Yosef was a most charismatic figure. How else to explain the appeal he had to so many people? The…
Bava Metzia 84: I Can't Learn Without You
The traditional way to study Talmud is with a chavruta, a study partner, someone with whom to…
Bava Metzia 76: I Love My Job
“’For they are My slaves’ (Vayikra 25:55) – and not slaves to My slaves…
Chanukah: 70 Bulls and 8 Lights
Perhaps the greatest challenge facing Jewishly conscious people in the modern world is figuring out…
VaYeshev: Time to Grow Up
Perhaps no Biblical story fascinates us like that of Yosef and his brothers. Its twists and turns…
Bava Metzia 75: In Man We Don't Trust
Jews pray three times a day to be blessed with material wealth. Yet precisely because so much good…
Bava Metzia 72: I Want to Be a Rich Man
People convert to Judaism for all kinds of reasons. Ideally, one may accept only those who…
Talking to Parents
One of the aspects of teaching I enjoy greatly is parent-teacher meetings. Beyond friendly chatter…
Bava Metzia 65: Sale Ends Today
One of the unique features of the prohibition of charging interest is that the prohibition cannot…
Bava Metzia 62: Your Money and Your Life
The word damim in biblical Hebrew means both blood and money. Lo ta’amod al dam reacha (…
Bava Metzia 61: Let's Eat Some Rodents
Teaching in a community school, I often hear from many of my students that they are “not…
VaYetze: Listen to Your Mother
The Torah tells us nothing about the upbringing of Abraham; we do not even know the name of his…
Bava Metzia 61: A Free Loan
One of most difficult laws to comprehend, both technically and philosophically, is the Torah…
Bava Metzia 59: A Broken Oven
“If an oven is cut into rings, and sand is placed between the rings, Rabbi Eliezer says it is…
Bava Metzia 59: Torah Is Not in Heaven
One of the most famous, powerful and tragic stories in all of Talmudic literature is that of the…
Bava Metzia 58: Verbal Abuse
“Just as there is ona’ah, oppression, regarding commerce, so too there is ona’ah…
Bava Metzia 55: What is a Penny Worth?
There is not too much one can do with a penny; so little, in fact, that the Canadian government…
Bava Metzia 49: What Did You Say it Cost?
“Ona’ah is four silver maot in twenty-four…1/6th of the price” (Bava…