Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Linked Article: Machon Moreshes Ashkenaz

Machon Moreshes Ashkenaz, OpenSiddur.org

Rabbi Binyamin Shlomo Hamburger

Translated by Rabbi Reuven Poupko

"The Migration of Torah Tradition from the Land of Israel to Ashkenazic Lands I hold of our tradition and that of our ancestors, the sages of Ashkenaz, whose Torah teachings were passed down to them from their ancestors since the time of the Churban (destruction of the Holy Temple). — The Rosh, R’ Asher b. Yechiel. Ashkenazic Jewry had yeshivos continuously, generation after generation, since the time of the Churban. They put their souls into the knowledge of the Torah and its observance, following its laws of justice and other halachos. Therefore, it is certain that their correct knowledge of its details goes back farther [than other traditions]. — R’ Yakov Emden.

During the Second Temple Period, Jerusalem was the center of Jewish life. The kernel of Torah tradition was ensconced in the Lishkas Hagazis (Chamber of Cut Stone), the basilica set into the north wall of the Holy Temple. The Sanhedrin was situated there.1 The Sanhedrin was the superior court and the final word in all matters of Torah law. All eyes turned to the sages of the Sanhedrin for guidance in every area of Jewish life. From there Torah went forth to world Jewry. As such, it was the place to which the oral tradition of the Torah legacy was entrusted. After the destruction of the Second Temple, about ninety thousand Jews were exiled from the Land of Israel by the evil emperor Titus (39-81 CE).2 The Torah sages continued to safeguard the oral tradition passed down to them from earlier sages.3 This legacy was kept in its entirety by core yeshivos and by rabbinic supervision over its precise practice in the community."


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