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Archive for Jewish Law

Robotic Scribe

Via the Daily Dish.

The installation ‘bios [bible]‘ consists of an industrial robot, which writes down the bible on rolls of paper. The machine draws the calligraphic lines with high precision. Like a monk in the scriptorium it creates step by step the text.


Starting with the old testament and the books of Moses ‘bios [bible]’ [...]

The Bagel

Recently, a book was written by Maria Balinska with the title, The Bagel: A Cultural History. There is a review of it by Joan Nathan at Slate. (hat tip) She writes,
Polish-born and half-Jewish, Balinska, who works at the BBC in London, tells us that the boiled and baked bagel as we know it [...]

Jewish Law Meets the D.C. Superior Court

There is a tragic article in today’s Washington Post about a young hasidic boy who was stricken with brain cancer. He is currently being kept alive with a ventilator and drugs. The hospital wants to disconnect the ventilator, because in their opinion the boy is already dead, and in the opinion of the [...]

Burial in a Coffin in the Land of Israel

See this article from Ynet about the refusal of a hevra kadisha (burial society) in Israel to allow a family to bury someone in a coffin. (hat tip) For a discussion of the issue, see this responsum (in Hebrew). See here for some scholarly discussion regarding burial practices in antiquity in the Land [...]

Eruv Controversy in Australia

It seems that Australia isn’t immune to controversy over the building of an eruv.
A Jewish group plans to overcome an ancient and restrictive religious commandment by creating a virtual wall around an entire North Shore suburb.

But its push for greater freedom has caused angst among some St Ives residents, who say it will block their [...]

New Issue of Meorot-7:1

Hirhurim has a list of the articles that appear in the new issue of Meorot. I just wanted to comment on one of them. R. Yaakov Love wrote on “Inviting a Gentile on Yom Tov.” For those interested in the question, I recommend his article, and I wanted to add something to [...]

True piety or true ignorance?

From Ynet.
Eleven Israeli backpackers were stranded in a snowstorm in northwestern India during the weekend, and rescued in a complex mission launched by the country’s air force. But two other Israeli backpackers were left behind – refusing to be rescued as it would constitute desecration of Shabbat.
(hat tip)

Praying on an airplane

Hirhurim has some selections from a recent book on the customs of important rabbis regarding praying on an airplane. Guess what…most of them say pray in your seat, and NOT to pray in large groups, which by the way, often congregate near the bathrooms. One of the reasons for praying in your seat [...]

Responsa of R. Nachum Eliezer Rabinovitz

R. Nachum Eliezer Rabinovitz is the rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Birkat Moshe. He is the author of numerous books and articles, including the commentary on the Mishneh Torah, Yad Peshutah. I am no fan of R. Rabinovitz’s politics, but I do find his halakhic writings challenging and informative. I am therefore looking [...]

More on Exchanging Prisoners with Terrorists

There has been much discussion about the recent prisoner exchange with Hezbollah, see a little from me here, this post for a summary of some halakhic opinions, and this one for a discussion from a security standpoint (hat tip). What has been pointed out by some, and all of these discussions are relatively easy [...]