Torah 948 articles

On motzei Shabbat during Chanuka we must make havdala to mark the departing Shabbat and also light the Chanuka lights corresponding to the coming day. Which has precedence? Shulchan Arukh (OC...

The Coming Week’s Daf Yomi by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz This essay is based upon the insights and chidushim (original ideas) of Talmudic scholar Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, as published in the Hebrew...

“Other than that, how was the play Mrs. Lincoln?” It is perhaps the classic line that expresses the utter triviality of the small stuff amidst the major calamities of life. Such...

Our parsha is filled with incidents which help instruct us how to relate to our non-Jewish neighbors. One particularly interesting question the Rishonim discussed is the status of non-Jewish courts, which...

The Coming Week’s Daf Yomi by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz This essay is based upon the insights and chidushim (original ideas) of Talmudic scholar Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, as published in the Hebrew...

I’m back. That’s the message Yaakov proactively imparts to Eisav, the one man who stands between him and the prize – his beloved parents’ home. Their ensuing encounter becomes a classic...

Bathing on Shabbat Going to the Mikveh Bathing in hot water on Shabbat is forbidden, lest people come to heat the bathwater. However, bathing in cold water is permissible (though it...

The Coming Week’s Daf Yomi by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz This essay is based upon the insights and chidushim (original ideas) of Talmudic scholar Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, as published in the Hebrew...

Sonny was late for a very important meeting, circling around looking for a parking spot. “Please God” he says, “if you find me a spot, I promise to come to Mass...

Special Divine guidance oversaw the transference of Yitzchak’s blessing from Esav, Yitzchak’s intended recipient, to Yaakov. But in general our tradition warns against disinheriting children. (According to Torah law such disinheritance...