Category: Science and Health

On yesterday’s daf, we learned that one can only dissolve a vow about a particular person in their presence. Today we get a fascinating story that highlights the importance of this teaching.  The story is set in the years just before the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the First Temple in Jerusalem. The Kingdom of Judah […]

“Seeing eye to eye” is an expression of harmony, but do different people literally see the same thing when they view the same external world? “The short answer is no,” according to Dr. Liron Gruber and Prof. Ehud Ahissar of the brain sciences department of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot.  “Even the same […]

Despite reports that the number of COVID-19 cases has grown substantially in China, the Health Ministry in Jerusalem has not yet announced what, if any, measures it will take to prevent an influx of infected people from coming to Israel from that country.  But Prof. Hagai Levine, a leading epidemiologist, public health physician, faculty member […]

2022 brought so many delicious, comforting recipes to The Nosher, from Bukharian plov to Sephardic spinach-and-cheese matzah pie to the perfect tuna salad. These dishes represent multiple Jewish traditions, but they share a common thread: They are simple, satisfying recipes that feed the soul and tell stories of the Jewish people. Here are the top […]

Whenever I had the slightest hint of a sore throat, the remedy in our Ashkenazi Jewish home was gogol mogol (kogel mogel in Polish). Gogol mogol is a Yiddish word for a shtetl recipe that dates back to 17th-century Central Europe. It’s a simple, sweet treat made with egg yolks and sugar that’s similar to […]

When the pediatric optometry specialist and senior doctor at Ziv Medical Center in Safed, Dr. Yuval Cohen, first sent his son to kindergarten, he was troubled by how darkly lit it was. After deciding to research this issue, he found that there is a connection between the intensity of the lighting in kindergartens and the […]

During the holiday season, you may have noticed yourself enjoying more meals and snacks than throughout the year. If the noshes have tasted particularly good, it’s likely because of their high salt levels. Our salt intake throughout the festive season can end up far beyond what’s needed or recommended, which according to new research could […]

A device the size of an American quarter implanted under the skin could drastically alter the course of treatment for Type-1 diabetes, a so-far incurable chronic condition that impacts many millions of people around the world.  In a study just published in the prestigious journal Nature Communications, a research team led by Houston Methodist Medical […]

The ability to see flaws is both innate and easy; the crack or stain presents itself to our eye. The ability to see virtue is less easy, but practicing a vision of merit in others can change us as well. When I read the following testament, my sense is not that the author, almost 1,000 […]

Last year two cases of human chimeras made headlines. The first was singer Taylor Muhl from California who discovered that she has two types of DNA: hers and her non-existent twin sister. That is, in her mother’s case, two separate eggs were fertilized by two different sperm cells yet Taylor absorbed the genetic traits of […]