Is it proper to enjoy good food or should we avoid worldly pleasures and focus on spiritual success? The Talmud contains a plethora of seemingly contradictory indications on whether it is morally proper for a Torah scholar, someone striving...
War is full of tragedy. Soldiers, civilians, society — nothing remains the same. People suffer injury, loss, death and displacement. Israelis today are experiencing not just war but trauma from the horrifically brutal October 7th attacks and the ongoing mobilization,...
As we discussed previously, on July 28, 1876 — 150 years ago — the Prussian parliament (part of the broader German legislative system at the time) passed a law allowing secession (austritt) from a Jewish community without formally renouncing...
I. Secession and Authority On July 28, 1876 — 150 years ago — the Prussian parliament passed a law allowing secession from a Jewish community without formally renouncing affiliation with Judaism. Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch had lobbied heavily for this...
I. Peace and Religious Crisis We live in an age of polarization, of partisan conflict and cancellation. We need to overcome these divisions through unity and peace. Jewish tradition holds shalom, peace, communal harmony, as a high value. The...
Twelve score and ten years ago, on July 4, 1776, the United States of America was declared with the formal adoption of the Declaration of Independence. At its most basic level, the Declaration proclaimed the start of a new...
The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) forces us to ask how to classify it within biblical conceptions of property and responsibility. This entirely new technology, which is still forming and developing, requires categorization within the realm of halachah. For example, if...
Society cannot function if witnesses remain silent. Whether the issue is a crime, a contract or a disputed transaction, justice depends on people who are willing to step forward and tell what they know. If those who know...
I. AI as a Human Tool Lately, people are rightly debating the moral and philosophical questions raised by Artificial Intelligence (AI). We need to keep one point firmly in mind and all other conclusions follow: AI is a...
Hospitals, airports and universities often include interfaith chapels which are intended to accommodate individuals of all faiths for individual or group prayer. This religious accommodation raises an important question: May a Jew pray in a room that also houses non-Jewish worship, potentially...