by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on October 28, 2021
That question is, of course, anachronistic. A close reading of this week’s parsha and later parashot, however, reveals that Rivka’s marriage to Yitzchak—as well as Rachel and Leah’s marriages to Yaakov, and most likely Sarah’s marriage to Avraham—brought into the Jewish family a woman’s voice and role that might otherwise have been absent.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on September 10, 2021
One of the last mitzvot in the Torah is that of Hakhel, the “gathering together.” On Sukkot following the Shemitah year–the year in which we find ourselves right now–the people would all come together so that, standing as one, they would be fully present as individuals and as a complete community to hear the Torah being read.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on November 12, 2020
A major theme in this week’s parasha, Chayei Sarah, is the question of insiders and outsiders. How do we relate to the larger country around us? How do we relate to foreigners? This is quite relevant to the question of immigrants in a society – are their contributions to be feared or embraced?…
by Rabbi Tzvi Sinensky
Posted on July 19, 2020
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To read this teshuva in English click here. שאלה: מדי שנה אנו הנוער של מעלה גלבוע מארחים בישוב קייטנת אילן. לעתים קרובות בגלל חוסר בכוח אדם או בגלל צורך בכוח פיזי בנים מטפלים בבנות בעל מוגבלויות . איך בן יכול לטפל בבת על פי ההלכה?[1]…
To read this teshuva in Hebrew click here. Question: Each year, the Ma’ale Gilboa youth group hosts Camp Ilan, a camp for young men and women with disabilities. Due to insufficient manpower as well as the need for their physical strength, young men often take care of young women with physical disabilities.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on January 14, 2019
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?…
Introduction “Halakhic infertility” occurs when observance of hilkhot niddah results in a woman ovulating only during the days that wife and husband are forbidden to be physically intimate. These situations result from post-biblical stringencies that lengthen the time of prohibition. This article discusses whether a couple may cease observing one such stringency, the humra di’R.…
To read this teshuva in hebrew click here: Should community resources be allocated to help an older single woman become pregnant using artificial insemination?[1] Rav Shlomo Aviner addresses this question as follows: Question: A single woman, about forty years old, who realistically doesn’t expect to marry and wishes, with all her soul, to have a child to love and devote herself to – is she permitted halakhically to use artificial insemination to bear a child?…
To read this teshuva in hebrew click here: Introduction Until the last generation, marriage and reproduction always went together. The only legitimate way of producing children was in the framework of marriage since non-marital sexual relationships are halakhically forbidden or, minimally, strongly discouraged.[1]…