Or 17110

Essays and sermons on fundamentals of Jewish Theology, and essays and sermons that present Judaism’s fundamentals for those who may not be committed to Jewish beliefs (= “apologetics”). Written, edited, and / or collected by Hakham Ezra Reuben Dangoor (HED).

Or 17110 (1): God’s interest in man. The dynamics of the God – man relationship via the facets of the Jewish religion. Sources: Artsot ha-shalom / ארצות השלום discourse 9; Malbim; with cross-refences to Bene Yiśaśkhar / בני יששכר.

Or 17110 (2): Top of sheet: ‘Number 2’. In one’s relationship with God via the commandments in the Torah, the importance of going beyond minimum requirements. Example from the fulfillment of the commandment of tsitsit / ציצית = fringes on the corners of one’s garment. At the end, brings support from the work Ben Ish Ḥay / בן איש חי, written by his senior colleague Rabbi Yosef Ḥayyim son of Elijah of Baghdad.

Or 17110 (3): Sermon. Lemma from Midrash Tanḥuma / מדרש תנחומא, on Pericope Ṿa-Yeḥi / ויחי, citing Genesis 47:29 and I Chronicles 29:15, ‘The days of Jacob drew close to die’ and ‘For we are but sojourners before You … our days are like a shadow upon earth; and there is no hope’, on the inevitability of death. The body of the sermon begins with a phrase in which the Tetragrammeton is given in acrostic, ‘The matter is known, and the concept is well-known’ / ידוע הדבר ומפורסם הענין. The theme is on simultaneously being embodied and attaining spirituality. Sources include: Ḳol Ya‘aḳov / קול יעקב by the Maggid (preacher) of Dubno; and Erets Ḥemdah / ארץ חמדה by Malbim.

Or 17110 (4): Emunah / אמונה = faith in God, the place of humility in the attainment of faith, and the relation of faith and humility to understanding. Opens with a midrashic lemma stating that the only reason that the Israelites were liberated from Egypt and had the sea split for them is because of their faith. Relates this to the antiquity of the Jews – ‘… in the world, there is no nation as ancient as Israel …’ – and the observance of the Sabbath.

Or 17110 (5): The soul’s sojourn in a body on earth.

Or 17110 (6): ‘Copied from the work Ḥotem Tokhnit / חותם תכנית volume 1’. The work is by Rabbi Isaac Jacob Reines (1839 – 1915), a leader of Religious Zionism. The work includes a modernised approach to Talmud study. Folio 1 contains HED’s extract number 1 from this work, containing the author’s discussion of the rejuvenation of Judaism and Jewish society, on pages 12 – 17 in the original source. Folio 2, labelled ‘number 2’, contains HED’s extracts numbers 2 – 6 from this work, containing the author’s discussion of the fundamentals of the Oral Torah. At the top of sheet 2, HED indicates that the material is from ‘leaves 30, 32, 33’; and before extract 3 HED indicates that it is from page 101. In his archives, HED has many topical series of extracts. These sheets are part of such a series, folio 1 containing columns 9 – 12 of the series, and folio 2 containing columns 13 – 16.

Or 17110 (7): HED puts forth an argument explaining why belief in the divinity of the Torah is rational and reasonable. This text was posthumously published (presumably from another copy) in the Hebrew journal ‘Beit Hillel’, year 4 issue 1 (= issue 13), Jerusalem, Ṭevet 5763 [Anno Mundi = December 2002 or January 2003], pages 12 – 13. [קובץ "בית הלל", שנה ד’, גליון א’ (י”ג), ירושלים, טבת תשס”ג, עמודים יב-יג]

Or 17110 (8): Quote from Aḥad ha-’Am / אחד העם (alt.: Ahad Ha'am; pseudonym of Asher Zvi Hirsch Ginsberg (1856 – 1927), a journalist and founder of Cultural Zionism) on the depth of Jewish history, followed by an absolute negation of the thought of moving the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. The fact that the quote comes from Aḥad ha-’Am, who was not a religious figure, lends non-dogmatic strength to HED’s argument. The top of the page is labelled ‘Number 2’. In the spidery script characteristic of his final years, HED added the caption Aḥad ha-’Am, and the [Hebrew] source citation (page 78 of volume 3 of Ahad Ha'am’s collected works).

Or 17110 (9): [1] Essay ‘Ha-le’om ṿeha-’aḥdut’ / הלאום והאחדות = ‘The Nation and Unity’, presenting the importance of the place of Jewish tradition in forming a Jewish nation / society, copied from the Hebrew periodical ha-Levanon / הלבנון, number 18, Mainz, 10 January 1872, pages 1 and 2 (= pages 137 and 138 in series). [2] Followed (on folio 2 recto) by a thematically related extract from the end of the work Binah la-‘itim / בינה לעתים, sermon on ‘Peace’. [3] Followed (on folio 2 verso) by thematically related thoughts by HED (as indicated by the heading “by me, עש”יר” – see note in the record for shelfmark Or 17111).

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