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In his 17th century collection of responsa (#93), the Chacham Tzvi, Rav Tzvi Ashkenazi, discusses whether a golem, perhaps best translated as an…
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“The brothers who were groomsmen, shoshbanim, during the lifetime of their father—when the wedding gifts are reciprocated they…
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Two of most central pillars of Jewish faith, G-d’s foreknowledge of all that will occur and free choice granted to man, seemingly—and…
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There is something very special about being pregnant with one’s first child. One has grandiose dreams (hopefully) of carrying a great Torah…
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One of the great disparities between the modern Western mode of thought and traditional Jewish thought is the concept of egalitarianism. Modern…
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“One who writes his property for others [in his will] and leaves his children [with nothing]—what is done is done, but the spirit of our…
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One of the differences one notices in teaching adults, as opposed to children, is that the former are generally less inclined to respond to questions…
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One of the primary lessons of sefer Breisheet is that birth order matters little. Yitzchak, Yaakov and Yosef were all younger brothers, in Yosef…
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Here is a great trivia question to try on a friend. Who was Noach’s wife? What was Abraham’s mother’s name? Don’t feel bad if…
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In our last post, we discussed the Gemara’s claim that the punishment for false weights is greater than that for sexual immorality. As the…
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All too often, we equate being a religious Jew with the observance of Shabbat, kashrut and taharat hamishpacha. Without at all minimizing these…
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We live in an age of great skepticism—often for good reason. In a time where science-with its demand for rigorous proofs, detailed…
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The third chapter of Bava Batra is some 30 pages long, making it one of the longest in the Talmud. It is focused on the rules of acquisition of…
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It was at the well that Abraham’s servant met Rivka, Yaakov met Rachel and Moshe met Tzippora. It is hard for us--who, when thirsty,…
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If you are going to pick a fight with someone, it’s best to know who your adversary is. There are certain people with whom it just doesn’…
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Canadian law requires one to keep tax records for six years, after which time they can be destroyed and government audits are no longer possible.…
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Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Outliers, posits that it takes 10,000 hours of practice for people to become expert in any field, be they NHL hockey…
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It is unlikely that Yehoshua ben Gamla would make very many listings of the five or even ten most important Sages of Talmudic times – let alone…
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It is hard to imagine what the Jewish world would be like without Rashi. Well, maybe not so hard. Without Rashi our understanding of Chumash would be…
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Every once in a while one comes across a Talmudic story that makes one shake one’s head in disbelief. As we discussed in our last post, the…
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The opening Mishna of Bava Batra teaches that in the interest of privacy, one neighbour can force the other to build a wall dividing their common…
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Visiting Yeshiva Chachmei Lublin as Torah in Motion “Journeyed through Jewish History”, sitting in the beautifully rebuilt, but…
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The Ramah in his glosses to the Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh Deah 249:1) rules that the mitzva of tzedakah can only be fulfilled by giving to the poor. This…
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“We force him [the resident of a courtyard] to contribute to the building of the guard’s gate” (Bava Batra 7b). When we think of a…