Beth Rivkah ( Hebrew : בית רבקה , Bais Rivkah , lit. "House of Rebecca"), formally known as Associated Beth Rivkah Schools , is a private girls' school system affiliated with the Chabad Lubavitch Hasidic movement.
118-636: It was established in 1941 by Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn , the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe , and developed by his son-in-law, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson , the seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe. The flagship school in Crown Heights, Brooklyn , includes an early childhood division, elementary school, high school, and a teacher training seminary. Other branches are located in Montreal, Quebec , Canada; Yerres , France; Melbourne , Australia; Casablanca , Morocco; and Kfar Chabad , Israel. Many Lubavitcher girls attend
236-457: A hypothesis continues to have adherents in Israel and North America. The majority of scholars today continue to recognize Deuteronomy as a source, with its origin in the law-code produced at the court of Josiah as described by De Wette, subsequently given a frame during the exile (the speeches and descriptions at the front and back of the code) to identify it as the words of Moses. However, since
354-463: A quill (or other permitted writing utensil) dipped in ink. Written entirely in Hebrew , a sefer Torah contains 304,805 letters, all of which must be duplicated precisely by a trained sofer ("scribe"), an effort that may take as long as approximately one and a half years. Most modern Sifrei Torah are written with forty-two lines of text per column ( Yemenite Jews use fifty), and very strict rules about
472-744: A yeshiva in Bukhara . As he matured, he campaigned for the rights of Jews by appearing before the Czarist authorities in Saint Petersburg and Moscow. During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904 he sought relief for Jewish conscripts in the Russian army by sending them kosher food and supplies in the Russian Far East . In 1905, he participated in organizing a fund to provide Passover needs for troops in
590-470: A 7-week day camp on the premises each summer for preschool through seventh grade. The camp is divided into three divisions: Kiddie Camp (Pre-1A), Younger Division (Grades 1 and 2) and Older Division (Grades 3 through 7). Beth Rivkah accepts all students regardless of religious affiliation or educational background. It also accepts students who cannot afford full tuition . The school has weathered financial shortfalls due to its tuition policy. In September 2014,
708-529: A Lubavitch village in the Land of Israel known as Kfar Chabad near Tel Aviv , on the site of the de-populated Arab village of Al-Safiriyya . He died in 1950, and was buried at Montefiore Cemetery in Queens , New York City. He had no sons, and his younger son-in-law, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson ("The Rebbe") succeeded him as Lubavitcher Rebbe, while the older son-in-law, Rabbi Shemaryahu Gurary continued to run
826-558: A day for Russia refusing to return the Schneersohn collection of more than 12,000 books and 50,000 religious papers. Since Rabbi Schneersohn had no heirs, Russia claims the collection is a national treasure of the Russian people. This dispute is related to the deteriorating ties between Moscow and the U.S. over the ongoing 2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine . A Russian court ruled that
944-645: A great number of tannaim , the oral tradition was written down around 200 CE by Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi , who took up the compilation of a nominally written version of the Oral Law, the Mishnah ( משנה ). Other oral traditions from the same time period not entered into the Mishnah were recorded as Baraitot (external teaching), and the Tosefta . Other traditions were written down as Midrashim . After continued persecution more of
1062-668: A new generation can grow up and carry out the task. The book ends with the new generation of Israelites in the " plains of Moab " ready for the crossing of the Jordan River . Numbers is the culmination of the story of Israel's exodus from oppression in Egypt and their journey to take possession of the land God promised their fathers . As such it draws to a conclusion the themes introduced in Genesis and played out in Exodus and Leviticus: God has promised
1180-721: A number of yeshivot in Bukhara. He was primarily responsible for the maintenance of the now-clandestine Chabad yeshiva system, which had ten branches throughout Russia by this time. He was under continual surveillance by agents of the NKVD . In 1927, he was arrested and imprisoned in the Shpalerna or Shpalerka Prison (latter known as Bolshoy Dom) in Leningrad . He was accused of counter-revolutionary activities, and sentenced to death. A worldwide storm of outrage and pressure from Western governments and
1298-523: A program of nationalist reform in the time of Josiah (late 7th century BCE), with the final form of the modern book emerging in the milieu of the return from the Babylonian captivity during the late 6th century BCE. Many scholars see the book as reflecting the economic needs and social status of the Levite caste, who are believed to have provided its authors; those likely authors are collectively referred to as
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#17329095646161416-611: A redactor: J, the Jahwist source, E, the Elohist source, P, the Priestly source , and D, the Deuteronomist source. The earliest of these sources, J, would have been composed in the late 7th or the 6th century BCE, with the latest source, P, being composed around the 5th century BCE. The consensus around the documentary hypothesis collapsed in the last decades of the 20th century. The groundwork
1534-676: A refuge for our Jewish people," he said at his arrival. The purpose of his visit was to assess the educational and religious state of American Jewry, and raise awareness of the plight of Soviet Jews. Hailed as "one of the greatest Jews of our age," he was honored at a 28 October banquet in Manhattan by Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Jewish leaders. While in the United States, Schneersohn also traveled (among places other than New York) to Philadelphia , Baltimore , Detroit, Boston , and Chicago. On 10 July, he met President Herbert Hoover at
1652-560: A small plane to Sweden since boats were no longer permitted out of Riga, landing in Stockholm , and then took a boat to Gothenburg . There, they boarded the Drottningholm which sailed to America, arriving in New York City on 19 March 1940, and where they stayed at Manhattan’s Greystone Hotel . Major Ernst Bloch [ de ] , a decorated German army officer of Jewish descent,
1770-1028: A variety of sources in order to comply with the Hasidic movement's religious beliefs. In high school, where students are required by the New York Board of Regents to study from specific textbooks, teachers append their own notations to pages describing theories such as the Big Bang and evolution to inform students of what they consider the Torah point of view on these topics. Novels read in English literature classes are also vetted for compliance with Chabad philosophy and religious beliefs. Beth Rivkah teachers employ pedagogical techniques such as "group work, cooperative learning, and multiple-intelligence methods", and attend both regional and national workshops sponsored by Chabad to improve their pedagogical methods. The Crown Heights school runs
1888-457: A world which is good and fit for mankind, but when man corrupts it with sin God decides to destroy his creation, using the flood, saving only the righteous Noah and his immediate family to reestablish the relationship between man and God. The Ancestral history (chapters 12–50) tells of the prehistory of Israel, God's chosen people. At God's command Noah's descendant Abraham journeys from his home into
2006-528: Is Targum . The Encyclopaedia Judaica has: At an early period, it was customary to translate the Hebrew text into the vernacular at the time of the reading (e.g., in Palestine and Babylon the translation was into Aramaic). The targum ("translation") was done by a special synagogue official, called the meturgeman ... Eventually, the practice of translating into the vernacular was discontinued. However, there
2124-949: Is also considered a sacred book outside Judaism; in Samaritanism , the Samaritan Pentateuch is a text of the Torah written in the Samaritan script and used as sacred scripture by the Samaritans ; the Torah is also common among all the different versions of the Christian Old Testament ; in Islam , the Tawrat ( Arabic : توراة ) is the Arabic name for the Torah within its context as an Islamic holy book believed by Muslims to have been given by God to
2242-598: Is arguably the most important book in the Bible, as it presents the defining features of Israel's identity: memories of a past marked by hardship and escape, a binding covenant with God, who chooses Israel, and the establishment of the life of the community and the guidelines for sustaining it. The Book of Leviticus begins with instructions to the Israelites on how to use the Tabernacle , which they had just built (Leviticus 1–10). This
2360-584: Is available about the effect his visit had on the attitude of the local Arabs. Following his trip to the Holy Land, he turned his attention to the United States, arriving in Manhattan on 17 September 1929 (12 Elul 5689) on the French passenger liner France. Schneersohn was greeted by some 600 people, with security provided by over 100 New York City police officers. "May the Almighty bless this great country that has been
2478-534: Is called a Sefer Torah ("Book [of] Torah"). They are written using a painstakingly careful method by highly qualified scribes . It is believed that every word, or marking, has divine meaning and that not one part may be inadvertently changed lest it lead to error. The fidelity of the Hebrew text of the Tanakh, and the Torah in particular, is considered paramount, down to the last letter: translations or transcriptions are frowned upon for formal service use, and transcribing
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#17329095646162596-580: Is celebrated each year by the Chabad community. After his release, Yosef Yitzchak went to Mandatory Palestine where he saw holy gravesites, local yeshivas and Torah centers, and met with rabbis and community leaders from 7–22 August 1929. He visited Hebron ten days before the massacre and, according to Chabad accounts, was the first Jew for many years to be allowed into the Cave of the Patriarchs . Little information
2714-508: Is done with painstaking care. An error of a single letter, ornamentation, or symbol of the 304,805 stylized letters that make up the Hebrew Torah text renders a Torah scroll unfit for use, hence a special skill is required and a scroll takes considerable time to write and check. According to Jewish law, a sefer Torah (plural: Sifrei Torah ) is a copy of the formal Hebrew text handwritten on gevil or klaf (forms of parchment ) by using
2832-562: Is followed by rules of clean and unclean (Leviticus 11–15), which includes the laws of slaughter and animals permissible to eat (see also: Kashrut ), the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16), and various moral and ritual laws sometimes called the Holiness Code (Leviticus 17–26). Leviticus 26 provides a detailed list of rewards for following God's commandments and a detailed list of punishments for not following them. Leviticus 17 establishes sacrifices at
2950-454: Is found neither in the Torah itself, nor in the works of the pre-Exilic literary prophets . It appears in Joshua and Kings , but it cannot be said to refer there to the entire corpus (according to academic Bible criticism). In contrast, there is every likelihood that its use in the post-Exilic works was intended to be comprehensive. Other early titles were "The Book of Moses" and "The Book of
3068-531: Is in session six days a week, excluding Shabbat (Saturday), with a half-day scheduled on Fridays to accommodate Shabbat preparations. The school day runs from 9 am to 4 pm, with a half-hour break for lunch. Judaic studies – including Bible, Midrash , Jewish law , Jewish history, Hebrew , Yiddish , and the writings of the Chabad Rebbes – are taught in the mornings. Secular subjects such as English, mathematics, geography, science, and American history are taught in
3186-416: Is punctuated by a series of covenants with God , successively narrowing in scope from all mankind (the covenant with Noah ) to a special relationship with one people alone (Abraham and his descendants through Isaac and Jacob). The Book of Exodus is the second book of the Torah, immediately following Genesis. The book tells how the ancient Israelites leave slavery in Egypt through the strength of Yahweh ,
3304-448: Is regardless of whether that yod appears in the phrase "I am the LORD thy God" ( אָנֹכִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ , Exodus 20:2) or whether it appears in "And God spoke unto Moses saying" ( וַיְדַבֵּר אֱלֹהִים, אֶל-מֹשֶׁה; וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו, אֲנִי יְהוָה. Exodus 6:2). In a similar vein, Rabbi Akiva ( c. 50 – c. 135 CE ), is said to have learned a new law from every et ( את ) in
3422-474: Is the Arabic name for the Torah, which Muslims believe is an Islamic holy book given by God to the prophets and messengers amongst the Children of Israel . The Torah starts with God creating the world , then describes the beginnings of the people of Israel , their descent into Egypt, and the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai . It ends with the death of Moses , just before the people of Israel cross to
3540-656: Is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible , namely the books of Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy . In Christianity , the Torah is also known as the Pentateuch ( / ˈ p ɛ n t ə tj uː k / ) or the Five Books of Moses . In Rabbinical Jewish tradition it is also known as the Written Torah ( תּוֹרָה שֶׁבִּכְתָב , Tōrā šebbīḵṯāv ). If meant for liturgic purposes, it takes
3658-506: Is the fifth book of the Torah. Chapters 1–30 of the book consist of three sermons or speeches delivered to the Israelites by Moses on the plains of Moab , shortly before they enter the Promised Land. The first sermon recounts the forty years of wilderness wanderings which had led to that moment, and ends with an exhortation to observe the law (or teachings), later referred to as the Law of Moses ;
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3776-567: Is widely seen as a product of the Persian period (539–332 BCE, probably 450–350 BCE). This consensus echoes a traditional Jewish view which gives Ezra , the leader of the Jewish community on its return from Babylon, a pivotal role in its promulgation. Many theories have been advanced to explain the composition of the Torah, but two have been especially influential. The first of these, Persian Imperial authorisation, advanced by Peter Frei in 1985, holds that
3894-501: The parashot for the Torah on the Aleppo Codex . Conservative and Reform synagogues may read parashot on a triennial rather than annual schedule, On Saturday afternoons, Mondays, and Thursdays, the beginning of the following Saturday's portion is read. On Jewish holidays , the beginnings of each month, and fast days , special sections connected to the day are read. Jews observe an annual holiday, Simchat Torah , to celebrate
4012-594: The Vaad Hatzalah . In return, Schneersohn was critical of the efforts of rabbis Kalmanowitz and Kotler based on the suspicion that Kalmanowitz and Kotler were discriminating in their use of funds, placing their yeshivas before all else, and that the Mizrachi and Agudas Harabonim withdrew their support of the Vaad after they discovered this fact. During the last decade of Rabbi Schneersohn's life, from 1940 to 1950, he settled in
4130-678: The Crown Heights section of Brooklyn in New York City. Rabbi Schneersohn was already physically weak and ill from his suffering at the hands of the Communists and the Nazis and from multiple health issues including multiple sclerosis, but he had a strong vision of rebuilding Orthodox Judaism in America, and he wanted his movement to spearhead it. To do so, he went on a building campaign to establish religious Jewish day schools and yeshivas for boys and girls, women and men. He established printing houses for
4248-672: The Deuteronomist . One of its most significant verses is Deuteronomy 6:4, the Shema Yisrael , which has become the definitive statement of Jewish identity : "Hear, O Israel: the L ORD our God, the L ORD is one." Verses 6:4–5 were also quoted by Jesus in Mark 12:28–34 as part of the Great Commandment . The Talmud states that the Torah was written by Moses, with the exception of the last eight verses of Deuteronomy, describing his death and burial, being written by Joshua . According to
4366-725: The International Red Cross forced the communist regime to commute the death sentence and instead on 3 Tammuz it banished him to Kostroma for an original sentence of three years. Yekaterina Peshkova , a prominent Russian human rights activist, helped from inside as well. This was also commuted following political pressure from the outside, and in July 1927, he was finally allowed to leave Russia for Riga in Latvia, where he lived until 1929 before traveling to Mandatory Palestine (now Israel). Yosef Yitzchak's release from Soviet imprisonment
4484-663: The Jerusalem Talmud . Since the greater number of rabbis lived in Babylon, the Babylonian Talmud has precedence should the two be in conflict. Orthodox and Conservative branches of Judaism accept these texts as the basis for all subsequent halakha and codes of Jewish law, which are held to be normative. Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism deny that these texts, or the Torah itself for that matter, may be used for determining normative law (laws accepted as binding) but accept them as
4602-433: The Mishnah one of the essential tenets of Judaism is that God transmitted the text of the Torah to Moses over the span of the 40 years the Israelites were in the desert and Moses was like a scribe who was dictated to and wrote down all of the events, the stories and the commandments. According to Jewish tradition , the Torah was recompiled by Ezra during Second Temple period . The Talmud says that Ezra changed
4720-591: The Oral Torah which comprises the Mishnah , the Talmud , the Midrash and more. The inaccurate rendering of "Torah" as "Law" may be an obstacle to understanding the ideal that is summed up in the term talmud torah ( תלמוד תורה , "study of Torah"). The term "Torah" is also used to designate the entire Hebrew Bible . The earliest name for the first part of the Bible seems to have been "The Torah of Moses". This title, however,
4838-448: The Paris neighborhood of Yerres opened in 1947. It consists of an early childhood division, elementary school, high school, and seminary for girls. There is also a cheder for boys. As of 2015, the total enrollment is 600 students. Beth Rivkah Academy of Montreal opened in 1956. In 1967 it opened a facility for 500 students, with dormitory accommodations for 180. As of 2015, enrollment in
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4956-407: The Persian period , with possibly some later additions during the Hellenistic period. The words of the Torah are written on a scroll by a scribe ( sofer ) in Hebrew. A Torah portion is read every Monday morning and Thursday morning at a shul (synagogue) but only if there are ten males above the age of thirteen. Reading the Torah publicly is one of the bases of Jewish communal life. The Torah
5074-399: The Promised Land of Canaan . Interspersed in the narrative are the specific teachings (religious obligations and civil laws) given explicitly (i.e. Ten Commandments ) or implicitly embedded in the narrative (as in Exodus 12 and 13 laws of the celebration of Passover ). In Hebrew, the five books of the Torah are identified by the incipits in each book; and the common English names for
5192-438: The Tabernacle , and all the teachings were written down by Moses , which resulted in the Torah that exists today. According to the Midrash, the Torah was created prior to the creation of the world , and was used as the blueprint for Creation. Though hotly debated, the general trend in biblical scholarship is to recognize the final form of the Torah as a literary and ideological unity, based on earlier sources, largely complete by
5310-487: The Tabernacle , the means by which he will come from heaven and dwell with them and lead them in a holy war to possess the land, and then give them peace. Traditionally ascribed to Moses himself, modern scholarship sees the book as initially a product of the Babylonian exile (6th century BCE), from earlier written and oral traditions, with final revisions in the Persian post-exilic period (5th century BCE). Carol Meyers , in her commentary on Exodus suggests that it
5428-502: The prophets and messengers amongst the Children of Israel . The word "Torah" in Hebrew is derived from the root ירה , which in the hif'il conjugation means 'to guide' or 'to teach'. The meaning of the word is therefore "teaching", "doctrine", or "instruction"; the commonly accepted "law" gives a wrong impression. The Alexandrian Jews who translated the Septuagint used the Greek word nomos , meaning norm, standard, doctrine, and later "law". Greek and Latin Bibles then began
5546-439: The synagogue in the Ark known as the "Holy Ark" ( אֲרוֹן הקֹדשׁ aron hakodesh in Hebrew.) Aron in Hebrew means "cupboard" or "closet", and kodesh is derived from "kadosh", or "holy". The Book of Ezra refers to translations and commentaries of the Hebrew text into Aramaic , the more commonly understood language of the time. These translations would seem to date to the 6th century BCE. The Aramaic term for translation
5664-424: The 1990s, the biblical description of Josiah's reforms (including his court's production of a law-code) have become heavily debated among academics. Most scholars also agree that some form of Priestly source existed, although its extent, especially its end-point, is uncertain. The remainder is called collectively non-Priestly, a grouping which includes both pre-Priestly and post-Priestly material. The final Torah
5782-406: The 19th and 20th centuries CE, new movements such as Reform Judaism and Conservative Judaism have made adaptations to the practice of Torah reading, but the basic pattern of Torah reading has usually remained the same: As a part of the morning prayer services on certain days of the week, fast days, and holidays, as well as part of the afternoon prayer services of Shabbat, Yom Kippur, a section of
5900-563: The Beth Rivkah school had some 300 students. The Beit Rivkah College in Kfar Chabad , Israel, opened in 1957. Originally a teacher training institute , it evolved into a two-year seminary , and then a teachers college which bestows both B.A. and M.A. degrees. As of 2010, enrollment was 1,000 students in Kfar Chabad and in branches in Jerusalem and Safed . See Midrasha § Certifications . Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn Yosef Yitzchak ( Joseph Isaac ) Schneersohn ( Yiddish : יוסף יצחק שניאורסאהן ; 21 June 1880 – 28 January 1950)
6018-483: The Beth Rivkah school system from first through twelfth grades. Students at the one- to two-year, post-high-school teacher training seminary have the option of earning a teaching certificate, which can be used in both Chabad and non-Chabad Jewish schools. This article also discusses other Lubavitch girls' schools, as well as the post secondary institutions available. The sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe named Beth Rivkah after his grandmother, Rebbetzin Rivkah Schneersohn, wife of
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#17329095646166136-460: The Chabad Yeshiva network Tomchei Temimim . After Rabbi Schneersohn's passing, his gravesite, known as "the Ohel ", became a central point of focus for his successor Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who would visit it regularly for many hours of prayer, meditation, and supplication for Jews all over the world. After his successor's passing and burial next to his father-in-law, philanthropist Joseph Gutnick of Melbourne, Australia, established
6254-409: The Exodus story was composed to serve the needs of a post-exilic Jewish community organised around the Temple, which acted in effect as a bank for those who belonged to it. A minority of scholars would place the final formation of the Pentateuch somewhat later, in the Hellenistic (332–164 BCE) or even Hasmonean (140–37 BCE) periods. Russell Gmirkin, for instance, argues for a Hellenistic dating on
6372-419: The Far East. With rising antisemitism and pogroms against Jews, in 1906 he traveled with other prominent rabbis to seek help from Western European governments, especially Germany and the Netherlands , and persuaded bankers there to use their influence to stop pogroms. He was arrested four times between 1902 and 1911 by the Czarist police because of his activism, but was released each time. Upon
6490-427: The God who has chosen Israel as his people. Yahweh inflicts horrific harm on their captors via the legendary Plagues of Egypt . With the prophet Moses as their leader, they journey through the wilderness to Mount Sinai , where Yahweh promises them the land of Canaan (the " Promised Land ") in return for their faithfulness. Israel enters into a covenant with Yahweh who gives them their laws and instructions to build
6608-421: The God-given land of Canaan , where he dwells as a sojourner, as does his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob . Jacob's name is changed to Israel, and through the agency of his son Joseph , the children of Israel descend into Egypt, 70 people in all with their households, and God promises them a future of greatness. Genesis ends with Israel in Egypt, ready for the coming of Moses and the Exodus . The narrative
6726-420: The Israelites that they shall become a great (i.e. numerous) nation, that they will have a special relationship with Yahweh their god, and that they shall take possession of the land of Canaan. Numbers also demonstrates the importance of holiness, faithfulness and trust: despite God's presence and his priests , Israel lacks faith and the possession of the land is left to a new generation. The Book of Deuteronomy
6844-584: The Library of Congress should pay fines of $ 50,000 a day for refusing to return the books. Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak's escape from Poland was the subject of a 2011 Israeli documentary film Ha'rabi Ve'hakatzin Ha'germani ( The Chabad Rebbe and the German Officer ). Solid lines indicate parents/children, dashed lines show marriages, dotted lines show in-laws. Additional members of Schneersohn family are not listed here Torah The Torah ( / ˈ t ɔːr ə / or / ˈ t oʊ r ə / ; Biblical Hebrew : תּוֹרָה Tōrā , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law")
6962-416: The Ohel Chabad-Lubavitch Center on Francis Lewis Boulevard in Queens , which is located adjacent to the joint grave site. During his life in Smolensk , Rabbi Schneersohn set up a collection of his family's religious books and writings. It includes texts dating back to the 16th century. After World War I, the Bolsheviks found part of the collection and moved it to the Russian State Library . Another part of
7080-450: The Oral Law was committed to writing. A great many more lessons, lectures and traditions only alluded to in the few hundred pages of Mishnah, became the thousands of pages now called the Gemara . Gemara is written in Aramaic (specifically Jewish Babylonian Aramaic ), having been compiled in Babylon. The Mishnah and Gemara together are called the Talmud. The rabbis in the Land of Israel also collected their traditions and compiled them into
7198-460: The Oral and the written Torah were transmitted in parallel with each other. Where the Torah leaves words and concepts undefined, and mentions procedures without explanation or instructions, the reader is required to seek out the missing details from supplemental sources known as the Oral Law or Oral Torah. Some of the Torah's most prominent commandments needing further explanation are: According to classical rabbinic texts this parallel set of material
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#17329095646167316-489: The Pentateuch is read from a Torah scroll. On Shabbat (Saturday) mornings, a weekly section (" parashah ") is read, selected so that the entire Pentateuch is read consecutively each year. The division of parashot found in the modern-day Torah scrolls of all Jewish communities (Ashkenazic, Sephardic, and Yemenite) is based upon the systematic list provided by Maimonides in Mishneh Torah , Laws of Tefillin, Mezuzah and Torah Scrolls , chapter 8. Maimonides based his division of
7434-442: The Persian authorities required the Jews of Jerusalem to present a single body of law as the price of local autonomy. Frei's theory was, according to Eskenazi, "systematically dismantled" at an interdisciplinary symposium held in 2000, but the relationship between the Persian authorities and Jerusalem remains a crucial question. The second theory, associated with Joel P. Weinberg and called the "Citizen-Temple Community", proposes that
7552-515: The Pre-1A, elementary and high school divisions did not open on time for the fall semester due to financial difficulties; the early childhood center, which is government-funded, was not affected. Beth Rivkah has a dress code. In addition to a school uniform, jewelry and grooming guidelines are enforced in accordance with the laws of tzniut (modesty). In 2012, the Crown Heights school ordered students to delete their Facebook accounts or face expulsion. Since many girls are named Chaya Mushka after
7670-491: The Rebbetzin of the seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe, teachers call on students by their surnames . The seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, founded other branches of Beth Rivkah in Yerres , France; Montreal, Quebec , Canada; Melbourne , Australia; Casablanca , Meknes , and Sefrou , Morocco; and Kfar Chabad , Israel in the 1940s and 1950s. By 1967, there were 98 Beth Rivkah schools worldwide, with an enrollment of 40,000 students. The Beth Rivkah school in
7788-434: The Tabernacle as an everlasting ordinance, but this ordinance is altered in later books with the Temple being the only place in which sacrifices are allowed. The Book of Numbers is the fourth book of the Torah. The book has a long and complex history, but its final form is probably due to a Priestly redaction (i.e., editing) of a Yahwistic source made some time in the early Persian period (5th century BCE). The name of
7906-430: The Torah (Talmud, tractate Pesachim 22b); the particle et is meaningless by itself, and serves only to mark the direct object . In other words, the Orthodox belief is that even apparently contextual text such as "And God spoke unto Moses saying ..." is no less holy and sacred than the actual statement. Manuscript Torah scrolls are still scribed and used for ritual purposes (i.e., religious services ); this
8024-401: The Torah and its laws first emerged in 444 BCE when, according to the biblical account provided in the Book of Nehemiah (chapter 8), a priestly scribe named Ezra read a copy of the Mosaic Torah before the populace of Judea assembled in a central Jerusalem square. Wellhausen believed that this narrative should be accepted as historical because it sounds plausible, noting: "The credibility of
8142-405: The Torah has multiple authors and that its composition took place over centuries. The precise process by which the Torah was composed, the number of authors involved, and the date of each author are hotly contested. Throughout most of the 20th century, there was a scholarly consensus surrounding the documentary hypothesis , which posits four independent sources, which were later compiled together by
8260-418: The Torah was introduced by Ezra the Scribe after the return of the Jewish people from the Babylonian captivity ( c. 537 BCE ), as described in the Book of Nehemiah . In the modern era, adherents of Orthodox Judaism practice Torah-reading according to a set procedure they believe has remained unchanged in the two thousand years since the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem (70 CE). In
8378-400: The Torah") is a Jewish religious ritual that involves the public reading of a set of passages from a Torah scroll . The term often refers to the entire ceremony of removing the Torah scroll (or scrolls) from the ark , chanting the appropriate excerpt with traditional cantillation , and returning the scroll(s) to the ark. It is distinct from academic Torah study . Regular public reading of
8496-518: The Torah", which seems to be a contraction of a fuller name, "The Book of the Torah of God". Christian scholars usually refer to the first five books of the Hebrew Bible as the 'Pentateuch' ( / ˈ p ɛ n . t ə ˌ t juː k / , PEN -tə-tewk ; Ancient Greek : πεντάτευχος , pentáteukhos , 'five scrolls'), a term first used in the Hellenistic Judaism of Alexandria . The " Tawrat " (also Tawrah or Taurat; Arabic : توراة )
8614-458: The Torah, should be the source for Jewish behavior and ethics. Kabbalists hold that not only do the words of Torah give a divine message, but they also indicate a far greater message that extends beyond them. Thus they hold that even as small a mark as a kotso shel yod ( קוצו של יוד ), the serif of the Hebrew letter yod (י), the smallest letter, or decorative markings, or repeated words, were put there by God to teach scores of lessons. This
8732-649: The United States of America, which was still neutral, used its diplomatic relations to convince Nazi Germany to rescue Schneersohn from the war zone in German-occupied Poland. He remained in the city during the bombardments and its capitulation to Nazi Germany. He gave the full support of his organizations to assist as many Jews as possible to flee the invading armies. With the intercession of the United States Department of State in Washington, DC and with
8850-730: The White House. As the Republican presidential candidate, Hoover had lobbied for his release. Lubavitch followers in America begged their Rebbe to leave Russia and stay in America, but Schneersohn declined, saying that America was an irreligious place where even rabbis shaved off their beards . He left the United States to return to Riga , Latvia , on 17 July 1930. From 1934 until the early part of World War II , he lived in Warsaw , Poland. Following Nazi Germany 's attack against Poland in 1939, Schneersohn refused to leave Warsaw. The government of
8968-529: The Yevsektsiya's slander, and settled in Leningrad . In this time he labored to strengthen Torah observance through activities involving rabbis, Torah schools for children, yeshivot, shochtim , senior Torah-instructors and the opening of mikva'ot ; he established a special committee to help manual workers be able to observe Shabbat . He established Agudas Chasidei Chabad in USA and Canada. In 1927, he established
9086-737: The afternoons. While in previous decades the language of instruction was Yiddish, the school now teaches religious subjects in Hebrew and secular subjects in English. Yiddish is taught as a second language. An optional Yiddish track is offered in first grade. As a private school certified by the State of New York, Beth Rivkah is required to teach science (biology and chemistry), history (U.S. and world history), English literature, and mathematics (algebra, geometry, and trigonometry), among other subjects. For fifth-grade science and sixth-grade world history, however, Chabad educators eschew state-mandated booklets and textbooks and instead use material that they collect from
9204-612: The age of 15; in that year, he represented his father in the conference of communal leaders in Kovno . The following year (1896), he participated in the Vilna Conference, where rabbis and community leaders discussed issues such as: genuine Jewish education; permission for Jewish children not to attend public school on Shabbat ; and the creation of a united Jewish organization for the purpose of strengthening Judaism. He participated in this conference again in 1908. On 13 Elul 5657 (1897), at
9322-617: The age of 17, he married his second cousin, Nechama Dina Schneersohn, daughter of Rabbi Avraham Schneerson of Chișinău , son of Rabbi Yisroel Noach of Nizhyn , son of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn , the Tzemach Tzedek. In 1898, he was appointed head of the Tomchei Temimim yeshiva network. In 1901, with financial support from Yaakov and Eliezer Poliakoff he opened spinning and weaving mills in Dubrovno and Mahilyow and established
9440-412: The authentic and only Jewish version for understanding the Torah and its development throughout history. Humanistic Judaism holds that the Torah is a historical, political, and sociological text, but does not believe that every word of the Torah is true, or even morally correct. Humanistic Judaism is willing to question the Torah and to disagree with it, believing that the entire Jewish experience, not just
9558-467: The basis that the Elephantine papyri , the records of a Jewish colony in Egypt dating from the last quarter of the 5th century BCE, make no reference to a written Torah, the Exodus , or to any other biblical event, though it does mention the festival of Passover . In his seminal Prolegomena zur Geschichte Israels , Julius Wellhausen argued that Judaism as a religion based on widespread observance of
9676-424: The book comes from the two censuses taken of the Israelites. Numbers begins at Mount Sinai , where the Israelites have received their laws and covenant from God and God has taken up residence among them in the sanctuary . The task before them is to take possession of the Promised Land. The people are counted and preparations are made for resuming their march. The Israelites begin the journey, but they "murmur" at
9794-583: The books are derived from the Greek Septuagint and reflect the essential theme of each book: The Book of Genesis is the first book of the Torah. It is divisible into two parts, the Primeval history (chapters 1–11) and the Ancestral history (chapters 12–50). The primeval history sets out the author's (or authors') concepts of the nature of the deity and of humankind's relationship with its maker: God creates
9912-578: The collection was confiscated by Soviet troops in Nazi Germany during World War II and moved to Russia's military archive. In 1994, seven books were loaned to the U.S. Library of Congress for 60 days through an inter-library exchange program. The books were given to the Chabad-Lubavitch library which helped to prolong the use of the books twice, in 1995 and 1996, before they finally refused to return them to Russia in 2000. They proposed an exchange for
10030-431: The completion and new start of the year's cycle of readings. Torah scrolls are often dressed with a sash, a special Torah cover, various ornaments, and a keter (crown), although such customs vary among synagogues. Congregants traditionally stand in respect when the Torah is brought out of the ark to be read, while it is being carried, and lifted, and likewise while it is returned to the ark, although they may sit during
10148-452: The custom of calling the Pentateuch (five books of Moses) The Law. Other translational contexts in the English language include custom , theory , guidance , or system . The term "Torah" is used in the general sense to include both Rabbinic Judaism 's written and oral law , serving to encompass the entire spectrum of authoritative Jewish religious teachings throughout history, including
10266-484: The death of his father, Rabbi Sholom Dovber Schneersohn ( "Rashab" ), in 1920, Schneerson became the sixth Rebbe of Chabad . Following the takeover of Russia by the Communists they created a special "Jewish affairs section" run by Jews, known as the Yevsektsiya , which instigated anti-religious activities meant to strip Orthodox Jews of their religious way of life. As rebbe of a Russia-based Jewish movement, Schneersohn
10384-492: The early childhood division, elementary school, and high school is 600 students aged 18 months to 18 years. Approximately 10 percent of students are immigrants, and there is a significant percentage of special-needs students in the elementary and high school divisions. In addition to providing religious and secular studies, the academy is an accredited French-language school. The Beth Rivkah Ladies College in Melbourne , Australia
10502-425: The entire Hebrew Bible . The Oral Torah consists of interpretations and amplifications which according to rabbinic tradition have been handed down from generation to generation and are now embodied in the Talmud and Midrash . Rabbinic tradition's understanding is that all of the teachings found in the Torah (both written and oral) were given by God through the prophet Moses , some at Mount Sinai and others at
10620-735: The family are enrolled in the schools. Beth Rivkah schools were established in Casablanca , Meknes , and Sefrou , Morocco, in the mid-1950s. According to a 1956 survey, these schools had a combined enrollment of 374 students that year. With the migration of Moroccan Jews to Israel and France in the 1950s, the Lubavitch yeshiva for boys, Oholei Yosef Yitzchok, and the Beth Rivkah school for girls were centered in Casablanca and dormitory facilities were opened to accommodate students from other locales. By 1980,
10738-534: The following forty years, though many non-Orthodox Jewish scholars affirm the modern scholarly consensus that the Written Torah has multiple authors and was written over centuries. All classical rabbinic views hold that the Torah was entirely Mosaic and of divine origin. Present-day Reform and Liberal Jewish movements all reject Mosaic authorship, as do most shades of Conservative Judaism . Torah reading ( Hebrew : קריאת התורה , K'riat HaTorah , "Reading [of]
10856-465: The form of a Torah scroll ( Hebrew : ספר תורה Sefer Torah ). If in bound book form , it is called Chumash , and is usually printed with the rabbinic commentaries ( perushim ). In rabbinic literature , the word Torah denotes both the five books ( תורה שבכתב "Torah that is written") and the Oral Torah ( תורה שבעל פה , "Torah that is spoken"). It has also been used, however, to designate
10974-405: The fourth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Shmuel Schneersohn . Beth Rivkah of Crown Heights is spread over two campuses. The early childhood center (including a Head Start Program ) and elementary school are located at Campus Chomesh at 470 Lefferts Avenue. The high school, teacher training seminary, and administrative offices are located at 310 Crown Street. The Beth Rivkah elementary school for girls
11092-449: The hardships along the way, and about the authority of Moses and Aaron . For these acts, God destroys approximately 15,000 of them through various means. They arrive at the borders of Canaan and send spies into the land. Upon hearing the spies' fearful report concerning the conditions in Canaan, the Israelites refuse to take possession of it. God condemns them to death in the wilderness until
11210-476: The late 1950s to the 1970s due to the high birthrate among Lubavitcher families, and the influx of Soviet and Iranian Jewish refugees to New York City. By the early 1980s, enrollment exceeded 600 students. In 1988 the seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe presided at a groundbreaking ceremony for Campus Chomesh, which he established as a memorial to his Rebbetzin, Chaya Mushka Schneerson , who had died that year. The four-story, 125,000 square feet (11,600 m) campus occupies
11328-666: The lobbying of many Jewish leaders, such as Jacob Rutstein , on behalf of the Rebbe (and, reputedly, also with the help of Admiral Wilhelm Canaris , the head of the Abwehr ), he was finally granted diplomatic immunity and given safe passage to go via Berlin to Riga , Latvia, where the Rebbe was a citizen and which was still free. From Riga, the Rebbe left for America by way of Sweden with his wife, his mother Shterna Sarah, Shemaryahu Gurary , his wife Chana and son Berka , Chaim Mordechai Aizik Hodakov and his wife, and Nissan Mindel . They traveled in
11446-637: The middle of the 2nd century BCE. Adler explored the likelihhood that Judaism, as the widespread practice of Torah law by Jewish society at large, first emerged in Judea during the reign of the Hasmonean dynasty , centuries after the putative time of Ezra. By contrast, John J. Collins has argued that the observance of the Torah started in Persian Yehud when the Judeans who returned from exile understood its normativity as
11564-431: The narrative appears on the face of it." Following Wellhausen, most scholars throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries have accepted that widespread Torah observance began sometime around the middle of the 5th century BCE. More recently, Yonatan Adler has argued that in fact there is no surviving evidence to support the notion that the Torah was widely known, regarded as authoritative, and put into practice prior to
11682-455: The next day he started the first Lubavitcher Yeshiva in America, declaring that "America is no different." In 1949, Schneersohn became a U.S. citizen. Following Schneerson's escape from Nazi occupied Poland and his settlement in New York City, he issued a call for repentance, stating L'alter l'tshuva, l'alter l'geula ("speedy repentance brings a speedy redemption"). This campaign was opposed by rabbis Avraham Kalmanowitz and Aaron Kotler of
11800-464: The observance of selected, ancestral laws of high symbolic value, while during the Maccabean revolt Jews started a much more detailed observance of its precepts. Rabbinic writings state that the Oral Torah was given to Moses at Mount Sinai , which, according to the tradition of Orthodox Judaism , occurred in 1312 BCE. The Orthodox rabbinic tradition holds that the Written Torah was recorded during
11918-469: The opportunity to keep the books indefinitely, but Russia refused. In 2004, the Chabad-Lubavitch filed a lawsuit against Russia, claiming the remaining books. In 2010, an American court granted their claim, which Russia ignored as invalid. In retaliation, in 2011 Russia put a ban on lending works to American museums. In 2014, Senior United States District Judge Royce C. Lamberth imposed fines of $ 50,000
12036-514: The passing of the mantle of leadership from Moses to Joshua and, finally, the death of Moses on Mount Nebo . Presented as the words of Moses delivered before the conquest of Canaan, a broad consensus of modern scholars see its origin in traditions from Israel (the northern kingdom) brought south to the Kingdom of Judah in the wake of the Assyrian conquest of Aram (8th century BCE) and then adapted to
12154-531: The position and appearance of the Hebrew letters are observed. See for example the Mishnah Berurah on the subject. Any of several Hebrew scripts may be used, most of which are fairly ornate and exacting. The completion of the Sefer Torah is a cause for great celebration, and it is a mitzvah for every Jew to either write or have written for him a Sefer Torah. Torah scrolls are stored in the holiest part of
12272-409: The reading itself. The Torah contains narratives, statements of law, and statements of ethics. Collectively these laws, usually called biblical law or commandments, are sometimes referred to as the Law of Moses ( Torat Moshɛ תּוֹרַת־מֹשֶׁה ), Mosaic Law , or Sinaitic Law . Rabbinic tradition holds that Moses learned the whole Torah while he lived on Mount Sinai for 40 days and nights and both
12390-545: The script used to write the Torah from the older Hebrew script to Assyrian script, so called according to the Talmud, because they brought it with them from Assyria. Maharsha says that Ezra made no changes to the actual text of the Torah based on the Torah's prohibition of making any additions or deletions to the Torah in Deuteronomy 12:32 . By contrast, the modern scholarly consensus rejects Mosaic authorship, and affirms that
12508-451: The second Priestly. By contrast, John Van Seters advocates a supplementary hypothesis , which posits that the Torah was derived from a series of direct additions to an existing corpus of work. A "neo-documentarian" hypothesis, which responds to the criticism of the original hypothesis and updates the methodology used to determine which text comes from which sources, has been advocated by biblical historian Joel S. Baden, among others. Such
12626-500: The second reminds the Israelites of the need to follow Yahweh and the laws (or teachings) he has given them, on which their possession of the land depends; and the third offers the comfort that even should Israel prove unfaithful and so lose the land, with repentance all can be restored. The final four chapters (31–34) contain the Song of Moses , the Blessing of Moses , and narratives recounting
12744-411: The site of the former Lefferts General Hospital and two adjacent structures, covering nearly one city block. The campus accommodates over 2,000 students with close to 100 classrooms, as well as science labs, computer centers, libraries, a sports gymnasium, and a rooftop playground. Philanthropist Ronald Perelman provided nearly half of the $ 15 million funding for the campus, which opened in 1995. School
12862-517: The struggle from Latvia , and then Poland , and eventually the United States, where he spent the last ten years of his life. Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn was born in Lyubavichi , Mogilev Governorate, Russian Empire (present-day Smolensk Oblast , Russia), the only son of Sholom Dovber Schneersohn (the Rebbe Rashab ), the fifth Rebbe of Chabad . He was appointed as his father's personal secretary at
12980-445: The voluminous writings and publications of his movement, and started the process of spreading Jewish observance to the Jewish masses worldwide. He began to teach publicly, and many came to seek out his teachings. He began gathering and sending out a small number of his newly trained rabbis to other cities - a trend later emulated and amplified by his son-in-law and successor, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson . In 1948, he established
13098-593: Was able to save his son-in-law (and future successor) Menachem Mendel Schneerson from Vichy France in 1941 before the borders were closed down. When Schneersohn came to America (he was the first major Chasidic leader to move permanently to the United States ) two of his chassidim came to him, and said not to start up all the activities in which Lubavitch had engaged in Europe, because "America is different." To avoid disappointment, they advised him not even to try. Schneersohn wrote, "Out of my eyes came boiling tears", and undeterred,
13216-700: Was an Orthodox rabbi and the sixth Rebbe (spiritual leader) of the Chabad Lubavitch Hasidic movement . He is also known as the Frierdiker Rebbe ( Yiddish for "Previous Rebbe"), the Rebbe RaYYaTz , or the Rebbe Rayatz (an acronym for Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak). After many years of fighting to keep Orthodox Judaism alive from within the Soviet Union , he was forced to leave; he continued to conduct
13334-517: Was established by Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn in Brooklyn , New York, in 1941, two years after he founded the first boys' yeshiva in that city. The initial enrollment of about 30 students met in a rented storefront. The high school was established in 1955, and the teacher training seminary opened in Crown Heights in 1960. The elementary and high school divisions experienced significant growth from
13452-751: Was established in 1956. Part of the Yeshivah Centre educational network, which includes the Yeshivah College for boys founded in 1954, the Beth Rivkah Ladies College consists of a preschool, elementary school, and high school for girls. A sister school, Ohel Chana , is a teacher training seminary. Both Beth Rivkah and Yeshivah College enroll students from non-Chabad families. In 2014 the educational network made headlines by capping tuition fees at 8% of family income for low wage-earners and 18% for high wage-earners, notwithstanding how many children in
13570-417: Was laid with the investigation of the origins of the written sources in oral compositions, implying that the creators of J and E were collectors and editors and not authors and historians. Rolf Rendtorff , building on this insight, argued that the basis of the Pentateuch lay in short, independent narratives, gradually formed into larger units and brought together in two editorial phases, the first Deuteronomic,
13688-435: Was originally transmitted to Moses at Sinai, and then from Moses to Israel. At that time it was forbidden to write and publish the oral law, as any writing would be incomplete and subject to misinterpretation and abuse. However, after exile, dispersion, and persecution, this tradition was lifted when it became apparent that in writing was the only way to ensure that the Oral Law could be preserved. After many years of effort by
13806-527: Was put in command of a group which included Sgt. Klaus Schenk, a half-Jew and Pvt. Johannes Hamburger, a quarter-Jew assigned to locate the Rebbe in Poland and escort him safely to freedom. They wound up saving not only the Rebbe, but also over a dozen Hasidic Jews in the Rebbe's family or associated with him. Working with the government and the contacts Schneersohn had with the US State Department, Chabad
13924-606: Was vehemently outspoken against the state atheism of the Communist regime and its goal of forcibly eradicating religion throughout the land. He purposely directed his followers to set up religious schools, going against the dictates of the Marxist - Leninist " dictatorship of the proletariat ". In 1921, he established a branch of Tomchei Temimim in Warsaw . In 1924, he was forced by the Cheka (Russian secret police) to leave Rostov due to
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