Taamei haMitzvos
Until adultery became too commonplace (in the days of Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakai, shortly after the destruction of the Beis haMiqdash) a wife whose husband suspected her of having an affair could forbid her...
by Micha Berger · Published December 27, 2012 – י״ד בטבת תשע״ג · Last modified December 27, 2012
Until adultery became too commonplace (in the days of Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakai, shortly after the destruction of the Beis haMiqdash) a wife whose husband suspected her of having an affair could forbid her...
by Micha Berger · Published December 18, 2012 – ה׳ בטבת תשע״ג · Last modified December 18, 2012
צריך שיהיו תפילין עליו בשעת ק”ש ותפלה. A man must have tefillin on at the time of reading Shema and prayer [Shemoneh Esrei]. – Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chayim 25:4 בשעת ק”ש ותפלה: ר”ל לכל...
by Micha Berger · Published December 9, 2012 – כ״ה בכסלו תשע״ג · Last modified December 9, 2012
(This post is a different treatment of the same themes as “Mas’ei — the Journey as a Name of G-d“.) וַיֵּשֶׁב יַעֲקֹב בְּאֶרֶץ מְגוּרֵי אָבִיו בְּאֶרֶץ כְּנָעַן. And Yaaqov settled in the land of...
by Micha Berger · Published November 29, 2012 – ט״ו בכסלו תשע״ג · Last modified November 29, 2012
The story so far… Words are how we divide the space of ideas into more specific “countries”. Our choice of vocabulary therefore not only reflects our thoughts, but shape them. And more importantly, they...
1- Bereishis / Business Ethics - QSA
by Micha Berger · Published November 28, 2012 – י״ד בכסלו תשע״ג · Last modified November 28, 2012
What is the role of the laws of business listed in Choshein Mishpat (the quarter of the Tur and Shulchan Aruch on financial matters)? One approach could be that working for income is a...
by Micha Berger · Published November 26, 2012 – י״ב בכסלו תשע״ג · Last modified November 26, 2012
The time it took me to write my previous post grew long, so I cut it down to being set-up material for this one just to get it out the door. Here was the...
by Micha Berger · Published November 15, 2012 – א׳ בכסלו תשע״ג · Last modified November 15, 2012
In a relatively recent post (“Confrontation and Babel“) I invoked a quote from R’ J.B. Soloveitchik’s Confrontation to highlight the linkage between language and worldview, and thus between language and religion. Rabbi Soloveitchik writes:...
by Micha Berger · Published November 9, 2012 – כ״ד במרחשון תשע״ג · Last modified November 9, 2012
There is a 3 way dispute on Yuma 28b about whether the avos kept all of halakhah, or just those mitzvos already given: Rav: The avos kept the entire Torah R’ Ashi: … even...
by Micha Berger · Published October 16, 2012 – ל׳ בתשרי תשע״ג · Last modified October 16, 2012
In my previous post I discussed the basic problems with effective interfaith dialog. All of which may be unimportant if Judaism is a prosletizing religion. Not in the sense that anyone would suggest that...
by Micha Berger · Published October 14, 2012 – כ״ח בתשרי תשע״ג · Last modified October 14, 2012
וַיְהִי כָל-הָאָרֶץ שָׂפָה אֶחָת, וּדְבָרִים אֲחָדִים. And the whole earth was of one speech and of one set of ideas. – Bereishis 11:1 I blogged in the past about the difference between thinking in...
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