Classes by Mordechai Dinerman

In 1790, Moses Seixas of Newport, Rhode Island, and Manuel Josephson of Philadelphia corresponded, with Josephson composing what effectively amounts to a halachic teshuvah. Josephson raised concerns about the conduct of the Touro Synagogue in Newport, arguing that elements of the service were not being properly observed. The exchange provides an important window into the religious commitments and halachic awareness of early American Jews. It also stands as one of the earliest examples of a rabbinic-style teshuvah in the formative years of Jewish life in the United States.

From Philadelphia to Newport: An Early American Teshuvah (1790)

In this final class of the series, we will examine the Rebbe’s statements and correspondence regarding going up to Har Habayis.
By studying the available sources, we will seek to better understand what the Rebbe did—and did not—say about this complex and significant question.

This is the fourth and final installment on this topic. 
What Did the Rebbe Say About Going on Har Habayis?

Whether Jews may enter Har Habayis largely depends on whether we know where the Beis Hamikdash stood.
A common assumption is that we don’t know for sure, but that assumption has a history.
This class traces the story of this uncertainty, primarily through the accounts of Jewish travelers who visited Eretz Yisrael and recorded what they saw and heard.

This is the third installment in a series about going up onto Har Habayis.

Is the Dome of the Rock Where the Mikdash Stood?

The bar mitzvah ceremony didn’t always look the way it does today. In fact, for much of Jewish history, it barely looked like anything at all.
In this episode, we investigate: When did a ceremony first appear? What did it look like? When did bar mitzvah boys start receiving an aliya? Leining? Leading davening? A derasha?
We’ll trace its evolution among Ashkenazi Jews from the eleventh century through the seventeenth century. 
In celebration of the bar mitzvah of Meir Nosson Hakohen Dinerman
The Boy at the Bimah: A History of Bar Mitzvah Celebrations

In the spring of 1096, crusading armies swept through the Jewish communities of the Rhineland, leaving devastation in their wake.
This class traces how those events gave rise to rituals of memory.
In the community of Worms, fast days were proclaimed on the 23rd of Iyar and Rosh Chodesh Sivan, accompanied by elaborate mourning customs.
We’ll see how in 1716, when Rosh Chodesh Sivan fell on a Friday, rabbinic authorities clashed over davening Maariv early that afternoon.
We conclude by tracing the demise of these fast days while noting how other rituals, such as the recitation of Av HaRachamim, have endured to this day.
The First Crusade: The 1096 Massacres and the Rituals They Created