In the spring of 1096, crusading armies swept through the Jewish communities of the Rhineland, leaving devastation in their wake. This class traces how those events gave rise to rituals of memory. In the community of Worms, fast days were proclaimed on the 23rd of Iyar and Rosh Chodesh Sivan, accompanied by elaborate mourning customs. We’ll see how in 1716, when Rosh Chodesh Sivan fell on a Friday, rabbinic authorities clashed over davening Maariv early that afternoon. We conclude by tracing the demise of these fast days while noting how other rituals, such as the recitation of Av HaRachamim, have endured to this day. The First Crusade: The 1096 Massacres and the Rituals They Created

There’s a well-known story about Sir Moses Montefiore going up onto Har Habayis during one of his seven legendary trips to Eretz Yisrael. But once you begin looking into it, you quickly discover that there are several versions of the story, each one telling it a bit differently: when he went up, why he did it, how he did it, and what the rabbinic community’s reaction was. As we’ll see, a great deal depends on who is telling the story. In this class, we’ll return to the sources and try to piece together what actually happened. This is the first installment in a series about going up onto Har Habayis. A Scandal on Har Habayis: The Montefiore Story

In the late 1920s, a Jerusalem rabbi cited an obscure passage describing a certain Rabbi Moshe’s pilgrimage to the Holy Land, including what appeared to be a visit to the Temple Mount itself. He seized on it as proof that going there was halachically permitted. This sparked a fierce debate over the passage: Was it even credible? Who exactly was this Rabbi Moshe? Did the text actually refer to the Temple Mount? And if a great rabbi really did go there, what would that mean for us today? This is the second installment in a series about going up onto Har Habayis. Did Rambam Actually Set Foot on Har Habayis?

In 1759, a clandestine faction of Shabetai Tzvi’s followers in Poland committed a startling act: they collectively converted to Christianity while simultaneously accusing Jews of the age-old fabrication of using blood in matzah production. Despite the longstanding existence of the blood libel, this marked the first instance where the accusation was made by citing and distorting Talmudic and halachic sources. In this class, we examine the specific passages they employed and learn the response of the Jewish leadership during that era. As Ber of Bolochov, the chronicler of this event, emphasized, recording this narrative was essential to ensure that future generations would understand the suffering and trials of their ancestors and how it was notably worse when it emanated from within the Jewish community. The Frankist Blood Libel

Today, we’ll examine the debate in Venice in 1630 over a communal ban against gambling. Local leaders moved to outlaw games of chance, but Rabbi Yehuda Aryeh Modena pushed back, arguing that the community had no right to restrict a Jew’s freedom in this area. Along the way, we examine the authorship of an anonymous 1595 dialogue on gambling, offering an overview of the halachic arguments and a window into public attitudes about his subject at that time. The story comes full circle as we turn to explore Rabbi Modena’s unique and candid autobiography. The Rabbi Who Couldn’t Quit Gambling