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The Liminal Moment between Prayers

The Gemara (B Berachos 30b) raises the question of how long one must pause between back-to-back prayers in order to compose oneself.  It records a dispute: כַּמָּה יִשְׁהֶה בֵּין תְּפִלָּה לִתְפִלָּה? רַב הוּנָא וְרַב חִסְדָּא, חַד אָמַר כְּדֵי שֶׁתִּתְחוֹנֵן דַּעְתּוֹ עָלָיו, וְחַד אָמַר כְּדֵי שֶׁתִּתְחוֹלֵל דַּעְתּוֹ עָלָיו. How long should one wait between one prayer and another?” Rav Huna and Rav Chisda [disagree]: — One said: “Long enough for his mind to become softened (תתחונן) upon him.” — And one said: “Long enough for his mind to become stirred (תתחולל) upon him. The Gemara continues that each opinion is grounded in a verse describing prayer: מַאן דְּאָמַר כְּדֵי שֶׁתִּתְחוֹנֵן דַּעְתּוֹ עָלָיו, דִּכְתִיב: ״וָאֶתְחַנַּן אֶל ה׳ ״ (דברים ג׳:כ״ג), וּמַאן דְּאָמַר כְּדֵי שֶׁתִּתְחוֹלֵל דַּעְתּוֹ עָלָיו, דִּכְתִיב: ״וַיְחַל מֹשֶׁה״ (שמות ל״ב:י״א). The one who said: ‘[He must wait] until his mind becomes softened,’ it is as it is written: ‘And I pleaded with the Lord’ (Deuteron...
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Rosh Hashanah: The New Year that belongs to Everyone

The uniquely Jewish year doesn't start in Tishrei but rather in Nissan which is the month of the Exodus—הַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה לָכֶם רֹאשׁ חֳדָשִׁים רִאשׁוֹן הוּא לָכֶם לְחׇדְשֵׁי הַשָּׁנָה (Shemos 12:2).  Tishrei is the seventh month of the Jewish covenantal calendar year and yet we celebrate the New Year on its first day—not Nissan's.  What gives? The Mishnah (RH 1:2) pegs the first day of Tishrei as the day upon which all humans are judged for the year—בְּרֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה כָּל בָּאֵי הָעוֹלָם עוֹבְרִין לְפָנָיו כִּבְנֵי מָרוֹן. Human judgement and accountability aren't particular to the Jews, it is a species-wide event encompassing all of humanity.  Cue the Deluge and Sodom; Nineveh is exhibit A for the concept and power of Teshuvah.  The annual agricultural cycle commences and concludes in Tishrei.  The opinion adopted by the Rosh Hashanah liturgy is that the world was created on the first day of Tishrei—זֶה הַיּוֹם תְּחִלַּת מַעֲשֶׂיךָ זִכָּרוֹן לְיוֹם רִאשׁוֹן (wi...
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From Birth to Bris: Lineage and Commandment as the Foundations of Jewishness

Judaism. So many definitions. But boiled down to its (Rabbinic) core a very specific and gendered essence begins to emerge.  Consider the Eved Canaani. He is obligated in mitzvos like a Jewess. When he is freed he is stepped up to the full observance reserved for Jewish men.  What about a Shifcha Canaanis? Is there any difference between her obligations in mitzvos and that of a full fledged Jewish woman? Apparently not (see Avnei Neizer YD 350:2 ). She is under the same halachic system as a Jewish woman (personal status issues aside). What then distinguishes her from a Jewess? Her ability to birth Jews. She is just as obligated in mitzvos as a Jewish woman but being that her children aren't Jewish she too isn't.  Prior to Mattan Torah, Chazal are of the opinion that Avraham and his progeny were Jewish.  What was the implication of that designation? For males it was circumcision.  What about for females? Ramban writes that from when Avraham entered the Bris he ...
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The Miracle Gap: Pesach Without Krias Yam Suf

The Torah doesn't provide a date for the splitting of the sea.  Chazal (e.g., Seder Olam Rabbah 5 ), however, place krias yam suf on the last day of Pesach (cited by Rashi to Shemos 14:5 ).  Seforno ( Vayikrah 23:36 , Devarim 16:8 ) sees the song that Israel engaged in together in praise of HaShem for that event as what imbued shevii shel pesach with the status of a Yom Tov.  People tend to view Pesach as getting started with the Exodus on the 15th (the catalyst for the first day being a YT) and culminating seven days later with krias yam suf, when the Egyptians were fully removed from the picture, thus completing Israel's salvation from the Egyptians.  However, in Rambam's telling, Pesach seems to be exclusively a celebration of the miracles that happened in Egypt and the Exodus, but nothing thereafter, significantly altering Pesach's character. In MT ( Chametz uMatzah, 7:1-2 ), Rambam is clear that the mitzvah of retelling the Exodus account is limited to the mirac...
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Chanukah: A Flame Eternal

Let's begin with the famous Gemara (B Shab 21b) regarding the miracle of the oil:  מַאי חֲנוּכָּה? דְּתָנוּ רַבָּנַן: ״בְּכ״ה בְּכִסְלֵיו יוֹמֵי דַחֲנוּכָּה תְּמָנְיָא אִינּוּן דְּלָא לְמִסְפַּד בְּהוֹן וּדְלָא לְהִתְעַנּוֹת בְּהוֹן. שֶׁכְּשֶׁנִּכְנְסוּ יְוָונִים לַהֵיכָל טִמְּאוּ כׇּל הַשְּׁמָנִים שֶׁבַּהֵיכָל, וּכְשֶׁגָּבְרָה מַלְכוּת בֵּית חַשְׁמוֹנַאי וְנִצְּחוּם, בָּדְקוּ וְלֹא מָצְאוּ אֶלָּא פַּךְ אֶחָד שֶׁל שֶׁמֶן שֶׁהָיָה מוּנָּח בְּחוֹתָמוֹ שֶׁל כֹּהֵן גָּדוֹל, וְלֹא הָיָה בּוֹ אֶלָּא לְהַדְלִיק יוֹם אֶחָד. נַעֲשָׂה בּוֹ נֵס וְהִדְלִיקוּ מִמֶּנּוּ שְׁמוֹנָה יָמִים. לְשָׁנָה אַחֶרֶת קְבָעוּם וַעֲשָׂאוּם יָמִים טוֹבִים בְּהַלֵּל וְהוֹדָאָה.״ This Gemara makes no mention of the astonishing military victory of the Jews over the Greeks, nor attributes any of Chanuka's significance to it. On the other hand, the Al HaNissim prayer focuses on the religious persecution and the miraculous victory which enabled Judaism and the Temple to flourish again, seeing them as the main fa...
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How does Teshuvah work?

This piece attempts to explain the mechanics of Teshuvah in two distinct ways, each corresponding to different conceptions of the purpose of punishment Yoma 86a correlates the efficacy of Teshuvah to atone with the severity of the sin committed: עָבַר עַל עֲשֵׂה וְשָׁב אֵינוֹ זָז מִשָּׁם עַד שֶׁמּוֹחֲלִין לוֹ שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר {ירמיהו ג':י"ד,כ"ב} שׁוּבוּ בָּנִים שׁוֹבָבִים עָבַר עַל לֹא תַעֲשֶׂה וְעָשָׂה תְּשׁוּבָה תְּשׁוּבָה תּוֹלָה וְיוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים מְכַפֵּר שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר {ויקרא ט"ז:ל'} כִּי בַיּוֹם הַזֶּה יְכַפֵּר עֲלֵיכֶם מִכֹּל חַטֹּאתֵיכֶם עָבַר עַל כָּרֵיתוֹת וּמִיתוֹת בֵּית דִּין וְעָשָׂה תְּשׁוּבָה תְּשׁוּבָה וְיוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים תּוֹלִין וְיִסּוּרִין מְמָרְקִין שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר {תהלים פ"ט:ל"ג} וּפָקַדְתִּי בְשֵׁבֶט פִּשְׁעָם וּבִנְגָעִים עֲוֹנָם אֲבָל מִי שֶׁיֵּשׁ חִילּוּל הַשֵּׁם בְּיָדוֹ אֵין לוֹ כֹּחַ בִּתְשׁוּבָה לִתְלוֹת וְלֹא בְּיוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים לְכַפֵּר וְלֹא בְּיִסּוּרִין לְמָרֵק אֶלָּא כּוּלָּן תּוֹלִין וּמִיתָה מְמָרֶקֶת שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר {ישעיהו ...
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The Torah's ethos of punishment

This write-up highlights the Torah's philosophy to punishment, namely, that it's aim is to provide justice, rehabilitation and prevention; not dehumanization and debasement.  In a couple of places, both in Ki Seitzei, the Torah discusses a reality where the demands of justice require a corporal response and yet in both places emphasizes the need to preserve human dignity and that the punishment not spill over into unnecessary degradation and the stripping away of the offender's humanity.  In both cases the Torah employs a word root that bespeaks dishonor and ignominy—קל(ל)ה—to describe the debasement it seeks to avoid. The first (Devarim 21:22-23) centers on where a person need be hung (either as deterrence [Chazal]), or to kill him [e.g., Qumran text, Peshitta]), with the Torah cautioning that it not be overdone, as that will result in unnecessarily mortifying debasement—כִּי קִלְלַת אֱלֹהִים תָּלוּי (,הגר"א דברים כ"א:כ"ג: כי קללת אלהים תלוי – אלהים הוא להפל...
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