Author: Meghan Froy

I have an ongoing debate with some friends: If someone brings a box of flavored donuts into work and you want to try them all but you don’t want to eat seven whole donuts, it seems reasonable to start dividing the donuts and serving yourself fractional portions. But what’s the smallest fraction you can take […]

The fifth chapter of Nedarim begins on page 45b with the following mishnah: Partners who vowed not to derive benefit from one another are prohibited from entering a courtyard (that they jointly own). Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya’akov says: It is permitted, as this one enters into his own portion and that one enters into his […]

Today’s daf continues the Talmud’s discussion of how declaring things ownerless works. We learned yesterday that the rabbis thought one could declare something ownerless and have it legally become ownerless, while Rabbi Yosei insisted that something cannot actually be ownerless. In his view, objects remain legally in the possession of their original owner until claimed […]

One of the first courses I took in graduate school was called “Theory and Methods in the Study of Religion.” A course common across religious studies programs, the version I took had us reading a lot of 19th and early 20th century texts which have become “classics” in the field. One of those texts was […]

More than one biblical story pivots on the occurrence of a significant dream, or a vision of the night. The Talmud takes dreams seriously, although it understands their limitations: “even a dream that will be fulfilled contains some nonsense.” (Berakhot 55a) Maimonides writes that the Patriarchs experience prophesy only in dreams. This statement leads to an objection […]

The Bible offers many details about how Jewish holidays are to be celebrated and, in some cases, explanations for how they came about (the Exodus giving us Passover, the victory of Mordechai and Esther giving us Purim). But there’s one holiday missing entirely from the Hebrew scriptures: The story of Hanukkah is found nowhere in […]

My childhood classrooms were crammed with motivational posters, including a seemingly-ubiquitous image of an oversized lightbulb emblazoned with the words “Knowledge Is Power!” (Electric power specifically, I suppose.) Indeed, many parents and teachers are persuaded that a proper education will propel their children to a life of happiness and material comfort. It’s easy to slip […]

It’s a common practice for hospitals to designate specific times during which visitors are allowed to visit patients under their care. Today we learn that this idea did not originate in the modern era: Rav Sheisha, son of Rav Idi, said: Let one not visit a sick person, neither during the first three hours (of […]

The Bukharian Jewish community, while little known by the world’s broader Jewish population, is certainly no stranger to the kitchen. With historical exposure to multifarious global influences, from Central Asia to Eastern Europe to everything picked up along the Silk Road, Bukharian cuisine reflects profound cultural fusion while maintaining its own unique flare. Here are […]

When I admit I don’t pray and rarely attend synagogue services, I’m often met with wide-eyed surprise. After all, I’m a rabbi; I should be going to shul. Jews I know who don’t go to shul often excuse themselves by saying they don’t know Hebrew and can’t follow the service, or that they’re not made […]