A description of, and conversation with the great R' Yisroel Moshe Chazan

Following is a passage from "Nach Jerusalem" by Ludwig Frankl (pg. 4 of translation):

I reached, after walking a considerable distance, the stately house of Mr. Chazan, the Head Rabbi of the Ionian Islands. The guide, when I told him to conduct me to him, did not at first understand, till recollecting himself, he said: —

" Ah! you mean to the Archbishop of the Hebrews."

I found the worthy gentleman in a spacious library on the second floor of the house, a lofty figure in a long black girded robe, walking up and down reading a book. A black overcoat, with many folds and a violet border, and a white stiff-pointed collar round the neck, added to his imposing appearance. A broad-flapped hat, reclin ing gently on the head, cast an artistic shade over a pale noble countenance.

Having already learned through the newspapers the object of my journey, he welcomed me with delight, and promised me at once the strongest letters of recommendation to his friends in Jerusalem, the city of his birth. Profoundly versed in Talmudistic lore, and known as a theological writer, he received a call to be Head Eabbi of the community in Rome, where he lived five years, and mastered the Italian language so thoroughly that he was soon accounted one of the most distinguished preachers in Italy. Having been called to Corfu five years ago, he enjoys here also a high reputation. Subsequently, we had the pleasure of calling him our guest at Vienna [1]; soon after, he accepted a call to be Head Rabbi at Alexandria.

Mr. Chazan speaks with great liveliness and force, to which his intellectual and animated countenance in no small measure contributes. A long pale face, with a long black beard, sparkling black eyes beneath stronglymarked, deeply-arched eyebrows, a lofty forehead, and a bold aquiline nose impart to his countenance that style of beauty which we call Oriental, and which caricature reproduces as the characteristic of the whole of our race. He reminded me of Kapistran, who, a century ago, preached at Vienna in the Latin tongue, unintelligible to the masses, but who, by dint of his outward appearance, the powerful tone of his voice, and the energy of his gesticulations, transported every one with enthusiasm.

Mr. Chazan spoke of the very sad condition of the Jews in the Ionian Free States. There are four thousand of them in Corfu, and two thousand in the Island of Zante. Most of them are engaged in trade; only a few support themselves as mechanics. Scarcely any of them are in comfortable circumstances, and notwithstanding the proud title, Ionian Free States, and the Protectorate of England, they neither enjoy liberty nor are they free from oppression.

Jewish children are mocked at in the schools, girls altogether excluded. The Jews of Zante had just drawn up a representation to the Government, begging that their deplorable social condition might be ameliorated.

I requested Mr. Chazan to give me an exact statement of the circumstances of the case, which he promised to send after me to Jerusalem. On my return from the East, I visited him again; he excused himself for not having kept his word, on the ground that the representatives of the community had not deemed it advisable tc make communications, which might become public and give offence to Government.

But when is a Parliament resentful of publicity, especially one opened and led by a Lord High Commissioner of England ? It is everywhere the lot of the oppressed that they do not venture to express that even which the law allows them, and which is becoming the dignity of a manly character.

Mr. Chazan took me to visit the School of the Community, where the managers, having already been informed by him of my intended visit, received me in a friendly manner. About eighty boys, who nearly all exhibited the expression and form of body distinctive of the South, were assembled in a large room. Only a few gave signs of their Jewish descent, a phenomenon which has frequently struck us in the German schools, where the fair hair and blue eyes reminded us as th( most likely explanation of the conduct of the patriarch Jacob, grounded on physiological principles, when hf wished to produce speckled sheep. Winckelmann deduces, among other reasons, the beautiful shape of the Italian head and body, from the sight of the noble forms of sculpture and painting presented to the view in Italy in many different ways.

I was even here introduced to the children, with true Oriental hyperbole, as " the first doctor of Europe," by whose "gracious and happy visit" they ought to feel themselves flattered and elevated, and incited to diligence and good behaviour.

At a given signal with a bell all stood up, and, marching forth from their desks, walked in regular procession round the room, and then arranging themselves at their desks, every child took his own place again. Mr. Chazan explained to me that in the hot climate this exercise was necessary, in order to keep the children awake and ready to receive instruction. They were then examined by the teachers, first in Hebrew, then in Greek and Italian. I observed that the children remained bareheaded [!] while the Hebrew prayer was pronounced ; the answers of the children were lively, and proved that they were well taught.

" Greek," observed one of the managers, " as being the language of the. country, is taught with special care, and with a pure accent, unmarked by any peculiarity. We wish to avoid being derided on account of any defects in our mode of speech," added he, in a low tone, audible only to me.

The only Jew was the teacher of Hebrew and of the Bible; the other teachers were Greeks. When I asked whether there were not Jews in Corfu capable of giving instruction on secular subjects, Mr. Chazan observed :—

" We regret very much that as yet no Jew here possesses that capacity, but we trust in God to be able to train such men among ourselves."

" And have the Jews of acknowledged piety in this island no repugnance to allowing their children to be instructed by Christians "

" Better a learned heathen than a high priest who is an idiot," quoted Mr. Chazan, from the Talmud [2].

1 was equally surprised and delighted with the utterance of such sentiments by a strictly orthodox Rabbi. I took the liberty of putting some questions to the managers on general subjects, which were answered with great caution, and with significant glances at the Christian teachers.

[1] On this same occasion he probably visited Shir who was also much impressed by R' Chazan - see here.
[2] Sanhedrin 59a

From Mordechai Kaplans Diary 1973 1/9/73:




I recall very distinctly the first talk Solomon Schechter gave to the students of the new seminary during September 1902 but the only statement that impressed me so that I remember it was "Be sure to read the New Testament."

Great Judges think alike (or not)

A very famous opinion of Aruch HaShulchan holds:

In the last century or so, the many women who did not cover their hair presented a halachic problem. The previously mentioned halachah that a woman's uncovered hair is considered an ervah regarding Kerias Shema and all blessings, made it practically impossible for men to recite tefillos and blessings or to learn Torah in their own homes. A situation developed which was impossible to live with.

Because of the prevalence of the problem, the Aruch ha-Shulchan(7) ruled that in a locale where the majority of married women do not cover their hair, we can no longer consider hair an ervah. In his opinion, only in a locale where most women keep their hair covered can uncovered hair be considered an ervah. This controversial ruling was accepted by some poskim(8) and strongly rejected by others(9). Harav M. Feinstein(10) ruled that one can rely on this leniency only under extenuating circumstances.

7 75:7.

8 Ben Ish Chai, Parashas Bo 12; Seridei Eish 2:14; Yabia Omer 6:13.

9 Mishnah Berurah 75:10; Chazon Ish O.C. 16:8 and most other poskim.

10 Igros Moshe O.C. 1:39,42,43; O.C. 3:23,24; E.H. 1:114.

A very logical extension of this idea would be the following from Judge Richard Posner in

Miller v. Civil City of South Bend, 904 F.2d 1081, 1091 (7th Cir. Ind. 1990):

Nudity as titillation or outrage is relative rather than absolute. In a society in which women customarily go about in public bare-breasted, there is no shock value in a bare breast, while in Victorian England, where decent women were expected to wear dresses that reached from the top of the neck to the floor -- where even the legs of furniture were sometimes clad for the sake of decency -- a bare ankle was a sensation. Since then female dress has become progressively less modest, and today many decent women appear in public in states of undress (mini-skirts, hot pants, slit skirts, body stockings, see-through blouses, decolletage becoming outright topless evening wear) that would have been considered nakedness, or the garb of prostitutes, thirty years ago. A striptease that ended in a degree of nudity no longer suggestive of preparations for sex -- a striptease that left the stripper garbed as she might be for an expedition to the supermarket -- might lack erotic punch today.

Obviously the Poskim above would not hold this way. (If I am not mistaken, they distinguish between hair which is only a sort of Ervah and actual flesh which is intrinsic ervah.)

However, it does raise some interesting questions concerning the outer boundaries of the halachos of Tznius, how much of the halachos of Tznius were written by Poskim based on the societal mores of their times (eg the Rambam insisting that woman should wear veils (Tzeif) perhaps using Rivkah as his source but almost definitely influenced by the Muslim culture that he was surrounded with), and how should Halacha change based on the societal mores of our own time?

An interesting bit of backlash against Jewish fashion law almost lead to the severance of the great community of Altona Hamburg Wandsbeck. A Jew by the name of Getting passionately declared his unwillingness to give up on his wig [1] in the following letter/blog predecessor:

Gentlemen!

I cannot deny, that as a true Jew, the behavior of the
community, which can hardly be defended in the face of the
considered judgement of our nation, makes my heart sick.
Therefore, I wish to have no further formal religious
association with them until it pleases them to alter the
intention [of the law in question regarding the hair bag]. I
know that I have acted virtuously and cannot prevent such
entirely unexpected consequences. As long as there exists no
formal association between us, it is natural that by no means
will I touch the [financial] burdens of the Community with
even the tip of my finger. When I want to be charitable
towards my brethren, it should happen according to my
conscience and not according to the regulations of a contract
between us, which has been annulled. Therefore, I formally
protest, until such time as I wish to reunite [with the
Community], against all matters and undertakings, fines and
the like, which the Community is authorized to inflict for the
sole reason that, and only for as long as someone is
recognized as, a member of their Community.
..
That is because it was in my civil life that I wore a hair bag
Furthermore, I want whoever was responsible for the errors in
this matter to admit it and show remorse. This I ask in virtue
of the high esteem and affection with which I am

your servant,
Moses Joseph Getting
Hamburg
29 April, 1767


Note especially the resentment against the Rabbis for involving themselves in his "civil life" - a very modern sentiment.
The entire rather strange episode is documented in Horowitz, D.. Fractures and fissures in Jewish communal autonomy in Hamburg, 1710--1782


[1] Apparently this - Getting had been fined for wearing a then highly fashionable silk wig adornment, known as a Haarbeutel or "hair bag." The Brockenhaus Lexikon describes it as "usually a little black silk or taffeta ribbon which sits flat on the upper back, containing the locks of hair down the neck, bound with decorative silk cords."312 The Haarbeutel came into fashion, from France, in the early eighteenth century, and by the time Getting wore his it had "gradually won favor in the most elegant salons"313

From here

(see also)

Two golden pillars - the Strashuns

Biographical sketch of Rashash and his son RMSH - written by a grandson of Rashash.

Of note:

Rasash spoke a fluent Polish. A story of a Kanoi threatening (predicting?) that Rashash's house would burn down for possessing heretical books. RMASH exchanged letters with Zunz and various other stuff.

(not) quotable quote:

On this note, I would like to address some very disturbing issues. Those Apikorsim in our generation that say that Zohar is not legitimate, and that Kabbalah does not exist, this is exactly what the Rambam is referring to.

R Abadi

(read on for "Kefirah in Artscroll")

A new edition of the Jewish review of books is out. I especially like their discussion on Chabad as well as the description of the Seforim blog discussion:

The question of Schneerson's rabbinic learning, his beard, and the couple's years in Berlin and Paris have been the subject of a furious dispute between Samuel Heilman and Chaim Rapoport on a popular Orthodox blog site, Seforim. Although somewhat self-righteous and bombastic, Rapoport has gotten the better of the exchange. Even on Heilman and Friedman's account, for instance, it emerges that during the period when Schneerson is supposed to have avoided Hasidic shtiblekh, he was piously fasting every day until the afternoon. Heilman and Friedman hypothesize that this was because he and Moussia were childless, but as Rapoport points out, he began the practice immediately after marriage. The fact that the Schneersons never had children is of extraordinary biographical and historical importance (if they had, the possibility of an eighth Lubavitcher Rebbe might have seemed more thinkable), but Schneerson would have had to be a prophet to begin worrying about this in 1929.

Well they're in the Bronx

If this be so, then the contentions of the defendant as to the inappropriateness of Yeshiva University and Planned Parenthood occupying space in the same commercial office building are of little moment. Indeed, the argument that there is a fundamental conflict in [***14] the outlook of these two groups with respect to the need and practice of birth control is a matter of theological disputation in which courts should not be immersed. "Be fruitful, and multiply" commands the Bible, (Genesis, I, 28.) But the Talmud recognizes the propriety of birth control by females to preserve life and health. (See Guttmacher, "Traditional Judaism and Birth Control", 16 Judaism, No. 2, pp. 159-165 [1967].)

Defendant's own witness, Dr. Alvin I. Schiff conceded that less than 10% of the Jewish population would find the activities of Planned Parenthood anathema to them, but felt the potential controversy that might be engendered even with this small but intensely devout group was ample justification for refusing consent to the sublease. If indeed the potentiality for controversy were a serviceable standard for measuring the acceptability of a subtenancy, many of our most socially useful institutions would be homeless vagrants on the streets, and [*37] our buildings would be [**163] tenanted by bland, unexceptionable models of propriety and dullness. Even proponents of unpopular ideas are entitled to a roof over their heads. Landlords are not censors -- [***15] their dominion is over realty, not ideas. Their ownership of property does not confer upon them the right to reject subtenants merely because their ideas differ from their own.

The contradictions in the defendant's position are highlighted by the undisputed testimony that the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, one of the most prestigious components of Yeshiva University gives a course on birth control, that it sponsors four birth control clinics, and that its head of the department of gynecology and obstetrics also serves as chairman of the medical committee of Planned Parenthood. When asked if this was a source of embarrassment to the university administration, the answer forthcoming was, "Well, they're in the Bronx". In other words, since Planned Parenthood would be listed on the building directory, defendant is more fearful of being tarred with the brush of association by proximity than with association by actual affiliation! I find its fears that somehow the occupancy of space in its building by the executive offices of Planned Parenthood (not for a clinic or for public meetings, mind you) would inhibit the university's fund-raising activities are entirely without foundation.

American Book Co. v. Yeshiva University Development Foundation
297 N.Y.S.2d 156

A remarkable letter from R Moshe Feinstein

Published in the beginning of Chaim Bloch's pamphlet on artificial insemination - יהיו מחניך קודש



Marc Shapiro published a very interesting exchange of letters between R' Moshe and the Seridei Eish in Hamayan 34:2 pg (for some reason that volume is not yet on hebrewbooks.org). The letters concern attempts to persuade a man in Switzerland to give a get to his wife and they show the great efforts taken by these Gedolim to help this woman. I hope letters of this kind will be included in the new collection of R' Moshe's writings as they show his greatness not just as a posek but as a great leader who was genuinely concerned about those who came to him for help .

Dead Sea Scrolls dispute

Odd piece of post war Israeli history - Bloch Archive

Here. As I understand it, the Mayor of Bnei Brak (Aharonowitz) desired to go to the Gerrer Rebbe (at that time the Beis Yisroel?) for Yomim Noraim, however the Rebbe refused to have anything to do with the "group of betrayers" (Poalei Agudas Yisrael whom Aharonowitz apparently supported). He sent the Ponevizher Rav an R' (Moshe?) Landau to speak to the Rebbe on his behalf bu to no avail.

Bloch collection - R' Moshe Feinstein

Here is the only letter of R' Moshe Feinstein in the LBI Bloch Archive. RMF is sending Bloch 5 dollars for his book מי נתן and thanking him for reminding his wife because RMF is busy and had forgotten.

Bloch claims to have had more extensive correspondence with R' Moshe in his pamphlet והיה מחניך קדוש against R' Moshe's p'sak on artificial insemination (See also Igros Moshe EH 2:11). Bloch asked R' Moshe if he permitted him to publish this pamphlet against him. R' Moshe's response is a classic and well worth reading. I hope to scan and place online next time I have access to the pamphlet..

Bloch archive - R' Aharon Kotler and the early years of BMG

On pg. 453 of Reel 5 of the Bloch archive we have the following two letters from the founder of Beth Midrash Govoha, R' Aharon Kotler. I placed the letters at Scribd here (Thanks to S. and Parshablog for explaining to me how to do this):


Kotler[1]
I think the 2nd letter is particularly meaningful. You hear a great deal about R' Aharon Kotler's mesiras nefesh in "bringing Torah to America" however it is nice to see this in his own word. You can see his great pride in the achievements of "his bachurim" and the great difficulty he had in raising funds to keep the Yeshiva going .

The first letter most likely involves one of R Bloch's many pamphlet against HaRav Yosef Eliyahu Henkin and like most gedolim of that generation (as I will show in future posts), R'Aharon Kotler would take none of Bloch's nonsense. This despite the fact that Bloch seems to have been a donor to the Yeshiva (as per the 2nd letter).

Strange anatomical discussion in Tosafos - Kerisus 7b

[Click to enlarge]

Some fascinating letters - Chaim Bloch collection - 1 - Lubavitcher Rebber

Leo Baeck has made available the archival collection of the controversial writer, forger Chaim Bloch.

Some pages worth looking at:

pg. 99 ff - Letters to the Lubavitcher Rebbe Zt"l. Some of these letters have been published in Igros Kodesh but most have never been published.

On pg. 111 we have two drafts of a response to the Rebbe regarding his accusation that he forged the letter of the Rogatchover against Zionism (See Prof. Marc Shapiro's post at Seforim for more details) . Here is my partial transcription ( and corrections would be greatly appreciated):

בשם אלקים חיים, י' שבט הלולא דמרן אדמו"ר הרה"ז ליובאוויטש זצ"ל, תש"כ


ה' לישרים תושיה ותשועה, הוד כבוד הרב הגאון שר התורה והיראה, גבר חכם כבוד מוה"ר מנחם מענדל האדמו"ר מלובאוויטש שליט"א


אחדש"ה, נצטערתי צער רב על מכתביו של כ"ג נ"י. ואבה נא להבין מעמד הדבר שלא אוכל לחבול בעצמי לפסול את ספרי ולקבור אותו בעוצם ידי. שקלתי כל הדבר היטב ואודיע בזה לכ"ג שהכונותי כבר ? והקדמה ארוכה כבר ערכתי בעה"י וכדי להוציא את דעת? כ"ג כהוגן מוכן אני בל"נ לשום מכתב כ"ג בתוך ההקדמה ואתו אדבר דברים אחדים מצדי בכבוד הראוי לכ”ג אדמו”ר נ”י.בא א[ני] איפוא בבקשה גדולה לכ"ג להרשות לי להדפיס את המכתב האחרון ואפשר גם את הראשון


בשם אלקים חיים מוצש"ק יתרו תש"כ


באפוקי שבתא ברכתא לאת חדתא להוד כהוד הרב הגאון שר התורה בוצינא קדישא חסידא ופרושא מוה"ר מנחם מענדל שניאורסאהן שליט"א ובו ? ושב כל טוהר שמי חלדו?,


אחד"ש בהערצה, הנה על מכתבי מיום י' שבט (למעלה) לא נתכבדתי בתשובה. גמרתי את ההקדמה ארוכה ? עוד יובן לא אזכור מערעורו על המכתבים להגאון מדווינסק זצ"ל. אכניס בל"נ שני מכתבים מהגאון הזה נגד הציונית שאינם מובנים רק לתלמידי חכמים מובהקים ואתן הערה שהמכתבים האלה לא היו ? דרשו ממני שכתוב באר היטב. גם זאת אעיר שגם על הספר בשמים ראש עם כבא דהרסנא


? בכל זאת הרבה גדולים סורים ומוזכר (בהשיב משה) להגאון מאוהל ?? ובעל פתחי שובה



בשם אלקים חיים, י' שבט הלולא דמרן אדמו"ר הרה"ז kיובאוויטש זצ"ל, תש"כ


ה' לישרים תושיה ותשועה, הוד כבוד הרב הגאון שר התורה והיראה, גבר חכם כבוד מוה"ר מנחם מענדל האדמו"ר מלובאוויטש שליט"א


אחדש"ה, נצטערתי צער רב על מכתביו של כ"ג נ"י. ואבה נא להבין מעמד הדבר שלא אוכל לחבול בעצמי לפסול את ספרי ולקבור אותו בעוצם ידי. שקלתי כל הדבר היטב ואודיע בזה לכ"ג שהכונותי כבר ? והקדמה ארוכה כבר ערכתי בעה"י וכדי להוציא את דעת? כ"ג כהוגן מוכן אני בל"נ לשום מכתב כ"ג בתוך ההקדמה ואתו אדבר דברים אחדים מצדי בכבוד הראוי לכ”ג אדמו”ר נ”י.בא א[ני] איפוא בבקשה גדולה לכ"ג להרשות לי להדפיס את המכתב האחרון ואפשר גם את הראשון


בשם אלקים חיים מוצש"ק יתרו תש"כ


באפוקי שבתא ברכתא לאת חדתא להוד כהוד הרב הגאון שר התורה בוצינא קדישא חסידא ופרושא מוה"ר מנחם מענדל שניאורסאהן שליט"א ובו ? ושב כל טוהר שמי חלדו?,


אחד"ש בהערצה, הנה על מכתבי מיום י' שבט (למעלה) לא נתכבדתי בתשובה. גמרתי את ההקדמה ארוכה ? עוד יובן לא אזכור מערעורו על המכתבים להגאון מדווינסק זצ"ל. אכניס בל"נ שני מכתבים מהגאון הזה נגד הציונית שאינם מובנים רק לתלמידי חכמים מובהקים ואתן הערה שהמכתבים האלה לא היו ? דרשו ממני שכתוב באר היטב. גם זאת אעיר שגם על הספר בשמים ראש עם כבא דהרסנא


? בכל זאת הרבה גדולים סורים ומוזכר (בהשיב משה) להגאון מאוהל ?? ובעל פתחי שובה

See pg. 115 for an additional "defense" letter by Bloch which I have not yet transcribed.

Bloch also met with the Rebbe regarding this issue as well - see pg. 129

,

A "Rabbi" walks into a missonary lecture..

The letters of Rebbeca Gratz are online here. Here are some interesting excerpts:


..we have a new made Christian Saint here, going the rounds of all the churches, who has recently been ordained a Minister of the Gospel & who, if I am not mistaken will disappoint his flock the Rev'd Joseph Wolfe, the famous converted Jew-I read a book he published some years ago, his journal in Palestine which is as little to the purpose of religion as are the discourses I have heard he preaches- but the novelty of a Jew preaching the Gospel is irresistible and the churches are crowded- Leeser went to hear him, and was simple enough to write him a note in hebrew, pointing out some misquotations he made from a learned German author- which he turned to good account, by reading from his pulpit as from a Rabbi, wishing him to retract- ....

And these are scholars...

I've been following the amusing exchange between R Chaim Rapoport and Prof's Heilman and Friedman over at Seforim blog. A commenter to a post about sockpuppets on the comment thread there notes that:

What you didn't realize Josh, is that Heilman & Friedman also wrote 41 sock puppet comments!

Needless to say that this is completely unprofessional and should deservedly land them in a heap of trouble.

Click on the "guest" of the second comment who wrote: "I think the Blog was the one who decided to limit posting on this", and you'll see that it's the same account which originally wrote the comment "Since this blog has not been either able or willing to post our final response to Chaim Rapoport's latest posting..." signed "Samuel Heilman & Menachem Friedman"!!!

However H & F hide their identity in the other comments by referring to themselves in third person such as:

Aren't there also a series of comments that begin with the assumption that F & H are out to smear the Rebbe?

Did you read the book? They mention the phone directory on p. 304!!

,etc.,etc.!!!

A rather odd story about the magical powers of Perek Shirah

S. sent me the very interesting collection of letters of Shadal's cousin Shmuel Chaim Lolli. Some of the letters discuss Shadal's Vikuach Al Kabbalah. In the discussion of the prophetic power of dreams on pg. 82 (recently referenced by Eliezer Brodt in his magnificent post here), Lolli records the following anecdote:




I think its fascinating that A - this "miracle" is very similar to the many wondrous stories that circulate today. B - The phenomenon of women reciting Perek Shira is not a product of our own era.

I thought it odd that this "prophecy" was delivered to the gentile maid and not to Bas Sheva directly. If a rational explanation of this story is needed, it is not impossible that the gentile maid would have heard Bas Sheva lecturing on the benefits of Perek Shira at one time or another which later surfaced in this dream.

L'chaim

I saw a really nice discussion regarding the minhag to wish L'chaim over wine in Alei Tamar to Brachos 6:8. He discusses the three Tannaitic sources that refer to the minhag and the many intricate details on the correct way to wish L'chaim.

There are several creative explanations on the reason for the custom.

The Avudraham and Daas Z'keinim to Emor explain that this is based on the opinion that the forbidden fruit that brought death into the world was a grape. Therefore, when drinking wine one says L'chaim to counteract this effect. Also, because one who was sentenced to death was first given wine in order to confuse him. Therefore, wine is symbolic of death.

Another possible explanation (I don't have any source for this) is on the custom I have seen of having wine to separate between fish and meat courses as having the two together is considered dangerous. The L'chaim can refer to the fact that the wine counteracts this danger.

Most likely this is just another example of cultural borrowing. Wikipedia notes that:

According to various apocryphal stories, the custom of touching glasses evolved from concerns about poisoning. By one account, clinking glasses together would cause each drink to spill over into the others (though there is no real evidence for such an origin)^[2] According to other stories, the word 'toast' became associated with the custom in the 17th century, based on a custom of flavoring drinks with spiced toast. The word originally referred to the lady in whose honor the drink was proposed, her name being seen as figuratively flavoring the drink.^[3][4] The International Handbook on Alcohol and Culture says toasting "is probably a secular vestige of ancient sacrificial libations in which a sacred liquid was offered to the gods: blood or wine in exchange for a wish, a prayer summarized in the words ‘long life!’ or ‘to your health!’”^[5]

In regards to the last reason offered. In a recent trip to the Met, I saw the following vessel which contains the



Although, it might seem strange that a Hellenistic pagan custom should have entered the Jewish canon. we do know of cases where this has happened. See S. Lieberman Hellenism in Jewish Palestine for examples.

Re: the question of cultural borrowing, I recently noticed the parallel between the Japanese tale of Urashima Taro, and the Talmudic story of Choni HaMaagel (See here) although it is highly unlikely that either culture had any contact with each other.

The Transylvania Jewish News - A great source for those interested in "the early career of Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum".