Etiquette and diplomatic niceties are the hallmarks of the world of politics. Political leaders are trained to speak ambiguously and in a way that…
Rebbe Yehuda Hanasi said:…One should be as careful with a light mitzvah as with a heavy mitzvah (Avot 2:1). While (it is generally assumed…
How unfortunate when man must put his fate in the hands of other men. “And the warden had placed all the prisoners in the dungeon under Yosef…
The holiday of Chanukah is a most beloved one. Lighting the candles is the only mitzvah that has, built into its performance, a three-tiered system:…
The holiday of Chanukah is a most beloved one. Lighting the candles is the only mitzvah that has, built into its performance, a three-tiered system:…
One of the beautiful things about learning Daf Yomi is seeing the enormously wide range of rabbinic thought, something that is often not possible in…
The Talmud records that one who has no dreams for a period of seven days is called a wicked person (Brachot 55b). Dreams represent our innermost…
“New moons You have given to Your people, a time of atonement for all your generations.” It is this phrase that serves as the…
The story is told that when the Vilna Gaon was a little boy, he wanted to learn masechet Shavuot[1] in the weeks before the holiday of…
“A song to David; G-d, who will live in Your tent, who shall dwell on your holy mountain? He [who] speaks truth in his heart” (Tehillim…
“’And now let Me go, so that I may destroy them and make you a great nation’ (Shemot 32:10). Rav Abahu said: If the verse had not…
Almost by definition, news—at least most of it—is of the less-positive variety, often causing us to think the world is a lot worse than…
The experiences of history have made our people a nervous lot. Whatever nervousness is warranted as members of the human race is significantly…
“Rava said: How foolish are the rest of the people who stand before a sefer Torah, but do not stand before a great person!” (…
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.…
It is hard to imagine a more disparate couple than Yitzchak and Rivka, the quiet contemplative husband who would "meditate in the fields" (…
“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…
"The discussions of the servants of our patriarchs are more beloved than the Torah of their children” (Rashi, Breisheet, 24:22). This…
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,…
"G-d said: I will obliterate humanity that I have created from the face of the earth; man, livestock, land animals and birds of the sky. I…
“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…
Sukkot marks the beginning of the end of the holiday season. As the fall season commences, and as the days get progressively shorter and colder,…
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…
The Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 619:6) quotes a custom to remain in shul through the night of Yom Kippur, singing songs of praise to G-d.…
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…
Rosh Hashanah is first and foremost a day of prayer. Prayer, as Rav Soloveitchik often noted, is rooted in asking G-d to fulfil our needs. One who is…
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…
One often hears the lament that it is difficult to be a Jew. There are seemingly endless demands from morning to evening, 365 days a year, year in…
"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…
"And now, behold, I have brought the first fruits of the land which You have given me" (Devarim 26:10). The Israeli farmer was to…
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…
A legal brief and a good story are two very different forms of writing. We have even coined a term, legalese, to describe the distinct writing…
“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…