Category: Science and Health

In the days of the mishnah, there were no rabbinic academies or schools. Instead, students who wanted to learn Torah from the rabbis would become the disciples of a particular rabbi. But what happened when their rabbi died before they were ready to stop studying? They had to find another rabbi to take them on.  When […]

A met mitzvah is one who dies with no one to bury them. Yesterday, we began chapter 7 of this tractate with a surprising mishnah about the met mitzvah: A high priest and a nazirite may not become ritually impure for their relatives. However, they become impure for a met mitzvah. As we now know, […]

Carbohydrates have taken a lot of flak in recent years, but they are not all bad and are not necessarily responsible for causing obesity, according to a new study at Rambam Healthcare Campus in Haifa.  Simple carbs like white bread, pasta and rice, corn syrup and all types of sugar – whose beneficial nutrients have […]

There have been a number of studies and theories about why a growing number of haredi (ultra-Orthodox) boys and teens suffer from shortsightedness (myopia), and nearly all of them have to wear corrective eyeglasses from a young age. A new study conducted in the optometry department at Hadassah College Jerusalem has found that not being […]

We’ve already discussed what to do if a nazirite becomes impure during the period of their nazirite vow. But what happens if a nazirite becomes impure halfway through offering the sacrifices that conclude their vow? The mishnah on today’s daf presents two answers:  Rabbi Eliezer says: It negates them all.  And the rabbis say: Let him bring the rest of his offerings […]

How much money would you need to be happy in your daily life? Is too much bad for you? Researchers from Princeton University, led by Israeli-American psychologist and economist and 2002 Nobel Prize laureate Prof. Daniel Kahneman, found one result while a team from the University of Pennsylvania found the opposite. However, the two teams […]

There is a long history of Jews working in the alcohol industry, from running the majority of taverns in Poland in the mid-19th century to founding distilleries and wineries that are still in operation today. You may even be familiar with some of these businesses, such Herzog wineries, Seagram or the Carmel Winery. But what […]

The sight of hassidic adults giving cigarettes on Purim to children in the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) town of El’ad enraged the Israel Cancer Association (ICA). “Giving a child a cigarette on Purim is like handing out samples of poison,” the ICA said in a statement on Wednesday. Giving smokes to boys on Purim was a common […]

Imagine getting treatment for a perfectly healthy young heart that would allow it to recover from an otherwise devastating injury decades later. This seems very farfetched; after all, cardiovascular diseases that are humanity’s No. 1 or No. 2 cause of death (after cancer), aren’t generally regarded as something one can prepare for with preventive treatment. […]

Ridding two toxic by-products of fat that naturally accumulate over time could be the key to halting aging, and shedding a few pounds too, according to a new study.  The study, conducted at the University of Virginia and published last month in the peer-reviewed journal Current Biology, suggests that a longer life can be gained […]