tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12610610.post115383983068635060..comments2023-12-27T03:40:39.548-05:00Comments on Mah Rabu מה רבו: Meme!!1!BZhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18242965196421853025noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12610610.post-1164955502033567312006-12-01T01:45:00.000-05:002006-12-01T01:45:00.000-05:00On the order of the Imahot:Leah precedes Rachel in...On the order of the Imahot:<BR/><BR/>Leah precedes Rachel in Ruth 4:11. Ilana Pardes has a beautiful drash on this in her "Countertraditions" book.<BR/><BR/>But really, if we're including all sheish imahot (as they're termed in Bamidbar rabbah), then the order of the four wives of Ya’akov should follow the traditional midrashic acronym for their names, “BaRZeL” (which is also Hebrew for iron or steel). I.e., the order is Bilhah, Rachel, Zilpah and Leah. Alternative orders each have significant drawbacks (e.g., the order of Ya’akov preference with Rachel coming first, or their ranking in the social hierarchy with former handmaidens coming last, or the order in which they provided male heirs with Leah coming first, etc). BaRZeL is the order adopted by our community in DC.<BR/><BR/>Separate question on the final bracha in the amidah (birkat shalom):<BR/><BR/>Does anyone know the origin of adding "v'chol tov" after "rachamim v'chayim v'shalom"? I've seen it in several random siddurim (both nusach sfard and nusach ashkenaz).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12610610.post-1164842300008074842006-11-29T18:18:00.000-05:002006-11-29T18:18:00.000-05:00On the subject of Rachel and Leah, and in what ord...On the subject of Rachel and Leah, and in what order to invoke their zechut - I have a feeling that most people who've thought about it have already made up their minds, but just the same, here is an interesting text, based on this week's Torah reading.<BR/><BR/>Rashi to Bereishit 31:4 comments:<BR/><BR/>'and [Jacob] called Rachel and Leah.' First Rachel and then Leah, because she (Rachel) was the mainstay of the household, because, on her account, Jacob had joined Laban. Even Leah’s children acknowledged this matter, for Boaz and his tribunal of the tribe of Judah say,“like Rachel and like Leah, both of whom built, etc.” (Ruth 4:11). They place Rachel before Leah. — [from Tanchuma Buber, Vayetze 15; this translation from R' A.J. Rosenberg, published by Judaica Press and available on-line]Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12610610.post-1164685642700983412006-11-27T22:47:00.000-05:002006-11-27T22:47:00.000-05:00Yay for thoughtful prayer!! Additional notes from...Yay for thoughtful prayer!! Additional notes from my own practice. 1) Adding Bilha and Zilpah can be seen as a reminder of the intersections of class and gender oppression. Our actual genetic linage is not important. We are talking about religious rituals. What is important is that it is meaningful, not that it is factual. 2) I've begun to enjoy saying מחיי מתים because it is an expression of messianic future. Its not that I believe the dead will come to life. I don't ever believe the messianic age will come. Rather, I focus on eternally deferred redemption. What is important about the messianic concept is the desire to see a better world not the fulfillment of that utopia. Hopefully the desire for a better world can compel people to action. Thinking the messiah is near, however, leads to fundamentalism. To the extent that most of the Jewish world has put its faith in Israel as the messiah, or at least imbued it with messianic meaning (רשית צמיחת גאלתינו), emphasizing the current lack of messianic redemption can take on nice anti-zionist tones.Chorus of Apeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12408481444277244082noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12610610.post-1164583624733687402006-11-26T18:27:00.000-05:002006-11-26T18:27:00.000-05:00There's a theory that the 10 Lost Tribes simply re...There's a theory that the 10 Lost Tribes simply re-assimilated into the Jewish people during the Babylonian exile, around the same time that the rest of us (excluding Levites/Kohanim) lost our individual tribal affiliations.<BR/><BR/>There's also Shim‘on, who assimilated into Yehuda during the First Temple period, as well as some of the southern Efrayimites who were in Judahite-controlled areas when the Northern Kingdom fell.Steg (dos iz nit der šteg)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07694556690190505030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12610610.post-1164571972376367862006-11-26T15:12:00.000-05:002006-11-26T15:12:00.000-05:00If we're all descended from Judah, Benjamin, and L...If we're all descended from Judah, Benjamin, and Levi (the others being the ten lost tribes), then we're not descended from Bilhah or Zilpah.BZhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18242965196421853025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12610610.post-1164570326581060012006-11-26T14:45:00.000-05:002006-11-26T14:45:00.000-05:00Great post.Lately, in the various places it occurs...Great post.<BR/><BR/>Lately, in the various places it occurs (Birkat Hamazon, Mizmor L'David), I've been saying (and I apologize that even though I'm writing this from J-lem, I still can't seem to get the Hebrew font to work): H' oz l'amo yitein, H' yivarech et kol am bashalom.<BR/><BR/>I don't know for sure its grammatically correct - but it sure makes me feel better!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12610610.post-1164567941554145852006-11-26T14:05:00.000-05:002006-11-26T14:05:00.000-05:00as long as we're not marginalizing women...what ha...as long as we're not marginalizing women...<BR/>what happened to bilhah and zilpah?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12610610.post-1164535398419650462006-11-26T05:03:00.000-05:002006-11-26T05:03:00.000-05:00But referring to Sarah, Rebecca, Leah, and Rachel ...<I>But referring to Sarah, Rebecca, Leah, and Rachel has no historical precedent.</I><BR/><BR/>I have no special expertise on this specific question, but I'm nevertheless reasonably sure there is <I>some</I> historical precendent for this order. My understanding, which has been reinforced by one of my Sephardi teachers, is that this order is more commonly used in Sephardi (and perhaps Edot HaMizrach) contexts. I also know of at least one old Sephardi "women's tefillah" that references the imahot in this order.RRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05044207755047605659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12610610.post-1164534115633908402006-11-26T04:41:00.000-05:002006-11-26T04:41:00.000-05:00Baruch Hashem l`olam (& yir'u `eineinu) is just a ...Baruch Hashem l`olam (& yir'u `eineinu) is just a post-Talmudic bracha added to Ma`ariv. Not all that unlike Baruch She'amar added to Shacharit.<BR/><BR/>Re Bameh madlikin, my appreciation of reciting that chapter went up by a zillion percent (approximately) when I started davening in neighborhood Sfardi shuls (I live in a heavily Kurdish neighborhood). There, Bameh madlikin is recited out loud by the shatz, with the oilom chiming in with the last few words of each mishnah. That is generally the showpiece of the evening's chazzanut, so it's just a pleasure to listen to with a good chazzan.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12610610.post-1164230131176081872006-11-22T16:15:00.000-05:002006-11-22T16:15:00.000-05:00See this article by Rabbi Einat Ramon or this one ...See <A HREF="http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/nashim/v010/10.1ramon.pdf" REL="nofollow">this</A> article by Rabbi Einat Ramon or <A HREF="http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0411/is_n1_v44/ai_17155572" REL="nofollow">this</A> one by Rabbi Alan Kaunfer. There are midrashic and talmudic references to Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah(in that order). If you wanted to included Bilha and Zilpa, I could understand that. But referring to Sarah, Rebecca, Leah, and Rachel has no historical precedent.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12610610.post-1164228575111528972006-11-22T15:49:00.000-05:002006-11-22T15:49:00.000-05:00Jacob married Leah first, and Leah became a mother...Jacob married Leah first, and Leah became a mother of Israelite tribes first.BZhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18242965196421853025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12610610.post-1164228396360657962006-11-22T15:46:00.000-05:002006-11-22T15:46:00.000-05:00wowza. kol ha kavod on putting that together! why...wowza. kol ha kavod on putting that together! why do you say in the avot (veimahot) sara, rivka, leah, ve rachel when the torah never lists leah before rachel?OJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00211341093491536772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12610610.post-1164155542020494492006-11-21T19:32:00.000-05:002006-11-21T19:32:00.000-05:00On the avot paragraph/avot in general:I do think t...On the avot paragraph/avot in general:<BR/>I do think that adding "v'imoteinu" each time works against the use of "avoteinu" as gender-neutral inclusive language. That's not because there's any claim to absolute consistency. Instead, it's because you're explicitly making something that could have been understood inclusively into something that can only be understood exclusively. Since you don't accept the argument against it, to each his own :-)<BR/><BR/>I don't add the imahot to the first b'racha, but, for parallelism and Biblical allusion's sake, I like this version of chatimah (which is not approved of by a teshuva given to my minyan, but I think is used in the more recent Sim Shalom):<BR/>מלך עוזר ומושיע ומגן ופוקד. בא"י מגן אברהם ופוקד שרה.<BR/>For consistency with a majority of Rabbinic sources, I would prefer to order "Elohei Rachel vEilohei Leah."<BR/><BR/><I>משה ומרים ובני ישראל</I><BR/><BR/>This one bothers me. The text "Mi chamocha" was, in fact, not said by Miriam (if you go by the Torah's text).<BR/><BR/><I>Yekum Purkan...In Siddur Sim Shalom, they fix it in Hebrew but not in Aramaic.</I><BR/><BR/>Bothers me as well. I just read "v'tafla." I think it was just an oversight.<BR/><BR/>In Shabbat Amidah <I>ערלים</I>:<BR/>Also heard this (alternate nusach) as רשעים<BR/><BR/><I>(the middle blessing of musaf): I keep it in the future tense. I understand it metaphorically, and hope for future redemption, rather than fixating on the literal animal offerings of the past.</I><BR/><BR/>Interesting where we differ in liberalism vs. conservatism with the liturgy. I'm fully in favor of changing this to past tense.<BR/><BR/><I>p. 114 (end of the mincha amidah): Yeah, I like the Eretz Yisrael minhag of doing Sim Shalom here on Shabbat (and Shalom Rav on weekdays).</I><BR/><BR/>Sim Shalom acts as a continuation of birkat kohanim, which is not said at mincha. Does the Israeli minhag have birkat kohanim in mincha? Some chassidic nusach messes this up as well (notably, Chabad nusach, which never uses the Shalom Rav paragraph).<BR/><BR/><I>(Baruch Adonai Le'olam): I don't say this (as in Eretz Yisrael and many other minhagim). How is it ok to add an extra berachah here?</I><BR/><BR/>How is it ok to add "Hashkiveinu" and <STRONG>a Hatzi Kaddish</STRONG>? The whole connecting geulah to tefilah thing is so severely messed up in Ma'ariv anyway.<BR/><BR/>On something Steg brought up incidentally:<BR/><I>בו/בה/בם</I><BR/>is stupid. Especially the mincha one, which I can't figure out how it makes any sense unless you correct שבת to שבתות as is done in Chabad nusach.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12610610.post-1164146883795194962006-11-21T17:08:00.000-05:002006-11-21T17:08:00.000-05:00(Ashkenazic base)I change very many instances of t...(Ashkenazic base)<BR/>I change very many instances of the suffix <I>-kha</I> back to <I>-akh</I>, as they were originally, which besides the originalness has the added benefit of looking to the untrained eye as if it were epicene, since i like the idea of epicinity in reference to God but don't like the idea of really messing with the text so much.<BR/><BR/>I also say on Shabbat at the end of the middle brakhot of the ‘Amida the original Ashkenazic formula וישמחו בך ישראל אוהבי שמך as still found in the Frankfurt minhag, as opposed to וינוחו בו/בה/בם ישראל מקדשי שמך.<BR/><BR/>I insert שהם משתחווים להבל וריק ומתפללים אל אל לא יושיע back into ‘Aleinu but leave off ונאמר... at the end. I also feel no guilt over periodically skipping Berikh Shemeih and Qabbalat Shabbat, which were like ונאמר added by the Kabbalists.<BR/><BR/>In my siddur i have marked instead of שלא עשני גוי the ancient alternate שעשני ישראל and the more modern variant שלא עשני נכרי; for a while i used the positive formulation, but i ended up going mostly with נכרי because the negative formulations have more general weight of tradition behind them, but it sounds more polite.<BR/><BR/>in Elohai Neshama i say אתה בראתה בי ואתה יצרתה בי ואתה נפחתה בי<BR/><BR/>I say the Vihi Ratzon after Hama‘avir Sheina Mei‘einai in first person singular, i.e. שתרגילני, ודבקני, תביאני, בי, ורחקני, דבקני, יצרי etc. (based on a complicated essay about the different variations of this berakha i nth eback of my siddur)<BR/><BR/>I say משיב הרוח ומוריד הגשם during the winter and משיב הרוח ומוריד הטל during the summer (family tradition).<BR/><BR/>My family tradition is to just say על כן... for Saturday Day kiddush.Steg (dos iz nit der šteg)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07694556690190505030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12610610.post-1164095444462635192006-11-21T02:50:00.000-05:002006-11-21T02:50:00.000-05:00I recently had some sidur-related thoughts in the ...I recently had some sidur-related thoughts in the second half of this post: http://dprofound.blogspot.com/2006/11/live-from-israel-david-goes-to-poland.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com