Organ Sales and the Value of Life: A Halakhic Framework Last week [https://www.tzvisinensky.com/2015/10/29/organ-sales-and-jewish-medical-ethics-framing-the-issue/] we reviewed the background concerning the case for legalizing the sale of organs, and we inquired as to how Jewish law would respond to the question. We noted that at first glance halakha would favor essentially any measure that results
Organ Sales and the Value of Life: Framing the Issues There is increasing consensus that the organ donation status quo is intolerable. According to a U.S. government website [http://www.organdonor.gov/index.html], there are presently 122,613 patients in the U.S. in need of an organ transplant. It is estimated that 22 people die each day
Interrupting Between Pesukei Dezimra and Birchot Keriat Shema For Educational Purposes: A Psak It is not uncommon for educators to pause for a few moments in between Pesukei de-Zimra and Birchot Keriat Shema to facilitate a reflective tefilla exercise designed to enhance students' kavana. This practice, however, raises a halakhic question concerning interruptions in the middle of davening. In this article I&
Israel and the Olive Tree Commentators’ attention has long been drawn to the symbolism of the olive leaf returned by the Noah’s dove. Classically, the olive tree has been considered a sign of peace. This symbolism, reflected in Greek and Roman mythology, has been famously adopted by the State of Israel and the Israel
To 120! It is customary, upon wishing someone a happy birthday, to declare ad me’ah ve’esrim, to 120. This is based on the popular notion that according to traditional Jewish thought, one cannot live beyond that age. Indeed, it is customary among rabbinic writers, when addressing their correspondents by name,
Sukkah: Symbol of God's Love We often speak of the Jew’s obligation to love God. Less often stressed in halakhic discourse, however, is the inverse – that God loves us. In this article, I’d like to argue that the exemption of the ill and their caretakers from the mitzvah of Sukkah demonstrates that the
Can There Be a Prohibition Against Asking for Forgiveness? The obligation to apologize to my friend at this time of year (Yoma 85a; see Shulchan Arukh 606:1) raises a common but knotty conundrum: Imagine that I have said something harmful about another person, but that individual does not know that I did so. Does piyyus, the obligation to
The Gift of Rosh Hashanah The historical significance of Rosh Hashanah seems simple enough: we are judged each year on Rosh Hashanah in connection with the anniversary of the day on which God created Adam and Eve in Gan Eden. Just as they sinned by eating from the fruit of the tree, were banished, and
Tevila All Year Round and During the Yamim Noraim: A Brief Review of the Issues It is customary for many to go to the mikvah on Erev Rosh Hashanah and Erev Yom Kippur to purify themselves in advance of these sacred days. Many Chasidic males have the custom to go to the mikvah not only twice a year but every morning or at least every
Praying to Angels - Part 2 Last week we surveyed a variety of views concerning the general issue of praying to angels and particularly the tefilla of Machnisei Rachamim. This week we'll explore a parallel debate concerning one of the stanzas in the piyyut Shalom Aleichem as well as the impact of an increasingly
Praying To Angels - Part I With the recitation of selichot upon us, I'd like to explore the fascinating debate concerning those piyyutim, religious poems, which we seem to direct toward angels. Specifically, in the beautiful song "Machnisei Rachamim," we entreat the angels to beseech God on our behalves and carry our
The Amish and Us Why do we love the Amish so much? I found myself pondering this question last week, when we enjoyed the pleasure of renting a home from an Amish family for our Lancaster County, Pennsylvania vacation. In addition to the great day trips which, despite the heat, were perfect for our
Let's Be Intolerant of Intolerance It was a wrenching weekend. Shira Banki, a victim of Thursday’s Jerusalem gay pride parade stabbing, died yesterday from wounds inflicted by a Haredi man, Yishai Schlissel. Separately, early Friday morning an 18-month-old Muslim baby, Ali Saad Dawabsheh, was burned to death in an arson apparently carried out by
Rav Amital and Natural Morality As has been noted by many of his students, this evening concludes the fifth yahrtzeit of Rav Yehuda Amital ZT"L, founding Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion, Israeli Minister, Holocaust survivor, and teacher of tens of thousands. One of Rav Amital's favorite topics was that of
Exercises in Integration - Essays From our "Tikvah" Class As many of you might know, one of the outstanding opportunities available to Kohelet students is our junior year AP Integrated Course in Jewish Thought, Philosophy, and the Humanities, which I am privileged to co-teach with my colleague, Dr. Eileen Watts. The course is built on a philosophy of Torah
Where the Holidays Went: Shemitah and the Shalosh Regalim This was published in the most recent edition of Kohelet's student Torah publication, Hakol Nishma. You can find all the articles here [http://koheletyeshiva.org/hakolnishma/]. Chag sameach! Is it possible to imagine a Jewish calendar year without the shalosh regalim – Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot? According to the
The Silent Voice of Revelation Below is the first paragraph of a piece published in the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent in advance of Shavuot. The dramatic revelation that took place at Mount Sinai, which we celebrate on Shavuot, is not the only instance of a divine encounter that unfolded at the mountain, also called Horeb. Kings
Anavah: Not Just Humility Anavah is typically translated as humility. And, in many contexts, that translation is certainly accurate. To take just one classic example, Moshe Rabbeinu is described as "anav me'od" (Bamidbar 12:3), exceedingly humble. An intriguing Mishnah in Peah (1:2), however, seems to indicate otherwise. After
The Young Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai On Lag Baomer it is traditional to commemorate the yahrtzeit of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. I'd like to take a different angle and consider the little we know of him as a young man. The Gemara (Berachot 27b-28a) records the classic power struggle between the nasi Rabban Gamliel
Sefirat Haomer and Rabbinic Authority Should a rabbi who omits the recitation of the Omer for an entire twenty-four hour period be treated differently than a layperson who forgets a day? This surprising distinction is adopted by some halakhic decisors. To better understand the basis for the ruling, as well as why others disagree, some
Two Views on the Theological Limits of Ownership - The Case of Tzedaka A glaring contradiction in regard to the mitzvah of tzedaka attracted the attention of numerous rishonim. The Gemara (Bava Batra 8b) records an instance in which Rava coerced Rav Natan to contribute 400 zuz to charity. Another Gemara (Chulin 110b), however, stipulates that any commandment whose reward is written alongside
A Vision of Greatness HaRav Aharon Lichtenstein ZT”L often stressed the importance of exposure to first-rank Torah personalities – never in reference to himself, of course – invoking “what Whitehead called a vision of greatness” as an “essential educational tool” (Leaves of Faith, Vol. 2, pg. 327). For me, as a first-year yeshiva student, the
Just How Lonely? Kohelet Yeshiva High School’s Beit Midrash enjoyed the exquisite honor of hosting Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks on Monday, March 16. Rabbi Sacks’ visit began with an inspirational talk to our students, continued with an address to some forty supporters, and culminated in a public conversation before a maximum capacity
Two Views on the Theological Limits of Ownership Legal theorists consider various questions [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/property/] regarding the nature of property ownership, including the degree to which ownership is a function of title or possession. From a halakhic perspective there is an additional wrinkle: given a theistic worldview, does God's role as Creator
Dayenu and the Gift of Shabbat Beyond being lots of fun to sing - unless your tradition is to slowly repeat the chorus after every verse, in which case it sometimes transmutes into the Jewish version of "the song that does not end" - Dayenu is chock full of rich ideas. Here's
