I had sex for the first time at a Jewish youth program. It was a positive experience for me, like having an elective surgery performed by a newly licensed family friend and waking up afterward to find that all your limbs still work. I am sure there are as many people who give up their…
Incoming House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler isn’t just busy preparing subpoenas for the Trump administration – he’s also showing off his Talmud skills. Attending an inauguration ceremony on Ellis Island on Monday for New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and other state officials, Nadler spoke to political communications consultant Ezra Friedlander about the proper time to…
In the last few years, advocacy groups have criticized yeshivas (Orthodox private schools) in the New York area for offering students a substandard education. YAFFED (Young Advocates for Fair Education) recently sued New York state, challenging the constitutionality of a recent amendment to an education law directed at these schools, and has argued that their…
Gray’s Anatomy. Roget’s Thesaurus. Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations. Some reference books are so famous, they are known simply by the last name of their author. Add to that list Jastrow’s, a dictionary of the Talmud. Long a requirement for Anglophone students of Jewish law, Rabbi Marcus Jastrow’s two-volume work — and its entries for 35,000 words…
A few weeks ago, I bought tickets to take my kids to what promised to be an exciting performance at a local Jerusalem theater. “Aggadot L’Yeladim,” the advertisement read – legends for children. The Hebrew word used for legends, Aggadot, is the term used in Talmudic studies to refer to the literary parts of the…
I am not particularly interested in halacha. I enjoy studying Talmud because the emphasis is on the questions rather than the answers; I am less interested in how Jews are supposed to practice, and more interested in the values and considerations that animate the discussions about Jewish religious observance. I think of Talmud and halacha…
Throughout the Tanach, God models extraordinary behavior and spotlights key virtues for the benefit of humankind, simultaneously sparing us pain and setting an example worth following. In fact, from the very first interaction with man, God establishes a precedent for acting and reacting with patience and compassion, and emphasizes the importance of living a life…
If you open the Talmud, to the first chapter of Kiddushin, you’ll find that it has plenty to say about how to treat one’s parent — a fitting reading for Father’s Day. Fear or Reverence? Four of the Torah’s commandments address how children must behave toward their parents. Most famously, the Ten Commandments: “Honor your…
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