Why didn’t we catch up?
Last Pesach ended in Israel on Friday, and in the rest of the world on Shabbos. Which means that in Israel, Acharei Mos was read that week, while we in chutz la’aretz (outside of...
Last Pesach ended in Israel on Friday, and in the rest of the world on Shabbos. Which means that in Israel, Acharei Mos was read that week, while we in chutz la’aretz (outside of...
by Micha Berger · Published April 26, 2016 – י״ח בניסן תשע״ו · Last modified April 26, 2016
Rav Moshe Chaim Luzzatto opens Mesilas Yesharim with this questionable claim: הקדמה – אמר המחבר: החיבור הזה לא חברתיו ללמד לבני האדם את אשר לא ידעו, אלא להזכירם את הידוע להם כבר ומפורסם אצלם...
The gemara says that the preferred vegetable for maror is chasah — lettuce. The problem is that the lettuces sold today aren’t mar, bitter. One could try to find wild lettuce. The lettuce that was native to...
by Micha Berger · Published April 20, 2016 – י״ב בניסן תשע״ו · Last modified April 20, 2016
(Embellished with thoughts from my daughter Noa’s recent bas mitzvah speech. Yay, Noa!) If you think about it, charoses is quite strange. On the one hand, as we learn in preschool and the Rambam writes,...
by Micha Berger · Published April 11, 2016 – ג׳ בניסן תשע״ו · Last modified April 11, 2016
The Mishnah (Pesachim 10:5, TB 115a-b), in a section quoted by the Hagadah, states: רבן גמליאל היה אומר, כל שלא אמר שלשה דברים אלו בפסח, לא יצא ידי חובתו. ואלו הן: פסח, מצה, ומרור…. בכל דור...
by Micha Berger · Published April 6, 2016 – כ״ז באדר ב׳ תשע״ו · Last modified April 6, 2016
Colloquially, discussions of the permissibility of drinking USFDA milk tend to start with citing the Igeros Moshe, as though the norm of drinking it originated with Rav Moshe’s (RMF) responsa on the subject. But...
Ahavah / Holidays / Other-Focused Orthodoxy
by Micha Berger · Published March 23, 2016 – י״ג באדר ב׳ תשע״ו · Last modified March 23, 2016
There are four mitzvos one must fulfill on Purim: reading the megillah, matanos le’evyonim (gifts to poor people), mishloach manos (“shalachmones”), and the Purim se’udah. The first, reading the megillah, relates directly to the...
by Micha Berger · Published December 2, 2015 – כ׳ בכסלו תשע״ו · Last modified December 2, 2015
No, the title of this post doesn’t refer to HQBH, although clearly it could. (Or can it: Can we define “heroism” with respect to One for Whom there are no risks to take?) Nor...
by Micha Berger · Published November 10, 2015 – כ״ח במרחשון תשע״ו · Last modified November 10, 2015
Back in 2007, I posted 7 answers to the question of why we treat Torah law and rabbinic law differently. In particular, we are lenient when in doubt about a rabbinic law (safeiq derabbanan...
by Micha Berger · Published August 13, 2015 – כ״ח באב תשע״ה · Last modified August 13, 2015
Back in 2001, when Napster was in the news, I attended a “lunch and learn” program at the OU office given by R’ Zev Reichman, then of REITS’ Kollel Elyon. I just learned of...
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