Hawking (falconry) is the use of birds of prey in order to hunt or trap. It is demonstrated that this form of hunting was practiced by certain Jewish communities of medieval Northern France. Part I In his Shita Me... more abstractHawking (falconry) is the use of birds of prey in order to hunt or trap. It is demonstrated that this form of hunting was practiced by certain Jewish communities of medieval Northern France. Part I In his Shita Mekubetzet, Rabbi Betzalel Ashkenazi records a tradition, which maintains that Rabbenu Ya'akov ben Meir (Rabbenu Tam) used 'silver talons' on his own hawk for reasons of kashrut. It is argued that more likely is a historical attribution of the practice to Rabbi Isaac of Norwich, cited in Shita Mekubetzet according to the no-longer extant Tosafot Rabbenu Peretz on Tractate Hullin. Isaac was a leader of the English Jewish community, and was portrayed in an early anti-Semitic caricature as a three-headed antichrist. The rationale for the 'silver talons' and its practicalities are discussed in light of the testimony and writings of modern falconers. A dispute between Tosafists regarding the practice of falconry is explained on the basis of variant identifications of נץ as either the hawk or the falcon. Part II A bible commentary attributed to Rabbenu Tam describes that Jacob gifted Esau with a hawk. Perhaps Rabbenu Tam personally identified with the role of the shtadlan as “played” by his namesake, the patriarch Jacob. Rabbi Joseph Bechor Shor, a student of Rabbenu Tam, authored a similar type of commentary in which a riverside encounter between Moses and Pharaoh takes place while Pharaoh is hawking. This scene was depicted in a Spanish Passover Haggadah. Another commentary of Bechor Shor is discussed, one having to do with the then-controversial issue of kisui ha-dam, the commandment to cover the blood of a slaughtered wild animal or bird. It is suggested that those Jews who allegorically absolved themselves of the commandment may have been motivated by the desire to remain inconspicuous in a mixed hunting environment. Part III The halakhic decision attributed to Rabbenu Ephraim of Regensburg (another prominent student of Rabbenu Tam), by Rabbi Yitzhak of Vienna (Or Zarua), prohibits Jews from tying a hawk to the saddle of a horse they are riding, as it is comparable to the biblical prohibition against plowing with an ox and a donkey in tandem. That contested decision was then interpreted by Or Zarua in a surprising manner, one which does not seem to correspond to the realities of hawking. The evolution of this law is discussed in depth, from two original responsa of Rabbenu Ephraim, through a lost section of the Sefer Ha-Dinim by Rabbenu Peretz, to Or Zarua. This is explained in the context of Or Zarua's own expressed fierce opposition to sport hunting, which has been contrasted by scholars with the actual French practice of hawking. Under Emperor Frederick II, a contemporary of Or Zarua and a noted falconer and scientist, the hunting practices evolved from an enjoyable means of sustenance, associated with, but not limited to, the royalty, to a bona fide royal sport. It is argued that Frederick's methods are more exemplary of the type of hunting to which Or Zarua reacted negatively, following the precedent of Talmudic opposition to Roman קניגיא/cynegeticus. Furthermore, Or Zarua represented the isolationist perspective of the 'Pious of Ashkenaz' towards the secular world, as opposed to that of the 'Sages of France,' who took a more accommodating stance, in general. An appendix discusses a halakhic decision from Rabbenu Tam's Sepher Ha-Yashar, in which he proclaims and demonstrates his knowledge of the practices of hawks and falcons. Dores, a category of forbidden birds, is defined by him as birds which consume other birds alive. In another responsum, he permits the consumption of the pheasant, a bird commonly hunted with the aid of hawks. "

Jewish Law, Art History, Jewish Studies, Hebrew Bible, Jewish History, and 5 more

Publisher: http://www.oqimta.org.il/

Publication Name: Oqimta

The study is devoted to a commentary to Tractate Berakhot written by a student of Rashba in the first decade of the 14th century, fragments of which were extracted from the bindings of a book housed in the archives of... more abstractThe study is devoted to a commentary to Tractate Berakhot written by a student of Rashba in the first decade of the 14th century, fragments of which were extracted from the bindings of a book housed in the archives of Girona, in the Catalonian province of Spain. The first chapter surveys the issue of manuscripts retrieved from bindings of books in Girona. During the middle ages, numerous European Hebrew manuscript fragments were reused as material for binding other books, commonly referred to as “The European Geniza.” In Girona, this process began by 1330 and continued until the period of the Spanish expulsion in 1492. The vast majority of these manuscripts were bound during the 14th century. About half of the fragments are Latin (including Catalan), and the other half are Hebrew. Of these, about half consist of registers and contracts and the other half is Rabbinic literature. In Girona, we have identified fragments of manuscripts of Talmudic commentaries composed by the following sages: Rashi, Tosafot, R. Zeraḥya HaLevy, Ramban, R. Aaron HaLevy, Rashba, and Ran. We also discovered other halachic works, sermons, and more. No examples of Mishnah, Tosefta, and Talmud Yerushalmi were found. Books in Girona archives contain up to tens of fragments in each binding, representing various different manuscripts. We discovered literary relationships between the works represented within several particular bindings. The Historical Archive of Girona is one of the three archives in Girona in which Hebrew manuscripts have been discovered. The archive houses notary books. Each book is clearly dated and thus indicates when the manuscripts were included in the binding, a terminus ad quem for the composition of the manuscripts themselves, which generally precedes this date considerably. We found fragments of eight manuscripts related to Tractate Berakhot in the three Girona archives, in ten different bindings. These are described and all other Hebrew manuscripts found in these bindings are identified. Scholars dispute whether these Hebrew fragments were bound by Jews or by gentiles. Several distinct pieces of evidence support the theory that Jews bound the fragments: 1) contemporary sources indicate that bookbinding was a Jewish occupation in Catalonia; 2) the practice of Jewish printers in Salonika in the 16th century discussed in responsa of R. Shmuel di Modena and R. Moshe Ḥaviv; 3) the custom of Yemenite Jewry; and 4) documented sales of worn-out manuscripts for bindings in Medieval Christian Europe. In the second chapter, the manuscripts which were extracted from volume 2, 62 of the Arxiu Historic in Girona are described. The binding contains many bifolios of a manuscript of Rashba’s Torat HaBayit HaQatzar. Also found are fragments of a letter from Jews of Girona, mentioned by name, to the King of Aragon, composed in Latin, subsequently used as scrap paper for practicing gothic Latin and cursive Spanish Hebrew scripts. The binding contains three bifolios of a commentary to the sixth chapter of Tractate Berakhot, which is the focus of our study. The third chapter is dedicated to an examination of the language of the commentary to Tractate Berakhot. The Hebrew is typical of the Talmudic works of Catalonian sages of the 13th and 14th centuries. Due to the nature of the Talmudic chapter, twenty-one vernacular phrases in the commentary describe names of plants, animals, and prepared foods which were consumed or smelled. These terms are mostly in the Catalan language, such as safumeig, but also include Arabic, such as ḥarirah. The fourth chapter examines which books were utilized by the commentator during the composition of his commentary, his “library.” The Talmud Yerushalmi is cited five times but it appears that these are from secondary sources. No particular relationship between the text of the Babylonian Talmud which is cited within the commentary and any other individual textual witness to Tractate Berakhot was discovered, including a Girona fragment on parchment still housed in the quire of a notary book. The commentator made notably frequent use of Halakhot Gedolot. The text of bhis citations often does not match known textual variants, nor does the published text of a fragment of of Halakhot Gedolot (Pesahim) extracted from another Girona binding. Some of these citations match versions cited by Spanish and Catalonian sages and those found in a fragment from the Cairo geniza. The commentator often cites Halakhot Gedolot as a primary source where the work was not cited by his other sources. Conclusive evidence is demonstrated that the version of Tosafot consulted by the commentator was that of R. Judah ben Isaac Messer Leon, also employed by R. Jonah of Girona, as opposed to the later Tosafot of R. Peretz, which had not yet become standard. It appears that Rashba utilized the older Tosafot of R. Judah as well. On one occasion, the commentator cites fragmented novella to Tractate Berakhot attributed to Ramban. Notably, he does not attribute these to Ramban. The commentator’s primary reliance on the commentary of a student of R. Jonah of Girona is uniquely distinguished by his clear and consistent implicit discernment between the opinions of R. Jonah, always cited as having been written in his name, and those of the student, freely reworked without attribution. The fifth chapter concerns the broader goals of the commentator in producing his composition. The commentary of R. Aaron HaLevy of Girona, a close disciple of Ramban, both of whom received traditions from Provencal Sages, does not represent his own approach as a disciple of Rashba, R. Aaron’s ardent rival. The commentator was influenced more prominently by the Northern French Tosafists via the school of Rashba’s main teacher, R. Jonah of Girona, who studied in Évreux. The novellae of Rashba do not suit his pedagogical goals or perhaps were not yet formally published or fully known to him. The commentaries of R. Aaron HaLevy and Rashba were drawn from sparingly, with primary reliance on the more accessible and popular commentary of the student of R. Jonah. The work resembles commentaries to Alfasi: it is clear and simple, defining words and clarifying concepts; the gloss covers the Talmudic text in its entirety (as opposed to just selected passages); two or three authoritative legal interpretations and opinions are often presented; and novel interpretations and convoluted discussions are generally avoided. A legal conclusion of each topic is emphasized, often under the heading: din, a notable form not found in other contemporaneous Talmudic commentaries. The commentator follows the Northern French Tosafists, whose discussions were always based on the Babylonian Talmud rather than Alfasi, the standard base text for the Sages of Provence. The work was classified as a commentary to the Talmud, not an independent legal composition. Nevertheless, the majority of the commentary may be studied on its own, without reliance on a complete version of the Talmud. It can be utilized without the commentary of Rashi or as an alternative to it. R. Aaron HaLevy of Girona’s elusive Nezer HaQodesh, probably represented in his published commentary to Tractate Sukkah, seems to have been a similar venture, and the commentary of the student of Rashba may have been a competitor to it. The commentator blazes his path by eclectically selecting from among existing interpretations. Some literary aspects are shared with R. Menaḥem Meiri’s contemporary Beit HaBeḥira. Other students of Rashba composed abridged halakhic works which include the Laws of Blessings and present similar traditions and opinions, often for the layman. The commentary generally surpasses these regarding fealty to sources and quality of grammar. It is proposed that the composition was conceived as a Talmudic guide to students of the commentator, not solely for his own personal review. The sixth chapter consists of a critical edition of the surviving text of the commentary. We added sources with brief notes and reconstructed almost all of the text missing due to maculation or complete disintegration of the manuscript paper. The identity of the commentator as a student of Rashba was clarified in an appendix focused on the topic of roses: which blessings are recited upon their fragrance and whether the biblical prohibition of orla applies to them. According to Rashba one recites: “Blessed… who gave a pleasant fragrance to fruit” upon both roses and rosewater. Regarding the obligation of orla for roses, Rashba replied stringently in a responsum. These unique halakhic opinions of Rashba are cited within the commentary (43b) as belonging to “Our teacher, may the merciful one protect him.” Thus, the commentator presented himself as a student of Rashba writing during his master’s lifetime. A follow-up responsum on the topic of orla was prompted by the inquirer, R. Isaac ben Solomon, a little-known but highly-regarded student/colleague with whom Rashba maintained extensive correspondence in the form of intensive dialectical study. As a result of R. Isaac’s prodding, Rashba retracted his stringent opinion somewhat and, in accordance with the opinion of Ra’avad, exempted roses from the obligation in the diaspora. R. Menaḥem Meiri’s presentation of Rashba’s opinion follows this understanding. However, other legal authorities cited solely Rashba’s stringent earlier opinion. Rashba’s student probably presents his teacher’s final opinion on the matter, maintaining stringency and suggesting that Rashba only compromised his stance under duress for those requiring release from the obligation of orla for reasons of financial necessity, tsarkhey ha-brioth.

Talmud, Rabbinics, Hebrew Manuscripts, Anthropology of Catalonia, Medieval Catalonia, and 1 more

Survey of Hebrew Rabbinic sources and liturgical art depicting falconry or describing Jewish practice, according to region of settlement.

Talmud, Rabbinics, Medieval France, Rabbinic Literature, Archaeology of Hunting, and 8 more

Location: NYU Abu Dhabi Saadiyat Capus

Event Date: Nov 17, 2015

Organization: The Warburg Institute, University of London

Conference End Date: Nov 18, 2015

Conference Start Date: Nov 15, 2015

Art History, Jewish Studies, Jewish - Christian Relations, Medieval illuminated manuscripts, Medieval Spain, and 2 more

The practice of "Jewish Hawking in Medieval France" is documented in my paper of that name. This practice did face Rabbinic opposition in France, Germany and Catalonia, but for purely technical legal reasons: dietary ... more abstractThe practice of "Jewish Hawking in Medieval France" is documented in my paper of that name. This practice did face Rabbinic opposition in France, Germany and Catalonia, but for purely technical legal reasons: dietary laws and prohibitions on use of animals. Kυνηγέω, on the other hand, faced strident Rabbinic opposition in both authoritative Talmudic sources and in the medieval period contemporaneous to the actual Jewish practice of falconry. A five-hundred-year lull of Rabbinic expression was suddenly broken in a highly nuanced legal opinion of R. Yechezkel Landau ("Noda Biyhuda", 1713-1793), a native of Opatów, Poland, and probably the most influential Polish Rabbi of all time. His response has become the definitive locus classicus for Rabbinic opinion on hunting. We explain the reason for the lull and show that Rabbinic opinion is generally, though not always, consistent. Variance of Rabbinic attitude is usually the product of different forms of hunting explicitly under discussion, such as subsistence hunting and sport hunting. Surprisingly, cruelty to animals and needless loss of life or property, Talmudic concerns expressed elsewhere, are not significantly relevant to hunting. The Rabbis are concerned primarily with dietary laws, interaction with gentile society, and proper character development.

Ethics, Talmud, Animal Welfare, Falconry, History of Hunting, and 2 more

Location: Supraśl, Poland (Bialistok)

Event Date: Oct 15, 2015

Organization: Bialistok Museum

Conference End Date: Oct 16, 2015

Conference Start Date: Oct 15, 2015

על ידי קוף: קופי האדם והקוף הבזייר בהלכה, אגדה ואמנות הקוף מצוייר רבות באיורי שוליים בכתבי יד מימי הביניים, בהם גם כתבי יד עבריים. ה'מעשה קוף' כולל פעולות של בני אדם כגון בזייר. נעיין באופן השוואתי באומנות היהודית א... more abstractעל ידי קוף: קופי האדם והקוף הבזייר בהלכה, אגדה ואמנות הקוף מצוייר רבות באיורי שוליים בכתבי יד מימי הביניים, בהם גם כתבי יד עבריים. ה'מעשה קוף' כולל פעולות של בני אדם כגון בזייר. נעיין באופן השוואתי באומנות היהודית אל מול האמנות הכללית וכן בהקשר ההלכתי והאגדי של הקוף, שבו הוא מוגדר לעתים כבן אדם משונה.

Jewish Studies, Jewish History, Manuscript Studies, Rabbinics, Jewish Thought, and 12 more

Location: Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan

Event Date: May 26, 2015

Organization: Department of Jewish Art and Interdisciplinary Studies

Art History, Jewish Studies, Judaism, and Falconry

Location: Bar-Ilan University

Organization: ARS Judaica Conference

Conference End Date: Sep 12, 2012

Conference Start Date: Sep 10, 2012

Comparative Religion, Comparative Law, Jewish Studies, Talmud, Jewish History, and 3 more

Time: 12 PM to 1 PM

Location: Madrid

Event Date: Mar 12, 2014

Organization: CSIC

Art History, Medieval Art, and Bible Commentary

Location: Boston College

Event Date: Mar 9, 2014

Organization: Jews, Christians, & Visuality: The 2014 Corcoran Chair International Conference.

Without a doubt, the most ambitious, popular, and widely quoted article on the history of falconry is “The Origin and Earliest History of Falconry” by Hans Epstein (1943). Published over seventy years ago, it has with... more abstractWithout a doubt, the most ambitious, popular, and widely quoted article on the history of falconry is “The Origin and Earliest History of Falconry” by Hans Epstein (1943). Published over seventy years ago, it has withstood the test of time and one suspects that even the present falconry volume, with its breadth of contributing specialists, will not render it obsolete. A mere thirteen erudite pages of text whizz dynamically from ancient Egypt and Assyria to Japan and China, Persia, Arabia and India, Talmudic sources and Hebrew Bible commentary, an extensive survey of ancient Greek and Roman literature and history, India, and legal codes of Germanic tribes. An impression of the clear and confident work as the product of a veteran scholar is shattered by the realization that it was composed by a twenty three-year old German-Jewish refugee orphan graduate student in the process of enlisting in the US Army at the apex of World War II and the holocaust.

History of Science, Biography, Lepidoptera, Vladimir Nabokov, Ernst Mayr, and 6 more

Maḥloqet l’šem šamayim is the topic of mAvot 5:17. Medieval interpreters understood maḥloqet as referring to a dispute. Modern scholars have proposed "group" as the original definition, following Biblical Hebrew, find... more abstractMaḥloqet l’šem šamayim is the topic of mAvot 5:17. Medieval interpreters understood maḥloqet as referring to a dispute. Modern scholars have proposed "group" as the original definition, following Biblical Hebrew, finding support for this novel interpretation in one of the oldest commentaries to mAvot. Others have opposed this interpretation as irreconcilable with the examples in the Mishnah and have proposed alternate intermediate interpretations...

Talmud, Rabbinic Literature, Mishnaic Hebrew, Mishnah, and Pirkei Avot

Journal Name: Journal of Jewish Studies, Oxford (forthcoming)

Jewish Law, Hebrew Manuscripts, Manuscripts (Medieval Studies), Codicology of medieval manuscripts, Historical Development of Halakhah, and 10 more

Publication Date: 2015

Publication Name: Materia Giudaica

Talmud, Archaeology of Hunting, Pre-Islamic Persian Art, Falconry, Babylonian talmud, and 5 more

Publisher: Centre for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology (ZBSA)

Publication Date: 2015

ברכות הנהנין וחיוב ערלה בוורדים An expanded version of the chapter on Roses and Rosewater in my Master's Thesis. Includes a short appendix on Rashba's dynamic correspondent, R. Isaac, son of Solomon, possibly from Tu... more abstractברכות הנהנין וחיוב ערלה בוורדים An expanded version of the chapter on Roses and Rosewater in my Master's Thesis. Includes a short appendix on Rashba's dynamic correspondent, R. Isaac, son of Solomon, possibly from Tudela.

Jewish Law, Hebrew Literature, Jewish Studies, Talmud, Jewish History, and 12 more

Location: Lakewood, NJ / Jerusalem

Publisher: Machon Plaitat Sofrim

Publication Date: Aug 15, 2015

Publication Name: חצי גיבורים - פליטת סופרים

Talmud, Magic, Rabbinic Literature, Jewish Customs manuscripts, and Sympathetic Magic

An Edition of the Commentary published in the Master's Thesis, with additional notes and an introduction for Talmudic Scholars

Jewish Law, Jewish Studies, Talmud, Ibn Adret, Hebrew Girona Manucripts, and 4 more

Publication Date: Apr 2015

Publication Name: Yeshurun

History, Jewish Studies, Talmud, Jewish History, Midrash, and 9 more

More Info: Translation of an early Geonic text, its influence and impact on traditional and modern scholars, and review of literature, including previously unpublished material.

Manuscript fragments in poor condition salvaged from a notary bookbinding in Girona of Catalonia contain sections of a Rabbinic commentary on Tractate Pesahim. One leaf, whose ink had all transferred to the opposite p... more abstractManuscript fragments in poor condition salvaged from a notary bookbinding in Girona of Catalonia contain sections of a Rabbinic commentary on Tractate Pesahim. One leaf, whose ink had all transferred to the opposite page upon expert separation of the pages, reveals legible Hebrew text upon reversing the image electronically. The text enables positive identification of the author of the commentary as R. Aharon HaLevi of Barcelona. The author refers to R. Zerachya HaLevi, the great-great-grandfather of R. Aharon, in exactly the same elaborate way that R.Aharon refers to him in his other extant works. He also refers to Ramban, Nachmanides, directly as just “Rabbenu,” just as R. Aaron HaLevi does. It appears that the standard appellation is added which indicates to us that the commentary was among those written during the lifetime of the Ramban. The commentary itself to Tractate Pesahim was known to subsequent prominent Catalonian sages who cite it, and a copy of it was even reportedly in existence 150 years ago, but it too has apparently been lost. Other than one small section of the commentary which was first published as part of the commentary of a Provencal sage, these fragments represent our only remnants of the commentary. An annotated Hebrew transcription is provided here, of the section in which the identification is made. Extensive reconstruction of missing or illegible text was required, mostly according to the sources clearly cited by the author. It is argued that the Ramban's criticism of the author's paternal ancestor, R. Zerachya HaLevy, is accepted in a much more tempered form. R. Zerachya does not actually hold the radically lenient position suggested by his brief ambiguous statement and attacked by Ramban and others, which would permit the inspection of the house for leavened items by daylight. Rabbenu Aharon HaLevy's interpretation of R. Zerachya's opinion agrees with the one which would eventually be taken by R. Yoel Sirkis (Bach), as opposed to the understanding of Rabbenu Nissim of Gerona (Ran), and Maran, R. Yosef Karo, in his Beit Yosef.

Jewish Studies, Talmud, Jewish History, Hebrew Manuscripts, Historical Development of Halakhah, and 4 more

More Info: Fragments of the missing commentary of R. Aharon HaLevi of Barcelona to Tractate Pesahim

Publisher: Dr. Ezra Chwat, National Library of Israel, Manuscripts Dept.

Publication Date: Sep 20, 2012

Publication Name: Giluy Milta B'alma

Liturgy, Talmud, Manuscript Studies, and Historical Development of Halakhah

More Info: http://www.daf-yomi.com/forums/message.aspx?id=11284

Publication Date: 2010

Jewish Studies, Talmud, Jewish History, and Rabbinic Literature

Genetics and Jewish Genealogy

Genealogy, Genetic Genealogy, Jewish genealogy, Genetic Genealogy, Jewish Genealogy, Jewish History, and Rabbi David Kimḥi

שיבוש נועז שנכנס לתפילת ההדרן דרך דפוס ראשון של הרי"ף ראה גם מאמרי ב'המעיין' בהרחבה

Manuscript Studies, Rabbinic Literature, Hebrew Manuscripts, Maimonides, Jewish Liturgy, and 1 more

Liturgy, Talmud, Manuscript Studies, and Historical Development of Halakhah

More Info: http://www.daf-yomi.com/forums/message.aspx?id=11284

Talmud, Manuscript Studies, and Quality of On-line Services

Jewish Studies and Hebrew Language

Event Date: Mar 27, 2013

Analysis of difficult word in Tannaitic Literature

Hebrew Language and Aramaic

More Info: Also presented at conference: Prof. Moshe Bar-Asher, Rabbi Prof. S. Z. Havlin, Rabbi Yitzhak Frank

Conference Start Date: Apr 2012

Hebrew Language and Aramaic

Event Date: Apr 2011