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So why does the Talmud see lettuce as the preferred choice for Maror? While it is true that wild lettuce (also known as "opium lettuce", as it contains a mild narcotic) is extremely bitter, it is listed as the least preferable of the five species...
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The Maror (bitter herb) was an adjunct to the Passover sacrifice, rather than a mitzvah in and of itself. By rabbinic enactment, it was instituted to be eaten at the Passover Seder, in memory of the bitterness of slavery, as well as to inculcate...
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The measurements used in the Torah (cubit, span, hin, and others) are only known approximately. Those used in the Talmud would seem to be more straightforward; the bulk of an olive (k'zayit), the bulk of an egg (k'beitzah), the hand breadth...
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An item in today's Israeli news leaves me with very mixed feelings.As I have discussed in previous writings, perhaps the most troubling situation in Jewish law is the "'agunah", the "chained" woman, whose husband either is unwilling, or unable, to...
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When I was a child, my parents warned me not to tell my non Jewish friends that there is no Santa Claus. I never did, but somehow, they eventually did find out. Some confided in me that although they were disappointed, what really hurt was that...
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As has been written many times, this group is for the discussion of Orthodox Judaism, without reference to non-Orthodox streams. However, in recent days, many members have posted opinions (hurtful to many, including yours truly) critical of...
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One of the areas in which the Reform movement differs from the others is in the question of independence of rabbis and congregations. In both Orthodox and Conservative, Although there is some leeway of both action and doctrine, there are still red...
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America in the nineteenth century was, Jewishly a waste land. There had been a small Jewish community since the seventeenth century, mostly Spanish and Portuguese Jews, who had fled to Brazil, with some eventually coming to North America. They...
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At the end of my last post, I alluded to the fact that an element of German Jewish tradition took on a new meaning in the Conservative movement which put, over time, a considerable distance between it and Orthodoxy.The method of studying,...
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Throughout most of the twentieth century, most Conservative rabbis were, for all intents and purposes, Orthodox. The decisions issued by the Committee on Law and Standards were mostly in accordance with Halachah (Jewish Law), and those that...
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