In an amazing teshuva, Rav Yaakov Ettlinger (Binyan Tzion #172-173), basing himself on the story of Tamar and Yehuda, rules that one must give up one…
In recent years, as more forensic tools have become available, we have been able to free many people who languished for years in prison before their…
The fact that the Bible allows – perhaps at times even encourages – the death penalty for violating its most serious transgressions is…
"They would cross-examine him with seven questions: in which year of the jubilee, in which year of the shmitta cycle, in which month,…
There is nothing more precious than human life. As we discussed in our last post, it is due to the crucial importance of one individual life that man…
One of the most famous and beautiful teachings of Judaism is, “whoever preserves one life, it is as if he has preserved an entire world…
With thousands going back to school today (myself included), parents, teachers and students are looking forward (well, maybe not all are looking…
The conflict between truth and peace dates back at least as far as the creation of the world, with “truth” arguing that being that man is…
“Based on the words of two or three witnesses shall the matter be established” (Devarim 19:15). While absent cause, we have little…
Over the last few posts (see here and here) we have been discussing those who are disqualified from giving testimony or sitting as a judge…
“Rav Nachman said: Those who eat davar acher, the other, are pasul, invalid to give testimony” (Sanhedrin 26b). As is often the…
Innocent until proven guilty is a fundamental tenet of the our secular legal system. It finds an antecedent in the rabbinic notion of a …
"And G-d blessed them and G-d said unto them: Be fruitful and multiply and fill the land and conquer it” (Breisheet 1:28). These are…
We are all products of—and greatly influenced by—our environments, which is why our Sages put so much emphasis on ensuring that we live…
Malcolm Gladwell, in his best-selling book Outliers, delineates how much of one's success in life is dependent on when one is born. Thus,…
I have long thought that far and away the best introduction to and overview of Judaism is the Sefer haChinuch, the great 13th century…
One of the areas of law that even otherwise non-observant Jews tend to observe are those relating to mourning[1]. Perhaps this phenomenon is based on…
Marshall McLuhan, the insightful Canadian philosopher, noted that with the rapid advances in technology and communications, we citizens of earth were…
Perhaps the fundamental difference between the Written Law and the Oral Law is that the former is “spoken” from a Divine perspective,…
One of the fiercest debates in medieval Jewish history was engendered by the attempt to reinstate full-blown semicha, rabbinic ordination, by…
It is in times of crisis that strong leadership is most needed. And up to that point in Jewish history, there was no greater crisis than that faced…
When things go well all are ready to take credit, even if they had little or no role to play in the success of the project at hand. At the same time…
Up until this point in Masechet Sanhedrin, we have been discussing the role of the court in resolving monetary disputes. But there is much more for…
Moshe Rabbeinu was about to die. Like many before him, he wanted to bless his “children” – the nation of Israel[1]. Yet before we…