ''Halakha'' not only guides religious practices and beliefs; it also guides numerous aspects of day-to-day life. Historically, widespread observance of the laws of the Torah is first in evidence beginning in the second century BCE, and some say that the first evide ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joseph Ibn Migash
Joseph ben Meir HaLevi ibn Migash (also rendered Yosef ibn Meir Ha-Levi ibn Migash, José ben Meir ibn Megas, or simply Joseph ibn Migash; ; early 1077 – c. 1141) was a prominent rabbi, halakhic decisor (''posek''), and head of the yeshiva (''rosh yeshiva'') in Lucena, in al-Andalus (modern-day Spain). He is also known by the acronym Ri Migash (ר"י מיגאש), standing for ''Rabbi Yosef Migash''. Biography Joseph ibn Migash was probably born in Seville (though Steinschneider believes it was Granada). He moved to Lucena at the age of 12 to study under the renowned Talmudist Isaac Alfasi. He studied under Alfasi at Lucena for fourteen years. Shortly before his death (1103), Alfasi ordained Ibn Migash as a rabbi, and - passing over his own son - also appointed him, then 26, to be his successor as Rosh Yeshiva (seminary head). Joseph ibn Migash held this position for 38 years. Rabbi Abraham ben David, in his work '' Sefer ha-Kabbalah'' (Book of Tradition), mentions Joseph ibn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geonim
''Geonim'' (; ; also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated Gaonim, singular Gaon) were the presidents of the two great Talmudic Academies in Babylonia, Babylonian Talmudic Academies of Sura Academy , Sura and Pumbedita Academy , Pumbedita, in the Abbasid Caliphate. They were generally accepted as the spiritual leaders of the Jewish community worldwide in the early medieval era, in contrast to the ''Resh Galuta'' (exilarch) who wielded secular authority over the Jews in Islamic lands. ''Geonim'' is the plural of (''Ga'on'') , which means "pride" or "splendor" in Biblical Hebrew and since the 19th century "genius" as in modern Hebrew language, Hebrew. As a title of a Babylonian college president it meant something like "His Excellency". The ''Geonim'' played a prominent and decisive role in the transmission and teaching of Torah and Halakha, Jewish law. They taught Talmud and decided on issues on which no ruling had been rendered during the period of the Talmud. Era The per ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mesillat Yesharim
''Mesillat Yesharim'' or ''Mesillas Yeshorim'' (, lit. "Path of the Upright") is an ethical ('' musar'') text composed by the influential Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (1707–1746). It is different from Luzzato's other writings, which are more philosophical. ''Mesillat Yesharim'' was written and published in Amsterdam. The earliest known manuscript version, written in 1738, was arranged as a dialogue between a ''hakham'' (wise man) and a ''hasid'' (pious person). Before publication, it was rearranged to have only one speaker. The dialogue version often sheds light on the more well-known version. ''Mesillat Yesharim'' is probably Luzzato's most influential work, widely learned in virtually every ''yeshiva'' since formal study of musar texts was introduced to the yeshiva curriculum by the Mussar Movement of Rabbi Yisroel Salanter. Aim of the work The aim of this work extends beyond the achievement of the perfection of human character in Divine service. Its stated aim is to remin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gematria
In numerology, gematria (; or , plural or ) is the practice of assigning a numerical value to a name, word, or phrase by reading it as a number, or sometimes by using an alphanumeric cipher. The letters of the alphabets involved have standard numerical values, but a word can yield several values if a cipher is used. According to Aristotle (384–322 BCE), isopsephy, based on the Milesian numbering of the Greek alphabet developed in the Greek city of Miletus, was part of the Pythagorean tradition, which originated in the 6th century BCE. The first evidence of use of Hebrew letters as numbers dates to 78 BCE; gematria is still used in Jewish culture. Similar systems have been used in other languages and cultures, derived from or inspired by either Greek isopsephy or Hebrew gematria, and include Arabic abjad numerals and English gematria. The most common form of Hebrew gematria is used in the Talmud and Midrash, and elaborately by many post-Talmudic commentators. It inv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
