Talmud and Halakhah

Can individual autonomy be reconciled with the practice of Halakhah? It can and must, insisted Rav Nachum Rabinovich zz"l. In honor of Rav Rabinovich's sheloshim this past Thursday, David Silverstein explains.

The Talmudic story of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza is often used to highlight the destructive consequences of baseless hatred. In an intriguing reading, David Hellman suggests that the hatred that motivated the tale’s participants is more complex than meets the eye.

Dan Jutan, Dov Greenwood, and Meir Kerzner explore the fundamentals of Jewish Education.

Shlomo Zuckier presents Rav Aharon Lichtenstein's own thoughts on academic Talmud.

Rabbi Daniel Reifman reviews Christine Hayes' Whats Divine about Divine Law?

In honor of Father's Day, Yosef Bronstein shares thoughts about the Talmud's perspective on the relationship between fathers and children.

Moshe Koppel Reviews Chaim Saiman's Halakhah: The Rabbinic Idea of Law.

In tribute to his son's hanahat tefilin and Bar Mitzvah, Lehrhaus Consulting Editor Jeffrey Saks explores a little-known, mysterious practice that appears in Agnon's short story Two Pairs.

Dr. Chaim Trachtman explores the role of essentialism within Orthodox Judaism

What motivated the first Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rav Herzog, to work tirelessly on the seemingly quixotic project of running the modern State of Israel on the basis of Halakhah? Reviewing Alexandar Kaye's new book on the subject, Rabbi Shalom Carmy explains.