Shevuot

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

Shevuot 45: Where is My Pay?

Rabbi Jay Kelman

“All who take an oath, take an oath and are exempt [from payment]” (Shevuot 45a). Violating an oath ranks amongst the most serious of transgressions. Despite—or perhaps because—an oath involves no physical act of wrongdoing, swearing falsely is…
Article
Jan 15, 2018

Shevuot 30: You Go First

Rabbi Jay Kelman

In a recent highly publicized murder trial in Toronto, the jury was not told that the accused – who acted as his own lawyer - had recently been convicted of murder in a prior case (and has another murder trial pending). This is a common…
Article
Jan 9, 2018

Shevuot 30: A Woman Dayan

Rabbi Jay Kelman

“The oath of testimony applies to men, but not to women” (Shevuot 30a). Beginning with the fourth chapter of masechet Shevuot, the Talmud focuses on those oaths that are taken in the administration of justice. The Mishna begins…
Article
Jan 7, 2018

Shevuot 29: A Flying Camel

Rabbi Jay Kelman

“Lo tissa, do not raise[1] the name of the Lord your G-d in vain” (Shemot 20:7). After affirming the existence of the G-d who took us out of Egypt and who is the one and only G-d, the third of the aseret hadibrot warns us not to take G-d’s holy…
Article
Jan 3, 2018

Shevuot 15: For the Sake of Heaven

Rabbi Jay Kelman

"Whether one does much or one does little, [it matters little] provided one directs their heart towards heaven” (Shevuot 15a). The immediate context of this teaching is in reference to the offering of sacrifices, which can be…
Article
Dec 31, 2017

Shevuot 13: Need I Repent!

Rabbi Jay Kelman

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 that) the Torah contains 613 mitzvot (see here), they are not all equally important. The mitzvah not to…
Article
Dec 21, 2017

Shevuot 9: When G-d Sins!

Rabbi Jay Kelman

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 a more “traditional” setting. And the range is wide indeed – far wider and…
Article
Dec 11, 2017

Shevuot 2: Counting Goats!

Rabbi Jay Kelman

“New moons You have given to Your people, a time of atonement for all your generations.” It is this phrase that serves as the introduction to the mussaf on Rosh Chodesh. We generally think of Yom Kippur as the Day of…
Article
Dec 7, 2017

An Introduction to Masechet Shevuot

Rabbi Jay Kelman

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 Shavuot. His teachers chuckled, and explained to him that masechet Shavuot is not about…
Article
Dec 4, 2017