Talmud and Halakhah

David Moster explores the meaning of Peri Etz Hadar.

What is the halakhic status of those mourning the loss of their parents-in-law? Aaron Ross, inspired by his personal experience, grapples with the lack of formal aveilut rituals for non-biological relatives.

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.

What exactly did Rav Moshe Feinstein hold regarding our obligations toward secular law? Does Halakhah distinguish between the first forty days and afterward for gentiles? Michael Broyde responds to his critics.

Marc B. Shapiro reviews a new edited volume by Yoram Hazony, Gil Student, and Alex Sztuden that offers a traditional defense of revelation in light of modern biblical criticism.

Jeffrey Woolf contributes to the Lehrhaus Symposium on the recent OU statement regarding female clergy.

Responding to yesterday’s article by Moshe Kurtz, Lehrhaus editor Tzvi Sinensky presents an alternative read of the Mitzvah of lo yilbash.

In the spirit of Hanukkah, Yaakov Jaffe offers an intriguing thesis tying together a series of Mishnayot in the fourth chapter of Pirkei Avot: they are all responding to various aspects of Epicurean philosophy.

In honor of yesterday's Daf Yomi Siyum on Masekhet Eiruvin, Yaakov Jaffe describes how online maps and other technological tools have better enabled communities such as Boston/Cambridge to measure their tehum shabbat.

Yaakov Jaffe and Menachem Butler explore the Halakhot of when fasting is proper and when it’s not.