Classes by Mordechai Dinerman

In the late 1920s, a Jerusalem rabbi cited an obscure passage describing a certain Rabbi Moshe’s pilgrimage to the Holy Land, including what appeared to be a visit to the Temple Mount itself. He seized on it as proof that going there was halachically permitted.
This sparked a fierce debate over the passage: Was it even credible? Who exactly was this Rabbi Moshe? Did the text actually refer to the Temple Mount? And if a great rabbi really did go there, what would that mean for us today?

This is the second installment in a series about going up onto Har Habayis.
Did Rambam Actually Set Foot on Har Habayis?

Mechiras chametz is today a standard part of observing Pesach. But how did this practice come to be, and how has it evolved over the centuries?
In this class, we analyze the relevant sources in Ashkenazic and Sefardic texts, revealing two distinct approaches to this topic. We’ll then find how the more the sale was refined to accommodate the seller, the more complications it introduced, requiring a series of complex adjustments and, eventually, triggering voices of opposition.
All along, we’ll wrestle with a central issue—drawing the line between legal creativity and legal fiction.

The Controversial History of Mechiras Chametz

There’s a well-known story about Sir Moses Montefiore going up onto Har Habayis during one of his seven legendary trips to Eretz Yisrael.
But once you begin looking into it, you quickly discover that there are several versions of the story, each one telling it a bit differently: when he went up, why he did it, how he did it, and what the rabbinic community’s reaction was.
As we’ll see, a great deal depends on who is telling the story.
In this class, we’ll return to the sources and try to piece together what actually happened.
This is the first installment in a series about going up onto Har Habayis.
A Scandal on Har Habayis: The Montefiore Story

The Mishneh Torah printed in Venice in the 1570s was the product of a broad and deliberate program of censorship. Beyond removing the handful of references to the Christian founder, which we discussed in the prior class, the censors altered many other words and phrases. In some places, entire laws disappear; in others, the language is carefully adjusted to soften its force. In this class, we trace the principles that guided the censors and examine how their work left a lasting imprint on one of Judaism’s foundational texts.

Censoring the Rambam: Part II

In October 1949, The New York Times announced a sensational discovery: an ancient manuscript of Mishneh Torah was discovered and it contained a long-lost provocative passage about the Christian founder. The headline sparked excitement, but the story was riddled with errors. In this class, we trace the real history of that controversial passage and examine when, how, and why it was cut by the censor.

Censoring the Rambam