Today I had the privilege of interviewing Rav Ronen Neuwirth about his fascinating new book ‘The Narrow Halakhic Bridge: A vision of Jewish Law in the Post-Modern Age’ (which also exists in hebrew as גשר ההלכה: פסיקת הלכה בדור פוסטמודרני). In ‘The Narrow Halakhic Bridge’, Rav Ronen provides an easy-to-read yet nuanced presentation about the…
DetailsToday’s daf (Shabbat 128b) contains a ruling with respect to the laws of childbirth on Shabbat which provides us with profound insight and considerable halachic precedent with respect to the permissibility of ‘breaking’ Shabbat for emotional, psychological and mental health reasons.Having stated in the Mishna (Shabbat 18:3, 128b) that a midwife may travel in order…
DetailsToday’s daf (Shabbat 127b) contains three stories relating to the virtue of הדן את חבירו לכף זכות – judging your friend favourably, and while each are fascinating, I would like to focus on the first story.We are told of man from the upper Galilee who travelled to the south of Israel to work for, and…
DetailsThe Mishna in today’s daf (Shabbat 18:1, Shabbat 126b) informs us that the moving of boxes of straw or grain, which is both a highly strenuous activity and is also considered a weekday activity, is permitted on Shabbat for the purpose of making room for guests or for creating more space for more people to…
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