Asking “What If” Destroys Halacha
Writing in Mishpacha this week, Rav Chaim Aryeh Zev Ginsburg scolds MK Itamar Ben-Gvir for his passionate advocacy for Jewish visits to Har Habayis (the Temple Mount). Rav Ginsburg likens people who follow the...
Terumah – What’s in The Name
Although there are several explanations in various midrashim for the word li in the phrase viyikchu li (“And have them take for Me”), Rashi, famously, simply comments “lishmi” – “for My sake” [literally, “for...
Parshas Mishpatim – The Angels Were Right, But Wrong
When we think of the word na’aseh, “we will do,” it is usually in the context of the phrase na’aseh vinish’ma, “we will do and we will hear” – Klal Yisrael’s statement of commitment...
Yisro – The Barrel’s Secret
Last year, I noted what Rav Avdimi bar Chama bar Chasa says about the Sinaitic revelation, that “Hashem overturned the mountain above the Jews like a barrel [gigis] and said to them: ‘If you...
Parshas Bishalach – The Measure of a Mohn
One of the strangest pesukim in the Torah is the one that ends the account of the mohn. After stating that “the Bnei Yisrael ate the mohn for forty years, until they came to...
A ChatCPT User’s Guide to the Universe
By Rabbi Akiva Adlerstein November 30, 2022 saw the release of Chat GPT, an artificial intelligence platform with mind-blowing capabilities, now available for free to the general public. With it, the once purely theoretical...
Parshas Bo – Choosing a Channel
Since free will is the fundamental element of the human being that places him in a realm apart from the rest of Creation, the question of how Hashem could “harden the heart” of...
Hillel Halkin’s Sour Grapes
Wine grapes come in distinct varieties. There is no reason that sour grapes should not do the same. Hillel Halkin has uncorked his style of their juice with a splash in The Jewish Review...
Chutzpah or Incompetence?
Or maybe just cluelessness. In any event, UTJ’s proposed legislation to create a recognized “therapist” designation to seminary girls after taking a few courses in art or play therapy is a terrible idea. A...
Vo’eira – Nobody Will Get Stoned
Slight divergences between the Torah’s words or phrases and Targum Onkelos’ rendering of them are often laden with meaning. One such seemingly minor change is in the Targum’s translation of Moshe’s words: “Were...