The Nazir and the Priest

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

Cities of Crumbling Walls: What The Talmud Can Teach Us About Living Through A...

What can the Talmud teach us about living through a pandemic? Avi Strausberg argues that it teaches us quite a bit about strengthening acts of kindness and solidarity in our communities.

Halakhah Meets Non-Traditional Approaches to Ensuring COVID-19 Vaccination

Sharon Galper Grossman and Shamai Grossman examine the halakhic permissibility of vaccine mandates by governments and employers.

What is Yerushalmi Shekalim Doing in the Babylonian Talmud?

As Daf Yomi learners begin studying Shekalim, Tamara Morsel-Eisenberg offers an erudite answer to the question: What is Yerushalmi Shekalim doing in the Babylonian Talmud?

Permission to Forbid: New Gezeirot in the History of Halakhah

Are today's rabbis allowed to initiate new prohibitions? Aryeh Klapper analyzes a responsum on the issue of halakhic innovation regarding new technologies.

Holidays Reimagined: From Pesah To Purim To Post-Hurban Pesah

Shimon Laufer examines how Rabbinic understanding of the holiday of Passover influenced the holiday of Purim, and how one of the oldest manuscripts of the Mishnah hints that the converse may be true as well.

Humor: The Refuge of the Wise

Rami Reiner examines how our understanding of a Talmudic passage could change if we allow for the possibility of it being a comedy.

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.

Modern Technology Meets Tehum Shabbat

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.

Rav Nachum Rabinovitch and the Art of Ancient Dyeing

Baruch Sterman, founder of the @Ptil Tekhelet Institute, tells the story of Rav Rabinovitch's pivotal role in the discovery of the tekhelet - and an episode of "The Worst Jobs in History," a 2004-2006 BBC series.