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Negiah
''Negiah'' ( he, נגיעה), literally "touch", is the concept in Jewish law (Halakha) that forbids or restricts sensual physical contact with a member of the opposite sex except for one's spouse, outside the niddah period, and certain close relatives to whom one is presumed not to have sexual attraction. A person who abides by this halakha is colloquially described as a ("one observant of "). The laws of are typically followed by strict Orthodox Jews, with varying levels of observance. Some Orthodox Jews follow the laws with strict modesty and take measures to avoid ''accidental'' contact, such as avoiding sitting next to a member of the opposite sex on a bus, train, airplane, or other similar seating situations. Others are more lenient, only avoiding purposeful contact. Adherents of Conservative and Reform Judaism do not follow these laws. Many Jews with Orthodox beliefs believe that there is extensive room for leniency and that strict adherence to these rules stunts developme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Niddah
Niddah (or nidah; he, נִדָּה), in traditional Judaism, describes a woman who has experienced a uterine discharge of blood (most commonly during menstruation), or a woman who has menstruated and not yet completed the associated requirement of immersion in a ''mikveh'' (ritual bath). In the Book of Leviticus, the Torah prohibits sexual intercourse with a ''niddah''. The prohibition has been maintained in traditional Jewish law and by the Samaritans. It has largely been rejected by adherents of Reform Judaism and other liberal branches. In rabbinic Judaism, additional stringencies and prohibitions have accumulated over time, increasing the scope of various aspects of niddah, including: duration (12-day minimum for Ashkenazim, and 11 days for Sephardim); expanding to prohibition against sex to include: sleeping in adjoining beds, any physical contact, and even passing objects to spouse; and requiring a detailed ritual purification process. Since the late 19th century, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yehudah Henkin
Rabbi Yehuda Herzl Henkin (1945 – 23 December 2020), author of the responsa ''Benei Vanim'', was a modern orthodox posek. Early life and education Yehuda Henkin was born in Pennsylvania in 1945 and raised in New Haven, Connecticut. His father was Dr. Avraham Hillel Henkin, who headed the local Board of Jewish Education. After graduating from the Yeshivah of Flatbush High School in 1962, he studied five years with his grandfather, Rabbi Yosef Eliyahu Henkin, from whom he received semichah. He also received semichah from Rabbi Yehuda Gershuni. During this time he also completed a master's degree in the sociology of religion at Columbia University. His uncle was Professor Louis Henkin, who taught international law at Columbia. He and his wife Chana Henkin moved to Israel in 1972 and he served as the Rabbi of the Beit She'an valley before moving to Jerusalem. Personal life He lived in Jerusalem, with his wife, , founder and head of Nishmat, the Institute for Advanced Jewish ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Niddah
Niddah (or nidah; he, נִדָּה), in traditional Judaism, describes a woman who has experienced a uterine discharge of blood (most commonly during menstruation), or a woman who has menstruated and not yet completed the associated requirement of immersion in a ''mikveh'' (ritual bath). In the Book of Leviticus, the Torah prohibits sexual intercourse with a ''niddah''. The prohibition has been maintained in traditional Jewish law and by the Samaritans. It has largely been rejected by adherents of Reform Judaism and other liberal branches. In rabbinic Judaism, additional stringencies and prohibitions have accumulated over time, increasing the scope of various aspects of niddah, including: duration (12-day minimum for Ashkenazim, and 11 days for Sephardim); expanding to prohibition against sex to include: sleeping in adjoining beds, any physical contact, and even passing objects to spouse; and requiring a detailed ritual purification process. Since the late 19th century, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moses Ben Jacob Of Coucy
Rabbi Moses ben Jacob of Coucy, also known as Moses Mikkotsi ( he, משה בן יעקב מקוצי; la, Moses Kotsensis), was a French Tosafist and authority on Halakha (Jewish law). He is best known as the author of one of the earliest codifications of Halakha, the ''Sefer Mitzvot Gadol''. Biography Moses of Coucy lived in the first half of the thirteenth century. His name suggests he was born or raised in Coucy in Northern France. He was a descendant of a family of distinguished scholars. He was the brother-in-law of Tosafist Shimshon of Sens and Shimshon of Coucy (HaSar MiCoucy). He studied under Judah of Paris, and Yehudah HaChasid. Following in the latter's footsteps he traveled through Provence and Spain to strengthen religiosity among the Jews and teaching them the way to serve God. In 1240 he was one of the four rabbis who were required to defend the Talmud, in a public disputation in Paris, and it is likely that the need for a work like the ''Sefer Mitzvot Gado ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sefer Hamitzvot
''Sefer Hamitzvot'' ("Book of Commandments", Hebrew: ספר המצוות ) is a work by the 12th century rabbi, philosopher and physician Maimonides. While there are various other works titled similarly, the title "Sefer Hamitzvot" without a modifier refers to Maimonides' work. It is a listing of all the commandments of the Torah, with a brief description for each. It originally appeared in Arabic under the title "Kitab al-Farai'd", and was translated by the Provençal rabbi Moses ibn Tibbon (first printed 1497) as well as by ibn Hasdai, in the 13th century. A new Hebrew translation from the original Arabic was made by the noted Yemenite scholar, Rabbi Yosef Qafih. Premise In the work, the Rambam lists all the 613 mitzvot traditionally contained in the Torah (Pentateuch). He describes the following fourteen principles (Hebrew: כללים) to guide his selection. (Note: For each rule, Maimonides cites many illustrative examples. We present only one or two examples for each r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moshe Feinstein
Moshe Feinstein ( he, משה פײַנשטיין; Lithuanian pronunciation: ''Moshe Faynshteyn''; en, Moses Feinstein; March 3, 1895 – March 23, 1986) was an American Orthodox rabbi, scholar, and ''posek'' (authority on ''halakha''—Jewish law). He has been called the most famous Orthodox Jewish legal authority of the twentieth century and his rulings are often referenced in contemporary rabbinic literature. Feinstein served as president of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis, Chairman of the Council of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of the Agudath Israel of America, and head of Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem in New York. Widely acclaimed in the Orthodox world for his gentleness and compassion, Feinstein is commonly referred to simply as ''"Reb Moshe"'' (or ''"Rav Moshe"''). Biography Moshe Feinstein was born, according to the Hebrew calendar, on the 7th day of Adar, 5655 (traditionally the date of birth and death of the biblical Moshe) in Uzda, near Minsk, Belarus, then part of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aharon Lichtenstein
Aharon Lichtenstein (May 23, 1933 – April 20, 2015) was a noted Orthodox rabbi and rosh yeshiva. He was an authority in Jewish law (''Halakha''). Biography Aharon Lichtenstein was born to Rabbi Dr. Yechiel Lichtenstein and Bluma née Schwartz in Paris, France, but grew up in the United States, where he studied in Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin under Rabbi Yitzchak Hutner as well as Rabbi Ahron Soloveichik. He earned a BA and ''semicha'' ("rabbinic ordination") at Yeshiva University under Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, whose daughter, Tovah, he would later marry, and a PhD in English Literature at Harvard University, where he studied under Douglas Bush. Lichtenstein married Dr. Tovah Soloveitchik in 1960. They had six children: Mosheh, Yitzchak, Meir, Esti, Shai and Tonya. After serving as Rosh Yeshiva/Kollel at Yeshiva University for several years, Lichtenstein answered Rabbi Yehuda Amital's request in 1971 to join him at the helm of Yeshivat Har Etzion, located in Gush Etzio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jonah Of Gerona
Rabbi Jonah ben Abraham Gerondi ( he, יוֹנָה בֶּן־אַבְרָהָם גִירוֹנְדִי ''Yōnāh bēn-ʾAvrāhām Gīrōndī'', "Jonah son of Abraham the Gironan"; died 1264), also known as Jonah of Girona and Rabbeinu Yonah (), was a Catalan rabbi and moralist, cousin of Nahmanides. He is most famous for his ethical work ''The Gates of Repentance'' ( he, שערי תשובה). Biography Much of what is known about his life comes from a responsum by Solomon ben Simon Duran, one of his descendants. Jonah Gerondi came from Girona, in Catalonia (present-day Spain). He was the most prominent pupil of Solomon ben Abraham of Montpellier, the leader of the opponents of Maimonides' philosophical works, and was one of the signers of the ban proclaimed in 1233 against ''The Guide for the Perplexed'' and the ''Sefer ha-Madda''. According to his pupil, Hillel ben Samuel, Gerondi was the instigator of the public burning of Maimonides' writings by order of the auth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mishneh Torah
The ''Mishneh Torah'' ( he, מִשְׁנֵה תּוֹרָה, , repetition of the Torah), also known as ''Sefer Yad ha-Hazaka'' ( he, ספר יד החזקה, , book of the strong hand, label=none), is a code of Rabbinic Jewish religious law (''halakha'') authored by Maimonides (Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon/Rambam). The ''Mishneh Torah'' was compiled between 1170 and 1180 CE (4930 and 4940 AM), while Maimonides was living in Egypt, and is regarded as Maimonides' ''magnum opus''. Accordingly, later sources simply refer to the work as "''Maimon''", "''Maimonides''", or "''RaMBaM''", although Maimonides composed other works. ''Mishneh Torah'' consists of fourteen books, subdivided into sections, chapters, and paragraphs. It is the only Medieval-era work that details all of Jewish observance, including those laws that are only applicable when the Temple in Jerusalem is in existence, and remains an important work in Judaism. Its title is an appellation originally used for the Biblical boo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shulchan Aruch
The ''Shulchan Aruch'' ( he, שֻׁלְחָן עָרוּך , literally: "Set Table"), sometimes dubbed in English as the Code of Jewish Law, is the most widely consulted of the various legal codes in Judaism. It was authored in Safed (today in Israel) by Joseph Karo in 1563 and published in Venice two years later. Together with its commentaries, it is the most widely accepted compilation of Jewish law ever written. The ''halachic'' rulings in the ''Shulchan Aruch'' generally follow Sephardic law and customs, whereas Ashkenazi Jews generally follow the halachic rulings of Moses Isserles, whose glosses to the ''Shulchan Aruch'' note where the Sephardic and Ashkenazi customs differ. These glosses are widely referred to as the ''mappah'' (literally: the "tablecloth") to the ''Shulchan Aruch's'' "Set Table". Almost all published editions of the ''Shulchan Aruch'' include this gloss, and the term "Shulchan Aruch" has come to denote ''both'' Karo's work as well as Isserles', with Karo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Menachem Mendel Schneerson
Menachem Mendel Schneerson (Modern Hebrew: מנחם מענדל שניאורסון; old-fashioned spelling: מנחם מענדל שניאורסאהן; April 5, 1902 OS – June 12, 1994; AM 11 Nissan 5662 – 3 Tammuz 5754), known to many as the Lubavitcher Rebbe or simply the Rebbe, was a Russian Empire-born American Orthodox rabbi, the most recent Rebbe of the Lubavitch Hasidic dynasty and an electrical engineer. He is considered one of the most influential Jewish leaders of the 20th century.Matt Flegenheimer"Thousands Descend on Queens on 20th Anniversary of Grand Rebbe’s Death" The New York Times As leader of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, he took an insular Hasidic group that almost came to an end with the Holocaust and transformed it into one of the most influential movements in religious Jewry, with an international network of over 5,000 educational and social centers. The institutions he established include kindergartens, schools, drug-rehabilitation centers, c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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