Chagigah Sep 19, 2014

Heaven or Earth: Chagigah 6   "Three mitzvoth were the Jewish people commanded when they went up [to Jerusalem] on the festival, …

Chagigah Sep 17, 2014

Making G-d Cry: Chagigah 5   In our last post we discussed the reasons that a number of our Sages cried. But humans are not the…

Chagigah Sep 16, 2014

“Even though the gates of prayer are closed, the gates of tears are never closed”. With the destruction of the Temple--“the house…

Chagigah Sep 15, 2014

Perhaps the most beautiful aspect of the Yamim Tovim, especially in Temple times, was the coming together of Jews from all walks of life to celebrate…

Ki Tavo Sep 12, 2014

With less than two weeks until Rosh Hashanah, the theme of teshuva begins to take centre stage. While the cycle of Torah reading--and for…

Sep 11, 2014

In this, what was the summer of our discontent, it is worth looking at the words that were commonly used to moralize about the present war. At the…

Chagigah Sep 11, 2014

The mitzvah of aliyah laregel--going up to Jerusalem on Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot--was a central feature of these holidays of national…

Moed Katan Sep 10, 2014

The commitment to learn Daf Yomi is a remarkable one. It is the only study project I know that takes seven and half years to complete (2,711 days, to…

Moed Katan Sep 9, 2014

It is to be expected that, in a chapter dealing with the laws of mourning, a discussion of the philosophical implications of death will follow. Such…

Moed Katan Sep 7, 2014

No idea is stressed more in the Torah than that of being kind to strangers, “because we were strangers in the land of Egypt”. This notion…

Re'eh Sep 7, 2014

Showing extra sensitivity to the needs of the poor, the widow, orphan, servant, and stranger is a central theme of the Torah. This is especially so…

Ki Teitzei Sep 5, 2014

What is the role of a Rabbi? When this question was asked to Rabbi Yechiel Michel Epstein, author of the monumental code of law the Aruch…

Moed Katan Sep 4, 2014

As previously discussed, both mourning and Chol Hamoed share a prohibition of shaving. Yet the reasons for such are very different; the…

Ki Teitzei Sep 4, 2014

For the religion that first brought the message of ethical monotheism to the world, Judaism sure does its best to have us lead much of our daily…

Shoftim Aug 29, 2014

"Tzedek tzedek tirdof, justice, justice you shall pursue in order that you may live and inherit the land that the Lord your G-d is giving you…

Moed Katan Aug 29, 2014

One of the greatest and the most tragic figure of Talmudic literature is Rav Eliezer ben Hurcanus, known simply as Rabbi Eliezer Hagadol, Rabbi…

Moed Katan Aug 28, 2014

The primary way we can tell which commandments are more important than others is by the punishment recorded in the Torah for various offences[1].…

Moed Katan Aug 25, 2014

The Gemara (Megillah 5b) relates that Rebbe wanted to abolish Tisha B'Av. Interestingly, no reason is given for this idea of Rebbe's[1]. And…

Moed Katan Aug 21, 2014

As we discussed in our last post, mourning and Yom Tov[1] are polar opposites, and mourning has no place on these days of joy.  Such is…

Moed Katan Aug 19, 2014

Halacha reflects not only legal truths, but moral, psychological, and philosophical (and other) truths, as well. The wide observance of the laws…

Moed Katan Aug 19, 2014

For better or worse most people pay little attention to the proof texts brought to support various Talmudic views and positions, focusing on the…

Moed Katan Aug 17, 2014

One of the fascinating features of the Talmud is how it seamlessly moves from topic to topic. The opening Mishnah of Moed Katan teaches that amongst…

Eikev Aug 15, 2014

“And they placed upon them taskmasters lema’an anoto, in order to afflict them in their burdens” (Shemot 1:11). This inuei, affliction is the first…

Moed Katan Aug 14, 2014

Moed Katan has as its focus two contradictory themes: the laws of Chol Hamoed and of aveilut, mourning. Chol Hamoed is a time when we are obligated…

Megillah Aug 13, 2014

“And I have given them statutes that are not good, and laws that they do not live with" (Yechezkel 20:25). In our last post, we…

Megillah Aug 11, 2014

Learning Torah is meant to be enjoyable. It is for this reason that a mourner is not permitted to learn (Moed Katan 21a) [1]--the joy that…

Va'etchanan Aug 10, 2014

Jews of faith, when faced with imminent death, have departed this world with the words of the shma on their lips. Perhaps the most famous example of…

Megillah Aug 7, 2014

One of the ways we show respect for a person is to stand in their honour, and such an honour is not only bestowed on people. The notion of the…

Megillah Aug 3, 2014

One of the most central requirements of Jewish life—both in time and importance—is that of daily prayer. Yet most fascinatingly, the…

Tisha B'Av Aug 3, 2014

"Whoever mourns for Jerusalem will merit seeing its joy" (Ta'anit 30b). Our Sages seem to be offering words of comfort to those…

Tisha B'Av Aug 3, 2014

"Whoever mourns for Jerusalem will merit seeing its joy" (Ta'anit 30b). Our Sages seem to be offering words of comfort to those…

Megillah Aug 2, 2014

Pesach is the foundational holiday of the Jewish people, and the Exodus is the defining moment of Jewish history. A group of slaves formed a nation…

Devarim Aug 1, 2014

Sefer Devarim is the book of preparation to enter the land of Israel. Moshe Rabbeinu was to be denied the opportunity to lead - or even join - the…

Megillah Jul 30, 2014

Often it takes our enemies to whip us into shape. “Rav Abba the son of Kahana said: Greater was the removal of the ring [of Achashverosh] than…

Megillah Jul 25, 2014

When one makes a siyum to mark the completion of a tractate of Talmud, we recite the beautiful words of the hadran[1], that "we toil and they…

Megillah Jul 19, 2014

"Rav Yehoshua ben Levi said, women are obligated in the reading of the Megillah she'af hen, because they, too, were included in the…

Mattot Jul 18, 2014

Promises, promises. We are used to hearing them being broken, especially when they are made by our political leaders. Parshat Mattot begins by…

Megillah Jul 17, 2014

"These days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of…

Megillah Jul 14, 2014

The first daf (page) of Masechet Megillah focuses on the distinction between open and walled cites, regarding the timing of the reading of…

Megillah Jul 13, 2014

Masechet Ta'anit ends with a description of how, on the 15th of Av and on Yom Kippur, "the maidens of Jerusalem" would dance in the…

Balak Jul 4, 2014

Perhaps no greater question has vexed the Jewish people as that of our relationship with the nations of the world. Should it be one of integration?…

Jul 2, 2014

For most of the world, the year 1492 marks the anniversary of Christopher Columbus' voyage to America. Yet for Jews, the year 1492 is a year of…

Taanit Jun 29, 2014

Sukkot marks the beginning of the rainy season, and Rabbi Eliezer opines that we should start saying  masheev haruach umoreed hageshem starting…

Taanit Jun 26, 2014

"If not for my covenant, day and night, the laws of heaven and earth, I would not have created" (Yirmiyahu 33:25). Classical Jewish thought…

Taanit Jun 23, 2014

It is hard enough to do what is right. Our wants, desirers, egos, social pressure, and the like often get in the way of acting properly. Even when we…

Taanit Jun 21, 2014

Living in Canada, it is hard to get excited about rain. Often it puts a damper on nice summer plans. Even in Israel, where water is so much more of a…

Taanit Jun 17, 2014

One of the most popular images in our tradition is that of a tree. Its many component parts reflect the diversity of our community. Some, like the…

Taanit Jun 15, 2014

"Memati mazkirin gevurat geshamim, from when do we begin to mention the power of rain?" (Ta'anit 2a). Masechet Ta'anit opens with a…

Rosh Hashana Jun 14, 2014

The last Mishnah in Masechet Rosh Hashanah quotes a debate between the Sages and Rabban Gamliel on a fundamental aspect of prayer. "The same way…

Rosh Hashana Jun 12, 2014

The fourth and last chapter of Masechet Rosh Hashanah focuses on the mitzvah of shofar and the special davening—malchiut, zichronot and…