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The Torah Learning Library of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah

Archive: April 2023

Hope in Heldenplatz

by Rabbi Eitan Cooper
Posted on April 20, 2023

About ten years ago, on a trip to Vienna, Austria, shortly after getting married, I had the opportunity to visit Heldenplatz (“Heroes Square”). Anyone who visits Vienna probably encounters this massive space at the center of the city—it’s hard to miss. …

Kosher Signs Lead to a Kosher Life

by Rabbi Dr. Eli Yoggev
Posted on March 24, 2022

This week in Parshat Shmini, we learn the signs of a kosher animal. The Torah tells us that we may eat any land animal that has split hooves and chews their cud (Lev. 11:3). We do not know the deeper reasons behind the mitzvot, but there is a way to understand these laws of kashrut that really speaks to me.…

Religious Passion, the Mikdash and the Temptation of Idolatry – Primary Sources

by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on March 25, 2011

In connection with the recent posting on Parshat Shmini and the sin of Nadav and Avihu, I present these sources which speak to both sides of the tension between religious passion and boundaries, between the physicality of the Mikdash and religious experience and the temptation of idolatry.…