Traditional Jewish mourning practices include the recitation of Kaddish during the grieving period and on the recurring anniversary of death. Kaddish recital requires the presence of a
minyan
. ...During the COVID-19 pandemic, quarantine and lockdown limited possibilities to gather as a quorum. This article offers a prosopographic sketch of the array of solutions to this Corona Kaddish conundrum. Three classes of solutions are discussed: (1) ad hoc
quorums
, including
pirate
,
balcony
,
outdoor
,
virtual
, and
drive-in quorums
; (2)
substitutes
, including
shades
of Kaddish or
replacement
practices; and (3)
workarounds
, including
quorumless
,
proxy
, and
catch-up
Kaddish. Common characteristics emerge from the cluster of solutions, and the collage tells a story about Jewish tradition and ritual. First, no previous pandemic saw such a gamut of Kaddish possibilities. This change can be linked to digital information sharing and to mourners’ desire for a means to recite Kaddish. Second, solutions were rooted in sources; no suggestion was entirely novel, indicating that there is a trove of sources hibernating until called upon by the community. Third, Jewish ritual may not be as frozen as many think and experience, since during the pandemic different ways of performing the ritual were entertained. Fourth, offered a plethora of options, practitioners of Judaism anonymously and unconsciously declared that Kaddish must be preserved. Moreover, ad hoc solutions and workarounds have been preferred over shadow images and replacement rituals. This indicates that mourners want to recite Kaddish, and they want to perform the ritual in a communal setting.
This study seeks to forge a new avenue of legal scholarship on the modern religious movement known as Hasidism. The paper focuses on Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liady (ca. 1745–1812)—Hasidic master, ...religious thinker, and jurist. Much has been written on Shneur Zalman, his formidable leadership in the face of strident opposition and his groundbreaking religious philosophy. His legacy continues to animate contemporary Judaism, primarily through his spiritual heirs—the Lubavitch Hasidic community—and through his Hasidic thought known as Chabad. The present study maps out an aspect which has been widely neglected, but is nonetheless crucial to understanding this religious leader: Rabbi Shneur Zalman's legal activity. The first part of the study surveys existing research, assessing what has been achieved thus far, and what tools are available for further research. The second part of the essay highlights salient questions to be considered as part of a judicial biography, offering preliminary answers to these questions. The article concludes with the contention that without serious analysis of Rabbi Shneur Zalman's legal writings—or for that matter, legal writings of Hasidic masters in general—any intellectual history of this religious movement will be incomplete.
Cantor Yossele Rosenblatt was offered an opportunity that would make any performer swoon: a star role in the ground-breaking film The Jazz Singer (1927). Yet Rosenblatt refused this artistic ...opportunity of a lifetime. This paper contextualizes Rosenblatt’s baffling decision, by exploring one possible relationship between the arts and law; in this case--the art of storytelling and the Jewish legal system. The study demonstrates where the two pursuits tread separate, unlinked paths to a common end. This vector is refracted through the lens of liturgical performances outside the religious synagogue service; specifically the propriety of cantorial concerts featuring prayers from the High Holy Days. This issue is addressed in legal writing and in storytelling, each modality using its own tools to tackle the trend. It is noted that legal systems without effective enforcement mechanisms--such as Jewish law in the late modern period--could use arts as compensatory media for achieving societal order. More significantly, however, arts and law are not umbilically connected; each cultural creation independently strives to fashion society.
A famous Hasidic tale that depicts the decline of mysticism in Hasidic circles also bespeaks the power of storytelling. This study tracks the metamorphosis of this classic tale over a century of its ...retelling by writers-including Martin Buber, S. Y. Agnon, Gershom Scholem, Walter Kaufmann, Elie Wiesel, and Abba Kovner-who each fashioned the tale in their own image. These authors affirmed but also challenged the tale's message about the efficacy of storytelling. The use of the tale in Passover celebrations and other contemporary trends are also considered. The question is raised as to whether transmitters have a duty of care not to corrupt the story.
This study explores unexpected legal pluralism within enclave cultures. Mary Douglas' notion of an enclave describes behavioural patterns of minority groups in environments perceived as hostile. Such ...groups are inclined to reject possibilities that are outside the enclave, opting for a dichotomous outlook of truth/falsehood or good/bad. This paper argues that with the negation of the "outside," the enclave idealises the "inside," diverse and legally delinquent as it may be. If the "inside" is not in line with the enclave's values, recalibration may be necessary, whereby the suspect practices are vindicated or reinterpreted. The result is a pluralism that is intra-cultural, inherent, and legal. This pluralism is limited and motivated by the boundaries and needs of the enclave; namely, its conceptual creation and ongoing maintenance. The model is demonstrated by the Jewish hasidic community of Mukačevo led by Rabbi Hayim Elazar Shapira (1871-1937). While Shapira is a symbol of ultra-traditionalism, his internal legal pluralism highlights the necessity of nuanced descriptions: ardent combatants may also be pluralistic jurists. This study indicates complexity of internal identity discourse in contemporary societies. Moreover, it suggests that legal creativity may be a tool employed by enclaves in their quest to preserve their way of life.
The Blessing over the Sun (Birkat Hahamma) is recited once every twenty-eight years. This study analyses the ritual as it was conducted in 2009 in three hasidic courts: Lubavitch, Munkatch, and ...Boyan. A comparative study of the choice of liturgical passages and of the manner of presentation of the liturgy, together with anecdotal evidence, reveals the narrative of each community. This narrative is not necessarily limited to this rare ceremony, and in some cases reflects the general attitude of the particular hasidic community. The uncanonised nature of the rite also exposes a theme that is common to the three hasidic courts discussed: the tension between fidelity to tradition and the creative spirit.
The Assimilation of Tikkun Olam Cooper, Levi
Jewish political studies review,
10/2013, Volume:
25, Issue:
3/4
Journal Article
The Hebrew root (ProQuest: ... denotes non-USASCII text omitted.) (t-k-n) appears in Ecclesiastes where it is used in the sense of straightening, repairing or fashioning.1 Many of its later uses, ...however, depart from those original connotations. ...in rabbinic literature the root has a range of meanings such as fixing a variety of items, preparing for a significant event, legislating, composing liturgy, emending biblical texts, determining calendric calculations, propagating the species, and pursuing spiritual objectives.2 The Hebrew noun 'olam also carries more than a single implication: world, society, community, universe, spiritual sphere, forever, and eternity. Using tikkun olam as a watchword for any action that purports to improve society may lend a fictitious stamp of Jewish approval to policies and projects that run counter to values that are deeply rooted in Jewish sources. Because a particular goal reflects a liberal democratic worldview does not mean that it is necessarily aJewish value.
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