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The Torah Learning Library of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah

Talmud

What’s So Terrible About Avodah Zarah?

by Rabbi Menachem Leibtag
Posted on September 21, 2022

young boy in a white t-shirt blowing a shofar with a black background

Atonement and Sacrifice

In the days of the Beit HaMikdash, one achieved atonement through two key rituals: vidui (confession) and the offering of korbanot (sacrifices). Although each one could be viewed as a separate act, both pieces were fundamentally brought together by the kohen gadol, or high priest, on Yom Kippur. …

Crying on Rosh Hashanah

Though rarely spoken about, one of the more fascinating themes of Rosh Hashanah is that of tears. The haftarah of the first day recounts the story of Elkanah and his wives Chana and Penina. Each year, they make the trek to Shilo to bring offerings to God, and each year Chana is mocked by Penina for not having children.…

Believing is Seeing

by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on June 24, 2021

The rabbis tell us in Pirkei Avot (5:22) “Whoever has….an ayin tova, a good eye….is a student of Avraham; whoever has an ayin ra’ah, a bad eye….is a student of Balaam.” Avraham sees well, whereas Balaam sees poorly. How so? On the face of it, the stories of Avraham and Balaam are parallel.…

Machzor, Rosh HaShanah

Yom (Zikhron)Teruah: A Lexical and Theological Investigation

by Rabbi Jon Kelsen
Posted on September 15, 2020

shofar

God’s Coronation: Unpacking Psalm 47: The Psalm Recited Before Shofar Blowing

by Rabbi Yitzchak Etshalom
Posted on September 15, 2020

Scroll below the video to follow along with the source sheet.…

Aggadah

“Where Baalei Teshuva Stand, the Utterly Righteous Cannot Stand”: An Aggadic Reflection on Perfection and Patience

by Rabbi Aryeh Klapper
Posted on September 15, 2020

Scroll below the video to follow along with the source sheet.  …

Kiddushin: Ownership or Partnership? Part 5: Kinyan and Kiddushin in Competition – Gemara and Rishonim

by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on August 3, 2016

Introduction We have seen how the mohar transformed from money up front and a type of bride-price to money paid at the end of the marriage, becoming our Rabbinic ketuvah.  We have also seen how parallel to that the money given at the beginning of the marriage changed from being a significant sum to a small symbolic amount –a perutah – thus transforming the act from one of kinyan to one of kiddushin.  …

Kiddushin: Ownership or Partnership? Part 4: From Kinyan to Kiddushin in the Talmud

by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on August 3, 2016

Introduction In Section A, we looked at the history of the ketuvah, and saw how it evolved from the Biblical mohar, and how this came with a raising of the wife’s status in the marriage. Here, in Section B, we will see how the shift from mohar to ketuvah was paralleled by a shift from kinyan to kiddushin in the act of the marriage itself.  …

Kiddushin: Ownership or Partnership? Part 3: From Mohar to Ketuvah

by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on July 31, 2016

In the previous lecture we saw how the institution of marriage in the Torah seems to be based on a concept of ownership, and that this is paralleled by the way in which the marriage is effectuate – the giving of a mohar or bride-price from the groom to the father of the bride.  …

Kiddushin: Ownership or Partnership? Part 2: The Act of Marriage – Mohar and other Marriage-Monies

by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on July 31, 2016

Part I – In the Torah Section B – The Act of Marriage – Mohar and other Marriage-Monies   We now turn to look at not the state of marriage, but the act of effectuating marriage.  What act made an unmarried woman into an arusa, a betrothed woman?   …

Kiddushin: Ownership or Partnership? Part 1: Torah Laws

by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on July 31, 2016

Our concept of marriage is one of a mutually entered partnership between husband and wife.  But is this the Torah’s and halakha’s understanding of the institution?  In this lecture, we will look at how the legal/halakhic institution of marriage is conceptualized in the Torah and how that has evolved through Rabbinic times until today.  …