Author: Meghan Froy

Welcome to Tractate Sotah, in which we will explore a singular ritual by which a man who suspects his wife of adultery can put her to a supernatural test that will prove her guilt or innocence.  According to the Torah, a man who suspects his wife of infidelity, or is even so overcome with jealousy […]

If you have had a loved one who died while in hospice care, you may have received the same little booklets I did with words of encouragement for the journey through grief. As I began to peruse the first one, I was prepared to dismiss it as a collection of irrelevant platitudes. Instead, page after […]

From the villages of Eastern Europe comes an old, classic joke. Shmuel comes in the door with a sad face, telling Esther that the Czar has decreed that every Jew must convert and become Christian. “What shall we do?” cries Esther. “I don’t think we have a choice,” laments Shmuel, “we have to convert.”  The next day Shmuel […]

Albondigas are small meatballs commonly served in a broth flavored with chilis and vegetables. The dish was brought to the Sonoran region by the Spanish and is served at restaurants all over Tucson in different iterations, including chicken, turkey, beef, shrimp and fish.  One year, inspired by Passover, I decided to personalize my version of […]

The final chapter of Tractate Nazir opens on today’s daf with a mishnah that teaches this: Non-Jews do not have nazariteship. The Gemara will inquire about the source of this rule, citing the fact that the chapter of the Book of Numbers outlining the laws of naziriteship opens with the phrase: “Speak to the children […]

Can a person accomplish two goals with one act? That is the question raised on today’s daf by the students of Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai.  A pure nazir and a leper, what is the halakhah? May he shave one shaving and it will count for him for this and for that? Both a nazir at the end of […]

As regular students of Daf Yomi by now well know, sometimes when the rabbis start playing the what-if game, their imaginations lead them to concoct highly improbable scenarios. We saw one such scenario on yesterday’s daf, where the mishnah discussed a case in which a person informs two nazirites that he saw one of them become impure but he doesn’t know […]

Every year in the weeks leading up to Passover, I start to feel a little flutter in my stomach. It makes sense. With seder menus to plan, loads of groceries to buy, a kitchen to scour and turn inside out, and hours of cooking ahead, Passover’s to-do list is simply overwhelming. And this year, I […]

Haroset (AKA charoset or halek/halaq) is a staple Passover spread or paste made with a mixture of fruit, nuts, honey, wine and spices, to symbolize the mortar that was used by Jewish slaves to make bricks in Egypt. While haroset is typically only seen on the Passover seder plate, I’ve used the flavors of my […]