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"A pot with two cooks is neither hot nor cold" (Eruvin 3a). This popular folk saying is used by the Talmud to explain Rava of Parzkiah'…
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Judaism has long recognized that we need both private and public space. Man is both an individual and a member of a community. At times, the…
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Masechet Shabbat deals primarily with the 39 forbidden activities on Shabbat--especially that of carrying. Yet, as is the norm for Talmudic…
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Since at least the time of the Rambam, Jews have yearned for the coming of the Mashiach. Many Jews went to their deaths asserting the twelfth…
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"Rav Helbo said: The wine of Perugitha and the water of Diomsith cut off the Ten Tribes from Israel" (Shabbat 147b). As Rashi explains,…
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The next time your mother tells you to eat your vegetables, you might try explaining to her that you are just following the advice of Rav Hisda, the…
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When one studies Talmud, it is easy to forget that Sages quoted on the same page may actually have lived hundreds of years and hundreds of miles…
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While we are unable to discern G-d's ways--and it behooves us to not even try--Talmudic rabbis were not so reticent in ascribing reasons for…
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One of the saddest statements Jews can make is, “It’s tough to be a Jew”. Why would anyone want to be part of a people identified with suffering,…
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“Make your Shabbat like a weekday, and have no need [to take from] people” (Shabbat 118a). In Talmudic times, it was the norm to eat two meals a day…
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One of the foundational laws of Shabbat is that only productive acts are prohibited; “all who destroy are exempt” (Shabbat 105b). At times, a…
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The Latin alphabet, used in many languages of today (including English), is a phonetic system where each letter—or combination thereof—represents…
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James Naismith is credited with inventing basketball, but a primitive version seems to have existed in Talmudic times. “Rav Mordechai asked Rava: […
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Of all the 39 Melachot, it is carrying that, by far, occupies the most pages of Talmudic discussion. In the midst of discussing this prohibition, the…
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It seems that the toy industry in Talmudic times was quite different than the one we have today. Lacking the technological gizmos so popular today,…
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Abraham is the founding father of Judaism, Yaakov is the founding father of the Jewish people, and Yitzchak is the link between them. His role was…
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Years ago, I heard Dennis Prager note that, while the Talmud spends six double-sided folio pages discussing the permissibility of eating an egg laid…
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It is the 39 melachot that define the observance of Shabbat. Yet a listing of the melachot does not appear until midway through the seventh chapter…
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The sixth chapter of Shabbat begins with the issue of what ornaments a woman—and to a lesser extent, a man—may or may not wear on Shabbat in a place…
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Interpreting Scripture is no easy feat. One of the difficulties in understanding biblical literature is to figure out what parts are to be taken at…
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“The cow of Rav Elazar ben Azaria used to go out on Shabbat with a strap between its horns, against the will of the rabbis”. Shabbat is the day of…
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One of the inspiring things we see in the many stories found in the Talmud is the realistic portrayal of our great sages. We see not only much…
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The Talmud teaches that everything is dependent on mazal, “even the Sefer Torah in the ark”. Some sifrei Torah are used week in and week out, while…
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One of the differences between Talmudic rabbis and those of the post-Talmudic era is the “ability” of the former to link “crime and punishment”, or…