A Treasury of Sephardic Laws and Customs
- Subtitle: The Ritual Practices of Syrian, Moroccan, Judeo-Spanish, and Spanish and Portuguese Jews of North America
- Author: Rabbi Herbert C. Dobrinsky
- Publisher: Yeshiva University Press, 1986 – 520 pp.
- LOC Permalink: http://lccn.loc.gov/86005539
- Availability: out of print, but used copies are affordable
Review
This book grew out of Rabbi Dobrinsky's doctoral dissertation, which sought to document the particular customs of four groups of non-Ashkenazic Jews who had settled in North America. During the research for the project in the 1970s, Rabbi Dobrinsky personally interviewed the rabbis, hazanim and other professional and lay leaders of these communities in the New York area, so that the final product is informed by a wealth of inside information in addition to traditional sources.
Each of the sections takes a theme – such as family life, or the observance of holidays – and lists the pertinent customs and ritual practices for that theme for each of the four communities in sequence. Thus, while only 25% of the total text is about Western Sephardim, readers can develop a much richer sense of how Eastern and Western Sephardic practices compare with one another. Both the first and second editions contain some factual errors that do not allow the book to serve as the final word in any given instance, but it remains a useful, wide-ranging text that is accessible to English speakers.
Each of the sections takes a theme – such as family life, or the observance of holidays – and lists the pertinent customs and ritual practices for that theme for each of the four communities in sequence. Thus, while only 25% of the total text is about Western Sephardim, readers can develop a much richer sense of how Eastern and Western Sephardic practices compare with one another. Both the first and second editions contain some factual errors that do not allow the book to serve as the final word in any given instance, but it remains a useful, wide-ranging text that is accessible to English speakers.
Contents
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Early childhood
Bar Mizvah Engagement and marriage Divorce and halizah Death, burial, mourning, and memorials Symbols of the covenant Dietary laws Family life Communal life and Israel Synagogue practices, prayers, and blessings Shabbat Pesah, Lag LaOmer Yom Haazmaut, Shabuot Tisha BeAb |
3
30 39 65 69 113 123 130 143 163 223 253 285 295 |
Rosh Hodesh
Rosh Hashanah Yom Kippur Sukkot, Shemini Hag Haazeret, Simhat Torah Hanukkah Tu BiShebat and Shabbat Shira Purim Appendices Notes Glossary Bibliography Acknowledgements Index Further reading |
308
315 333 350 369 376 381 391 409 469 457 499 511 519 |