Zvi Ron
Biographic Data
| ID | 4448268 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Zvi Ron |
| GIVEN NAMES | Zvi |
| FAMILY NAME | Ron |
| SIGNATURE | RON Z |
| AFFILIATIONS | Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 22 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 16 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1985 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
The Custom of Placing a Stone on a Grave
The article traces the origin of the Jewish custom of placing a stone on a grave when visiting a cemetery. The practice is a sanitized version of an older Ashkenazic custom dating from the period of the Crusades to throw earth, grass or a stone backwards at the end of a funeral in order to ward off evil spirits or the unsettled dead. That practice itself was based on the folk practices of the surrounding non-Jewish community. The superstitious el…
The Dreidel Becomes Educational
The simple children's game of dreidel eventually became a vehicle for religious and educational messages. New meanings were attached both to the origin of the game itself—the claim that it was used to conceal Torah study from the Greeks—and to the letters inscribed on the sides of the spinning top, best known today as the acronym “Nes Gadol Haya Sham” (a great miracle happened there). This article traces the origin and development of these two re…
Etrog Helps with Pregnancy
According to Jewish folklore, the etrog has a special supernatural influence (segula) that aids in having an easy birth. This is accomplished in different traditions by biting the tip of the etrog or eating etrog preserves. Other traditions state that this aids with fertility. This association evolved from the early Ashkenazic practice of distributing pieces of the communal etrog among the community to be eaten on Simchat Torah, with women tasked…
Waving and Beating of Willows
The practice of beating willows on Hoshanah Rabbah is a very unusual one, with no explanations offered in the Talmud or Midrash. In the ancient world, the willow represented both fertility and infertility, life and death, and the beating of willows can be connected both to beating with plants as a fertility ritual and as a form of scapegoat ritual. Echoes of both of these ideas are found in Sephardic folk practices associated with beating people …
Chickpeas at a Shalom Zakhar
There is a popular Ashkenazic custom to serve chickpeas at the Shalom Zakhar celebration on the first Shabbat after a male child is born. Numerous homiletic reasons have been given for this in rabbinic literature. The origin of the custom lies in the practice to serve legumes, a food traditionally associated with mourning, at happy celebrations in order to confuse demonic forces who were understood to desire harming celebrants at such events. The…
Braided Challah
Braided bread for Shabbat, commonly referred to as challah (plural: challot), is the familiar and traditional form known to Ashkenazic Jews. While the challah itself takes on various shapes, and the number of strands varies, the braided appearance remains an essential and distinctive component of this bread. This defining characteristic of challah was adopted from the baking styles of the communities among which Ashkenazic Jews lived. This articl…
The Nuremberg Trial in Megillat Esther
There is a very popular teaching in Orthodox circles1 that the small letters found in the writing of the names of the sons of Haman in Megillat Esther are a reference to the year of the Nuremberg trials and the ten Nazis hanged at that time. In this article we will explore where this teaching originated, what it is based on, and what its message is understood to be
Stripes, Hats, and Fashion
This article examines the relationship between fashion and Jewish clothing. Certain clothing elements that are today considered signifiers of Jewish people, even among non-Jews, did not begin as specifically Jewish clothing. They started as the fashion of the general society but were retained by the Jewish community even after the fashions changed in the general world. In this article, we trace the process by which three such elements became asso…
The Origin and Development of the Custom for the Bride to Circle the Groom Three or Seven Times
This article traces the origin and development of the by now ubiquitous Ashkenazic custom for the bride to circle the groom under the chuppa. The custom began as circling three times, and various reasons were given for this particular practice. Due to kabbalistic influence, the custom shifted from three circuits to seven, the common custom today. The reasons given also changed over time, reflecting changing attitudes to the symbolism of the weddi…
The Development of the Expanded Tachanun for Monday and Thursday
On Mondays and Thursdays many supplications are added to the standard Tachanun prayer. These additions are not noted in the Talmud, and first appear in Geonic literature. This article traces the development of the Monday/Thursday Tachanun, from its beginnings as a short prayer with multiple options, to its later form as a long prayer with no room for personal choices. The current traditional Monday/Thursday Tachanun is seen to be a collection of …
Walking Out for Yizkor
In many synagogues it is customary for people with living parents to walk out of the sanctuary for the Yizkor memorial service. This has been explained in many ways, with most explanations involving the evil eye or liturgical concerns. This article examines the origin of the Yizkor service and its connection to the collection of monetary donations in honor of the deceased. This practice, connecting Yizkor with donations, is proposed as a signific…
The Death of Honi the Circle Maker
Ancient literature preserves two accounts of the death of Honi the Circle Maker. One is in Josephus, where Honi is murdered by Jews after failing to participate in the Hasmonean civil war; the other is found in B. Ta. 23a, where Honi prays for death when nobody recognizes him after he awakes from sleeping for seventy years. While these two accounts seem to have no relation to each other, upon comparing the Bavli story to other tales of saintly lo…
ʿAin Joweizeh
ʿAin Joweizeh is the longest rock-cut subterranean spring system in Israel. It is located in the central section of the Nahal Refa'im Valley, in the heart of an area abundant with springs and cultivable terraced land that served as part of Jerusalem's agricultural hinterland for extended periods of time, starting in the Middle Bronze Age. The authors describe the different components of the spring system and discuss related technological aspects.…
Antecedents of the Hanukkah Oil Story
When the rabbis in the Babylonian Talmud (Shabbat 21b) recounted the miracle of the oil’s lasting for eight days as the etiology of the festival of Hanukkah, they were basing themselves on biblical antecedents, in which the dedication of the Temple/tabernacle was accompanied by the descent of heavenly fire. Although there is no trace of the legend of the oil in any source before the Talmud, an analogous story is found in 2 Maccabees 1 in relation…
Ancient and Modern Developments of Water Resources in the Holy Land and the Israeli-Arab Conflict
Zvi Y. D. Ron, Ancient and Modern Developments of Water Resources in the Holy Land and the Israeli-Arab Conflict: A Reply, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, Vol. 11, No. 3 (1986), pp. 360-369
Development and Management of Irrigation Systems in Mountain Regions of the Holy Land
Very sophisticated methods have been employed to facilitate the exploitation of springs for irrigated agriculture since ancient times. The methods of spring exploitation and development show an accumulation of geohydrological knowledge in ancient times. These irrigation systems include three kinds of installations: (1) Subterranean outflow installations. Tunnels and caves were cut into saturated aquifers in order to concentrate and increase the w…
Development and Management of Irrigation Systems in Mountain Regions of the Holy Land
Very sophisticated methods have been employed to facilitate the exploitation of springs for irrigated agriculture since ancient times. The methods of spring exploitation and development show an accumulation of geohydrological knowledge in ancient times. These irrigation systems include three kinds of installations: (1) Subterranean outflow installations. Tunnels and caves were cut into saturated aquifers in order to concentrate and increase the w…
ʿAin Joweizeh
ʿAin Joweizeh is the longest rock-cut subterranean spring system in Israel. It is located in the central section of the Nahal Refa'im Valley, in the heart of an area abundant with springs and cultivable terraced land that served as part of Jerusalem's agricultural hinterland for extended periods of time, starting in the Middle Bronze Age. The authors describe the different components of the spring system and discuss related technological aspects.…
Ancient and Modern Developments of Water Resources in the Holy Land and the Israeli-Arab Conflict
Zvi Y. D. Ron, Ancient and Modern Developments of Water Resources in the Holy Land and the Israeli-Arab Conflict: A Reply, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, Vol. 11, No. 3 (1986), pp. 360-369
Development and Management of Irrigation Systems in Mountain Regions of the Holy Land
Very sophisticated methods have been employed to facilitate the exploitation of springs for irrigated agriculture since ancient times. The methods of spring exploitation and development show an accumulation of geohydrological knowledge in ancient times. These irrigation systems include three kinds of installations: (1) Subterranean outflow installations. Tunnels and caves were cut into saturated aquifers in order to concentrate and increase the w…
Ancient and Modern Developments of Water Resources in the Holy Land and the Israeli-Arab Conflict
Zvi Y. D. Ron, Ancient and Modern Developments of Water Resources in the Holy Land and the Israeli-Arab Conflict: A Reply, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, Vol. 11, No. 3 (1986), pp. 360-369
Antecedents of the Hanukkah Oil Story
When the rabbis in the Babylonian Talmud (Shabbat 21b) recounted the miracle of the oil’s lasting for eight days as the etiology of the festival of Hanukkah, they were basing themselves on biblical antecedents, in which the dedication of the Temple/tabernacle was accompanied by the descent of heavenly fire. Although there is no trace of the legend of the oil in any source before the Talmud, an analogous story is found in 2 Maccabees 1 in relation…
ʿAin Joweizeh
ʿAin Joweizeh is the longest rock-cut subterranean spring system in Israel. It is located in the central section of the Nahal Refa'im Valley, in the heart of an area abundant with springs and cultivable terraced land that served as part of Jerusalem's agricultural hinterland for extended periods of time, starting in the Middle Bronze Age. The authors describe the different components of the spring system and discuss related technological aspects.…
Walking Out for Yizkor
In many synagogues it is customary for people with living parents to walk out of the sanctuary for the Yizkor memorial service. This has been explained in many ways, with most explanations involving the evil eye or liturgical concerns. This article examines the origin of the Yizkor service and its connection to the collection of monetary donations in honor of the deceased. This practice, connecting Yizkor with donations, is proposed as a signific…
The Death of Honi the Circle Maker
Ancient literature preserves two accounts of the death of Honi the Circle Maker. One is in Josephus, where Honi is murdered by Jews after failing to participate in the Hasmonean civil war; the other is found in B. Ta. 23a, where Honi prays for death when nobody recognizes him after he awakes from sleeping for seventy years. While these two accounts seem to have no relation to each other, upon comparing the Bavli story to other tales of saintly lo…
The Development of the Expanded Tachanun for Monday and Thursday
On Mondays and Thursdays many supplications are added to the standard Tachanun prayer. These additions are not noted in the Talmud, and first appear in Geonic literature. This article traces the development of the Monday/Thursday Tachanun, from its beginnings as a short prayer with multiple options, to its later form as a long prayer with no room for personal choices. The current traditional Monday/Thursday Tachanun is seen to be a collection of …
The Origin and Development of the Custom for the Bride to Circle the Groom Three or Seven Times
This article traces the origin and development of the by now ubiquitous Ashkenazic custom for the bride to circle the groom under the chuppa. The custom began as circling three times, and various reasons were given for this particular practice. Due to kabbalistic influence, the custom shifted from three circuits to seven, the common custom today. The reasons given also changed over time, reflecting changing attitudes to the symbolism of the weddi…
The Nuremberg Trial in Megillat Esther
There is a very popular teaching in Orthodox circles1 that the small letters found in the writing of the names of the sons of Haman in Megillat Esther are a reference to the year of the Nuremberg trials and the ten Nazis hanged at that time. In this article we will explore where this teaching originated, what it is based on, and what its message is understood to be
Stripes, Hats, and Fashion
This article examines the relationship between fashion and Jewish clothing. Certain clothing elements that are today considered signifiers of Jewish people, even among non-Jews, did not begin as specifically Jewish clothing. They started as the fashion of the general society but were retained by the Jewish community even after the fashions changed in the general world. In this article, we trace the process by which three such elements became asso…
Braided Challah
Braided bread for Shabbat, commonly referred to as challah (plural: challot), is the familiar and traditional form known to Ashkenazic Jews. While the challah itself takes on various shapes, and the number of strands varies, the braided appearance remains an essential and distinctive component of this bread. This defining characteristic of challah was adopted from the baking styles of the communities among which Ashkenazic Jews lived. This articl…
Chickpeas at a Shalom Zakhar
There is a popular Ashkenazic custom to serve chickpeas at the Shalom Zakhar celebration on the first Shabbat after a male child is born. Numerous homiletic reasons have been given for this in rabbinic literature. The origin of the custom lies in the practice to serve legumes, a food traditionally associated with mourning, at happy celebrations in order to confuse demonic forces who were understood to desire harming celebrants at such events. The…
Waving and Beating of Willows
The practice of beating willows on Hoshanah Rabbah is a very unusual one, with no explanations offered in the Talmud or Midrash. In the ancient world, the willow represented both fertility and infertility, life and death, and the beating of willows can be connected both to beating with plants as a fertility ritual and as a form of scapegoat ritual. Echoes of both of these ideas are found in Sephardic folk practices associated with beating people …
Etrog Helps with Pregnancy
According to Jewish folklore, the etrog has a special supernatural influence (segula) that aids in having an easy birth. This is accomplished in different traditions by biting the tip of the etrog or eating etrog preserves. Other traditions state that this aids with fertility. This association evolved from the early Ashkenazic practice of distributing pieces of the communal etrog among the community to be eaten on Simchat Torah, with women tasked…
The Custom of Placing a Stone on a Grave
The article traces the origin of the Jewish custom of placing a stone on a grave when visiting a cemetery. The practice is a sanitized version of an older Ashkenazic custom dating from the period of the Crusades to throw earth, grass or a stone backwards at the end of a funeral in order to ward off evil spirits or the unsettled dead. That practice itself was based on the folk practices of the surrounding non-Jewish community. The superstitious el…
The Dreidel Becomes Educational
The simple children's game of dreidel eventually became a vehicle for religious and educational messages. New meanings were attached both to the origin of the game itself—the claim that it was used to conceal Torah study from the Greeks—and to the letters inscribed on the sides of the spinning top, best known today as the acronym “Nes Gadol Haya Sham” (a great miracle happened there). This article traces the origin and development of these two re…
Archaeology and Historical Studies (9 works) · History (9 works) · Archaeology (8 works) · Art (7 works) · Judaism (6 works) · History (5 works) · Literature (5 works) · Philosophy (5 works) · Sociology (5 works) · Theology (5 works)