Parshat Shelach Lecha is perhaps the most tragic parsha of the Chumash. The march of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel came to a…
In our second to last post of Masechet Ketubot we discussed the decision of Rabbi Yehudah Hanassi to put the Oral Law into writing.…
“Better is it that one should not vow, than that one should vow and not pay” (Kohelet 5:4). This truism, enunciated by Shlomo HaMelech…
One of the major benefits of studying Daf Yomi is that one is exposed to the entire breadth of the (Babylonian) Talmud, something one may not manage…
Chanukah and Purim. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Sukkot and Shmini Atzeret. The aforementioned holidays form natural units. When one thinks of…
The life of Rebbe, Rabbi Yehuda Hanassi, marked a turning point in Jewish history. He was the one who, strange as it may sound, acted in defiance of…
It is a sad spectacle when people fight over a dead man's estate. What can make such disputes more intractable is that often, both…
No contract can cover all eventualities, and only through goodwill and compromise can disputes be avoided when the inevitable happens, and something…
Many people, upon receiving notice of jury duty, try hard to avoid actually doing such. They have little time, interest, and often cannot afford the…
"G-d spoke to Moshe at Mount Sinai saying: When you come the land that I am giving you the land shall rest a Shabbat to G-d" (Vayilkra 25:1-2). Mah…
One of the differences between the taxation policies of the United States and that of Canada is that in the United States a couple can choose to be…
The importance of informal education is today a given. A solid education requires both formal and informal learning and often it is the latter that…
A number of years ago we had the pleasure of being the Toronto coordinators of the Torah Ethics Project. Its slogan was “Some of the most obvious…
When speaking at a wedding, brit, bar or bat mitzvah and the like, one generally looks to the parsha of the week to find some connection. Some are…
“Va-yidom Aharon” - “And Aharon was silent” (Vayikra 10:3). While these words, read this past Shabbat,…
Psychologists estimate that the pain of losing money is twice as great as the joy of making money (see here). It is for this reason that Jewish…
While it may sound unromantic, marriage partners are chosen, more often than we might like to admit, for socio-economic reasons. While this need not…
In our last post we discussed the challenge of balancing work and family obligations. The Mishnah that discusses the length of a "…
Finding the proper balance between work and family is a challenge that man has been dealing with since the beginning of time. There never seems to be…
There is something most beautiful about a holiday that celebrates our past being focused on future, on our children. Pesach marks the founding of our…
"Therefore, in every generation, one must see themselves as if they have left Egypt”. All too often, we can only fully appreciate what we have when…
One of the most difficult, yet vital, tasks as we learn, is allotting enough time and effort for review. We all find the new more exciting, and…
One of the ideological revolutions of the Zionist movement was the notion of the inherent value of physical labour. Jews traditionally like to think…
The increasing age for marriage coupled with the high cost of housing has led to a situation of more and more children in their 20's and…
Our conception of the family unit has undergone revolutionary changes in the last few years. It should come as no surprise that norms of today often…
This week the focus of the Torah reading shifts from the construction of the Mishkan to the korbanot, one (but only one) of the purposes of building…
"One should be as careful with a light mitzvah as with a heavy mitzvah" (Pirkei Avot 2:1). Not every mitzvah is created equal. While all…
Malcolm Gladwell, in his bestselling book Outliers, demonstrates how so much of our success is a result of factors beyond our control.…
In our last post we discussed the fickleness of memory and how and when one may write down testimony for future use in a court of…
“Kol Yisrael Areivim zeh lazeh”, all Jews are guarantors for one another. While we may not always live up to this ideal, the non-Jewish…
Our memories are notoriously fickle and even untrustworthy. Yet we have little choice but to rely on such. It is likely due to the unreliability of…
Modern man loves his freedom. No one is going to tell him how to act. This is why giving criticism, even when constructive, is so hard and usually…
It is well known that a Jew must give up his or her life only if asked, or ordered, to violate one of the three cardinal sins of Judaism; idolatry,…
A legal system is much more than a collection of laws. It signifies the values a society holds dear. When one studies halacha, one is…
Money is a great motivator, impacting so many of the decisions we make. The crucial role money plays in our lives can best be seen by the fact that…
In our last post we discussed that a betulah should marry on a Wednesday evening so that if it is discovered that the wife is not…
Planning a wedding is no easy task. One must pick a date, hall, caterer, band, florist, and on and on it goes. For those living in North America (and…
The Ketuba is one of the best known, but least understood, documents in Judaism. Read at every wedding, many mistakenly believe it is a marriage…
"Rabbi Elazar said, in the name of Rabbi Chaninah: Torah scholars increase peace in the world, as it says, 'and all your children shall be…
We have previously referred to the special leniency that allows a woman to remarry on the testimony of one witness. This was a most revolutionary…
Back in the tenth chapter of Yevamot, we discussed the case of a woman who remarried on the basis of the testimony of one witness who declared that…
One of the basic tenets of our legal system is that those who are not of a sound mature mind are not to be held responsible for their…
"Talmud Torah kneged kulam" (Mishnah Peah 1:1). This teaching is generally understood to mean that the study of Torah is equal to all…
One would not think that a discussion about the intricacies of the laws of chalitzah would lead to a discussion regarding…
For those who do not live in Toronto--and perhaps for many who do--you may not be familiar with the Bata Shoe Museum. This unique museum is the place…
"G-d spoke to Moshe, and said to him, 'I am the Lord. I revealed myself to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as G-d Almighty, but My name YHVH…
In our last post, we discussed why Rav Yochanan was so angry when his student, Rav Elazar, repeated a teaching of his without attribution.…
On one level, one could not help but be impressed by the intensity and earnestness at Aish Hatorah, circa 1983, of young people devoting themselves…
In early 1982, I began to study something called "The 48 Ways of Wisdom" one night a week. This was a series of classes based on…
Perhaps the greatest fear of man is that he will be forgotten, that ultimately his life will be devoid of meaning. Even, perhaps especially, the most…