Or 17109

Homilies and insights on Rabbinic texts, collected, edited, or composed by Hakham Ezra Reuben Dangoor (HED).

Or 17109 (1): From Meged yeraḥim / מגד ירחים, interpretation of puzzling Rabbinic statement at the end of Babylonian Talmud Soṭah (49b): ‘Our Rabbis taught: When Rabbi died, humility and fear of sin ceased. Rabbi Joseph said to the tradent: Do not say [that] humility [ceased], for there is I. Rabbi Naḥman said to the tradent: Do not say [that] fear of sin ceased [ceased], for there is I.’

Or 17109 (2): On Rabbinic teaching in chapter 14 of Avot de-Rabbi Natan / אבות דרבי נתן = The Fathers according to Rabbi Nathan: When our Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Zakka’i’s son died, his disciples entered [into his presence] in order to comfort him, but only Rabbi El‘azar ben ‘Azarya succeeded, telling him that he returned what God had entrusted to him in the same pristine state in which God had given it. The sermon makes the point that God is interested in us knowing that we will both do good and sin. Sources cited: ‘Aḳedah / עקידה; Parshat derakhim / פרשת דרכים sermon 4.

Or 17109 (3): Homily on the end of Mishnah tractate ‘Uḳtsin / עקצין, which in many traditions is the end of all the tractates of the Talmud. Juxtaposition of the final two statements and their nuances: [1] The Holy Blessed One will, in the future, bequeath 310 [in alphanumeric designation: ש”י / ShaY] worlds to every righteous person, as is written, “to bequeath substance [YeSh / יש] to those who love Me” (Proverbs 8:21); and [2] The Holy Blessed One found no vessel to hold blessing other than peace. Top of page says, ‘Number 2’.

Or 17109 (4): Homiletical exposition of Babylonian Talmud Mo‘ed Ḳaṭan 28b, on which mourning practices women may and may not perform on the intermediate days of festival – they may keen, but not clap.

Or 17109 (5): Exposition of Babylonian Talmud Nedarim 20b, interpreting Ezekiel 20:38: inborn bad traits due to 9 improper mindsets during the parents’ intercourse; and such people will, in the future, be purged from Israel. Exceptionally, this exposition is in Judeo-Arabic, not Hebrew – presumably so that it would be understood by the less educated echelons of Jewish society, and affect their conduct.

Or 17109 (6): Analysis of Midrash Genesis Rabbah 8:5 on the debate between groups of angels, representing lovingkindness and truth, as to whether man should be created.

Or 17109 (7): Presentation of a passage from Babylonian Talmud Ḳidushin 32a, on the question of whether age and wisdom are related, with glosses by HED, indicated by parentheses with ‘Ayin-D / ע”ד = Ezra Dangoor at the end. ‘Copied from my manuscript notebook, page [24 13 5 (?)]’. Top of page says, ‘Number 2’. (Found in MS Or 17061, a notebook containing Sermons, Essays, and Torah Thoughts, from mid 5685 Anno Mundi = 1925 CE, between folios 130 – 131.)

Or 17109 (8): Brief notes on Rabbinic and Biblical sayings, e.g. saying X is along the lines of saying Y.

Or 17109 (9): Brief insights – clarifications on several passages from Babylonian Talmud Berakhot.

Or 17109 (10): Novella on Babylonian Talmud Tractate Ketubot. The note at the beginning of folio 1: We have begun Tractate Ketubot on the 24th of the month Siṿan, year 5639 [Anno Mundi = 15 June 1879]. We have come up with novel insights, by the grace of God. I request of God that He help us, for the glory of His name, and that He open our heart in the study (talmud) of His Torah, to have us understand Torah, and to be aligned with the Torah’s truth. Amen; may this be His will.

Or 17109 (11): Recto: Copied from Ha-’Asif / האסיף, numbered notes on three Rabbinic passages: [1] Midrash Ruth Rabbah on Ruth 2:21, ‘Ruth the Moabite said: He even said to me: Keep fast by my young men’; [2] Babylonian Talmud Ta‘anit 4a, ‘Rabbi Ashi said: any student of the sages who is not hard as iron is not a student of the sages, as is stated “and as a hammer shatters a rock”’ (Jeremiah 23:29); and [3] ibid. 5b, ‘Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Jacob our Patriarch did not die. They responded to him: Was it for naught that they … eulogized him and buried him?!’. Verso: calendar calculations.

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