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980. It is written in Re’shit ḥokhmah [The Beginning of Wisdom (1579), by Elijah de Vidas]: The name of the Ten Days of Repentance indicates that they were ordained to amend the year. They are days of…
985. The ancient custom of kaparot [having a chicken slaughtered after symbolically transferring one’s sins to it] is well known; I will only write that my custom is also to say, based on the Maharal…
With a brief commentary and some Tosafot (additions) which were balanced, refined, and written by the Torah scholar, the great rabbi, R. Elijah ben Judah Loeb, who dwells in the land of Fulda, based…
So, to begin in the manner now accepted, in which (by scholarly consensus) the practice is to lay one…
21. On the second day of Rosh Hashanah, we pray as on the first day, except that the liturgical poems are different. [ . . . ]
22. And the Musaf service is as on the first day, except that we do not…
This early printed amulet from Germany, meant as protection for a woman in childbirth, is adorned with woodcuts illustrating the Hebrew months of the year. The main panel, framed by images of the…
This printed amulet, from Germany, was made for infant boys. The amulet has a companion, for a girl child (see “Amulet for a Newborn Girl”). The text in the center of the amulet is surrounded by a…
I lowered the window more and let the wind wash my face. As often happens when you stand at the window of a fast-moving train, a speck of dirt flew into my eye, and both eyes began to tear.
I had…
I’ve been told that years ago a rich man lived in Mainz as a leader of the Jewish community. He had a beautiful wife, who, however, died, leaving him their son. A short time…
This is the story of what happened to Rabbi Simeon the Great, who lived in Mayence on the Rhine. Now Rabbi Simeon, he had three big mirrors hanging in his home. And in these mirrors…