The Twelve Minute Shiur

Avinu Malkeinu - it's one of the most dramatic and powerful moments in the High Holiday liturgy. "Traditional" congregations omit this dramatic and powerful prayer on Shabbat, while Reform congregations recite it. Who's right? Well, you'll never believe this, but... it's a machloket! The Jews disagree among themselves - imagine that! In this installment, we'll explore...

It's almost 5784! This year, Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbat, and Reform congregations will sound the shofar on that day. They do so because they observe only one day of the yom tov rather than the traditional two. They do so also because the halakhah supports their practice. Wait - what?? Doesn't the halakhah *prohibit* sounding the shofar on Shabbat? Well, there's actually a machloket...

In our previous installment, we saw how the Rabbis utilized the power of property confiscation (hefker beit din) as a way to repair inequities they perceived in the law of the Torah. In this shiur, we'll look at how that power enabled them to correct some glaring economic imbalances in the institution of marriage as the Torah defines it. In the process, they restructured that institution in a...

In our last installment, we looked at one way in which the Rabbis respond when they perceive that a mitzvah of the Torah or a rule of halakhah conflicts with accepted standards of ethics and justice: the way of story . The Rabbis, that is, create new narratives to offer context and explanation to the rule, showing that in fact it does not violate our sense of right and wrong. In this installment,...

How do we respond when we discover that a mitzvah of the Torah or a rule of halakhah conflicts with our sense of ethics and justice? For some, of course, that's not a problem at all: since the Torah is always right, our sense of ethics and justice must be wrong or distorted. We liberal and progressive Jews, of course, see things differently. And as a matter of fact, so do the Rabbis of the hal...

In theory, Jewish law judges must be ordained for that role. They must possess s'mikhah from a judge who is already ordained (samukh), forming a link in the teacher-to-student chain that stretches all the way back to Moses and Joshua. But s'mikhah, which could take place only in Eretz Yisrael, was discontinued some 1000 years ago (today's rabbinical ordination, purely symbolic, is not...

The official, codified halakhah says that we are obligated to eat matzah only one day, the first night of Pesach at the seder. But there's another tradition that understands the mitzvah of matzah to last for all seven days of the festival. This is no ordinary machloket among the Rabbis but a full-blown critique of the codified halakhah by scholars who find that official version to be spiritual...

We conclude out two-part series on birkat hashanim with a look at how one leading medieval sage makes a powerful argument in favor of allowing the Jews of all lands to pray for rain when they need it, during the rainy season in their countries. True, his argument was not accepted by the majority, but it sure makes sense to us. Download the source sheet at www.freehofinstitute.org/learning, scroll...

It's springtime! And we just stopped praying for rain in the t'filah, even though many of us live in places where we need the rain during this time of year. Why is that? Because the Jews in the entire Diaspora are required to behave as though they live in ancient Babylonia. Is there a fix for this? You bet there is, and it isn't our idea: some high-profile rishonim beat us to it. Now i...

In this installment, we have some questions about the Four Questions. Like: are they really questions at all? And: are there really four of them? Join us for this look at one of everybody's favorite moments at the seder. Download the source sheet at www.freehofinstitute.org/learning, scroll down to the Twelve Minute Shiur. חג כשר ושמח!

The halakhah teaches that the practice of medicine (r'fu'ah) partakes of the mitzvah of pikuach nefesh, the saving of human life. That's a moral obligation that overrides virtually any other mitzvah that might get in the way. If so, is medical treatment compulsory? Does Jewish law mandate that we always follow the instructions of the physicians? Like most interesting questions of halak...

It's one of the strangest of all halakhic rules: "one is obligated to become intoxicated with wine on Purim to the point that one cannot tell the difference between 'cursed be Haman' and 'blessed be Mordekhai.'” Read literally, this is a requirement that we celebrate the joy of Purim by getting ourselves wasted, stinking drunk, which is hardly in keeping with almost everyt...

In installment #29, we saw how the halakhah, as expressed by some major rishonim and the leading codes, tends to protect the physician from claims for damages due to negligence in medical treatment. Well, it turns out that there's a different trend in halakhic thinking that holds doctors liable for those damages. It's the other side of the halakhah of malpractice. Get the source sheet at www.freeh...

In the previous two shiurim, we've seen that the practice of medicine (r'fu'ah) is defined as a mitzvah. It's holy work, a duty the physician owes to the patient. But if so, does halakhah exempt the physician from liability for causing injury (or worse) in the course of treatment? It's a complex question, and we begin its exploration in this installment. Source sheet available at www.freehofinstit...

In our last installment, we saw how Ramban (Nachmanides) created a theory to prove that the practice of medicine is a mitzvah. In this shiur, we consider a different theory, that of Rambam (Maimonides). Since both these giant rishonim reach the same conclusion, is there a nafka minah, a practical difference between them? We think that maybe - just maybe - there is. Download the source sheet at www...

The first in a series of shiurim devoted to the nature of medicine as understood in the halakhah. It's a mitzvah to practice medicine, to heal the sick, right? Sure it is; the Shulchan Arukh says so explicitly. But as always, we have to ask that pesky Rabbinic question: how do we know this? In this case, it's Ramban (Nachmanides) to the rescue. Download the source sheet at www.freehofinstitute.org...

In our previous shiur, we saw that Rambam regards the mitzvah of t'filah as d'oraita: that is, the Torah itself instructs us to pray once a day. So how does he think we got from that to the three- (or four-) times daily regimen of t'filot traditionally recited today?  Download the source sheet at www.freehofinstitute.org/learning, scroll down to the Twelve Minute Shiur.

In this installment, we take a look at an old machloket between two halakhic giants - Rambam (Maimonides) and Ramban (Nachmanides) - over the status, the origin, and the function of prayer according to the tradition of the halakhah. That's why it's a hard question. Who has the better argument? Well, that's a hard question, too, but there's a lot we can learn from both sides. Get the source sheet a...

Thanksgiving is a beloved (if non-Jewish) holiday for American Jews. So why did the eminent Orthodox posek R. Moshe Feinstein rule that they shouldn't celebrate it? In this installment, we study his argument... and the reason that progressive halakhah disagrees.  Download the source sheet at www.freehofinstitute.org/learning, scroll down to the Twelve Minute Shiur.

In this installment, we read another responsum of Rabbi Hayyim David Halevy on the subject of firearms control. How does halakhah want us to think, talk, and argue about this issue in the public sphere? Download the source sheet at www.freehofinstitute.org/learning, scroll down to the Twelve Minute Shiur.

Does Jewish law offer any useful guidance to societies facing the issue of the control and regulation of firearms? In this installment and the next, we explore that question by studying two responsa of Rabbi Hayyim David Halevy, who at his death in 1998 served as chief S'fardic rabbi of Tel-Aviv-Yafo.  Get the source sheet at www.freehofinstitute.org/learning, scroll down to the Twelve Minute...

Not too tall, not too small. Among other things, it's about humility.

In deciding whether to break one's fast on Yom Kippur, as with other medical issues, the halakhah tells us to follow the counsel of experts. Except when it doesn't. In this episode we explore how the halakhah makes sure that we always err on the side of life.  Source sheet available at www.freehofinstitute.org/learning, scroll down to The Twelve Minute Shiur.

In our last installment, we were left with the question: does Jewish law recognize that we bear a duty of patriotism? Does it oblige us to care for the country in which we live, to work for its welfare, to defend it against attack? In this shiur, we suggest a halakhic basis for patriotism, at least for citizens of democratic societies: the principle of dina d'malkhuta dina, "the law of the state i...

Is it appropriate for a synagogue to display the national flag on its bimah? Does this exalt the flag to the status of Jewish religious symbol? Does this differ from the prayers that Jews have for centuries recited for the welfare of the king/queen/government? And for that matter, does halakhah have anything to say about "patriotism," devotion to the wellbeing of one's country? We definitely won't...