In our last post, we discussed why Rav Yochanan was so angry when his student, Rav Elazar, repeated a teaching of his without attribution.…
Perhaps the greatest fear of man is that he will be forgotten, that ultimately his life will be devoid of meaning. Even, perhaps especially, the most…
"Rav Elazar ben Yaakov said: I heard that the beit din may hit and punish not according to the [laws of the] Torah, not to…
"A woman whose husband went overseas, and one[1] came and told her, 'Your husband has died' and she marries [another]...…
"G-d did not find a vessel more pleasing for the Jewish people than peace" (Uktzin 3:11). Such is the concluding teaching of the…
"Three signs are there for this nation: they are rachmanim, merciful; bayshanim, have a sense of shame[1]; and gomlei…
One of the key distinctions between the land of Israel and the Diaspora is the ability to observe the many mitzvot between man and the land. The…
One of the famous concepts of Jewish law is the exemption of women from time-bound positive mitzvoth. The reason for such is specified neither in the…
"The signature of G-d is truth" (Sanhedrin 64a). "Accept the truth from wherever it comes" (Rambam, Introduction to Avot). There…
"And G-d blessed them; and G-d said unto them: 'Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over…
To Western man the notion that one must marry somebody in specific or even that restrictions be placed on the choice of a marriage partner is an…
“Rav ordered that lashes be given to any person who betrothed by cohabitation, who betrothed in the open street, or who betrothed without…
Masechet Kiddushin opens by delineating the three methods by which one is mekadesh, betroths, a woman. Masechet Yevamot, on the other hand,…
"Shimon ben Azzai said: I found a scroll of genealogy, and it was written, 'So-and-so is a mamzer, [having been born] from [a…
"A convert who comes to convert bizman hazeh, nowadays...we inform him of the importance of leket, shichichah, peah and ma…
Halacha, Jewish law, has a multiplicity of voices, each reflecting the word of the living G-d. Of course, in practice, we must choose…
"Ishto k'gufo, ba'al k'ishto", one's wife is like one's own self; a husband is as one with his wife. Jewish thought…
"And if the man does not want to take his brother's wife, then his brother's wife shall go up to the gate unto the elders, and say:…
Even those far removed from Jewish learning know that it is the mother who determines the Jewish status of a baby. Why this is so is not clearly…
"Whoever starts in a mitzvah, we tell him to finish"; "a mitzvah that comes to your hand, do not let it wait". These and other…
Innocent until proven guilty is a fundamental norm of Western jurisprudence. This concept goes back until at least Talmudic times, when our Sages…
By dint of the fifth amendment to the Constitution, US citizens are protected from being forced to give self-incriminating testimony; pleading…
All great pieces of literature can be understood on multiple levels, over multiple time periods, and by a variety of cultures. There is no greater…
Life is not always fair. So much that befalls us--both positive and negative--is beyond our control. And there is little that is less fair than being…