Category: Science and Health

Have you ever stood in synagogue on Yom Kippur and wondered if all the rituals and prayers actually worked to atone for your sins? Or if they actually worked to atone for the sins of some of your fellow congregants? Does all of this awe and fasting, pomp and circumstance, really do anything?  Lest you thought these were strictly modern questions, today’s daf […]

Humans infected with the coronavirus need to be careful not to infect their pets, though it seems dogs are less likely than cats to catch it, according to new scientific studies.In two preliminary studies that will presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) in July, it was found that COVID-19 […]

On Yoma 82, we established that the preservation of human life takes precedence over almost all other mitzvot. Today’s daf continues with that theme, presenting several cases of actions that would be forbidden on Shabbat but are acceptable, and even encouraged, if performed to save a life.  For example, the Talmud tells us that one may cast a net to rescue […]

Fasting is a core element of the Yom Kippur experience. While challenging at times, fasting contributes to the seriousness of the day and allows us to focus on our spiritual, rather than our physical, needs. But as we saw yesterday on Yoma 82, there are circumstances where it’s not only permitted but obligatory to eat — particularly […]

Today, there is perhaps no Yom Kippur ritual more iconic than the fast. According to recent polls, 40% of American Jews and 60% of Israeli Jews (the majority of whom identify as secular) still mark this day by fasting. And yet, as we have noted recently, the Torah never explicitly says that you aren’t supposed to eat […]

On today’s daf, the Talmud is trying to work out what minimum amount of food one has to eat to be found guilty of breaking the Yom Kippur fast. Best, of course, is not to eat or drink anything. But if you accidentally put something into your mouth, are you liable? It depends on how much […]

New COVID-19 mutations have been identified, which could lead to the spread of more dangerous variants, according to a new study in the academic journal Genetic Epidemiology.  The study includes an analysis of 7,548 genomes of COVID-19 patients around the world. A total of 29,891 locations in the viral genome were assessed for correlations between variants […]

When it comes to quantities of food, the rabbis did not use cups and ounces like we do today. Instead, they used common food items to describe the amounts they were talking about. This is all well and good as long as everyone has a similar understanding about the size of common produce and the […]

A new study from JAMA Intern Med analyzed the correlation between household birthdays and COVID-19 infections in the US.  While the study originally argued that birthdays would not lead to an increase in COVID-19 cases due to their random distribution, the results clearly proved otherwise.Authors Christopher M. Whaley, Jonathan Cantor and Megan Pera revealed that those […]

On Yoma 74, we noted that when the Torah says one should afflict oneself on Yom Kippur, the rabbis primarily understand that to mean fasting. But there is another custom of self-affliction: not wearing leather. Since those who practice this custom usually have to eschew their regular dress shoes, they wind up in some interesting […]