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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…
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In our last post we discussed the renewed interest today in the study of Tanach. Concurrent with that, for the first time in…
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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.…
"G-d spoke to Moses, saying: Take revenge for the Israelites against the Midianites. Then you shall die and be gathered to your people…
The Ramah, Rav Moshe Isserles, is probably the most famous and important figure to have lived in Krakow. Born in 1530 to a wealthy family, the name…
Shabbat in Krakow. A city of glory, like almost no other in Jewish history. The Jewish quarter dates from the 16th century and is actually…
For Jews, Poland was as close to Gan Eden in exile as one could get. It was referred to by Jews as Po lin, "here we rest" in…
Travelling in Poland is emotionally moving and exhilarating at the same time. In the morning after minyan, Rabbi Michael Shudrich, the chief rabbi…
"Eino domeh shmiah l'rei'ah, one cannot compare hearing to seeing". I write these words at the end of our first day of…
With the destruction of the Temple and the Babylonian exile, the period of prophecy came to an end. "Only fools and children continue to…
It is for good reason that the lion is the king of the jungle. Powerful, courageous, fearless, and ferocious, lions sit at the top of the food…
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Summer is the time for vacation, especially for students who look forward to such activities as camp, sleep, travel, and plain old fun. School…
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Summer is the time for vacation, especially for students who look forward to such activities as camp, sleep, travel, and plain old fun. School…
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Dina demalchuta Dina, the law of the land is the law, is one of the most famous teachings of Jewish jurisprudence. While ostensibly a law relating to…
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The Mishna Berura - the most widely used halachic code of the 20th century - in his introduction to the laws of Shabbat explains the crucial…
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Imagine if instead of twenty-four books the Tanach consisted of only six. Strange as it sounds that was the original plan. "Rav Adda…
It is in Parshat Chukat that we meet the second generation of the Jewish nation, the one that would conquer the land of Israel. Yet there is precious…
The 1960's sitcom Get Smart[1] had as one of its heroes Hymie the robot. Lacking full human intelligence, he understood language only…
This week's d'var Torah is dedicated in honour of my father Rabbi Joseph Kelman z"l whose yahrzeit is this week. May his memory be…
In the siddurim commonly in use today, on the Shabbat before Rosh Chodesh, we pray that we should be blessed to have "chaim she'…
The mitzvah of Talmud Torah has a dual objective. First and foremost, one learns so one will know how to act: "an ignoramus cannot be a…
Parshat Shelach Lecha is perhaps the most tragic parsha of the Chumash. The march of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel came to a…
In our second to last post of Masechet Ketubot we discussed the decision of Rabbi Yehudah Hanassi to put the Oral Law into writing.…
“Better is it that one should not vow, than that one should vow and not pay” (Kohelet 5:4). This truism, enunciated by Shlomo HaMelech…
One of the major benefits of studying Daf Yomi is that one is exposed to the entire breadth of the (Babylonian) Talmud, something one may not manage…
Chanukah and Purim. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Sukkot and Shmini Atzeret. The aforementioned holidays form natural units. When one thinks of…
The life of Rebbe, Rabbi Yehuda Hanassi, marked a turning point in Jewish history. He was the one who, strange as it may sound, acted in defiance of…
It is a sad spectacle when people fight over a dead man's estate. What can make such disputes more intractable is that often, both…
No contract can cover all eventualities, and only through goodwill and compromise can disputes be avoided when the inevitable happens, and something…
Many people, upon receiving notice of jury duty, try hard to avoid actually doing such. They have little time, interest, and often cannot afford the…
"G-d spoke to Moshe at Mount Sinai saying: When you come the land that I am giving you the land shall rest a Shabbat to G-d" (Vayilkra 25:1-2). Mah…
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One of the differences between the taxation policies of the United States and that of Canada is that in the United States a couple can choose to be…
The importance of informal education is today a given. A solid education requires both formal and informal learning and often it is the latter that…
A number of years ago we had the pleasure of being the Toronto coordinators of the Torah Ethics Project. Its slogan was “Some of the most obvious…
When speaking at a wedding, brit, bar or bat mitzvah and the like, one generally looks to the parsha of the week to find some connection. Some are…
“Va-yidom Aharon” - “And Aharon was silent” (Vayikra 10:3). While these words, read this past Shabbat,…
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Psychologists estimate that the pain of losing money is twice as great as the joy of making money (see here). It is for this reason that Jewish…
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While it may sound unromantic, marriage partners are chosen, more often than we might like to admit, for socio-economic reasons. While this need not…
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In our last post we discussed the challenge of balancing work and family obligations. The Mishnah that discusses the length of a "…
Finding the proper balance between work and family is a challenge that man has been dealing with since the beginning of time. There never seems to be…
There is something most beautiful about a holiday that celebrates our past being focused on future, on our children. Pesach marks the founding of our…
"Therefore, in every generation, one must see themselves as if they have left Egypt”. All too often, we can only fully appreciate what we have when…
One of the most difficult, yet vital, tasks as we learn, is allotting enough time and effort for review. We all find the new more exciting, and…
One of the ideological revolutions of the Zionist movement was the notion of the inherent value of physical labour. Jews traditionally like to think…
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The increasing age for marriage coupled with the high cost of housing has led to a situation of more and more children in their 20's and…
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Our conception of the family unit has undergone revolutionary changes in the last few years. It should come as no surprise that norms of today often…
This week the focus of the Torah reading shifts from the construction of the Mishkan to the korbanot, one (but only one) of the purposes of building…
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"One should be as careful with a light mitzvah as with a heavy mitzvah" (Pirkei Avot 2:1). Not every mitzvah is created equal. While all…
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Malcolm Gladwell, in his bestselling book Outliers, demonstrates how so much of our success is a result of factors beyond our control.…
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In our last post we discussed the fickleness of memory and how and when one may write down testimony for future use in a court of…