The Ramah in his glosses to the Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh Deah 249:1) rules that the mitzva of tzedakah…
Bava Batra 8: Come On In
“We force him [the resident of a courtyard] to contribute to the building of the guard’…
Bo: Egyptian Appreciation
The land of Egypt and the people of Egypt had undergone tremendous hardship and suffering. …
Bava Batra 4: Good Fences
The opening pages of Bava Batra discuss how neighbours can force one another to build a fence…
Bava Batra 3: Time for a New Shul
“Rav Chisda said: One may not destroy a beit knesset until another one is built” (Bava…
Vaera: When the Going Gets Tough
The story of the slavery and subsequent redemption of the Jewish people focuses almost entirely on…
Bava Batra 2: Mind Your Own Business
There is a beautiful custom to recite “ma tovu, how goodly are your tents Jacob and your…
An Introduction to Bava Batra
The three Bavas - Kamma, Metzia and Batra - are the bread and butter of Talmudic learning. If I,…
Bava Metzia 107: A Good Neighbour
“Reish Lakish said: Whomever has a beit knesset in his city and he does not enter it, he…
Bava Metzia 105: Will that be Wheat or Barley?
Throughout most of history wealth was primarily a result of land ownership. The more land one owned…
Bava Metzia 103: Time to Move
We often imagine that the ancient world was one in which almost all lived on farms tilling their…
Bava Metzia 97: I Just Don't Know
“Arba shomrim hem, there are four guardians, a shomer chinam, an unpaid guardian; the shoel,…
Bava Metzia 87: The Beauty of Old Age
Our society venerates youth, with an entire industry dedicated to keeping people looking and…
Bava Metzia 92: Time to Eat
“Everything goes according to the custom of the land (Bava Metzia 83a). As much as lawyers…
Vayigash: An Egyptian Education
“And you shall surely know that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not…
Bava Metzia 85: For the Children
One of the challenges of higher education is ensuring that one does not sit in an ivory tower where…
Bava Metzia 83: Was the Wine Good?
“Pray for the welfare of government for, if not fear of them, man would swallow his friend…
Bava Metzia 85: Forget It!
Family owned businesses comprise some 90% of all business enterprises in the United States, account…