The Talmud quotes some 316 debates between Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai. “Since both these and those are the words of the living God”,…
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Shabbat 13: Fasting or Feasting
When it was still forbidden to write down the Oral Law, one of the very few written texts was that of Megillat Taanit, the scroll of fast days. This…
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Shabbat 10: A Special Gift
“Rava bar Machsseya said in the name of Rav Chama bar Gurya in the name of Rav: One who gives a gift to another must inform him” (Shabbat…
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Shabbat 4: Praying Alone
One of the hardest mitzvot to properly fulfil is that of rebuke, “hocheiach tocheech et amitecha” (Vayikra 19:17). We are…
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Shabbat 2: From Place to Place
“The carrying out on Shabbat are two that are four [for one] inside [a home] and two that are four [for one] outside [the home]” (Shabbat…
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Brachot 55: People Power
Leadership is not for the faint of heart. A leader, by definition, must make decisions that are going to hurt people. That does not mean the…
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Brachot 48: Pumpkin, Pumpkin Look to the Sky
I imagine that many of us had elementary school classmates whom we knew were going to reach great heights. Their intelligence and drive to succeed…
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Brachot 43: Learning from Tamar
We have often noted that the Talmud was edited with great precision. A simple example is the extreme to which it goes to record who, and in whose…
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Brachot 43: Sweet Smells
When one is consumed with hatred, one is liable to act in ways that are out of the norm, to say the least. “Sina’ah mekalkelet et hashura…
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Brachot 31: Channa's Prayer
“Rav Hamnuna said: How many important halakhot can be derived from these verses of the prayer of Hannah?” (Brachot 31a).…
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Brachot 29: The Simple Jew
“Our Sages taught: Shimon Hapekuli arranged the eighteen blessings before Rabban Gamliel, al haseder, in order, in Yavne…
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Brachot 29: The Changing Nature of Prayer
It is hard to think of a mitzvah that has undergone as much change over time as that of prayer. Originally, prayer was a spontaneous pouring out of…
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Brachot 28: Saving Judaism
It is fair to say that, if not for the leadership of Rav Yochanan ben Zakkai, you would not be reading these words. Judaism as we know it today could…
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Brachot 28: The Education of Rabban Gamliel
The years following the destruction of the Temple were fraught with great danger and uncertainty. The infighting that had so weakened the Jewish…
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Brachot 26: Prayer is Mercy
As we transition from the third to the fourth chapter of masechet Brachot, our focus shifts from the mitzvah of kriat shema to that of…
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Brachot 21: Before and After
Shehechiyanu vekemanu vhegeyanu lazman hazeh. It was when daf yomi last reached Brachot 27 that I wrote my first “Daily Daf”. For…
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Brachot 21: What Did I Say
One of the things I love about the Gemara is how realistic and human it is—how it portrays people, rabbis and laypeople alike, in all their…
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Brachot 17: Do You Know What I Know
“A jewel in the mouth of Rava. The purpose of chochmah, wisdom, is teshuva and maasim tovim, good deeds”(Brachot 17a…