Advances in modern medicine have revolutionized the ability to treat patients and prolong life, but have simultaneously led to challenging dilemmas in cases of patients dependent on life support equipment. Some live on in a state of terminal illness, comatose or even in a “Persistent Vegetative State” – sometimes for years. Consequently, whereas in the... Read more »
Beginning in the Second Temple Period, machloket, Talmudic disputes, arose – a fact clear from the study of any page of the Talmud. The existence of these disputes may present two possible pitfalls. First of all, in light of the seeming uncertainty, someone might question the accuracy of the Oral Torah’s transmission. Certainly, if... Read more »
Whether I am a student at Oxford, a trader on Wall Street, or a violinist for the Vienna Philharmonic, what does a Book (albeit an all-time bestseller) that my distant relatives received at Sinai have to do with me? The distance in time from when the Jewish people received the Torah may leave us either... Read more »
In this final class in the System of Halacha series, we will explore the nature of the halachic process itself. When a Jew today asks a question of a competent authority in Jewish law, what stands behind the answer he or she is given? We will further examine key stages, rabbis and legal codifications that... Read more »
This essay introduces the Morasha series on the System of Halacha and provides an overview of why there is halachah, where halachah comes from, the transmission of the Torah, the codification and publication of Jewish law, machloket, the structure of Jewish law, and the eternally relevance of Halacha. This essay also contains the contents of... Read more »
