Questions of kosher status sometimes mask larger dilemmas that, when uncovered, demonstrate the complexity of applying straightforward laws. Principles are easy. Life is messy. The rabbis of Kosharot, an Israeli kosher supervision...
How do we achieve happiness? Different opinions in the Talmud offer a variety of answers. But what is missing from the list teaches the most important lesson. The Talmud offers multiple...
Generally speaking, a busy rabbi is not allowed to drink alcohol even though most other Jews may freely partake within reason. The Torah (Lev. 10:8-11) forbids priests from ruling on...
Functional Jewelry From the time of its development in the sixteenth century until the rise of wristwatches after World War I, pocketwatches were the most common type of watch. The...
Around Chanukah time, we expect to see articles explaining why electric menorahs are invalid for the mitzvah of lighting Chanukah candles. However, a variation of that type of menorah raises...
I. Rashbash and Chumra Religious life tends toward conservatism, retaining the practices and rhythms of prior years. New stringencies are often derided as fanaticism, an offensive rejection of earlier generations’ religiosity....
Jewish law requires immersing in a mikveh utensils used with food. This only applies if the utensils are made of certain materials (generally metal and glass) and if they were...
I. Learning & Sleeping On Shavuos, many stay up all night learning Torah and go to sleep after early morning services. This year, when the holiday followed Shabbos, most people had...
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...
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...
