The Greatest Gift Jews Can Offer the World
A manifesto for Jewish conservatism.
April 19, 2017
For Medieval Sephardim, Marriages Were Made in Heaven. For Medieval Ashkenazim, They Were Made by Matchmakers
And perhaps by love, too.
French and German halakhic writings from the Middle Ages make frequent mention of the use of professional matchmakers, consider the breaking-off of an engagement a source of embarrassment for which one family may seek damages from the other, and encourage parents to wait until girls reach majority before letting them be betrothed, so that they can consent to the union. By contrast, Spanish rabbis of the same era make scant mention of matchmakers, see the breaking of an engagement as an insignificant thing, and have few qualms about betrothing children. Surveying and analyzing these differing approaches, Efraim Kanarfogel argues they reflect fundamentally different views of marriage:
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“Soft Partition” Is Syria’s Likely Future
Zones of influence and a weak central government.
Marwan Barghouti Is No Nelson Mandela
A terrorist mastermind masquerading as a political prisoner.
For Medieval Sephardim, Marriages Were Made in Heaven. For Medieval Ashkenazim, They Were Made by Matchmakers
And perhaps by love, too.
What Lies Behind the Dream of Turning People into Computers and Computers into People
The futurist campaign against mortality.