“Rava said: How foolish are the rest of the people who stand before a sefer Torah, but do not stand before a great person!” (…
Makkot 12: It's Not My Fault
The Torah takes justice very seriously: “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot” (Shemot 21:24).…
Makkot 5: Don't Quote Me
When I first started learning Gemara – and as we prepared for tests – we were told not to worry if we got the names of the rabbis wrong.…
Makkot 5: A Fatal Mistake
“And you shall do to them as they sought to do to others” (Devarim 19:19). Edim zomimim, plotting witnesses, are punished…
Makkot 5: I Don't Believe You
“The witnesses do not become zomimim, ‘plotting witnesses’, unless they falsify themselves” (Makkot 5a). The law of…
An Introduction to Makkot
In the standard editions of the Talmud Bavli in vogue today, there are 63 tractates of Mishna, 37 of which have a corresponding Gemara. The…
Sanhedrin 98: Not Worrying About Mashiach
The Torah talks very little – actually, not at all (at least explicitly)– about the coming of the Mashiach, the Messianic Era, or the…
Sanhedrin 97: It's Almost Over
One of the philosophical debates between the Greeks and Jews concerned the eternity of the world. The Greeks believed that the world has existed from…
Sanhedrin 97: Nothing But the Truth
“Stay far away from a lie” (Shemot 23:7). Unlike the other mitzvot in the Torah where we are just told not to do something, when it comes…
Sanhedrin 91: The Greek Court
The Jewish people have long been accused of being robbers and thieves. The importance of countering this accusation was so crucial that it…
Sanhedrin 90: What's In Your Mind?
The last chapter of masechet Sanhedrin is like no other in the Talmud. Almost devoid of legal discussion, it contains some 23 double-sided pages of…
Sanhedrin 88: Let's Have a Debate
“Every argument that is for [the sake of] heaven's name is destined to endure. And if it is not for [the sake of] heaven's name,…
Sanhedrin 76: No Time to Waste
“Do not profane your daughter and make her a harlot” (Vayikra 19:28). One has to wonder exactly whom the Torah is addressing. What kind…
Sanhedrin 74: Lechaim!
“The entire house of Israel is commanded to sanctify the Name” (Laws of the Fundamentals of Torah, 5:1). The language is striking,…
Sanhedrin 72: I Love My Money
“And you shall love the Lord your G-d with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your possessions” (Devarim 6:5). Clearly, if…
Sanhedrin 71: It Works in Theory
Fundamental to Jewish theology is the belief that both the Written Law and the Oral Law were given by G-d at Sinai. While the finite Written Law, i.e…
Sanhedrin 46: I'm Not Mad at You
Man finds it difficult to admit wrongdoing. Doing so creates cognitive dissonance. Being that we are basically good people – there are few who…
Sanhedrin 45: Take off Your Clothes!
In an amazing teshuva, Rav Yaakov Ettlinger (Binyan Tzion #172-173), basing himself on the story of Tamar and Yehuda, rules that one must give up one…