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Question: I was asked by the leaders of the holy congregation of Prostějov: A small piece of paper on which was drawn the image of a menorah, with the verses beginning “May God be gracious to us” from…
Contributor:
Menaḥem Mendl Krochmal
Places:
Nikolsburg, Holy Roman Empire
(Mikulov, Czech Republic)
Date:
Before 1661
Subjects:
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They distort the words of the living God. It is a clear Torah lesson, as the sages have taught: “Whosoever speculates on four things, a pity for him! He is as though he had not come into the world.”
T…
Contributor:
Tzvi Hirsch Ashkenazi
Places:
Amsterdam, Republic of the Seven United Netherlands
(Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Date:
1714
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A furious epistle against [Juan de] Prado, a philosopher-doctor who doubted or did not believe in the truth of the divine scripture and sought to cover up his maliciousness with the feigned…
Contributor:
Isaac Orobio de Castro
Places:
Amsterdam, Republic of the Seven United Netherlands
(Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Date:
ca. 1664
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We are therefore obliged to examine the words of the living God, which are expressed through the wonderful wise men who have received the truth [i.e., kabbalists], the foundation of the Torah. The…
Contributor:
Aernout Naghtegaal, Isaac Aboab da Fonseca
Places:
Amsterdam, Republic of the Seven United Netherlands
(Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Date:
ca. 1636
Subjects:
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The rich and honorable Moshe haCohen, resident of the city Castoria may God protect it, says as follows: he has been given a bad wife, and that during their marital life…
Contributor:
Johannes Alexander Böner, Aaron ha-Kohen Peraḥia
Places:
Salonika, Ottoman Empire
(Thessaloniki, Greece)
Date:
1701
Subjects:
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I ask your Honor to do me the favor of making known to me your opinion as to how one should nowadays understand the degree of sanctity of the Holy Land; and if there is any merit in living there, for…
Contributor:
Anonymous
Places:
Amsterdam, Republic of the Seven United Netherlands
(Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Date:
ca. 1705
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Since the law prohibits one, in no uncertain terms, from depicting figures, the question one may ask is how Jews have had all manner of paintings in their homes? And it is not enough to say that only…
Contributor:
Moses Raphael d’Aguilar
Places:
Amsterdam, Republic of the Seven United Netherlands
(Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Date:
17th Century
Categories:
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To the city of London, to the complete sage R. Solomon Ayalon, in the year 1697.
Contributor:
Isaack Luttichuys, The Jewish Community of Prague, Jacob Sasportas
Places:
Amsterdam, Republic of the Seven United Netherlands
(Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Date:
1697
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Question 1: May our teacher and master, the great rabbi, who sits on the throne of halakhic rulings, please instruct and enlighten us regarding an episode that unfolded here in our city of Pisa, may…
Contributor:
Simeon ben Naphtali, Jacob Senior
Places:
Pisa, Grand Duchy of Tuscany
(Pisa, Italy)
Date:
Mid– to Late 17th Century
Subjects:
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Behold, we have before us the head of the rationalists [or “rational theologians”], Maimonides, may his memory be for a blessing. In chapter three of Hilkhot teshuvah [Mishneh Torah, Laws of…
Contributor:
Saul Levi Mortera
Places:
Amsterdam, Republic of the Seven United Netherlands
(Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Date:
ca. 1636