The Mishna is almost exclusively a legal code and like all codes displays little 'emotion' even when it describes emotionally wrenching…
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…
The opening lines of a book are meant to set the tone of the book - providing background, introducing its major characters and themes.…
Seder Nasim is the shortest of the six orders of the Mishna comprising only seven of the sixty-three masechtot and “only…
“And G-d said to Abram; go from your land, your birthplace and from the home of your father” (Breisheet 12:1). Rashi…
Jewish law rules that when one must “desecrate” the Shabbat in order to save a life it is the greatest scholar present who should…
While it was Rav Yehuda Hanassi who edited the Mishna it is the teachings of Rav Meir, who lived in the generation prior, that form the basis…
“For there is no righteous person in the land who does [only] good and does not sin” (Kohelet 7:20). Sinning is part and parcel of…
One of the long standing debates in ethical theory is whether it is actions or intentions that determines the ethical probity of our actions. There…
When one thinks of the mitzvoth dependent on the land of Israel we think of the agricultural laws of the Torah; terumah, maaser, shmittaand the…
After discussing the general topic of nedarim, vows, the Mishna moves to a most specific form of a vow, that of a nazir. The…
One of the primary messages of masechet Nedarim is how negatively [most of] our Sages viewed the taking of vows. More often than not a vow reflected…
Just this past Shabbat, we read of the mitzvah of tzedakah. The Torah describes the case where the poor are our neighbours, and we must…
Adam and Cain, Noah and Cham, Abraham and Yishmael, Yitzchak and Eisav. Our children do not always turn out as we would like. Even children…
Everybody loves a good story. And what one cannot accomplish through direct teaching, one can often accomplish through a story. Yet it is…
In our past couple of posts (here and here), we have discussed the notion of a petach, an opening to allow one to annul a vow.…
"One may use as an opening [to annul a vow] one's own honour or the honour of one's children" (Nedarim 66a). Our…
"If only I would have known.." After many pages delineating the parameters of various vows the Talmud discusses when and how one…
It is always fascinating how a most technical, even obscure, discussion can reveal and lead to a discussion on fundamental concepts of Judaism…
It is not uncommon for someone to lose their job due to something stupid they do at an office party. People are much more apt to let their guard…
Sadly, some people need stimulants--be they (legal) alcohol or (illegal) drugs--to stimulate themselves and put themselves in a good mood. Others,…
At first glance one would not expect a Talmudic discussion on the mitzva of bikkur cholim in the midst of a discussion of vows. However…
In our last post we discussed the renewed interest today in the study of Tanach. Concurrent with that, for the first time in…
Over the past generation - primarily in Israel but also to a lesser extent in the Diaspora - there has been a renewed focus on the study of Tanach.…