That the “Orthodox” community is more careful about kosher food than kosher money is sadly obvious, and demonstrated all too often.…
In the introduction to his responsa, Rav Moshe Feinstein writes that the Sages of each generation are permitted and obligated to issue halachic…
“And it will be, when the Lord, your G-d, brings you to the land He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you,…
In a beautiful teshuva (Orach Chaim 4 #89) written during Chanukah 1960, Rav Moshe Feinstein was asked (by Rabbi Leo Yung, rabbi of the Jewish Centre…
“It is a sign between Me and the Jewish people that in ‘six days’ G-d created the heavens and the earth” (Shemot 31:17).…
That one must be Jewish to shecht an animal is not necessarily obvious. One might have argued that as long as the meat is slaughtered…
When I mention to people that it is likely worse to smoke than to eat pork, I often get strange looks. And usually the more observant the person, the…
There are few, if any, semicha programs that require their students to learn shechita or safrut, and even fewer that require good…
One of the questions I am often asked by those of my students who do not keep kosher, is have you really never eaten non-kosher food? I generally…
Over and over again the Torah warns us not to allow avodah zara, idolatry, in the Land of Israel. Yet, as is often the case, things are not always…
"It was for this reason that man was first created as one person [Adam]…to teach that no man is the same as another; therefore, every…
In the fall of 1860, Rav Yaakov Ettlinger penned what is likely the most revolutionary responsa of modern times; one that opened the door to allowing…
Some years back I attended a talk by Rabbi Dr. M.D. Tendler who spoke about the most important teshuvot written by his father-in-law, Rav Moshe…
That the role of a modern rabbi in the Western World is far different than that of the rabbi of Eastern Europe is rather obvious. The typical 19th…
Masechet Chulin, a derivative of the word chol, translates as “The Secular Tractate”, and stands in contrast to the first two…
“It is said of the olah sacrifice of cattle, ‘rei’ach nichoach, an offering made by fire of pleasing odor’ (Vayikra 1:9); and…
The Sochochover Rebbe, in the introduction to his classic work on the laws of Shabbat, Eglei Tal, explains that Torah study is meant to be…
“And you shall place on the table showbread before Me tamid, at all times” (Shemot 25:30). The lechem hapanim …
“At that time, the Lord said to me, ‘Hew for yourself two stone tablets like the first ones and come up to Me onto the mountain, and make…
The opening Mishna of masechet Megillah teaches that those living in small rural communities could fulfill the obligation to hear the Megillah…
The Jewish people are a most contentious one. We argue about (almost?) everything and then some. Debate is most healthy and part and parcel of…
"All korbanot mincha, flour offerings, are to be made of matza with the exception of the chametz of the korban todah,…
It is well known that the mitzvah of tzitzit is a classic case of a mitzvah aseh shehazman grama, a time-bound positive mitzvah…
There is little that turns one off from religion more than corruption in the religious sphere. When one sees someone cheating who outwardly…