Debates between Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai are the bread and butter of Mishnaic discourse. There are some 316 debates recorded between…
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Beitza 6: Nothing New Under the Sun
It is on Sukkot that we read sefer Kohelet. A devar Torah on masechet Beitza is not the place to discuss the reason for this custom.…
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Beitza 5: Two Days of Yom Kippur
The State of California today is voting on whether to recall and remove its governor from office. This recall will be successful even if…
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Beitza 4: Fresh Eggs
As most investors know, there is little that rattles the markets more than uncertainty. Fluctuations of the market are primarily based on…
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Beitza 2: It's Better to Permit
In our last post, we noted the principle milta d’lo schicha lo gazru ba rabbanan, that our Sages do not enact protective measures…
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An Introduction to Masechet Beitzah
One of the manifold changes of modernity is manifest in the modern methods of food preparation. No longer must one literally spend pretty much the…
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Beitza 25: Hurry Up and Be Patient
In Talmudic times, animals were generally slaughtered only when there was a known buyer ready to eat from the animal before him. Lacking methods of…
Beitza 24: Fishing on Yom Tov
Shabbat and Yom Tov are gifts to the Jewish people, and the Jewish people only. As such, we are permitted to benefit from work by a non-Jew on these…
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Beitza 20: The Path of Hillel
There is arguably no greater figure in Talmudic literature than that of Hillel the Elder. He combined the Torah leadership of Moshe Rabbeinu[1] with…
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Beitza 17b: To the Showers...
Often, when studying Gemara, we fail to appreciate how different day-to-day life was for our ancestors. Yeshiva study tends to focus on conceptual…
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Beitza 17: Open Sinning
All of us are sinners. To be human means that we make mistakes, both inadvertent and intentional. Our tradition shows great respect for those who…
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Beitza 15: How to Celebrate Yom Tov
We live in an age of specialization. Whether it is business, medicine, sports, Torah, or technology, we train people to be expert in one…
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Beitza 11: Beyond the Beginning
Our Sages defined a chacham as one who is roeh et hanolad, who foresees the results of his actions. We live in a world which is focused on the here…
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Beitza 5: The Wrong Note
It is doubtful the Jewish life would exist as we know it if not for the leadership of Rav Yochanan ben Zackai. Seeing the terrible infighting that…
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Beitza 4b: The Second Day of Yom Tov
I have a confession to make. I really like Yom Tov and look forward to having an extra day to celebrate. I know that is not the way the…
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Beitza 4: Take Your Time
The very first teaching in all of rabbinic literature[1] is the saying of the Men of the Great Assembly that those who render decisions on matters of…
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Beitza 2: Protecting the Neglected
The Rambam, in discussing the prohibition of ba’al toseef (Devarim 4:2), the prohibition of adding to the Torah rules, said that one violates…
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Some Opening Thoughts on Masechet Beitza
“An egg that was laid on Yom Tov: Beit Shammai says it may be eaten, and Beit Hillel says it may not be eaten”. For six pages, the Gemara…