Talmud and Halakhah

Elli Fischer on Rasbhi's passing, his legacy, and some other rabbinic legacies, as well.

Two readers respond to Michael Broyde's recent article on time-bound commandments. Leah Sarna critiques Broyde's omission of female scholarship, and Avi Siegal argues that Broyde's unifying theory skews the data.

Aton Holzer explores the inscrutability of the Mitzvah of Shofar.

Mois Navon explores what makes Hanukkah so special.

Daniel Shlian explores instances of pun usage in Jewish text.

Yoni Nouriel examines an episode in the Talmud where Shimon Ha-Tzadik describes his encounter with an impure Nazir.

Francis Nataf argues that the Jewish ethics of mutual aid force us to re-examine our obligations to non-Jews within and outside of our communities.

Judah Kerbel discusses why we say an abbreviated Hallel on the last six days of Pesah and contemplates what that says about the war in Israel; self-defense is a must, as is gratitude toward God, but we also hold space for the losses on the other side.

AJ Berkovitz traces the reception history of a Midrash Tehillim that seems to equate the reading of Psalms with Torah study, offering a fascinating case study of how tradition evolves.

Steven Gotlib reviews Eugene Korn’s To Be a Holy People: Jewish Tradition and Ethical Values, a book which asks hard questions about whether Halakhah can integrate with the demands of contemporary ethics.