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The Torah Learning Library of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah

Gender, Marriage & Family

animation of the temple burning and the hebrew words for tisha b'av

Should Children Mourn the Loss of the Temple?

Anyone who has spent time at a Jewish summer camp has inevitably confronted questions regarding what children should or shouldn’t do in the weeks preceding Tisha B’Av and on Tisha B’Av itself. From the 17th of Tammuz, many Ashkenazim have the custom not to shave or conduct weddings, and beginning with Rosh Chodesh Av, there are additional customs such as refraining from bathing, laundering one’s clothes, and listening to live music.…

abraham's servant approaching rebecca at the well in a renaissance-era painting

Was Rivka a Feminist?

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.…

Silence; sculpture of face holding finger up to mouth for in a library

The Sound of Silence

by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on December 24, 2020

A major theme in this week’s parsha is silence. Without a doubt, there is much talking – endless talking in fact. Yehuda begs Yosef to free Binyamin; Yosef breaks down and reveals all to his brothers. Yosef commands his brothers return with a message to their father; the brothers tell Yaakov that Yosef is still alive; G-d speaks to Yaakov; Yosef tells Pharaoh his brothers have arrived and prepares his brothers for that meeting, and on and on. …

old hands; black and white hands; holding hands

Preparing for Our Final Moments

by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on December 24, 2020

How can we leave behind a blessing once we are gone? “Va’yechi” – and he lived. Yaakov has come to the fullness of his life and knows that he will soon die. He calls Yosef to his bedside and broaches a subject that maybe Yosef would have preferred to avoid – his death, and the burial arrangements that must follow.…

Insiders and Outsiders

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?…

Hannah,-Samuel-&-Eli

Hannah and the Vision of Kingship

by Rabbi David Silber
Posted on September 15, 2020

Hugging, Hug

Why Is It So Hard To Forgive?

by Dr. Michelle Friedman, MD
Posted on September 15, 2020

To follow along with this shiur’s source sheet on Sefaria, please click here.…

Blessing of Ephraim

Surely, Ephraim is My Precious Child: Haftarah and History (Jeremiah 31)

by Dr. Shalom Holtz
Posted on September 11, 2020

To follow along with the shiur’s source sheet on Sefaria, please click here.…

Protecting the Widow: Legal Institutions in Megillat Ruth

by Dr. Yael Landman Wermuth
Posted on July 20, 2020

Androgynous Myth The Creation of Adam and Eve in Peshat and the Midrashic Tradition

by Rabbi Tzvi Sinensky
Posted on July 19, 2020

Sefirat Ha’Omer: Whose Minhag Counts?

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef (1920-2013), born in Iraq and Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1973 to 1983, was the preeminent Sephardi posek of the previous generation. His responsa are collected in two multi-volume works: Yabia Omer (11 volumes), which contain his lengthy responsa, and Yachaveh Da’at (6 volumes), which contain his short-form responsa based on a weekly radio show of his where he answered listeners’ questions.…

Do My Kids Really Need Their OWN Lulav and Esrog?

Translation by Rabbi Avi Schwartz and Rabbi Dov Linzer; introduction by Rabbi Dov Linzer

Rabbi Moshe Feinstein zt”l (1895-1986) was the preeminent posek for North American Jewry for most of the 20th century, both for the yeshivish and Modern Orthodox communities. Rav Moshe was born in Russia in 1895, where he served as rabbi making great personal sacrifices on behalf of his community until he emigrated to the U.S.…