Minority Views and the Role of the Mara De-Atra

Minority Views and the Role of the Mara de-Atra1
By Nathaniel Helfgot
 There is a tannaitic dispute regarding which aspects of the performance of a circumcision push aside the Sabbath restrictions: R. Akiva maintains that only actions that could not be prepared before the Sabbath are permitted to be done for a circumcision on the Sabbath; in [...]

Books of Interest – Recent Works of Rabbi Mordechai Breuer

Mordechai Breuer, Pirqe Miqraot, Tvunot Press – Herzog College, Alon Shvut, 2009.  362 pages.  [Hebrew]
The ‘Aspects Theory’ of Rav Mordechai Breuer:  Articles and Responses ed. Yosef Ofer, Tvunot Press – Herzog College, Alon Shvut, 2005.  369 pages. [Hebrew]
Megadim 50 (Tamuz 5769), 268 pages. [Hebrew]
In 1999, Tradition (33:3) published an essay by Rabbi Meir Eckstein about the [...]

On (Not) Understanding the Reasons Behind Rabbinic Prohibitions: The Case of Teaching Shehiyah

 On (Not) Understanding The Reasons Behind Rabbinic Prohibitions:  The Case of Teaching Shehiyah
by Daniel Reifman

Teachers of Halakhah are often torn between conflicting agendas: on the one hand, to ensure that students have mastered all the laws relevant to contemporary observance, on the other hand, to familiarize them with a sense of the background—both the history and [...]

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Is Halakha Insensitive to Non-Jews? The Case of Fraud

  Is Halakah Insensitive to Non-Jews? The Case of Fraud
By Gidon Rothstein
 Certain prohibitions lead to the understandable conclusion that Jews do not care about non-Jews, although in at least some cases that conclusion is false.1 One example is the prohibition of אונאה, of overcharging (or the rarer undercharging) for merchandise.  Bechorot 13a notes the Torah (ויקרא [...]

Introducing Text & Texture

Welcome to Text & Texture, Tradition’s blog of Orthodox Jewish Thought that explores the texts that shape the texture of our lives.
Our contributors will analyze a wide range of sources and contemplate their meaning for contemporary Jewish thought and living.  Reflecting the varied interests of our writers, the posts seek to provide fresh insights and thought provoking [...]