I first fell in love with Gemara Berura a dozen years ago. I had just finished my most ambitious project-based learning assignment I had ever attempted with my 9th grade class. We designed a “How To Learn Gemara” website. In this project, my students culminated a year of a careful skills-based approach to learning Gemara by summarizing the various Sugiyot they had learned complete with keywords and color coding. They
Ein Shaliach Lidvar Aveirah “I Was Only Following Orders” – The Criminal Agent (Kiddushin 42b). If your Super Bowl winning football coach offers you money to injure an opposing player during a game, can you do it? If you’re caught, who’s responsible — “coach” or you? The New Orleans Saints bounty scandal, widely dubbed Bountygate,... Read more »
Osek Bemitzvah Patur Min Hamitzvah, Multitasking Mitzvot – Should you ever stop doing one mitzvah to go do another? (Sukkah 25a) Halachah, Jewish law, is the framework for the way we navigate our lives. Depending on the dynamics of each day, and the opportunities and challenges that arise, we are empowered with free will to reach our... Read more »
Seder night overflows with excitement and meaning as we journey through the fifteen steps of the Seder. The four cups of wine feature as one of the key defining aspects of reliving the Exodus from Egypt. The seemingly straightforward practice of drinking the four cups of wine on Seder night is the subject of great Talmudic discussion and debate. This shiur analyzes sections of the Talmud, along with commentaries of
There is certainly much hype and excitement about drinking on Purim. On the one hand, drunkenness is condemned, forbidden, and admonished against – to varying degrees – in the Torah, Prophets, Writings, Talmud, and Jewish ethical literature. Intoxication can lead to loss of self-control, alcohol addiction, transgression, weakened morality, and crime. In contrast, we are surprised to read an offbeat line
NLE Thinking Gemara Series – already a popular teaching tool in the hands of Outreach rabbis and school teachers everywhere – is proud to announce a brand new set of source materials exploring the history and depth of the custom to light increasing candles on each night of Chanukah. The shiur focuses on the famous Gemara
Ten days ago, 850,000 Jews converged on the streets of Jerusalem for the biggest funeral in Israel’s history -- the funeral of Rav Ovadia Yosef. News agencies around the world covered Rav Ovadia’s passing, and recorded the highlights of the life of this great rabbi, political leader and social revolutionary.