Behar
Behar (“On The Mountain”) details the laws of the sabbatical year (Shemita), when working the land is prohibited and debts are forgiven. It also sets out laws of indentured servitude and of the Jubilee year (Yovel), when property reverts to its original ownership.
Shabbat
Unwind. Recharge. Connect. Embrace the beauty of Shabbat
Eruv: History, Problems, and Solutions
Introduction In the famous list of the thirty-nine categories of actions forbidden on Shabbat, the last one is carrying from one domain to another. The first step in understanding this category is defining the domains. The rabbis mentioned three domains: Public Domain – רשות הרבים, Private Domain – רשות היחיד, and Karmelit – כרמלית, which […]
Shabbat Shel Shalva
My nephew Yosef is a charming young man with a wide smile, who at twenty-one appears to be no older than fourteen. He is affectionate, but shy and unassuming, and up until a short while ago, could easily blend in the throngs of shoppers at the Mahane Yehudah Shuk, not far from his home in […]
Electricity on Shabbat, 3
Incandescent Lightbulb – What is the Problem? R. Halperin writes: About 25 years ago I found a note in my father’s Shabbat tractate: [In a] conversation with R. Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, on the 10th of Elul 5731 (1971) regarding turning off the light on Shabbat, [the rabbi said]: “I have reached a conclusion thirty years […]
Putting out Fire on Shabbat
Question: What should I do if fire breaks out on Shabbat? Is there a significance to the size and location of the fire? Answer: If you can, put out the fire right away, even if it’s just a napkin which caught fire from the Shabbat candles. Experience teaches that one should not take any risks, […]
Electric Autonomous Car & Shabbat
It will probably take a few years before autonomous cars become the norm in major cities, but discussions are already developing around the theme of “The Autonomous Car and the Jewish Problem”, and the opinions presented by Halakha-minded rabbis who are willing to speak on the matter shed light on many other, current and real […]
