Shared by The Hierophant on כ׳ בתשרי ה׳תשע״ב (October 18, 2011) 
Last Sukkot 5771 (2011), Efraim Feinstein shared the sourcesheet for his late night shiur (lesson) on copyright in Rabbinic Halakhah (Jewish law). Efraim’s research adds a great deal of important perspective to our work here on the Open Siddur Project. It provides relevant historical context for our work advocating the adoption of free culture principles and free-culture licenses to facilitate sharing (tachlis) within the Jewish world. . . . → Read More: Public policy, technology, and copyright in Halakha: a sourcesheet
Shared by JET on י״ח בתשרי ה׳תשע״ב (October 16, 2011) 
This week on the holiday of Simḥat Torah, the Jewish people will begin to read the Torah anew, starting with Parashat Bereshit. The JET is a new English translation of Parashat Bereshit that is meant to be readable (and enjoyable to read), useful to people who want to study the parashah, and faithful to the Hebrew text of the Torah. JET stands for the “Jewish English Torah” (or for the “Jewish English Tanakh” if we want to be very ambitious). I would like to invite others to contribute further Open Content translations for parts of the Torah or Tanakh to the Open Siddur Project, whether by following my method or in any other style. In time, together we could create a rich resource full of translations of all parts of the Tanakh in a variety of useful forms. That would be a wonderful thing to start on Simḥat Torah. . . . → Read More: The Jewish English Torah: A new CC-BY-SA (copyleft attribution) licensed translation
Shared by Jill Hammer on י״ג באב ה׳תשע״א (August 13, 2011) 
Tu B’Av, the fifteenth of the month of Av, comes in July or August, at a time when the air is sweltering, the sun is ever-present, and the green plant life is wilting. In Israel, Av is a month of extreme heat when nothing grows. It comes just six days after the 9th of Av, Tisha B’Av, the holiday of mourning, when the Temple is destroyed, when the Shekhinah grieves like a widow who has lost her mate. The first of Tammuz, when we recognize our exile and mortality, lingers in the heat of the air. Yet Tu B’Av is a holiday of dancing and choosing lovers, a holiday of life. It is a turning around of time. It is the moment when the fallen fruit breaks open to reveal the new seed. . . . → Read More: The Fruit of Tu B’Av: explanation and ritual for the 15th of Av by R’ Jill Hammer
Shared by Aharon Varady on י״ג באב ה׳תשע״א (August 13, 2011) 
Since the Jewish calendar is not affixed to the sun, but corrected by a leap year to its seasons, Tu B’Av does not normally fall on the summer solstice. And yet, the relationship between Tu B’Av and the zenith of the summer is alluded to in Rav Menashya’s statement regarding Tu B’Av, “From this day onwards, he who increases [his knowledge through study as the nights grow longer] will have his life prolonged.” . . . → Read More: Tu B’Av: sources for study and celebration on the 15th of Av
Shared by Dalia Marx on י״ח באדר א׳ ה׳תשע״א (February 22, 2011) Rabbi Dr. Dalia Marx writes sharing a fascinating paper on feminist innovations in the use of gender in the liturgy of the Israeli Movement for Progressive Judaism.
In Israel, the Reform movement, which is called the Israeli Movement for Progressive Judaism (IMPJ), dates back to the 1950s, but a serious concern for women’s role . . . → Read More: Feminist Influences on Jewish Liturgy: The Case of Israeli Reform Prayer by Dalia Marx
Shared by Aharon Varady on ט״ז בשבט ה׳תשע״א (January 21, 2011) 
Once upon a time, according to the Mishnah, it was the nusaḥ (liturgical tradition) of the Cohanim in the Bet Hamikdash[1] for the Ten Commandments to be read prior to the Sh’ma. Here’s the relevant teaching from Mishnah Tamid (32b in Talmud Bavli Tamid), emphasis mine:
מתני’ אמר להם הממונה ברכו ברכה אחת והם ברכו . . . → Read More: Adventures in Ancient Jewish Liturgy: The Ten Commandments and the Sh’ma in the Nash Papyrus
Shared by Aharon Varady on כ״ג באייר ה׳תש״ע (May 7, 2010) 
The Siddur is an aggregate of thousands of years of creatively inspired work. The organization of the material within any one particular siddur–the textual ingredients and arrangements –represents a specific lineage, or nusaḥ, with its own history of development. There are a good number of different lineages some of which are still alive and changing, . . . → Read More: A Historical Map of Jewish Liturgies
Shared by The Hierophant on י״ד באייר ה׳תש״ע (April 28, 2010) The mark of a particularly valuable dictionary is how long it is still being used years after it’s introduced. Marcus Jastrow’s Dictionary of the Targumim, Talmud Babli, Talmud Yerushalmi and Midrashic Literature (1903), Brown-Driver-Brigg’s Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), and James Strong’s Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Hebrew Bible . . . → Read More: Testing Our Transliteration Engine with help from James Strong’s Biblical Hebrew Dictionary
|
Every shekel, drachma, or dollar you contribute helps to liberate the ingredients of Jewish spiritual practice for all collaborating free/libre and open source initiatives. Your tax deductible donation will help us afford to maintain this website, grow this project, and complete our web application.
|
