The initial meeting between Moshe and Pharaoh did not go well. The workload placed on the poor…
Chulin 13: Family Traditions
That one must be Jewish to shecht an animal is not necessarily obvious. One might have…
Chulin 10: Watch the Water
When I mention to people that it is likely worse to smoke than to eat pork, I often get strange…
Chulin 9: Practical Rabbinics
There are few, if any, semicha programs that require their students to learn shechita or…
Chulin7: Pass the Pork
One of the questions I am often asked by those of my students who do not keep kosher, is have you…
Chulin 7: The Idolatrous Snake
Over and over again the Torah warns us not to allow avodah zara, idolatry, in the Land of Israel.…
Chulin 7: Time for Something New
"It was for this reason that man was first created as one person [Adam]…to teach that…
Chulin 5: The Stroke of a Pen
In the fall of 1860, Rav Yaakov Ettlinger penned what is likely the most revolutionary responsa of…
Chulin 3: Meet the Shochet
That the role of a modern rabbi in the Western World is far different than that of the rabbi of…
Chanukah: A Special Nation
One of the painful realities of Jewish life is that the Jewish people are often judged by a double…
An Introduction and Overview of Masechet Chulin
Masechet Chulin, a derivative of the word chol, translates as “The Secular Tractate…
VaYeshev: Respectfully Declined
“And Yaakov ripped his garments and put sackcloth on his loins, and he mourned for his son…
Menachot 110: A Sweet Smell
“It is said of the olah sacrifice of cattle, ‘rei’ach nichoach, an offering made…
Menachot 99: Loving Mitzvoth
The Sochochover Rebbe, in the introduction to his classic work on the laws of Shabbat, Eglei…
Menachot 99: Let's Break Some Bread
“And you shall place on the table showbread before Me tamid, at all times” (Shemot…
VaYishlach: Alone at Night
“Therefore, the Jewish people will not eat the gid hanasheh, sciatic nerve, that is…
Menachot 99: The Broken Tablets
“At that time, the Lord said to me, ‘Hew for yourself two stone tablets like the first…