The commandment to love and care for others, perhaps the most important in the entire Torah, while applicable to all is phrased in the context of one…
One of the primary requirements of a get is that it be written lishma, with the husband's intent of divorcing the…
Timing is everything. Not only is picking the right time to do something crucial but recording that time can be equally important. This is especially…
In a well-known Midrash our Sages assert that one of the factors that prevented the total assimilation of the Jews in Egypt thereby…
How does one measure greatness in Torah learning? We can glean an important insight from the Talmudic discussion regarding the status of …
We live in a generation in which many seek chumrot, religious stringency. This can be most positive, hamachmir tavo…
One would not expect the laws of divorce to be affected by one's location. Thus it comes as a bit of a surprise to open masechet Gittin…
After detailing the laws of the suspected adulteress the Mishna moves to masechet Gittin. While the law of the Sotah is no longer applicable the laws…
Part of the purpose of the harsh treatment of the Sotah is convincing the suspected adulteress to admit her infidelity. By doing so she is…
In our last post we discussed the Talmudic tendency to group together sayings of one particular sage quoting another. In…
Originally meant as an oral “text” the Talmud features a number of mnemonic devices to aid in recall and memorization. Thus…
It is an amazing aspect of the human condition that two people can see the same thing yet see it most differently. That is likely why the…
One of most bitter and divisive (Jewish) fights of the 19th century was that regarding the use of the vernacular in the synagogue -…
In our last post we discussed how a rasha arum, a cunning evildoer, is amongst the mevali olam, those who are destroyers of…
“He [Rabbi Yehoshua] used to say: a pious fool, a cunning evildoer, an ascetic woman and the wounds of the ascetics destroy the world…
In our last post we discussed the view of Rabbi Eliezer that one who teaches his daughter Torah is as if he has taught her tiflut, frivolity. To…
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. It is this notion that lay at the heart of one of the most important disputes of the Talmud (though many are…
For most people carpool is a scheduling nuisance, one of those necessary but unwanted jobs of parenting. Helping with homework is not much better.…
Just this week an Ontario Court ruled that a 19 year old convicted of first degree murder of a police officer would be spared jail time (he was 15 at…
What a Beginning!: Sotah 14 “Rav Simlai expounded: The Torah begins with an act of chesed, benevolence, and ends…
As we end the first chapter of masechet Sotah (and as discussed in our last post) we transition from discussing the punishment of the sotah…
"In the measure that a person measures so it is measured to him. She [the sotah] adorned her body in order to transgress, God has…
Teaching is what one would call a long-term investment. Teachers plant seeds but rarely get to see the fruit of their labour, leading many to…
Our Sages were great realists. They understood the complexities of the human condition and how even otherwise great people can make…