Al Reguel Ajat

The Yizkor service is commemorated four times a year: on Yom Kippur, on Shemini Atzeret, the second-to-last day of Sukkot, on the last day of Pesach, and on the second day of Shavuot. The main purpose is to remember our deceased by giving tzedakah. The theory is that the good deeds of the living elevate the souls of the dead. Yizkor means “may He remember.”

In the book of Maccabees II (12:43-46) it is told that Yehuda HaMaccabi sent a donation to the Temple in Jerusalem, as an atoning sacrifice so that the soul of the deceased fighters would be absolved of their sins. The oldest source that speaks of Yizkor is the Midrash Tanchuma, which mentions the custom on Yom Kippur of remembering the deceased with a donation. The Ashkenazi custom of also commemorating it on other holidays probably began in the time of the Crusades, when many Jewish communities were wiped off the map as a result of the massacres perpetrated by the Crusaders. The survivors wrote down the names of the deceased in a book, the “Sefer Hazikaron.” The oldest known is from a community in Nuremberg and dates back to 1296. These books were also called “Sefer Hazkarat Neshama,” the book of remembrance of souls. In it, the names of the deceased were written beginning with the phrase “Yizkor Elohim nishmat . . .”, may God remember the soul of …..

There is a superstition in many communities that if someone’s parents are alive, that person must leave the temple during Yizkor, some say so as not to tempt the “evil eye” if one remains seated while the mourners are standing. There is no rule that says that those whose parents are still alive must leave the service. Many rabbis even suggest that everyone stay at Yizkor so that the entire congregation can remember the martyrs of the Jewish people, such as those who died in the Holocaust and in the wars waged by the State of Israel. It is also to give comfort to those who have lost relatives and are especially moved by the Yizkor service.

Commemorating Yizkor presupposes the Jewish concept that the soul is immortal and that although the deceased can no longer perform good deeds, they can benefit from the prayers, donations and other good deeds that those who survive them can perform in their name. The essence of Yizkor is to ask God to remember our relatives and to include them in the bond of life in paradise, alongside our patriarchs, matriarchs and other great figures. In return, we promise to do tzedakah in their name. Yizkor is that special time that helps us remember that loved one who is no longer with us. It is that time when, in community, we console one another. More than needing Him to remember them, we need to not forget them.

Prepared by Marcos Gojman.

Bibliography: Articles by Dr. Ron Wolfson, Rabbi Jack Abramowitz and other sources.

Isaac Abravanel was born in Lisbon in 1437. He was the son of Yehuda Abravanel, treasurer at the court of King Alfonso V of Portugal. He was a student of Yosef Hayim, chief rabbi of Portugal. He studied Talmud and secular subjects in his youth and by the age of twenty was already writing about Jewish philosophy. He entered the king’s service at that age and gained his trust. He used his position to help Jews in trouble, such as in Arzilla, Morocco, when the Moors kidnapped a group of Jews and sold them into slavery. Abravanel, with his own money and with the support of others, helped rescue many captives.

Upon the death of Alfonso V, he had to resign from his post under pressure from the new king John II and eventually had to flee to Castile, Spain, to save himself from a false charge of conspiracy that the new king had brought against him. In Toledo, his new home, he devoted himself to commenting on the Bible and within a few months he wrote commentaries on the books of the Torah and the prophets. He soon entered the service of the royal house of Castile, in the personal service of Queen Isabel. He helped the royal army financially in its fight against the Moors. Despite his help in winning the war, he was sadly surprised by the royal edict expelling the Jews from Spain. He did everything possible to have it revoked, even offering the king 30,000 ducats, but it was all in vain. Abravanel was pressured by the Catholic kings to convert to Catholicism so that he could keep his position at court. But he refused to do so.

He left Spain for Naples, where he also soon entered the service of the king. His tranquility was short-lived, as the French took the city and in 1495 he fled with the young King Ferdinand and settled in Venice in 1503. His great diplomatic and financial ability helped to negotiate a trade treaty between Portugal and the Venetian Republic. He died in Venice in 1508.

The importance of Isaac Abravanel, apart from his actions in the field of diplomacy and finance, lies in his commentaries on the Bible, which although not completely original, were written in a very didactic way, so they were very popular, not only among Jewish scholars but also among some Christian scholars. In his introductions to each book of the Bible he explained its character, compared the time in which it was written with his own and explained the intention of its author. He also wrote on the philosophy of religion and was especially a defender of the doctrine of the coming of the Messiah. He deeply felt the hopelessness and despair of his Jewish brothers because of their expulsion from Spain and thought that believing that his arrival was near mitigated their pain.

Isaac Abravanel was a combination of scholar, diplomat, financier, but above all, guardian of the welfare of his people. That is why he is in the hall of fame of Judaism.

Prepared by Marcos Gojman.

Bibliography: The Jewish Encyclopedia, Encyclopaedia Judaica and other sources.

1. The formal side. Orthodox and Conservative Jews define being Jewish as being the son of a Jewish mother. Reform Jews accept as Jewish anyone who is the son of a Jewish mother or father. All three accept as Jewish anyone who has converted to Judaism according to the rules of each, although the Orthodox do not accept conversions from the other two. In 1950, the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, enacted the Law of Return, which gives every Jew the right to live in Israel and become a citizen. In 1970, for the purposes of that same law, it defined as Jewish anyone who has a Jewish mother or maternal grandmother, who has Jewish ancestry, such as a Jewish father or grandfather, or who converted to Judaism according to the rules of one of the three denominations, the Orthodox, the Conservative or the Reform. The conversion process of the latter two is only accepted if it was done outside of Israel.

2. The practical side. The practice of Judaism has many facets that are expressed in everyday activities, in doing something with Jewish content in a given place and at a given time. Observing religious commandments and customs is the most obvious. But religious observance is not the only path in the practice of Judaism. Working in Jewish institutions is another path. The study of Jewish philosophy, history, religion and art is also a facet of its practice. Reading, listening to music, appreciating Jewish works of art is also a facet of its practice. Speaking Hebrew, Yiddish or Ladino is also a facet of its practice. Keeping up with the news of what is happening in Israel and in the Jewish world is also a facet of its practice. Participating in activities with Jewish content, such as being part of a choir, a dance group, a study group, is also a facet of its practice. Cooking typical Jewish dishes is also a facet of its practice. Conducting an ethical conduct, according to the principles that the Torah sets for us and performing actions of Tikun Olam, is also practicing Judaism. In short, the list is very long. And each one can choose the type and frequency of his Jewish practice.

3. The sentimental side. Feeling Jewish is the third side of the triangle of identity. It is expressed in our feeling for everything Jewish. It is the happiness that comes from celebrating events such as a brith mila, a wedding, a bat mitzvah, a family seder of Pesach, a Kabbalat Shabbat in community, etc. It is the pain that we feel when there is a war in Israel, a terrorist incident, a condemnation of Israel in international forums, discrimination against Jews of any kind. It is also the feeling of pride that comes from Israel’s technological achievements, those of Jewish scientists and academics around the world, the creativity of Jewish writers, artists and musicians, the performance of Jews in all spheres of human endeavor. And it is also the feeling of shame when a Jew behaves in a reprehensible manner. In short, it is when feeling Jewish becomes that spiritual path that fills your soul.

The triangle is the most solid geometric figure. Well integrated, it is difficult to break it. The same happens with Judaism. Being Jewish by definition, by action and by feeling is the triangle of a solid Jewish identity. If you are missing one side, your Judaism is not stable. Your identity is lost.

By Marcos Gojman, based on the theory of Formal Axiology by Robert S. Hartman.

Jewish tradition requires women to cover their hair as an act of modesty before men and men to cover their heads as an act of humility and reverence before God, even though there is no explicit commandment in the Torah to do so.

In the Talmud’s Nedarim, which addresses the topic of vows, verse 30.b mentions, off-topic, that men sometimes cover their heads and sometimes not, but that women’s hair is always covered and children’s hair is always uncovered. This mention gave the custom of married women covering their hair the status of halacha. Already in the time of the Mishnah it was a universal practice for women’s hair to be covered and failure to respect this custom was grounds for divorce. In the case of men, it was optional whether or not to cover themselves.

It is a hotly debated issue among halacha scholars whether men should cover their heads at all times. Maimonides says that they should cover their heads during prayers or while studying religious texts. In the Middle Ages, French and Spanish rabbis considered covering the head when praying or studying to be a custom and not a commandment, and many of them prayed with their heads uncovered. They considered that only great scholars were required to cover their heads.

Over time, the fact that men should cover their heads became a practice recommended by Ashkenazi rabbis. Although they said that it was only a valuable custom and not a commandment, since there was no rule that prohibited praying with the head uncovered, covering the head was for them a symbol of reverence for God. Others justified this practice, using as a basis the commandment not to copy the customs of other peoples, arguing that Christian men pray with their heads uncovered.

Today, in ultra-Orthodox groups, married women shave their hair and cover their heads with a wig or a scarf. This way they guarantee 100% compliance with the custom of not showing their hair. In other groups, women only cover their hair completely or partially, especially in the synagogue.

Today, head covering has become the way to show whether you belong to an “observant” group or not, as stated in a responsa by the former Sephardic chief rabbi, Ovadia Yosef, who said that men should cover their heads at all times, to show that they belong to the observant religious community. On the other hand, in the 19th century, Rabbi Isaac Wise, leader of Reform Judaism, rejected the wearing of the kippah altogether, although this practice has returned to the Reform movement.

Head covering does not appear as a mitzvah in the list of the 613 mitzvoth. But the evolution of this custom, for both men and women, has made it, for some, as obligatory as a mitzvah of the Torah. But for others, it is not.

Prepared by Marcos Gojman.

Bibliography: The Jewish religion. A companion, by Louis Jacobs and other sources.

In 1492 the Jews of Spain were expelled by royal decree, and five years later the Jews of Portugal suffered a similar fate. Iberian Judaism had lived in peace with its Muslim and Christian neighbors for hundreds of years. They were the most stable and prosperous Jewish communities since the time of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel.

The Sephardic Jews could not take with them material wealth, but they could take with them the immense treasure of their intellectual achievements. In no field was this more evident than in that of Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism, that spiritual connection that individuals can develop with the Divine. By the 16th century, the Zohar, the fundamental book of Kabbalah, was already an integral part of Jewish religious thought at the time. As a result, new centers of study of Jewish mysticism were established in Italy, Turkey, and above all in Safed (Tz’fat), in the Land of Israel.

Great scholars settled in Safed. One of them was Moses Cordovero, who at the age of 16 received the “smicha,” the title of rabbi, from his teacher, Rabbi Jacob Berab. In 1542, at the age of twenty, he began to study Kabbalah with Solomon Alkabetz, author of Lecha Dodi, a hymn sung on Shabbat. In 1550 Cordovero founded an academy of Kabbalistic studies in Safed, which he directed until his death in 1570. His main work was Or Yacar (Precious Light), an analysis of the Zohar. It was at his academy that Isaac Luria began his studies of Kabbalah.

Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534-1572) was the scholar who most influenced medieval Jewish mysticism. He is known by the initials “Ari” (the lion). He is considered the father of modern Kabbalah. Luria taught his mystical thought to a dozen students until his death at the age of 38 from an epidemic. His student, Rabbi Hayim Vital, wrote down his ideas and in turn taught them to a select group, in keeping with Luria’s wishes that they not be disseminated to the masses.

Yet by the 17th century, Luria’s ideas and the unique vocabulary in which they were expressed had not only spread throughout Europe but had become a central pillar of traditional Jewish thought, a position they hold to this day. Luria’s great merit is that he made Kabbalah more accessible.

Professor Gershom Scholem of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem said that Luria and his followers developed this religious ideology as a direct response to the afflictions of the Jewish people at the time. The exile of the Iberian Jews was as great a tragedy as the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. An answer was needed to the question of the existence of evil in the world, the kind of evil that had forced thousands of Jews to convert to Christianity, killed thousands more Jews, and eventually sent the Iberian Jews into exile. Kabbalah was that answer.

Prepared by Marcos Gojman

Bibliography: Essential Judaism by George Robinson, Encyclopaedia Judaica, and other sources.

The calendar is a systematized account of the passage of time and is used for the chronological organization of activities. The origin of the Jewish calendar cannot be established with any certainty. In Exodus 12:2 it is written: “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be for you the first month of the year.” This verse is one of the earliest mentions involving the use of a calendar.

The Jewish calendar in its current form is known to have existed for 1,600 years. Previously, the Sanhedrin was in charge of defining the calendar through a council called Sod-ha-ibur, which literally means “secret of the calendar intercalation.” But it was in the year 359 CE that the meetings of the Sanhedrin were banned by the Roman Emperor Constantius II and in order to prevent the Jewish people from being left without a calendar, Hillel II, Nasi of the Sanhedrin, decided to make public the secrets of its structure.

The Jewish calendar is calculated according to two cycles: the lunar and the solar. This is because the days and dates of religious ceremonies are determined by the phases of the moon, while the seasons are based on the revolution of the earth around the sun. This dual system was necessary because the twelve-month lunar year is approximately eleven days shorter than the solar year. If this difference were not corrected, over the years the festivals that form the backbone of Jewish history would shift from season to season, altering their character. Passover, the spring festival, might have fallen in winter.

The problem was solved by inserting an extra month in some years, thus making the festivals coincide with the corresponding season. In a 19-year cycle, the Jewish calendar has seven years that have 13 months instead of 12. This extra month, Adar Bet, is added to years 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17, and 19. Also, since a lunar month lasts 29 days, 12 hours, and 44 minutes, some months on the Jewish calendar have 29 days and others 30, depending on the type of year in question.

In ancient times, the months were named only by their numerical order, starting in the northern spring with the first month. Later, the names of the Hebrew months were taken from the Babylonian calendar. For example, the month of Tishrei was called “Tashritu” in Babylonian.

The counting of the Jewish years, as we know it today, dates back to the Middle Ages. Our sages defined the Creation of the World as the starting point for counting the years. The calculation is based on the Bible, on the lists of the generations that followed Adam and Noah and his sons (Chapters 5, 10 and 11 of Breishit) and on the various historical events. Thus, Rabbi Yossi ben Halafta calculated that the world was created in the year 3761 BCE (Before the Common Era) and Maimonides agreed with him. Let’s do the math: 3761 years plus 2014 years of the Common Era gives us 5775, which is the current Jewish year. Thanks to our sages, we do know what day we live in.

Prepared by Marcos Gojman.

Bibliography: The Beginning of the Jewish Calendar by Bernard Dickman, Development of the Hebrew calendar by John Lemley and Counting the years by Rabbi Rachel M. Solomin.

Statutory law refers to laws that are written in codes and that were enacted by a legislative body, such as parliaments, chambers of deputies or senators, or synods of religious people. In this system, judges must adhere to what the written law says in order to issue a ruling.

On the other hand, unwritten law, or common law, is a set of legal rules that are not based on a written code, but on the spirit and customs of the community. These rules are developed gradually based on the decisions of judges who, although they take into account previous decisions, adapt them to new circumstances. This set of judges’ decisions can be put in writing, but that does not mean they become law. They only serve so that other judges can consult them. In that environment there were no bar associations, so the old men of the village, who possessed the wisdom of the time, determined the best ruling in a given situation.

However, in 19th century Europe, with the creation of new nations and the fact that the majority of the population was already urban, there was a need to unify the criteria of the judges and formulate a series of rules that were finally written in codes.

In the Bible, the judges did not have written codes to consult. The prophet Nathan questions King David in the episode of Bathsheba and tells him a fictitious situation where someone who had a large flock took his only animal from another. Nathan asks the king what the punishment should be in this case and David sentences him to death. If the biblical commandments had had the character of written law at that time, David should have consulted Exodus 21:37 which says: “If a man steals a bull or a sheep and kills it or sells it, he must pay the rightful owner five bulls for the bull or four sheep for the sheep” and not have given that sentence.

Jewish jurisprudence retained its nature as unwritten law from the end of biblical times to the beginnings of rabbinic Judaism. Rabbis continually interpreted scripture in ways that allowed the law to adapt to the needs of the moment. Codifying halakha, the law, was expressly discouraged and even forbidden. The Talmud Babli itself is not so much a code as a compilation of a long series of discussions among the sages.

So how did Judaism come to accept the codes of Maimonides and Josef Caro? Just as in 19th-century Europe, Maimonides’ Mishne Torah and Caro’s Shulchan Aruch sought to unify the Jewish people with a single interpretation of the law. Josef Caro defended his work by claiming that Judaism could have an infinite number of Torahs if the interpretations were not unified. But for Rabbi Luria, on the contrary, this multitude of opinions was to be celebrated, since “the souls of Israel” were endowed with different capacities and each one had a little piece of that Great Truth. But as in Europe, over time, written codes were imposed on Judaism. Written law prevailed over oral law. What a pity.

Prepared by Marcos Gojman

Bibliography: Joshua Berman “What is this thing called law?” Published in Mosaic.

It is well known that Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews have different customs. Starting with the halacha itself, Sephardic Jews follow the rules set out in the original version of Yosef Caro’s Shulchan Aruch and Ashkenazi Jews follow a version modified by Rabbi Moises Isserles. These differences in the interpretation of mitzvoth usually remain in the world of yeshivoth, since their impact on daily life is less obvious. But there are a number of different customs that are obvious to anyone. And these differences become like the uniforms of sports teams. They serve to distinguish the group, but in reality they have no significance. Let’s look at a few:

*On Pesach, Ashkenazim usually do not eat kitniyot, which are legumes, grains, millet and rice, while Sephardim do eat them.

*Ashkenazim mix fish with dairy products, while some Sephardic Jews do not.

*On Chanukah, Sephardim eat sufganiot and Ashkenazim eat latkes.

*There are also differences between the two groups in the way they cook and wash dishes.

*Ashkenazim usually prefer that married or widowed women cover their heads with wigs.

*As for the rules of kashrut for meat, Sephardim have stricter rules. Meat products that Ashkenazim would eat are rejected by Sephardim.

*Ashkenazim use the names of deceased relatives to name their newborns, while Sephardim name them after their grandparents, regardless of whether they are alive.

*Ashkenazim’s tefillin are different from Sephardim’s in the way they are put on. Ashkenazim’s tefillin are wrapped towards the body and not away from the body as Sephardim do. In addition, Ashkenazim put them on while standing, while Sephardim can put them on while sitting. There is also a difference in the way the tzitzit are tied on the tallit.

*The Ashkenazi pronunciation of Hebrew is different from that of the Sephardim, such as the way of pronouncing the letter Tav.

*Ashkenazi men wear the tallit from the moment they get married, and Sephardim from the moment they get bar mitzvah.

*Ashkenazim wear a kittel, a white robe, on Rosh Hashana, while Sephardim do not, although it is customary for them to wear white.

*In the Sephardic tradition, the saying of Selichot in preparation before Rosh Hashana is done early in the morning throughout the month of Elul, while Ashkenazim do it on Saturday night before the holiday.

*There are also differences in the prayers. For example, the Sephardic Kaddish has some additional phrases to the Ashkenazi Kaddish.

As you can see, the differences in customs between Sephardim and Ashkenazim are more in form than substance. And marriages between the two groups are becoming more frequent, which further minimizes these differences. Old Mr. Ashkenazi will continue to be Sephardic, but perhaps Ms. Ashkenazi could end up married and transformed into simply someone Jewish, without adjectives.

Prepared by Marcos Gojman.

Bibliography: The Jewish Encyclopedia, Encyclopaedia Judaica and other sources.

If we look at any traditional Jewish group, whether today or yesterday, such as the Jews of the shtetl of Europe, the Hasidim of Brooklyn, the Jews of Yemen or Syria, we can see how different they are from one another and even more so from the Jews of biblical times.

When speaking of a local Jewish culture, the question usually arises as to whether they are Ashkenazi or Sephardic Jews. These terms date back to the Middle Ages and were originally assigned to the Jews of Germany and Spain, respectively. The first Ashkenazim date back to the 10th or 11th century and were originally from France and Germany, where they had arrived from the Roman world and the land of Israel. Of the Sephardim, only a minority comes from Spain, as the majority are from North Africa and the Middle East and their origins go back to Babylon.

Another distinctive feature of Jewish cultures was language. None used Hebrew in daily life. They used the language of the country, mixed with words of Hebrew and Aramaic. The Ashkenazim developed Yiddish, a language derived from German, with a bit of Hebrew and later some Slavic languages ​​such as Russian and Polish. When the Sephardim left Spain they spoke Ladino, a language derived from Spanish.

There was not only a difference in language, but also in matters of halacha and customs. The Sephardim follow the halakhic precepts according to the Shuljan Aruj of Josef Caro. The Ashkenazim follow what Rabbi Isserles dictated, who adapted the Shuljan Aruj to Ashkenazi customs. Hebrew, although only used in religious texts, was pronounced differently by the different communities. An Ashkenazi would say “shabos koidesh” (holy Sabbath), a Yemenite Jew would say “shabot qodesh” and a Sephardi “shabbat kodesh”.

There were also differences in clothing and food. Although everyone respected the laws of kashrut, their application in practice resulted in different dishes. Reheated food on Saturday was given to all groups, but in different ways. In Europe, they had cholent, which has a Judeo-French root meaning heated, just like the term jamin in Hebrew. In Africa, they had tefina. In one case, it was an apple and noodle pudding, in others, meat with potatoes and beans, and in others, wheat, meat, chickpeas and boiled egg. As a curious fact, the prohibition of removing fish bones on Saturday gave rise to the Ashkenazim’s gefilte fish.

Judaism has developed a great variety of ethnic cultural expressions that range from typical dishes to the melodies used in prayers. The basic principles of Judaism are the same, but each group puts them into practice in its own way. Although each time, these customs are mixed. An Ethiopian Jew can go to a Hasidic yeshivah and a Sephardic Jew can serve matze ball soup on Pesach. Yes, we are one, but we are also many.

Prepared by Marcos Gojman

Bibliography: Encyclopaedia Judaica and other sources.