Down The Rabbi Hole

Today - 27 Adar, 5785/March 27 2025 - is the 150th yahrzeit of R. Yosef Shaul Natansohn, author of Shu"t Shoel U-Meshiv. In this podcast, we will explore a bit about who he was and the world in which he lived and operated.Here's a link to the map of Shoel U-Meshiv's responsaLink to the teshuvah on the abusive teacher: https://www.sefaria.org/Shoel_uMeshiv_Mahadura_I.1.185.1?lang=biEnglish bio of R. Yosef Shaul Natansohn, by Haim Gertner, for YIVO: https://encyclopedia.yivo.org/article/1496

Some thoughts and ideas on the famous story of the Oven of Akhnai, which appears in tomorrow's Daf (Bava Metzia 59)

An idea developed by the Ketav Sofer on Megillat Esther resonates with something that appeared in Daf Yomi a few days ago and with the life and legacy of Senator Joe Lieberman. The idea of the Ketav Sofer appears here: https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=14083&pgnum=337 The idea that emerges on Bava Metzia 32b is here: Rashi s.v. אי אמרת https://shas.alhatorah.org/Full/Bava_Metzia/32b.9#e0n6 The link to Rabbi Ethan Tucker's eulogy for Senator Lieberman is here: https://www.youtube.com/live/_NTVjFB_FnU?si=8fu-kCINHVPhlHnc&t=5515

Radbaz, R. David Ibn Abu Zimra, addresses the question of what constitutes 'overpaying' to ransom a Jewish captive. This episode gets into the economic and political realities of the 16th century in the Mediterranean basin, including the burgeoning slave trade, and the resulting attention to the great mitzvah of pidyon shevuyim, ransoming captives. Here's a link to the responsum: https://www.sefaria.org/Teshuvot_HaRadbaz_Volume_1.40.1?lang=bi And here's a link to the first part of my series on Rav Ovadiah Yosef's teshuvah on the Entebbe hostages: https://jewishreviewofbooks.com/contemporary-israel/14972/rabbi-ovadia-yosefs-and-the-halakhot-of-hostages-part-i/

Two of the greatest rabbis of the Bavli Jewish community in recent centuries address the status of a new type of fruit that arrived from the Far East. Is it a kosher etrog? The question is addressed in two responsa, one by R. Abdullah Somekh and one by his student, R. Yosef Hayyim, both of Baghdad. Link to the responsum: https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=32212&st=&pgnum=379

We generally think of confession and penance as either a private matter between a person and God, or as a matter between the perpetrator and victim of a wrong. But not that long ago there were forms of penance that were very public. What's the idea behind them, and what can they teach us about social healing today? We will be studying and discussing a series of responsa by Maharam Lublin. Here is a link to the responsa: https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=1937&pgnum=39

The episode begins with some updates. First, an introduction to the "Book Journey" that I will begin next week. Sign up link: https://18forty.org/bookjourney/ This is an outgrowth of the 18forty podcast episode in which R. David Bashevkin and I discussed the vision and reality of a Jewish polity governed by Halakhah. Here's a link to the episode: https://18forty.org/podcast/elli-fischer-can-israel-follow-jewish-law/ I was also a recent guest on two other podcasts. First, Rav David Silverstein and I discussed the nature of rabbinic authority on Yeshivat Orayta's "Tzarich Iyun" podcast: https://open.spotify.com/episode/71aX8L9IA2j1QY78dOoGff?si=577b0ae9ed414716 Finally, a few months ago I was hosted by Darcy Walters for an episode of her "Desert Island Torah" podcast. Here's a link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/pod/show/desert-island-torah/episodes/Ep-81-with-Rav-Elli-Fischer-e23me3f The responsum that we study in this episode was penned by R. Yisrael Isserlein, better known as the Terumat HaDeshen. We spend some time discussing when and where he lived, who his influences were, why his rulings are so influential, and what makes his Sefer Terumat HaDeshen so unique. Then we go on to the teshuvah itself, which addresses an issue that is not-quite-halakhah. The setting is almost surreal: Person A allegedly used the crush of hoshanot in shul as cover to maim Person B while maintaining plausible deniability. This is an important matter of social and communal governance, but halakhic standards of evidence seem to set too high a bar to take any action. How did R. Isserlein resolve the matter? Here's a link to the teshuvah in Sefariah, with my translation: https://www.sefaria.org.il/Terumat_HaDeshen%2C_Part_II.210?lang=bi

On the conversation about Rome between Rashi, R. Yehuda, and R. Yosi

In this episode we look at several other passages from the Babylonian Talmud that oddly, anachronistically, and in contrast to sources from Eretz Yisrael, are set in Yavneh. We propose that the Bavli wanted to "bundle" these passages together so that we read them in light of one another. And what does that yield? That the Bavli envisioned the rabbinic leaders of that generation dealing with pressing theological and political issues that arose in the generation after the defeat of Bar Kokhba. We look (again) at the institution of the fourth berakhah of Birkat Hamazon, the successive exiles of the Sanhedrin, and a discussion among the tanna'im about the causes of a terrible disease. This sets the stage for the more famous discussion between Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai and Rabbi Yehuda Bar Ilai concerning attitudes toward Rome.

Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai (Rashbi) is one of the most evocative figures in Jewish history. Not only is he one of the greatest tanna'im and a primary disciple of Rabbi Akiva, but he is credited with composing the Zohar during the thirteen years that he lived in a cave, hiding from the Romans. In this series, we will look not only at the famous aggadot about Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai from Shabbat 33b-34a, but at a series of passages from the Gemara that broaden the story into something much bigger. Throughout the series, I will offer occasional historical and methodological points about the composition of the Gemara (specifically the Bavli) and how to learn it. We will make extensive use of parallel passages from elsewhere in Rabbinic literature in order to understand what the Bavli's editors are trying to teach when they reshape the materials they received into the stories before us. This is not a history series. We may occasionally discuss historical events, but the primary focus is to understand the Gemara itself. In this first episode, we discuss the setting of the Rashbi stories: when and where Rashbi lived, who his contemporaries were, who his teachers and students were, and what momentous events transpired in his lifetime.

Some people use lettuce, and some use horseradish. But which is the "real" marror? Both? One or the other? In this episode we look at how two different sages, living a century apart, addressed this issue. It also gives us some insight into the personalities of these two great sages. The texts that we will study can be found here: Chacham Tzvi #120: https://www.sefaria.org.il/Chakham_Tzvi.120.1?lang=he Chasam Soder, Orach Chaim 132: https://www.sefaria.org/Responsa_Chatam_Sofer%2C_Orach_Chayim.132.5?lang=he חג כשר ושמח!

Hakham Zvi #93 and She'elat Yaavetz 2:82 address the question of whether a golem - an artificial human, a manmade man - may be counted for a minyan. This seems like a really strange question, but it actually gets to some of the major philosophical issues of the 18th century. If God is compared to a Divine Clockmaker, does that mean that humans are really sophisticated clocks? Can the process of creating humans be duplicated? What are the basic building blocks of creation? These questions and more underlie a superficially bizarre and arcane halakhic question.

According to a well-known narrative, the Bnei Yisrael did not change their names, language, or dress in Egypt. Elsewhere I have written about the origins and iterations of this and related ideas. See: https://www.academia.edu/28574595/_They_did_not_Change_their_Names_their_Language_or_their_Dress_The_Life_cycle_of_a_Peculiar_Midrashic_Variant. An interesting treatment of this issue is found in a "quasi-responsum" or "pseudo-responsum" of Rav Asher Weiss: Minchas Asher on Shemos, siman 1. Available here: https://minchasasher.com/shiur/shmot-shmot-shiurim/jewish-identity-shelo-shinu-5778/. I think this essay actually helps us understand Rav Asher and his public persona, how he perceives himself as a bridge between different worlds.

Recently there has been a lot of discussion about the origins of the people of Israel and who are the "real" descendants of the tribes of Israel. In this episode, we look at a responsum from the 1500s that indirectly addresses questions about how we "know" who is a Jew or Israelite. The question of how we know things is crucial for understanding the history of Halakhah, but also for understanding the world we inhabit and the beliefs if the people who are shaping it. This responsum from 500 years ago therefore has a great deal of contemporary importance, on many levels. Here's a link to the responsum we studied, with my English translation: https://www.sefaria.org/Teshuvot_HaRadbaz_Volume_4.1290.1?lang=bi Here's a link to Radbaz's related responsum: https://he.wikisource.org/wiki/%D7%A9%D7%95%22%D7%AA_%D7%A8%D7%93%D7%91%22%D7%96/%D7%97%D7%9C%D7%A7_%D7%96/%D7%94 The letter of Eldad HaDani: http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/history/tkufot/eldad1-2.htm Menasheh ben Israel on American tribes as lost Israelite tribes, early 1600s: https://archive.org/details/menassehbenisrae00manauoft/page/16/mode/2up?view=theater

This episode is a bit of an experiment, to see if a recorded shiur with a little intro "works" as a podcast, as a millennial Twitter follower suggests. The topic is the teshuvah of Chavos Yair on the recitation of Kaddish by women, and it's an attempt to understand that particular responsum in its context. It is not intended practically. Here is a link to the responsum. https://www.sefaria.org/Havot_Yair.222

In honor of Thanksgiving, a short episode on why the great Jewish unconscious deemed turkey kosher (and Ashkenazim treated corn as kitniyot). Funny enough, it's the same reason

An approach to what we are trying to accomplish on Yom Kippur, weaving together themes from the two goats offered in the Temple, Moshe's argument to God to spare the people of Israel, Yitzchak Avinu's selection of Yaakov over Esav, and some basic ideas about labor, unions, and negotiation. This is an elaboration of something I said in my conversation with Rav Moshe Taragin here: https://youtu.be/AFfwgcnkcjE

Some more insights into how Elul became Elllluuuuullll, after some great listener feedback.

There's no doubt that Elul has a certain feel, a certain vibe. But if you look at classical sources, there's no mention of Elul being a time for introspection or repentance or, really, anything. How did it get to be the way it is?

Why do we answer אמן to our own recitation of the third berakhah of Birkat Hamazon? The answer is halakhic and has to do with the structuring of berakhot in series. Ashkenazim and Sephardim have slightly different approaches. But according to all, Birkat Hamazon doesn't really follow the rules. To understand what's going on behind the halakhah, we need to understand how the Sages imagined the history of Birkat Hamazon and how they viewed the fall of Betar in the year 135 - an event that we commemorate on Tisha B'Av as well as on Tu B'Av.

There was an entire section of our conversation that I forgot to publish. This was supposed to be part of the first episode with Prof. Saiman. I've added the recordings to that episode and also posted it as a "standalone" episode for people who already listened.

In this episode we discuss observances - specifically pilgrimages to the grave of Reb Shayale of Kerestir and other kivrei tzadikim in far-flung places, as well as schlissel challah, which are observed during this time of year - and consider the factors that may drive the significant surge in their popularity. I am joined once again by Prof. Chaim Saiman, author of Halakhah: The Rabbinic Idea of Law, a professor at the Charles Widger School of Law at Villanova University, and a close friend of almost 30 years.

In this episode, we look at the development of customs, nusach, and perhaps Halakhah more generally by looking at Yom Ha'atzma'ut observances, which are changing in real time. Includes a fascinating observation about a particular milestone in reception history of observances.  I am joined by Prof. Chaim Saiman, author of Halakhah: The Rabbinic Idea of Law, a professor at the Charles Widger School of Law at Villanova University, and a close friend of almost 30 years (!).

In this episode we delve into the murky origins of the Ashkenazic custom to avoid Pesach and offer what I think is the most compelling explanation. We also get into some other customs that originate in Medieval Ashkenaz. Finally, we offer some thoughts on the relationship between Ha Lachma Anya, Yachatz, and the Afikoman, concluding with some speculation on how this theory fits into the history of - yup, Medieval Ashkenaz.

In this episode we delve into R. Chaim Kanievsky's treatise on tattoos, called Patshegen HaKetav, as an example of how he thought, organized, and wrote. Along the way, we get a bit sidetracked by halakhic questions pertaining to tattoos and even suggest a "mekor" for the mistaken belief that someone with a tattoo cannot be buried in a Jewish cemetery. Link to the first page of R. Chaim Kanievsky's Patshegen HaKetav: https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=47701&st=&pgnum=58 Link to an article I wrote on tattoos 9 years ago: https://www.jta.org/2013/03/07/ny/the-tattoo-still-taboo A blog post from 15 years ago in which I discuss the issue and present the responsum of Minhat Yitzhak: http://adderabbi.blogspot.com/2007/04/tattoos.html

On what made R. Chaim Kanievsky unique. And on the social leadership role that he held - or that was foisted upon him - in his later years.

In this final episode of the series on Peninei Halakha we get into the meat of the current controversy and its roots. We also discuss "wholesale" vs. "retail" Halakha and the importance of this distinction.

In this episode, I discuss three genres of halakhic writing: codes, commentaries ("nosei Kelim"), and responsa (teshuvot). Each genre has specific objectives and goals. After a discussion of commentaries, I begin the discussion of codes vs. responsa by looking at the rulings of Rav Melamed and Rav Asher Weiss on a particular issue, one that is the subject of much controversy. Through this we start to get a glimpse of why Rav Melamed has begun to face opposition.

For Rav Melamed, the Torah is the blueprint for an ideal Jewish society in Eretz Yisrael. The details of halakha fit into a broader vision of that ideal society, and sometimes seemingly disparate areas of halakha work together in surprising ways.

Rav Eliezer Melamed has recently been criticized harshly by leading rabbis from the right wing of Religious Zionism. This affords an opportunity to introduce Rav Melamed and his ongoing magnum opus, Peninei Halakha. In this first episode, I detail who he is, what the Peninei Halakha project is, and where it fits in the history of halakha. The upshot: His is the first successful reorganization of practical halakha in almost 700 years!

Episode 10: We discuss an interesting phenomenon: Sometimes, the punishment that the Torah prescribes for sexual transgressions are not commensurate with the rhetorical severity ascribed to those same transgressions. This tendency becomes even more pronounced in the Neviim and Chazal. I cannot provide a reason for this gap, but I find that it can justify our outrage even in cases where the Torah's prescribed punishment seems minor.

In this episode we describe the essential structure of halakhic authority as a social phenomenon (not as a matter of doctrine). We describe two models - the formal hierarchical model and the horizontally distributed model - and contend, elaborating on the view of Jacob Katz, that Halakhah operates according to a third model - an informal, emergent hierarchy. The implication of this model is that there is no such thing as articulation of Halakhah in a vacuum. Reception and acceptance by communities is an inherent element of what makes Halakhah.

Conversion and its regulation is a major political fight in Israel today. Who is right? What's the debate? In this episode, I begin to take a broader look at institutionalized religion in Israel and try to situate the conversion conundrum within that. We get into the nitty gritty of the Halakhah and address an important graphic feature of how the laws of conversion were codified. We take issue with an otherwise excellent book by Barry Wimpfheimer. We go on a tangent about Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai and some key differences between them. We discuss a bit about the founding of the Chief Rabbinate under the British. The key contention, though, is that attempts to fit Halakhah within a modern, bureaucratic, regulatory regime will inevitably result in the distortion of Halakhah.

On the origins of Jewish customs for "Nittel Nacht", or Christmas Eve. It's not the Chassidishe custom you thought it was. It actually originates somewhere else entirely... Some notes on this episode. Here's a thread I did last year on Twitter. You can see that here. It includes links to a source sheet and some nice pics/scans. https://twitter.com/Adderabbi/status/1342153328709545985?t=jKnOcnxM-N9NSxpmw552Kg&s=19

In this episode we cover: A bit on the Chabad celebration of 5 Teves, "Yom Didan Natzach" Background on Megillas Taanis - both the Tannaitic and Geonic versions Attitudes toward the translation of the Torah into Greek - in Chazal and among other groups The Chasam Sofer's fascination with the 8th of Teves as the day commemorating the translation Links to articles mentioned: Moshe Simon-Shoshan, "The Tasks of the Translators: The Rabbis, The Septuagint, and the Cultural Politics of Translation" Maoz Kahana, "How Chatam Sofer Vanquished Spinoza" (Hebrew) Elli Fischer, "Azariah de Rossi's Fascination with the Septuagint"

Throughout Chanukah, we heard about Hellenizers, the Jews who took on elements of Greek culture. But what about Judaizers - non-Jews who are attracted to and take on elements of Jewish culture and religion? They have existed for thousands of years. Do we have a way of thinking about them?

Final episode, on RDZH, discussing his combination of different ways of learning Torah (academic, pilpulistic, halakhic), commentary on the Germany of his era, and his hopes for the future. Link to a poster with the schedule of the conference on RDZH on January 3, 2022.

Using Rav Hoffmann's introduction to Melamed Le-ho'il as a jumping off point, we discuss his life, work, unique combination of styles and methods, and important contributions to different areas of Torah. In this episode, we discuss a major turning point in R. Hoffmann's life: The death of R. Azriel Hildesheimer

Using Rav Hoffmann's introduction to Melamed Le-ho'il as a jumping off point, we continue our discussion of his life, work, unique combination of styles and methods, and important contributions to different areas of Torah.

Using Rav Hoffmann's introduction to Melamed Le-ho'il as a jumping off point, we discuss his life, work, unique combination of styles and methods, and important contributions to different areas of Torah.