2015-12-14

  Part of the purpose of the harsh treatment of the Sotah is convincing the suspected adulteress to admit her infidelity. By doing so she is…

2015-12-10

  In our last post we discussed the Talmudic tendency to group together sayings of one particular sage quoting another. In…

2015-12-08

  Originally meant as an oral “text” the Talmud features a number of mnemonic devices to aid in recall and memorization. Thus…

2015-12-03

  It is an amazing aspect of the human condition that two people can see the same thing yet see it most differently. That is likely why the…

2015-12-01

  One of most bitter and divisive (Jewish) fights of the 19th century was that regarding the use of the vernacular in the synagogue -…

2015-11-30

In our last post we discussed how a rasha arum, a cunning evildoer, is amongst the mevali olam, those who are destroyers of…

2015-11-26

  “He [Rabbi Yehoshua] used to say: a pious fool, a cunning evildoer, an ascetic woman and the wounds of the ascetics destroy the world…

2015-11-24

In our last post we discussed the view of Rabbi Eliezer that one who teaches his daughter Torah is as if he has taught her tiflut, frivolity. To…

2015-11-23

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. It is this notion that lay at the heart of one of the most important disputes of the Talmud (though many are…

2015-11-20

For most people carpool is a scheduling nuisance, one of those necessary but unwanted jobs of parenting. Helping with homework is not much better.…

2015-11-19

Just this week an Ontario Court ruled that a 19 year old convicted of first degree murder of a police officer would be spared jail time (he was 15 at…

2015-11-16

What a Beginning!: Sotah 14     “Rav Simlai expounded: The Torah begins with an act of chesed, benevolence, and ends…

2015-11-13

As we end the first chapter of masechet Sotah (and as discussed in our last post) we transition from discussing the punishment of the sotah…

2015-11-10

  "In the measure that a person measures so it is measured to him. She [the sotah] adorned her body in order to transgress, God has…

2015-11-09

Teaching is what one would call a long-term investment. Teachers plant seeds but rarely get to see the fruit of their labour, leading many to…

2015-11-08

  Our Sages were great realists. They understood the complexities of the human condition and how even otherwise great people can make…

2015-11-05

The Mishna is almost exclusively a legal code and like all codes displays little 'emotion' even when it describes emotionally wrenching…

2015-11-03

Jewish law and thought covers all aspects of life and that means nothing is beyond the purview of Talmudic and rabbinic discussion. With the primary…

2015-10-29

  The opening lines of a book are meant to set the tone of the book - providing background, introducing its major characters and themes.…

2015-10-27

    Seder Nasim is the shortest of the six orders of the Mishna comprising only seven of the sixty-three masechtot and “only…