Category: Science and Health

We’ve by now spent quite some time on the issue of a nazir who accidentally contracts corpse impurity. We’ve discussed shaving the consecrated hair the nazirite was growing — which has now become impure and can no longer be offered — and the week-long purification ritual to reverse the corpse impurity of their body. This is […]

Nuts have long been considered a superfood due to the important nutrients they contain.  Many studies have found that they help with weight loss, heart health, improving fertility, etc. Also, nuts are tasty, easy to eat on the go, and a good source of plant protein, especially for those who eat little or no animal […]

Three years ago this week the World Health Organization held a media briefing. It was March 11, 2020, and at the time, the head of the WHO said that the number of cases of COVID-19 was increasing rapidly around the world. There were 118,000 cases in 114 countries and 4,291 known deaths. “The WHO has […]

The State Budget that is expected to be approved in about six weeks will allow the shortening of the shifts worked by hospital interns and residents starting from the beginning of September. According to Mirsham, the organization of interns (in their first year after medical school) and residents (from the second year), about 1,200 doctors […]

Is a fetus a part of the pregnant person or an independent entity? How we answer this question has important implications — morally, legally and ritually. Most of us are used to hearing this question asked in the context of modern abortion debates. But the rabbis of the Talmud also asked, and answered, this very question in another […]

Defibrillators that can shock a patient’s heart into restarting with an electric shock are finally appearing on walls around the country. But there is such a thing as a biological defibrillator to deal with irregular heartbeat (arrythmia).  Researchers at the Rambam Healthcare Campus and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa have succeeded for the […]

Researchers may have found a new treatment to prevent severe COVID-19 in patients at greater risk. University of Virginia scientists say a drug used to lower blood sugar levels shows potential in fighting severe cases of COVID-19, especially for people with obesity and diabetes, conditions that can increase the severity of post-COVID infection. The researchers […]

More than 677 million COVID-19 cases and 6.8 million deaths have been reported around the world – and incredibly, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 115,500 of those who died between January 2020 to May 2021 worked in the healthcare system – nurses, doctors, technicians and maintenance workers. A team of 23 experts in […]

Given the restrictions on eating hametz (leavened grains) on Passover, many Jews fall back on a meat-and-potatoes diet for the duration of the holiday. Barred from eating the products of five forbidden grains — wheat, spelt, oats, rye and barley — and with additional restrictions on grain-like foods (kitniyot) observed by many Ashkenazi Jews, Passover […]

Soy, oat, almond, and other plant-based beverages can finally be called “milk” according to federal rules in the US.  The US Food and Drug Administration published guidelines that say that plant-based beverages don’t pretend to be milk, and that US consumers aren’t confused by the difference. Therefore, these products can be called milk, even if […]