Nine Crazy Nights?
Outside the Land of Israel, we add an extra day to several holidays. Michael Kurin wonders: why not on Hanukkah?
Intention and Inquiry: A Halakhic Case for Ta’amei Ha-Mitzvot
The study of ta’amei ha-mitzvot—the rationales underlying commandments—is a popular source of spiritual meaning, but does it also have relevance to halakhic practice? Dovid Campbell explores an intergenerational rabbinic debate regarding the relationship of ta’amei ha-mitzvot and the requirement to perform mitzvot with a proper intention.
Letter to the Editor: Response to Leead Staller on Euthanasia
Can Halakhah really countenance euthanasia? Alan Jotkowitz responds to Leead Staller
The Challenge and Joy of Living With Tension
Shayna Goldberg contributes to the Lehrhaus Symposium on the recent OU statement regarding female clergy.
Extra-Communal Philanthropy – Forbidden, Permitted, or Mandated?
Mikey Lebrett examines the various Halakhic opinions on giving charity to non-Jewish people and causes.
“Asthenes” as a Jewish Textual Reference to Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
The classification of certain people as "athenes" receives wide expression in Talmudic stories and even practical halakhic application. Shayna Herszage-Feldan considers the varieties of asthenes descriptions in Talmudic texts, proposing that the category encompasses the condition that is today diagnosed as contamination-focused obsessive compulsive disorder.
She-Hehiyanu: An Endangered Blessing Species
It is customary to celebrate Tu Bi-Shevat by eating fruits and reciting the She-Hehiyanu blessing on them. This custom, however, has proved challenging in recent years as advances in technology have made it difficult to find new fruit—as defined by halakhah—to say the She-Hehiyanu
The Laws of Asmakhta Are Already Written in Our Hearts
Yonah Lavery-Yisraeli explores the relationship between the Talmudic term of "asmakhta" and the way we view our past, present, and future.
A More Holistic Halakhic Approach to Vaccine Inequity
Alan Jotkowitz disagrees with Sharon Galper Grossman’s and Shamai Grossman’s halakhic argument that wealthy nations should provide booster shots to their own populations before contributing doses to poorer countries.
The Unique Obligation of Healthcare Workers to Receive the COVID-19 Vaccine
Sharon Galper Grossman and Shamai Grossman examine Halakhic sources regarding whether physicians and other healthcare workers have a greater requirement to receive the COVID-19 vaccine than the rest of the population.
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