The Torah takes justice very seriously: “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot” (Shemot 21:24).…
When I first started learning Gemara – and as we prepared for tests – we were told not to worry if we got the names of the rabbis wrong.…
“And you shall do to them as they sought to do to others” (Devarim 19:19). Edim zomimim, plotting witnesses, are punished…
“The witnesses do not become zomimim, ‘plotting witnesses’, unless they falsify themselves” (Makkot 5a). The law of…
In the standard editions of the Talmud Bavli in vogue today, there are 63 tractates of Mishna, 37 of which have a corresponding Gemara. The…
The Torah talks very little – actually, not at all (at least explicitly)– about the coming of the Mashiach, the Messianic Era, or the…
One of the philosophical debates between the Greeks and Jews concerned the eternity of the world. The Greeks believed that the world has existed from…
“Stay far away from a lie” (Shemot 23:7). Unlike the other mitzvot in the Torah where we are just told not to do something, when it comes…
The Jewish people have long been accused of being robbers and thieves. The importance of countering this accusation was so crucial that it…
The last chapter of masechet Sanhedrin is like no other in the Talmud. Almost devoid of legal discussion, it contains some 23 double-sided pages of…
“Every argument that is for [the sake of] heaven's name is destined to endure. And if it is not for [the sake of] heaven's name,…
“Do not profane your daughter and make her a harlot” (Vayikra 19:28). One has to wonder exactly whom the Torah is addressing. What kind…
“The entire house of Israel is commanded to sanctify the Name” (Laws of the Fundamentals of Torah, 5:1). The language is striking,…
“And you shall love the Lord your G-d with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your possessions” (Devarim 6:5). Clearly, if…
Fundamental to Jewish theology is the belief that both the Written Law and the Oral Law were given by G-d at Sinai. While the finite Written Law, i.e…
Man finds it difficult to admit wrongdoing. Doing so creates cognitive dissonance. Being that we are basically good people – there are few who…
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…