A Snag in the Plans
Boruch stepped into the shared backyard, hammer in hand, ready to build his beautiful sukkah. But as he looked up to map out his airspace, he noticed a major snag.
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Beis HaMikdash and Korbanos
Tumah and Taharah
Ritual impurity and purity, the parah adumah and kohanim and the dead.
In a Pickle
In the “you can’t make this stuff up” department, 35-year-old Bobby Bolen of Niles, Michigan, was sentenced to 54 days in prison plus probation after barging into his then-friend Lee’s home, throwing him on the couch…
The Mysterious Matzah
My son came home with a questionnaire his rebbe had distributed. The students were asked to indicate their family’s minhagim regarding a wide range of practices at the Seder.
A Forced Tumah
The Gemara (Zevachim 100a; see also Moed Katan 23a) and its commentators discuss various details of the following account, and some aspects are subject to interpretation.
A Rosh Chodesh Addition – Sometimes
There is an interesting custom that many people observe: to add the words “V’kapparas pesha” to the Mussaf prayer on Rosh Chodesh during a leap year.
Eliyahu HaNavi Zachur La’Tov
Often, the Gemara faces a halachic question that it can’t resolve. In that situation, the Gemara declares, “Tayku!” The simplest explanation of that word is that the question should stand.
Egg-sploring the Halacha
With the enormous amount of responsa that have been written over the past thousand years, there are countless ones about some rather interesting questions.
We are Hashem’s Children
This time of year is designated for teshuva. We really should be paralyzed with fear because of the impending judgment. Yet, there is a contradiction. On Rosh Hashana, we enjoy festive meals.
Grave Concerns
True events and several recent passages in Nazir inspire the following story. Boruch Cohen and Shimon Levi board a plane together somewhere in the United States.
Can a Kohen Go to a Tzaddik’s Funeral?
The great Rishon Rabbeinu Chaim HaKohen once remarked that had he already been born when Rabbeinu Tam passed away, he would have become tamei and gone to his funeral.
R’ Avrohom Sebrow Explains Setup of Far Rockaway Keilim Mikvah, In Light of todays Daf Yomi
Today and Tomorrows Daf (Mesechta Chagiga 21-22) touches on Halachos relevant to Tevilas Keilim. One may wonder about the setup at the Far Rockaway Keilim mikveh, especially in light of R’ Eli Stefansky’s wonderful…
The Demise of Haman and His Sons
Haman and his sons made a cameo appearance in Tosfos this week. In fact, in various places in Shas, Tosfos makes cryptic references to Targum that discusses how Haman’s sons were hanged.
A Snow-Covered Sukkah
Is this sukkah kosher? The snow is severely weighing down the schach (sukkah ceiling) in the center. One potential issue: Has the sukkah become too cramped?
A Grave Problem
The Gemara in Succah (5a) is attempting to find a source that the minimum height of a succah is ten tefachim (30-40 inches). Tosfos opines that the same source will apply to walls that enclose a domain for the purposes…
Tzaraas Rulings
The Medrash Tanchuma (Parshas Tazria 6) cites a story about an impoverished kohen living in Eretz Yisrael. Trying whatever he could to support his family, he just couldn’t make ends meet.
Sensitive Situations
The survival of the donkey would be too great a blow to Bilam’s dignity. The Gemara is replete with examples of the sensitivity we must have even to individuals who may have sinned.
Pesachim 16a: Fueling the Flames of Chanukah
Those who studied the daf this week were forced to challenge their long-rooted understanding of the finer points of the Chanukah miracle.
Lighting the Menorah
In the stores these days, there are myriad varieties of candles and oils to use for Chanukah lights. However, it is clear that the choicest way to fulfill the mitzvah of lighting the menorah is to use olive oil.
Still Sacred
A question that has been discussed in recent years is the appropriateness of entering Har HaBayis. The Gemara records a dispute whether or not someone is liable for kareis by offering a sacrifice to Hashem outside the…
When The Sky Is Not The Limit
A year ago, I was asked to keep a group of 40 or so youngsters of varying ages busy on yom tov so that their parents could daven. I elected to tell them a story.
Olive What He’s Having
During the Second Temple period, Eretz Yisrael suffered from a great famine. The great sage Rebbe Yochanan HaChorani survived by subsisting on dried bread and salt.
Global Cooling
As the cold snap for our area continues, it might hearten us to know that people elsewhere have it worse. In Chicago, the temperature has already been below zero for 20 days this winter season.
Pesach Planning In October
During the Pesach Seder, we fulfill the mitzvah of repeating the events surrounding our exodus from Egypt. To involve the children, there are practices specifically geared towards them.
The Iceman Cometh
Rabbi Gross, a community rabbi in Omaha, Nebraska, commented that probably one of the weirdest questions he had to ask a gentile in his tenure as rabbi was “Hey, Mr. Electric Company Guy.
It’s A Wash!
In the “You can’t make this stuff up department,” 35-year-old Bobby Bolen of Niles, Michigan was sentenced to 54 days in prison and given probation after he barged into his then-friend Lee’s home, threw him on the…
Gemara stories on Tumah and Taharah
Eliyahu HaNavi Buries Rabbi Akiva
After the Romans kill Rabbi Akiva, Eliyahu HaNavi buries him. Asked how a kohen may do so, he answers that tzaddikim do not transmit tumah even after death.
Rabbah bar Avuhah Questions Eliyahu HaNavi
Rabbah bar Avuhah meets Eliyahu HaNavi in a non-Jewish cemetery, asks him about collecting a debtor's assets, and asks how a kohen may stand among graves.
Chizkiyahu Adds a Leap Month
After his father Achaz's idolatry, King Chizkiyahu leads a teshuvah movement and adds Adar Sheini so the people can purify themselves for the Korban Pesach.
Eliyahu HaNavi in the Non-Jewish Cemetery
Rabbah bar Avuhah finds Eliyahu HaNavi standing in a non-Jewish cemetery and asks how a kohen may be there; Eliyahu cites Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai.