Jews never believed in the eternity of the universe. The Fourth principle of our faith asserts that only God is eternal. The 13 Principles...

The real test of integrity takes place when someone is faced between keeping his word and suffering a financial loss. King David expressed this...

Other than for medical reasons (see for example, here) abortion is forbidden by Jewish Law.  However, Jewish Law does not considered abortion as murder,...

  Rabbi Isaac Cantarini was born in Padua, Italy, in 1644. He was a rabbi, poet, writer and physician.  He studied Talmud with Rabbi Salomon...

  As we discussed last week (see here) since God is not a body, nothing associated with the physical realm can apply to Him. Sleep,...

In our community it is customary to name the newborn with an Hebrew name and an English name.  Sometimes these two names are related,...

In the matter of Shidukhim --finding the future spouse-- the Shulchan Arukh (eben ha'ezer 2:2) writes that one should be mindful of certain red...

"And you shall bind them for a sign upon your hand and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes". We are commanded to...

  The name-giving of the daughter --known in Sephardic communities as Zebed haBat and in some Ashkenazi communities as Shabua haBat-- takes place usually during...

  Previously, we explained that God does not have a body or any resemblance to humans (see here). So different is God from us that we...

The Rabbis of the Talmud (=chazal) have given a few practical advices on Shidukhim, i.e., looking for the right spouse. The decision should be...

Today is a fast day. We remember the siege of the hoy City, Yerushalaim, in the year 586 BCE, at the time of our...

  Yesterday we mentioned two of the three events that are remembered in 'asara betebet (see here). It is important to clarify that the main reason...

  This coming Thursday, January 5th 2012, corresponds to the 10th. of Tebet, a fast day, which commemorates three tragedies that happened to the Jewish...

We have written in previous HOTD about the various views of modern orthodox rabbis regarding the celebration of different American holidays (see here). All...

(1)And you shall teach (these words) to your children, and you shall speak of them (2) when you are sitting in your house and...

  Lashon haRa, i.e, telling something negative about somebody else, is one of the most serious prohibitions in our Tora and its effects could be...

The case of abortion primarily discussed by the Talmud refers to what we call today "therapeutic abortion", i.e., when the life of the pregnant...

In previous weeks we've learned from Verse One the principles of Jewish faith (see here) and from Verse Two our duty to love our God...

  Rabbi Isaac Lampronti was born in Ferrara, Italy.  He studied Torah under the great Italian rabbis of his generation: Manoach Provençal and Isaac Chayim...