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The [Babylonian] Talmud in tractate Sanhedrin [109b] brings a statement that when a stranger came to the city of Sodom, he would be placed on a bed. Someone who was taller than the bed would have his…
Contributor:
Yitsḥak Morganstern
Places:
Sokolov, Russian Empire (Sokolov, Czech Republic)
Date:
1918
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In general, the power of the influence exerted by the Master, R. Mendele, on my revered father over many years since his return from (studying with) him, was very great. […
Contributor:
Barukh Ha-Levi Epstein
Places:
Pinsk, USSR (Pinsk, Belarus)
Date:
1926
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In 1867, starting in Austria, the idea of equality made its way into normal constitutional life in Galicia. This wasn’t an easy thing to accomplish, due to prejudices that had been cultivated over…
Contributor:
Majer Bałaban
Places:
Warsaw, Second Polish Republic (Warsaw, Poland)
Date:
1931
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We’re laughing our heads off:
None of us wears a top-hat
We just go around with heads—or without heads—
But the Rabbi of Uman
Holds up a mirror to the sun.
We laugh our heads off
When a gang comes…
Contributor:
Leyb Kvitko
Places:
Kyiv, USSR (Kyiv, Ukraine)
Date:
1923
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Anyone familiar with our Russian Poland knows what Jews mean by a small shtetl, a little town.
A small shtetl has a few small cabins, and a fair every other Sunday. The Jews deal in liquor, grain…
Contributor:
Israel Aksenfeld
Places:
Odessa, Russian Empire (Odesa, Ukraine)
Date:
1861
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You will assuredly regard it as wondrous, and it will gladden your heart that I too regarded as wondrous the vision vouchsafed to me by the Almighty in relation to the aliyot “ascents”—wondrous things…
Contributor:
Ba‘al Shem Tov
Places:
Międzyboż, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Medzhybizh, Ukraine)
Date:
1752
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For there are seven abominations in their hearts to ensnare the souls of the innocent, and they abolish public study of the Torah, and they cast off the yoke of the Torah from their necks and from the…
Contributor:
Elijah ben Solomon, Gaon of Vilna
Places:
Vilna, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Vilnius, Lithuania)
Date:
1772
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I heard from the venerable rabbinic scholar, R. Nahman, an interpretation of the words of [the Besht] that one should intend in every word that he utters submissiveness…
Contributor:
Jacob Joseph of Polnoye
Places:
Polonnoye, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Polonne, Ukraine)
Date:
1780
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In order to understand what is katnut (“smallness”) and what is gadlut (“greatness”), consider this example: If one studies Torah without understanding, he is in a state of…
Contributor:
Ba‘al Shem Tov
Places:
Międzyboż, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Medzhybizh, Ukraine)
Date:
1793
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Now, aside from the fact that it is altogether impossible to interpret the matter of tzimtzum literally, for that would attribute corporeal events to the…
Contributor:
Shneur Zalman of Liady
Places:
Lyady, Russian Empire (Lyady, Belarus)
Date:
1797