In this episode, we’re diving into fascinating early 16th-century woodcut images and priceless medieval machzor manuscripts to see how they portray the mitzvah of blowing the shofar. We’ll explore the unique details in these images that reveal interesting minhagim of the time, though some might leave us with more questions than answers. Let’s uncover the stories these images tell about our tradition.

Links:

Book on Jewish Confession (Nuremberg 1508)

https://sammlungen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/freimann/content/thumbview/6515799

Der Juden Spiegel (Cologne 1508)

https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1911061m/f39.double

Luzzato Machzor

https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/the-luzzatto-high-holiday-mahzor-1

Machzor – Bavarian State Library

https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/en/view/bsb00034975?page=82

Kaufmann Machzor - Hungarian Academy of Sciences

http://kaufmann.mtak.hu/en/ms388/ms388-012v.htm

Machzor – Cambridge University Library

https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-ADD-00662/127

Machzor – Austrian National Library

https://www.nli.org.il/en/discover/manuscripts/hebrew-manuscripts/viewerpage?vid=MANUSCRIPTS#d=[[PNX_MANUSCRIPTS990001692630205171-1,FL21854414]]

Art of the Blast: Shofar Blowing Customs in Medieval Manuscripts

In the 1860s, European Jewish communities faced a unique halachic challenge: the arrival of new chicken breeds from distant lands. As these exotic fowl entered the marketplace, rabbis debated their kosher status, igniting an adjacent discussion on how and why the turkey became accepted as kosher.

Fowl Play: The Great Turkey-Chicken Debate of the 19th Century

In the 1970s, a Chabad journal in Israel published a story about the Alter Rebbe reversing a halachic ruling based on a dream, sparking significant controversy. This incident opens the door to a fascinating exploration of a practice that was surprisingly common among Ashkenazic rabbis in the 12th and 13th centuries—using dreams to guide halachic decisions.

Dreams of Revision: The Role of Dreams in Altering Halachic Rulings

In the 1830s, Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Kalischer penned an extensive letter to one of the Rothschilds, seeking his support for an ambitious plan to reinstate the korbanos on the Temple Mount. The rabbi contended that awaiting Moshiach was neither necessary nor prudent. This proposal ignited a debate among his rabbinic contemporaries, a discourse that continued well into the 20th century. Today, this story invites us to delve into many of the laws involving the Beis Hamikdash, a particularly fitting endeavor during the Three Weeks.

The Rabbi Who Wouldn’t Wait: A Proposal to Reinstate the Korbanos