Articles Bava Batra

In his 17th century collection of responsa (#93), the Chacham Tzvi, Rav Tzvi Ashkenazi, discusses whether a golem, perhaps best translated as an…

“The brothers who were groomsmen, shoshbanim, during the lifetime of their father—when the wedding gifts are reciprocated they…

Two of most central pillars of Jewish faith, G-d’s foreknowledge of all that will occur and free choice granted to man, seemingly—and…

There is something very special about being pregnant with one’s first child. One has grandiose dreams (hopefully) of carrying a great Torah…

One of the great disparities between the modern Western mode of thought and traditional Jewish thought is the concept of egalitarianism. Modern…

“One who writes his property for others [in his will] and leaves his children [with nothing]—what is done is done, but the spirit of our…

One of the differences one notices in teaching adults, as opposed to children, is that the former are generally less inclined to respond to questions…

One of the primary lessons of sefer Breisheet is that birth order matters little. Yitzchak, Yaakov and Yosef were all younger brothers, in Yosef…

Here is a great trivia question to try on a friend. Who was Noach’s wife? What was Abraham’s mother’s name? Don’t feel bad if…

In our last post, we discussed the Gemara’s claim that the punishment for false weights is greater than that for sexual immorality. As the…

All too often, we equate being a religious Jew with the observance of Shabbat, kashrut and taharat hamishpacha. Without at all minimizing these…

We live in an age of great skepticism—often for good reason. In a time where science-with its demand for rigorous proofs, detailed…

The third chapter of Bava Batra is some 30 pages long, making it one of the longest in the Talmud. It is focused on the rules of acquisition of…

It was at the well that Abraham’s servant met Rivka, Yaakov met Rachel and Moshe met Tzippora. It is hard for us--who, when thirsty,…

If you are going to pick a fight with someone, it’s best to know who your adversary is. There are certain people with whom it just doesn’…

Canadian law requires one to keep tax records for six years, after which time they can be destroyed and government audits are no longer possible.…

Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Outliers, posits that it takes 10,000 hours of practice for people to become expert in any field, be they NHL hockey…

It is unlikely that Yehoshua ben Gamla would make very many listings of the five or even ten most important Sages of Talmudic times – let alone…