The book of Esther never mentions a fast on the 13th of Adar; in fact, in the late Second Temple period, it was a day of celebration. Talmudic sources never mention the fast either. How did it originate?
Mitchell First
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Onan son of Judah “would let [his seed] go to waste on the ground, so as not to provide offspring for his brother. This was wicked in the eyes of YHWH, who killed him” (Genesis 38:9–10). What was Onan’s sin?
Prof.
Michael L. Satlow
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By the 1st century C.E., observance of Torah laws is abundantly evident in Judean society. But how far back does this widespread observance go?
Prof.
Yonatan Adler
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It is widely assumed that the Torah prohibits all tattoos. And yet, a look at the verse in context yields alternative understandings.
Dr.
David Bernat
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The Torah allows the removal of vessels from a house before the priest quarantines it for tzaraʿat, understanding impurity here not as the result of physical reality but of a human declaration. This idea is developed further by the rabbis, who apply it to other areas of Jewish law.
Prof.
Martha Himmelfarb
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In the Torah, Nimrod and Esau are hunters, Isaac enjoys game, and the legal collections take it for granted that hunting for food is common and permissible. Once Judaism decided that even wild animals must be ritually slaughtered, the Jewish attitude towards hunting took a sharp negative turn.
Dr. Rabbi
Marcus Mordecai Schwartz
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R. Eleazar of Worms in the 12th century, defended the practice of spilling wine when reciting the plagues against detractors who disparaged it, by offering a mystical, numerological rationale. This, however, was a post-facto attempt to explain a folk custom, whose origins lie in the human fear of being struck by these very plagues.
Dr. Rabbi
Zev Farber
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The Talmud requires having two unspecified cooked dishes to be eaten as part of the Passover meal. How did this requirement develop into the custom of placing two particular symbolic foods, the shankbone and the egg, on the seder plate?
Dr.
Joshua Kulp
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Hidden behind the strange rabbinic definition of walled cities is a polemical response to the notorious claim of Emperor Hadrian, who rebuilt Jerusalem as the pagan city Aelia Capitolina.
Prof.
Eyal Ben-Eliyahu
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In halakha, the 39 melachot of Mishnah Shabbat 7:2 functions as a comprehensive list of primary categories of forbidden labor. A closer look at the list in context, however, reveals that it was composed and added as a supplement, to clarify a detail in the previous mishnah.
Prof. Rabbi
Judith Hauptman
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Leviticus’ list of conjugally-forbidden relations was extensive for its time. While the Karaites expanded the list greatly, the rabbis did so only slightly, leaving modern-day rabbinic Judaism with more relatives permitted for marriage than most western societies.
Prof. Rabbi
Marty Lockshin
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Leviticus 15 describes two types of impure bleeding for women: menstruation (niddah), and bleeding that is “not during her menstrual period (zavah).” The Rabbis attempt to define the difference in an abstract manner, and in so doing, elide the two.
Prof.
Charlotte Elisheva Fonrobert
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According to Leviticus 15:24, sex with a menstruating woman results in temporary impurity but seems to be allowed. According to Leviticus 18:19 and 20:18, on the other hand, it is strictly prohibited. What accounts for these two different approaches?
Dr.
Eve Levavi Feinstein
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Thirty nine forms of melacha “work” are forbidden on Shabbat. Does the number drive the list?
Rabbi
Evan Hoffman
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The Torah states multiple times that it is forbidden to do melakha “work” on Shabbat. Rabbi Akiva and his students argue that the Torah is referring to 39 specific forms of work. Where did they get this number? The key is in the Tabernacle.
Dr. Rabbi
Yoel Bin-Nun
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In Leviticus 15, the laws of niddah are about purity; Lev 18 and 20, however, prohibit sex during menstruation. The rabbis, who inherited both of these texts, create a new, hybrid concept: the prohibition of sex while a woman has the status of menstrual impurity.
Prof.
Charlotte Elisheva Fonrobert
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But Chicken and Egg Remained Permitted
Dr.
Jordan D. Rosenblum
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The Torah prohibits lending to poor people with interest. Why did Jewish law include business loans and how did this effect the law’s original purpose?
Prof.
Michael L. Satlow
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In reference to the parturient, the Torah speaks of a 33 or 66 day period of דמי טהרה “blood of her purity” as distinguished from a 7 or 14 day period “like menstruation.” What is the difference between these two periods according to Leviticus and how did later groups such as rabbinic Jews, Karaites, Samaritans, and Beta Israel understand it?
Dr. Rabbi
Zev Farber
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Deuteronomy’s description of the circumstances of divorce is ambiguous. Thus, the Mishnah (m. Gittin 9:10) records three different opinions on when a man is allowed to divorce his wife. What can we infer from the biblical text?
Dr.
Eve Levavi Feinstein
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Jewish law requires a menstruant woman to purify herself by immersing in water. A schematic look at Leviticus 15 actually implies this is not a Torah requirement.
Dr. Rabbi
Zev Farber
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The Torah prohibits a mourning ritual called tonsuring, i.e., the pulling out or cutting of hair to express sorrow. Rabbinic interpretation understood these verses as a prohibition for men to shave their beards or temples with a razor. Ibn Ezra, however, uncharacteristically rejects the rabbinic interpretation of these verses, and Shadal, who accepts ibn Ezra's reading, goes as far as to say that he himself shaves with a razor.
Dr. Rabbi
Zev Farber
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Immersing in the Priestly Text
Dr. Hacham
Isaac S. D. Sassoon
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