Whether exploring a new twist on a favorite topic, debating a taboo subject, or learning Jewish history on our heritage tours, Torah in Motion constantly seeks to expand the horizon of Jewish thought.
Arachin Jun 24, 2019

Amongst the most obscure laws of the Torah are those of erachin, which form the subject matter of the last chapter of sefer Vayikra. The…

Bechorot Jun 13, 2019

The toy industry has come a long way since Talmudic times. Perhaps the most popular "toy" during the Talmudic era was that of a…

Bechorot Jun 11, 2019

When a kosher animal gives birth to a bechor, a firstborn male, there is an inherent conflict of interest that arises. The Torah instructs that…

Bechorot Jun 5, 2019

It is highly unlikely that one would give repeat business to a supposedly kosher butcher who sold you non-kosher meat, or to one who misled you…

Bechorot May 30, 2019

How much should we pay teachers? As we discussed in our last post, the Gemara has a clear and simple answer: Nothing. “Just as I [Moshe] taught…

Bechorot May 28, 2019

In our last post, we discussed the need to have an expert examine a bechor in order to declare that it has a mum, thus allowing…

Bechorot May 23, 2019

A rabbi, dayan, shochet, doctor, and matir bechorot—these are some of the licensed functionaries needed to fully run a Jewish…

Bechorot May 16, 2019

Sometimes the most obscure of arguments can teach the greatest of lessons. That Rabbi Eliezer’s “proofs” from heaven were rejected…

Bechorot May 15, 2019

It is not uncommon to hear people define a mitzvah as a “good deed”. And there is little doubt that many mitzvot are, in fact, very good…

Bechorot May 2, 2019

Amongst the many wonderful opportunities and challenges wrought by the return of the Jewish people to the land of Israel is that of running our…

Bechorot Apr 25, 2019

The privileges and obligations of the firstborn are a major theme of Pesach. Most famously, the proximate cause of the Exodus was makat bechorot, the…

Chulin Apr 22, 2019

It is an amazing but all too common phenomenon that two people can witness the same event and yet “see it” very differently. This is the…

Chulin Apr 18, 2019

“Where is Moshe [mentioned] in the Torah?” It is hard to imagine a more—let's be gentle here—superfluous question. A…

Chulin Apr 11, 2019

When I ask ba’alei teshuva what the hardest thing for them to give up is, the most common response I receive is "…

Chulin Apr 3, 2019

It is an often-cited truism that the Orthodox community, most ironically, tends to place much greater emphasis on kosher food than on kosher money.…

Chulin Mar 27, 2019

“Mar Ukva said: I am, with regard to this matter, like vinegar, son of wine, with respect to Father. Father, if he were to eat meat…

Chulin Mar 14, 2019

“Because of this the children of Israel, to this day, do not eat the thigh muscle that is on the socket of the hip, since Jacob’s hip…

Chulin Mar 7, 2019

Rabbinic debates are not for the faint-hearted. They can be most intense, and sadly, can lead to tragic consequences. One of the most famous of…

Chulin Mar 5, 2019

In our last post, we spoke about geneivat da’at, generating false goodwill, in the context of gid hanasheh. I imagine very few people…

Chulin Feb 28, 2019

One would not normally associate the prohibition to eat the gid hanashe, the sciatic nerve, with issues of business ethics. But  related…

Chulin Feb 21, 2019

One of most famous mitzvot of the Torah is that of shiluach haken, the obligation to send away the mother bird before taking her little chicks…

Chulin Feb 13, 2019

One of the teachings that is ingrained in us from a young age is that every letter, and surely every verse and story, found in the Torah is of great…

Chulin Feb 8, 2019

The least observed of biblical holidays is undoubtedly Rosh Chodesh. As a holiday based in the Temple, with no home or synagogue based rituals,…

Chulin Feb 1, 2019

Dan Arielly begins his best-selling book, Predictably Irrational, by noting that for we humans it’s all relative. We do not by evaluate A…