22 May The Heresy of the Ten Commandments
I. It’s All Good What is the most important passage in the Torah? The debate over a Shavuos custom teaches that answering this question opens the door to claims that other...
Shabbos Times for Jan 17, 2025 | 17 Tevet, 5785 | Parshas Shemos | Candle Lighting Time: 4:38 PM | Havdalah (72 min): 6:08 PM
16 May When Will Moshiach Come?
I. Calculating the End For a long time, I struggled to understand how classical Bible commentators could be so wrong. Many of them attempted to calculate when mashiach would come based...
09 May Video Game Idolatry
I. Video Game Avodah Zarah A recently released, ground-breaking video game raises important questions for Jews, who pride themselves on their devotion to monotheism. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the...
02 May Technology, Halakhic Change & Yom Ha-Atzma’ut
I. Technology and Halakhah The influence of technology on halakhah offers a fascinating study of flexibility within a framework of conservation. Experts apply an eternal law to new situations, using analogies...
24 Apr Turning A Church Into A Shul
I. Lower East Side Dispute The question has arisen numerous times whether a community may buy a church building to be used as a synagogue. In the 1850’s, such a question...
19 Apr Buying Clothes During Sefirah
The period between Pesach and Shavuos contains a mourning period–different days depending on one’s custom–during which certain joyous behaviors are forbidden (commonly called Sefirah because this period also includes the...
07 Apr Ten Answers for the Wise Son
The Passover seder is full of fours: four questions, four cups, four sons. The midrashic reading of four sons into the biblical text is brilliant, comparing the four times the Torah refers...
04 Apr Charity for the Non-Working Poor
At a recent congressional hearing about SNAP (food stamps), a biblical debate broke out. The House Subcommittee on Nutrition held a public hearing about the “future of SNAP” and allowed...
28 Mar Seder on the Rooftops
Some modern thinkers–mainly Jewish universalists–express discomfort in the Seder recitation of “Shefoch chamascha, Pour out Your wrath.” In this passage of the Haggadah, we call on Hashem to punish the...
21 Mar Gun Ownership in Halachah (PART 2)
(Continued from last week) II. Carrying a Gun on Shabbos The Sages forbade carrying utensils on Shabbos without a reason. Certain utensils contain more restrictions. A utensil primarily used in forbidden work...