The Pesach Hagada – The Wise Son Returns to the Questions by Yakov Nagen (Genack)

“The Torah speaks of four children: One is wise, one is wicked, one is simple and one does not know how to ask.”       -   The Haggada
The four children represent four different types of personalities. Because life is dynamic, each person, during the course of his or her lifetime, often incorporates aspects of all four of these personalities. [...]

Abrabanel & The Menora: An Early Interpretation Supporting the Concept of Tora U’Madda by Yaakov Bieler

             
The latter Tora portions of the book of Shemot, with the exception of Ki Tisa, focus upon the construction of the Tabernacle and the fabrication of the ritual clothing worn by the priests when they were performing the Temple service. Most commentators are hard-pressed to derive rigorously argued, logical spiritual instruction from this quantitatively significant [...]

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 [...]

Possible Answers to Rav Soloveitchik’s 1936 Final Exam in Jewish Philosophy by Alex Sztuden

Below are responses to Rav Soloveitchik’s Jewish Philosophy exam that R. Helfgot posted on Text and Texture. I have tried to tie in the responses with the Rav’s own works, supporting R. Helfgot’s contention that the exam offers us a window into the mind of the Rav and the problems he was grappling with in [...]

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 [...]

“It is Better for Man Not To Have Been Created”: Seven Years to the Terror Attack in Yeshivat Otniel

by Yakov Nagen

 During the course of the Shabbos meal of Parshat Shemot 5763 in the Hesder Yeshiva of Otniel, while the students danced and sang הודו לה’ כי טוב כי לעולם חסדו, terrorists entered the kitchen and murdered the four boys who were preparing the next course: Noam Apter, Yehuda Bamberger, Gavriel Ho-ter, Zvika Zeeman.

Italians, Romans, Germans and Edomites

By Yitzchak Grossman*
 
שִׁיר הַמַּעֲלוֹת, לְדָוִד:
הִנֵּה מַה-טּוֹב, וּמַה-נָּעִים– שֶׁבֶת אַחִים גַּם-יָחַד.[1] 
How good and how pleasant it is 
that brothers dwell together.[2] 
מַשָּׂא דְבַר-יְהוָה, אֶל-יִשְׂרָאֵל, בְּיַד, מַלְאָכִי. אָהַבְתִּי אֶתְכֶם אָמַר יְהוָה, וַאֲמַרְתֶּם בַּמָּה אֲהַבְתָּנוּ; הֲלוֹא-אָח עֵשָׂו לְיַעֲקֹב נְאֻם-יְהוָה, וָאֹהַב אֶת-יַעֲקֹב. וְאֶת-עֵשָׂו, שָׂנֵאתִי; וָאָשִׂים אֶת-הָרָיו שְׁמָמָה, וְאֶת-נַחֲלָתוֹ לְתַנּוֹת מִדְבָּר. כִּי-תֹאמַר אֱדוֹם רֻשַּׁשְׁנוּ, וְנָשׁוּב וְנִבְנֶה חֳרָבוֹת–כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת, הֵמָּה יִבְנוּ [...]

The Angel’s Oath: The Relationship of Hazal to the Platonic Doctrine of Recollection by David Flatto

The Angel’s Oath:  The Relationship of Hazal to the Platonic Doctrine of Recollection
by David C. Flatto
Whereas balei mussar and machshava dramatize the great clash between Judaism and Hellenism (which serves as the background to the holiday of Hanukka), Jewish historians go to great lengths to demonstrate the degree to which Second Temple Judaism was influenced [...]

Praying for One to Die: Philosophical Considerations

Praying for One to Die: Philosophical Considerations
by Ezra Schwartz
There is a great deal of literature about treating a terminally ill patient.  However, the question most relevant for family members, namely how they should pray, remains mired in obscurity.  Although Ran in Nedarim 40a, basing himself of Ketubot 104a, teaches that one should pray for the [...]

The Dangers of “Soft Stringency:” Hearing Aids, Chumrot, and Moral Sensitivity in Halakhic Handbooks

The Dangers of “Soft Stringency:” Hearing Aids, Chumrot, and Moral Sensitivity in Halakhic Handbooks
By Shlomo Brody
Is it forbidden to speak to someone wearing a hearing aid on Shabbat?
In an earlier post, I discussed the impact of halakha handbooks on contemporary halakhic discourse, focusing on the whether certain books change their rulings given the broad intended [...]

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