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The Infamous Purim Seudah
Rava said, “A person is obligated to become intoxicated on Purim until they are unable to distinguish between ‘cursed is Haman’ and...
Rabbi Jeff Fox
Mar 12

Chanukah and the Nature of the Oral Torah
The rabbis of the gemara understood that creating the holiday of Chanukah was not a simple choice. Instituting a brakha on lighting...
Rabbi Jeff Fox
Dec 23, 2024


Introduction to Birkot ha-Schachar part 2
In our last essay , we unpacked a debate between Ramban and Rambam about how to understand Birkot ha-Shachar. Are those brakhot like a...
Rabbi Jeff Fox
Dec 4, 2024


Introduction to Birkot ha-Schachar part 1
The adanim were sockets that held together the structure of the mishkan . Without having them in place, the physical building simply...
Rabbi Jeff Fox
Dec 4, 2024

Permanence and Fragility on Sukkot—Does My Sukkah Need a Mezuzah?
The Architecture of the Sukkah Is the physical sukkah meant to be built like a permanent house or a flimsy tent? Is the experience of...
Rabbi Jeff Fox
Oct 15, 2024

Interpersonal Teshuva
Teshuva as a Paradigm for the Interaction of Heart and Mind There is perhaps no area of Jewish Law or Jewish life where we experience the...
Rabbi Jeff Fox
Sep 29, 2024


Introduction to the Halakha v'Agadda Series
In the first quarter of the twentieth century, two great Jewish thinkers wrote essays with the same title, “ Halakha v’Agadda ,” or Law...
Rabbi Jeff Fox
Sep 28, 2024
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