Bringing the Geulah Through Mekhirat Chametz by Daniel Z. Feldman

Mekhirat chametz sometimes gets a bad rap. The widespread practice of observant Jews selling their chametz to a non-Jew prior to Pesach, and thus avoiding the prohibitions of bal yeraeh and bal yematze while preserving the chametz for repossession after Pesach, is sometimes seen as a way of not having one’s cake and eating it [...]

May Women Get Their Hair Cut on Chol Ha-Moed? Halakhic and Meta-Halakhic Considerations by Aryeh Klapper

May women get their hair cut on Chol Ha-Moed?
 שולחן ערוך אורח חיים סימן תקמו סעיף ה
עושה אשה כל תכשיטיה במועד; כוחלת ופוקסת (פי’ מחלקת שערה לכאן ולכאן רש”י), ומעברת סרק על פניה, וטופלת עצמה בסיד וכיוצא בו; והוא שתוכל לסלקו במועד; ומעברת שער מבית השחי ומבית הערוה, בין ביד בין בכלי, ומעברת סכין על [...]

Our Writers Respond: Women, Communal Leadership, and Balancing Halakhic Values by Nathaniel Helfgot

I would like to commend my colleagues and friends, Rabbis Brody, Klapper (here and here) and Rothstein (here and here) for their stimulating and substantive posts in the last few weeks, partially in reaction to my original post on two halakhic issues that have been raised regarding the issue of expanding women’s roles in communal [...]

The Legacy of Polemics: Microphones on Shabbat, Metzitzah, and the Rabbah Ordination by Shlomo Brody

 
I personally have no gripes with polemics playing a role in socio-legal discourse within the Jewish community.  I think it is inevitable, given the sociological reality of Jewish history, and occasionally it is appropriate, given larger religious goals. 1 I do believe, however, that one has to be very careful with the terminology used, and to [...]

Women, Communal Leadership, and Modern Orthodoxy by Nathaniel Helfgot

I.
During the last half century the movement towards greater public, educational, economic, and political roles for women in general society has slowly  affected the reality of Jewish and more specifically, for our purposes, Orthodox society. This has created a sea change in the role of women in the Orthodox and especially Modern-Orthodox society. The universal [...]

From Our Archives: Rabbi J. David Bleich – Women on Synagogue Boards

In light of the forthcoming article by Rabbi Helfgot, we are posting Rabbi Bleich’s article on women serving on synagogue boards (15:4 / Spring 1976). 
Also of Interest in the same issue:  Chana K. Poupko and Devora L. Wohlgelernter, “Women’s Liberation:  An Orthodox Response”
-   Shlomo Brody

From Our Archives: Revelation and the History of Halakha

In the spirit of na’aseh ve-nishma and the central role of Torah She-Be’al Peh in Parashat Mishpatim, we offer three articles relating to revelation and the history of halakha.
Louis Jacobs’ Doctrine of Revelation by Menachem Kellner
The Early Period of Halakhic Midrash by David Halivni
R. Zadok Hakohen on the History of Halakha by Yaakov Elman
- Shlomo [...]

Balancing the Necessity and Abhorrence of Violence: Of Terrorists and Amalek by Gidon Rothstein

Balancing the Necessity and Abhorrence of Violence: Of Terrorists and Amalek 
Tu B’Shvat goes by, a holiday that continues to grow in popularity, especially as the environmental movement takes further hold (we hope), as we become more aware of our relationship with the earth.  With its passing, not to be seen again until next year, we [...]

Polemics and the Orthodox Prohibition Against Microphones on Shabbat by Shlomo Brody

What does Rabbi Yisrael Rozen, the engineer who runs the Tzomet Institute and who frequently speaks on behalf of religious Zionist causes, have in common with the Satmar Rebbe? 

 They both care tremendously about halakha
They both believe that Orthodox opposition to microphones stemmed primarily from polemical considerations against the Reform movement.

The Satmar Rebbe’s argument is found [...]

The Self-Sacrifice of the Frogs: Halakha, Aggadata, and Martyrdom by Aryeh Klapper

תלמוד בבלי מסכת פסחים דף נג עמוד א –ב
אמר רבי יוסי: תודוס איש רומי הנהיג את בני רומי לאכול גדיים מקולסין בלילי פסחים.
שלחו לו: אלמלא תודוס אתה, גזרנו עליך נדוי, שאתה מאכיל את ישראל קדשים בחוץ.
קדשים סלקא דעתך?! אלא אימא קרוב להאכיל את ישראל קדשים בחוץ.
איבעיא להו:
תודוס איש רומי גברא רבה הוה, או בעל אגרופין [...]

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