Beit Midrash Family and Society Torah and Daily life

Various Topics

Shvat 20 5772 | Rabbi Ari Shvat (Chwat)
Ein Aya Shabat Chapter A Paragraph 69 (p1) The Time and Place for Studying Jewish History
Rav Kook stresses the multiple importance of studying Jewish history, not as trivia or to correct errors but as G-d's appearance which we should emulate and actively participate.
Ein Aya Various Topics
51 min
5774 | Rabbi Dov Berl Wein
Modernity And Tradition
Various Topics
5772 | Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff
How do we make kosher cheese?
Question 1: Is there a need for kosher cheese to cost such a premium over non- kosher cheese? Question 2: Do the Conservatives have any basis for their "heter" of permitting all cheeses?
Various Topics
Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff
Essentials of Tochachah - admonition
Is there a mitzvah to admonish someone when I know that he will ignore me or if there is a chance he will become my enemy?
Serving Hashem Various Topics
Rabbi Dov Berl Wein
The Torah is for all
It does recognize that there are different personality needs and differing societal mores. But the Torah was always the same Torah for all Jews. What was expressly forbidden in the Torah was forbidden to all and what was permitted was also permitted to all.
Various Topics
5772 | Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff
The True Saga of Charles, the “Kohen”
All his life, even before he was at all observant, Charles had known that he was a kohen. He knew that as a kohen he was entitled to the first aliyah when the Torah is read. When Charles became observant, he began duchening. He then learned about receiving pidyon haben money and began to envision himself wearing kohen’s garb and serving in the Beis HaMikdash. And so, Charles made it his hobby to study the laws that affect kohanim and particularly to know the gifts that they receive. Charles knew about many of the honoraria a kohen receives today, and also began studying about what kohanim will receive when the Beis HaMikdash will be rebuilt. Here are some of the laws he learned
Various Topics
5772 | Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff
Making a Beracha before Separating Challah
Before we begin, it is important to note that the word challah was used above to mean two completely different things – the bread we serve on Shabbos and Yom Tov, and the consecrated portion that we separate from dough. To avoid confusion, whenever I use the term "challah" for the rest of the article, I will use it only to mean the consecrated portion.
Various Topics
5772 | Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff
The Laws of Tumas Meis
When the Beis Hamikdash is rebuilt, bimheirah beyameinu, the laws of tumah will affect us all, since we will be required to be tahor in order to enter the Beis Hamikdash, to eat korbanos and maaser sheini, and in order to separate challah and terumah.
Various Topics
5772 | Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff
The Great Cottage Cheese Controversy
My friend Yaakov* often travels in places where there are no kosher products available, and he has amassed a list of items that he can eat and drink wherever he finds himself. He told me that someone once told him that when traveling he may eat cottage cheese without any hechsher. What is the rationale for this psak?
Various Topics Kashrut
5772 | Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff
How Do We Make Kosher Wine?
The laws of Kosher wine, Yayin Nesech, Stam Yeynam and wine made or touched by a non Jew.
Kashrut Various Topics
5772 | Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff
Chalav Yisrael and Powdered Milk
"Friends of ours keep chalav Yisrael, but they will use foods made with non-chalav Yisrael powdered milk. But I know from my professional research that one can purchase powdered mare's (female horses) and camel's milk – they are specialty products that command a very high premium. So why is there any difference between using non-chalav Yisrael powdered milk, and non-chalav Yisrael fluid milk?"
Various Topics
5772 | Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff
To Buy or not to Buy?
"My husband and I would like to buy life insurance, but we’re concerned that it might show a lack of bitachon that Hashem always does what is best for us. Is that correct?"
Various Topics
5772 | Rabbi Eliezer Melamed
Treatment of animals
What is the moral justification to slaughter animals and eat their flesh? Should we educate for vegetarianism? Why is there a Mitzvah to eat meat on Shabbat? Rabbi Eliezer Melamed teaches us the Jewish perspective on correct animal treatment.
Various Topics
5772 | Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff
Mezuzah Mysteries – or Is this really a doorway?
In modern residences, many rooms are not entered via doors, but through entranceways. Do these entrances require a mezuzah? In order to answer, we need to explain when a doorway requires a mezuzah.
Various Topics
5771 | Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff
Finding a Compatible Place for an Extended Family Outing
Finding a Compatible Place for an Extended Family Outing
Various Topics
5770 | Rabbi Chanan Morrison
Noah The Age of the Universe
Various Topics
5770 | Rabbi Dov Berl Wein
Hot Weather
Various Topics
5769 | Rabbi Dov Berl Wein
Biblical Times
Various Topics
Elul 5768 | Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff
Would You Like One Day or Two?
Asking the same Halachik question to two different Rabbis, How long does the first rabbis ruling remain binding? Rabbis making mistakes.
Shoftim Various Topics
Tammuz 5768 | Rabbi Zalman Baruch Melamed
Religious Zionism
Religious Zionism is not dissolving. To the contrary, it is growing and branching out, like a tree that grows and spreads its branches in all directions. This is not division but growth, for all of the branches are attached to the same stem and roots.
Various Topics