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Can a Woman Give a Psak Halacha?
One of the remarkable traits of halacha is how it is applied to every aspect of our lives, on the personal, communal and global levels. Due to the dynamic nature of life and development, we will often be faced with halachic questions (sheilot) and sometimes will need to seek guidance and rulings from a competent
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Vayishlach: What Makes Rachel the Quintessential Jewish Mother?
“Mama Rachel cry for us again, won’t you shed a tear for your dear children, if you raise your sweet voice now as then, the day will come…” Rachel Imeinu, of all the four Imahot, has become known to us as ‘Mama Rachel,’ the mother of all of Klal Yisrael. Rachel – the woman who
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Helena: Queen, Convert and Pioneer
We’ve all been there. We’ve all dreamed of pink sashaying gowns, dazzling tiaras, and glistening jewelry. We’ve all closed our eyes at one point in our lives and imagined hordes of servants at our beck and call. Of lavish banquets and imposing stairwells. Thrones and treasure rooms and fragrant flower gardens with glistening fountains. Maybe
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Leah: The True Value of Gratitude
Every Jewish schoolchild knows that the very first word out of our mouths each morning is “Modeh ani.” Rav Shimshon Pincus z”l once opened a class on tefillah with the question: Why is it that we say “Modeh ani” (Grateful am I) and not “Ani modeh” (I am grateful)? And he answered: Because first, we
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Vayeitzei: Why Is Rachel’s Silence Praised?
In Parshat Vayetzei, we are about to witness the marriage of Yaakov, the ish tam to his bashert Rachel, the righteous younger daughter of Lavan. We see up close Lavan’s manipulative behavior and trickery, Yaakov and Rachel’s attempt to thwart it and ultimately, Rachel’s eternal sacrifice for her sister as she gives up being the
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What Is the Purpose of the Oral Torah?
If one asked how many torot there are you would expect the answer to be one. However, we are taught by Chazal that Moshe Rabbeinu received both the written and the oral law, torah she’bichtav and torah she’be’al peh respectively, at Har Sinai beginning in Parashat Yitro. Often when we say “torah” our immediate thought
