Rabbi Dov Linzer (Posted on February 7, 2019)
From the Lindenbaum Center for Halakhic Studies
Halakhic Parameters of Abortion:
A Study Guide
Guided Questions for Chavruta Learning
Sources 1-7 were covered in the previous sheet. Look at sources 8-12. Do they indicate that a fetus has the legal status / protections of a human life or not? …
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on January 31, 2019
The enterprise of ta’amei ha’mitzvot, trying to identify the values that underlie the mitzvot, is an important although potentially dangerous one. The importance lies in the fact that it helps us actualize those values both in the performance of the mitzvot and in other areas of our lives. …
Rabbi Dov Linzer (Posted on January 25, 2019)
From the Lindenbaum Center for Halakhic Studies
These sources accompany the hair covering episode of the Joy of Text podcast.
A. Nature of Obligation
The verse in Numbers {source 1} implies that women (perhaps specifically married women) would normally have their head covered. This point is made explicit from Sifrei {source 2}, which emphasizes the fact that this was a norm, and does not frame it as an obligation. …
Rabbi Avram Schwartz (Posted on January 21, 2019)
From the Lindenbaum Center for Halakhic Studies
Rabbi Tzvi Pesach Frank (1873-1960) is best known as the chief Ashkenazi Rabbi of Jerusalem. He was born and raised in Lithuania, where he studied at Slobodka and Telz, two of the world’s most prominent yeshivot before the war. After making aliyah, he became a part of the rabbinic establishment of the old yishuv, while also building a close connection with Rav Kook, becoming part of his circle of intimates along with Rabbi Tzvi Yehudah Kook, Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Charlap, and the Nazir, Rabbi David Cohen.…
Rabbi Dov Linzer (Posted on January 14, 2019)
From the Lindenbaum Center for Halakhic Studies
Episode 23
Rabbi Linzer looks at a famous teshuvah of Rav Moshe that takes on the challenge from feminism to the role of women in halakha and Jewish life. Why are women not obligated equally? Can halakha change to accommodate shifting social realities?…
Rabbi Dov Linzer (Posted on December 31, 2018)
From the Lindenbaum Center for Halakhic Studies
Episode 20
Rabbi Linzer looks at a teshuvah about whether a testicular biopsy for the purpose of aiding a man’s fertility makes him a petzuah daka – injured in a way that would prohibit him from marrying. Along the way, Rav Moshe makes astonishing claims about the relationship between science and halakhic change.…
Rabbi Dov Linzer (Posted on December 26, 2018)
From the Lindenbaum Center for Halakhic Studies
These sources accompany the seduction episode of the Joy of Text podcast.
1. Shabbat, 140b
בבלי מסכת שבת דף קמ עמוד ב
אמר להו רב חסדא לבנתיה: תיהוי צניעתן באפי גברייכו, לא תיכלון נהמא באפי גברייכו, לא תיכלון ירקא בליליא, לא תיכלון תמרי בליליא, ולא תשתון שיכרא בליליא, ולא תיפנון היכא דמפני גברייכו.…
Rabbi Avram Schwartz (Posted on December 4, 2018)
From the Lindenbaum Center for Halakhic Studies
Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Toledano (1880-1960), author of Responsa Yam HaGadol, was a Sepharadi rabbi and posek. He served Jewish communities in his hometown of Tiberias, in Tangier, Cairo, and finally Tel Aviv, where he served as the Sepharadi chief rabbi. In 1958, he was appointed the Minister of Religions.…
Rabbi Dov Linzer (Posted on November 9, 2018)
From the Lindenbaum Center for Halakhic Studies
BONUS: Intro Episode; B is for Birth Control
Episode 4: Birth Control; the IUD
For English translations click here.
Episode 5: Birth Control; the Condom
For English translations click here.
Episode 6: Birth Control; A Woman’s Choice…
Rabbi Dov Linzer (Posted on November 8, 2018)
From the Lindenbaum Center for Halakhic Studies
Episode 1: Educational Fraud
Click here for a PDF of this teshuvah.
Episode 2: Tenants’ Rights
Click here for a PDF of this teshuvah.
Episode 3: The Death Penalty
Click here for a PDF of this teshuvah.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on November 1, 2018
Ger vi’toshav anokhi imakhem, “A sojourner and a resident am I in your midst” (Gen. 23:4). Avraham’s description of his status in the land of Canaan – as both someone living among the inhabitants of the land, and yet not fully one of them – powerfully captures the experience of immigrants in general, and that of Jews in America starting from the first wave of major immigration in 19th century, in particular. …
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on October 17, 2018
QUESTION: I am the father of a newborn beautiful baby boy. The bris is coming up in a few days. Since I have a mitzvah to give my son a bris, and the mohel is just an agent, is it better that I do the bris myself (after the mohel sets everything up, of course)?…
