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 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

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

The library of Agudas Chasidei Chabad houses a remarkable manuscript crafted in 1760 by the talented scribe and artist Chaim ben Asher Anshel of Kittsee, near present-day Bratislava. We’ll trace the journey of this Haggadah from its creation to its acquisition by the Frierdiker Rebbe. Opening this manuscript, we’ll examine its layout, artwork, nusach, and style of nikud, seeking to uncover the influences that shaped Chaim ben Asher’s masterpiece through a comparative analysis with other Haggadahs of that period. To purchase a facsimile of the Kittzee Haggadah: https://store.kehotonline.com/prodinfo.asp?number=HP-HAGG.KITZEE To view it online, visit the following link and insert card number “1950”: https://chabadlibrary.org/catalog/index.php?catalog=mscatalog Additional Links: Kittzee Haggadah 1748, Gross Collection https://www.nli.org.il/en/discover/manuscripts/hebrew-manuscripts/viewerpage?vid=MANUSCRIPTS#d=[[PNX MANUSCRIPTS990000632400205171-1,FL54685621 Kittzee Haggadah 1768, Hebrew Union College https://mss.huc.edu/phpviewer/index.php?path=MS 451 Kittzee Haggadah 1769, Jewish Museum London https://www.nli.org.il/en/discover/manuscripts/hebrew-manuscripts/viewerpage?vid=MANUSCRIPTS#d=[[PNX MANUSCRIPTS990001792760205171-1,FL28179029 Kittzee Haggadah 1771, Hungarian Academy of Sciences https://www.nli.org.il/en/discover/manuscripts/hebrew-manuscripts/viewerpage?vid=MANUSCRIPTS#d=[[PNX MANUSCRIPTS990001920270205171-1,FL59161404 Kittzee Haggadah 1772, JTS Library https://digitalcollections.jtsa.edu/islandora/object/jts%3A62343#page/41/mode/1up Amsterdam 1695 https://www.nli.org.il/en/books/NNL ALEPH990013798840205171/NLI#modal-downloadModal Prague 1713 https://www.nli.org.il/en/books/NNL ALEPH990013798850205171/NLI Offenbach 1721 https://www.hebrewbooks.org/4923 Frankfurt 1724 https://www.nli.org.il/en/books/NNL ALEPH990010665310205171/NLI