Arachin

Embark on a journey of Jewish learning and discovery, exploring the depth of our Arachin resources, where tagged items including audio, programs, and podcast episodes await your exploration.

Erachin 16: To Rebuke or Not to Rebuke

Rabbi Jay Kelman

“How do we know that one who sees something unseemly in his friend, that he must rebuke him? Because it says (Vayikra 19:17), ‘You shall rebuke, rebuke, amitecha, your friend’” (Erachin 16b). While on the surface this seems…
Article
Aug 1, 2019

Erachin 16: Where's The Fire!

Rabbi Jay Kelman

Which would you prefer? That those who gossip about you do so behind your back and thus, you may never hear about it? Or that the gossip be said to your face, even in the presence of others? One might argue that ignorance is bliss, and that it is…
Article
Jul 25, 2019

Erachin 15: To Speak or Not to Speak

Rabbi Jay Kelman

“What is lashon hara?” (Erachin 15b). This is a most reasonable question—had it been asked at the beginning of a discussion on the laws of lashon hara. However, this question appears after more than a page of Talmudic…
Article
Jul 23, 2019

Erachin 15: Money Talks

Rabbi Jay Kelman

One would not expect to find the major Talmudic discussion on the laws and moral failings of speaking lashon hara in masechet Erachin. This masechet concerns itself with technical laws of gifts of valuations to the Temple, laws that are no…
Article
Jul 18, 2019

Erachin 4: More Priestly Obligations

Rabbi Jay Kelman

In our last post, we began our discussion as to why in so many disparate cases, one might have thought that kohanim are exempt from a mitzvah and hence, must be specifically obligated in that mitzvah.  “All are obligated in shofar:…
Article
Jul 14, 2019

Erachin 3: Priestly Obligations

Rabbi Jay Kelman

In our opening post on masechet Erachin we discussed how the use of the word hakol, everybody, comes to obligate one in a mitzvah, someone whom we might otherwise have exempted. We discussed no fewer than ten examples appearing…
Article
Jun 28, 2019

All Are Welcome to Masechet Erachin

Rabbi Jay Kelman

Amongst the most obscure laws of the Torah are those of erachin, which form the subject matter of the last chapter of sefer Vayikra. The Torah details the amount of money that one must give to the Temple treasury when one proclaims his or…
Article
Jun 24, 2019