![](/sites/default/files/styles/square_big_600x/public/woman-holding-fan-of-100-50-bills_573x300.jpg?itok=dXDQwjC2)
The word damim in biblical Hebrew means both blood and money. Lo ta’amod al dam reacha (Vayikra19:16) means not only may we not stand idly by…
![](/sites/default/files/styles/square_big_600x/public/rat_small.jpeg?itok=98--rYFF)
Teaching in a community school, I often hear from many of my students that they are “not religious.” After all, they don’t observe…
![](/sites/default/files/styles/square_big_600x/public/interest_free.jpg?itok=ysGVwihJ)
One of most difficult laws to comprehend, both technically and philosophically, is the Torah prohibition against charging interest – the…
![](/sites/default/files/styles/square_big_600x/public/a0ff3e217e4e1e1128138067dd7f64a6_1.jpg?itok=PpYu5j2c)
“If an oven is cut into rings, and sand is placed between the rings, Rabbi Eliezer says it is pure. But the sages say it is susceptible to…
![](/sites/default/files/styles/square_big_600x/public/torah_not_in_heaven.jpg?itok=weU7DQq3)
One of the most famous, powerful and tragic stories in all of Talmudic literature is that of the excommunication of Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, known…
![](/sites/default/files/styles/square_big_600x/public/shutterstock_122152585-anastasiia-kucherenko-opener.jpg?itok=ik5S_XvZ)
“Just as there is ona’ah, oppression, regarding commerce, so too there is ona’ah, oppression, regarding words. One should not say…
![](/sites/default/files/styles/square_big_600x/public/canadian_penny_-_reverse.png?itok=rNS1eSd5)
There is not too much one can do with a penny; so little, in fact, that the Canadian government removed them from circulation in 2013 with purchases…
![](/sites/default/files/styles/600x600/public/2024-05/shutterstock_696138958%20%281%29.jpg?itok=tv_xIc40)
“Ona’ah is four silver maot in twenty-four…1/6th of the price” (Bava Metzia 49b). The laws of ona’ah, price fraud,…
![](/sites/default/files/styles/600x600/public/2024-06/shutterstock_2320655091.jpg?itok=10WGHZBu)
The Ramban, in perhaps his most famous biblical comment, notes that one can observe every law in the Torah and yet be no better than a dead carcass (…
![](/sites/default/files/styles/600x600/public/2024-05/shutterstock_2182844533.jpg?itok=H_zLBHxH)
In our last post we discussed the responsibilities of a shomer entrusted to guard produce. The Mishnayot continue with a discussion of one’s…
![](/sites/default/files/styles/600x600/public/2024-06/shutterstock_2326428433.jpg?itok=JBkXRiSO)
“Milveh lhotzah nitna”, money is loaned to be spent (Kiddushin 47a). When one loans money it is with the understanding that the borrower…
![](/sites/default/files/2020-12/blog-dummy.jpg)
It is a beautiful character trait to be trusting of others. It is also, all too often, foolhardy. The underlying theme of much of Bava Metzia, and…
![](/sites/default/files/styles/600x600/public/2024-06/shutterstock_2190968521.jpg?itok=vb6VJs_5)
The difference between a smart businessperson and an ethically challenged one can be fine indeed - so fine that many will disagree on where to draw…
![](/sites/default/files/styles/600x600/public/2024-05/shutterstock_1636066123.jpg?itok=1YCxxumW)
One of the beautiful things about studying Gemara is delighting in how it seamlessly flows from one idea to another; how it blends legal rulings,…
![](/sites/default/files/styles/600x600/public/2024-06/shutterstock_2445639599.jpg?itok=hcuq4QzR)
There are few mitzvoth of greater importance than kibud av veim. This is so well-known and obvious that it hardly needs elaboration. So much so that…
![](/sites/default/files/2020-12/blog-dummy.jpg)
“G-d is good to all and His mercy is upon all His creations” (Tehillim 145:9). If G-d has mercy on all His creations so too must man,…
![](/sites/default/files/styles/600x600/public/2024-07/shutterstock_2311811661.jpg?itok=ph_phZMT)
The Torah demands we do much to help others. However, while we may have to love others like ourselves, there is no requirement to love them more than…
![](/sites/default/files/styles/600x600/public/2024-07/shutterstock_2422320005.jpg?itok=_LID0WAo)
“Until when must he declare the lost object? Until his neighbours know about it, these are the words of Rav Meir.” (Bava Metzia 28a) One…
![](/sites/default/files/styles/600x600/public/2024-05/shutterstock_2293317113.jpg?itok=sHUSMkdy)
I, probably like many of you began my formal study of Talmud learning Eilu Metziot, the second chapter of masechet Bava Metzia. “These are the…
![](/sites/default/files/2020-12/blog-dummy.jpg)
“Two people are holding onto a tallit. This one says…‘it is all mine’ and this one says ‘it is all mine’…
![](/sites/default/files/2020-12/blog-dummy.jpg)
"Crime doesn’t pay" is a nice moral message but not a very practical one. Most criminals, especially those who commit petty crime,…
![](/sites/default/files/styles/600x600/public/2024-05/shutterstock_2293317113.jpg?itok=sHUSMkdy)
“Two people are holding on to a tallit. This one says ‘I found it’ and this one says ‘I found it’; this one says…
![](/sites/default/files/2020-12/blog-dummy.jpg)
Dina demalchuta dina, the law of the land is the law, is one of the most famous, far-reaching and even revolutionary laws of the Talmud. At its most…
![](/sites/default/files/2020-12/blog-dummy.jpg)
The distinction between a ganav and a gazlan is fairly well known. The former in trying to hide his crime pays double the amount stolen whereas the…