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The Torah Learning Library of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah

Category: Gender, Marriage & Family

Accepting the Mitzvot as a Convert: Does it Matter What You’re Really Thinking?

Rabbi Yitzchak Yehuda Shmelkes (1828-1904) was one of the leading rabbis in the latter part of the 19th century in Eastern Europe. He was the head of the rabbinical court in Lvov (Lemberg) from 1869-1893. His Beit Yiẓḥak (6 vols., 1875–1908), on the four parts of the Shulkḥan Arukh, was widely acclaimed. …

Abortion in Halakha: A Study Guide

Halakhic Parameters of Abortion: A Study Guide Guided Questions for Chavruta Learning See sources 1-5 which serve as the core sources for the Rabbinic position that full human life begins only after birth. Now look at sources 8-12.  Do they indicate that a fetus has the legal status / protections of a human life or not? …

Rachel’s Cry: Single Women and Pru U’rvu

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?…

Rachel’s Cry: Single Women and Pru U’rvu (Hebrew)

To read this teshuva in english click here:…

May A Single Man Fulfill The Mitzvah Of Pru U’rvu (procreation)? (Hebrew)

Marriage for People with Down Syndrome

by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on July 31, 2017

This is a shiur that Rabbi Linzer gave at the Young Israel of Sharon, MA, on July 26, 2017. Click on the following audio link to listen to the shiur and follow along with the sources below:     1. This couple with Down’s syndrome are celebrating 22 years of marriage– Metro UK They were criticized 22 years ago for wanting to get married.…

Who Teaches Torah to Your Nation Israel

by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on April 4, 2017

This is a speech delivered by Rabbi Dov Linzer at the YCT Annual Tribute Dinner in March 2017 Barukh atah Hashem ha’melamed Torah li’amo Yisrael.  Blessed are You God who teaches Torah to your nation, Israel. This second birkhat ha’Torah follows אשר קדשנו במצותיו וצונו לעסוק בדברי תורה, the mitzvah-blessing for Torah study.…

The Bond and the Desire: Marriage and Family in A Postmodern World in the Thought of Rav Shagar (Hebrew)

by Rabbi Yair Dreyfuss
Posted on December 2, 2016

Torah Study for Women in the Thought of Rav Shagar (Hebrew)

by Rabbanit Dr. Michal Tikochinsky
Posted on December 2, 2016

Mother’s Milk: A Psychoanalyst Looks at Breastfeeding

by Dr. Michelle Friedman, MD
Posted on November 8, 2016

To read Mother’s Milk: A Psychoanalyst Looks at Breastfeeding, click here.…

“This isn’t what anyone expected….”

by Dr. Michelle Friedman, MD
Posted on November 7, 2016

Sara, 23, and Raphael, 28 just became parents of a much wanted baby boy.  The  brit was a joyous event but Raphael noticed that his wife was distant and preoccupied throughout the morning. Over the following weeks, Sara, usually a cheerful, easy going and very social young woman, seemed more and more changed.…

Onah, Pilegesh and the Sanctity of Marital Intimacy in the Thought of Ramban

by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on October 26, 2016