“Rava said: How foolish are the rest of the people who stand before a sefer Torah, but do not stand before a great person!” (…
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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).…
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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.…
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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…
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Makkot 5: I Don't Believe You
“The witnesses do not become zomimim, ‘plotting witnesses’, unless they falsify themselves” (Makkot 5a). The law of…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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,…
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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…
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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,…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…