“Milveh lhotzah nitna”, money is loaned to be spent (Kiddushin 47a). When one loans…
Bava Metzia 37: What Does the Cheater Lose?
It is a beautiful character trait to be trusting of others. It is also, all too often, foolhardy.…
Bava Metzia 35: Making a Quick Dollar
The difference between a smart businessperson and an ethically challenged one can be fine indeed -…
Bava Metzia 33: 40 Long Years
One of the beautiful things about studying Gemara is delighting in how it seamlessly flows from one…
Bava Metzia 33: You Go First
There are few mitzvoth of greater importance than kibud av veim. This is so well-known and obvious…
Noach: What is Your Name?
"And Lemech called him Noach saying, this one will bring us relief, yenachmeinu, …
Bava Metzia 32: Helping the Enemy
“G-d is good to all and His mercy is upon all His creations” (Tehillim 145:9). If G-d…
Bava Metzia 30: The Straight Law
The Torah demands we do much to help others. However, while we may have to love others like…
Bava Metzia 28: Lost and Found
“Until when must he declare the lost object? Until his neighbours know about it, these are…
Breisheet: Let Us Make Man
The belief in one G-d is perhaps the most fundamental teaching of Judaism. Thousands have died…
Bava Metzia 21: Intro to Talmud
I, probably like many of you began my formal study of Talmud learning Eilu Metziot, the second…
Shabbat Chol HaMoed: Let's Skip This Year
"Keep the harvest festival as the year changes" (Shemot 34:22). This (half) verse is the…
Sukkot: Fear and Joy
The Jewish year begins with the aseret yemei teshuva, the ten days of repentance. They begin with…
Yom Kippur: Play Ball!
“There are those who acquire their world in one moment” (Avodah Zara 18a). One action…
Yom Kippur: Where Are You?
“On Rosh Hashanah it is written and on Yom Kippur it is sealed.” No two holidays are as…
What's a Little Lie?: Bava Metzia 5
“Two people are holding onto a tallit. This one says…‘it is all mine’ and…
Vayelech: 1…613
“Today I [Moshe] am 120 years old, and I can no longer come and go." (Devarim 31:2).…
Crime Pays: Bava Metzia 5
"Crime doesn’t pay" is a nice moral message but not a very practical one. Most…