At the beginning of the Seder we invite those in need to join us in eating Matza and the rest of the Seder. But what kind of invitation is this? Its a bit late to be inviting people to the Seder, and besides if we say it at our house no one is going to…
Before Pesach one must destroy all of the chametz in his possession. What happens if you left on a trip and forgot some chametz at home? The Rambam says that if you are traveling for a mitzvah then if you are unable to both return and destroy the chametz and also do the mitzva, then…
When preparing for Pesach, one of the concerns of the halacha is to prevent us from becoming paranoid about Chametz. In order to do so, it guides us in how to deal with uncertainty. If the Mitzvot are to be compatible with the reality of human life, we cannot just be strict about any uncertainty….
The story of Yosef represents a break from the earlier parts of Bereshit. In the stories of Avraham Yitzchak and Yaakov there is the constant guidance of Nevuah. Suddenly in the Yosef story this stops. God is involved but the participants don’t know in what way. Only in hindsight can Yosef explain it as a…
One is not allowed to carry on Shabbat between a “public domain” and a “private domain”. However, the definition of these domains is counterintuitive. A private domain is defined be being enclosed by walls, even if used by many people. Even a whole city can be a private domain if it is enclosed by walls…
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201111.html A beautiful reminder that color does not exist in things, but rather in our interaction with things. We don’t see the moon, we see the light reflected from it as filtered in a variety of ways in the atmosphere.Thus it is sometimes gray, sometimes white or yellow. And sometimes orange or even blue.
The first mishnah in masechet Shabbat categorizes different cases of transferring an object between reshut harabim and reshut hayachid [1]. It teaches these cases through the example of a homeowner providing for a poor person at his door. Why does it use this case? The simplest answer (of the rambam and others) is that it…
Labor on Shabbat is divided into 39 Avot, or categories. For example, plowing and planting. However, the Avot are not these actions themselves, but rather the category which these are representative of. Thus “Choresh”, plowing, is any work involving excavation. The names of the Avot are typical examples, but they are distinct from the Categories…
מה אנחנו, מה חיינו, מה חסדנו, מה כחנו, מה גבורתנו. מה נאמר לפניך ה’ אלהינו ואלהי אבותינו. הלא כל הגיבורים כאין לפניך, ואנשי השם כלא היו, וחכמים כבלי מדע ונבונים כבלי השכל. כי כל מעשינו תוהו, וימי חיינו הבל לפניך, ומותר האדם מן הבהמה אין כי הכול הבל. Neilah of Yom Kippur has a unique…
כשעושים דברים אלו, אין עושין אותן לא על ידי גויים, ולא על ידי קטנים, ולא על ידי עבדים, ולא על ידי נשים–כדי שלא תהא שבת קלה בעיניהם; אלא על ידי גדולי ישראל וחכמיהם. ואין מורין לנשים לעשות דברים אלו. ואסור להתמהמה בחילול שבת, לחולה שיש בו סכנה, שנאמר “אשר יעשה אותם האדם וחי בהם” (ויקרא…
