Rabbi Yosef Sprung
Bo 5780 For a seven-day period you shall eat Matzos, but on the previous day you shall nullify the leaven from your homes; for anyone who eats leavened food – that soul shall be cut off from Israel, from the first day...
Smartphones, Smartwatches, and Shabbat
Beshalach 5780 “See that Hashem has given you the Shabbos; that is why He gives you on the sixth day a two-day portion of bread. Let every man remain in his place; let no man leave his place on the seventh day.” (Shemos...
Wheelchairs on the Bima
Yisro 5780 “And Moshe brought the people forth from the camp towards Hashem, and they stood at the bottom of the mountain”. (Shemos 19:17) Matan Torah was an extraordinary event of Divine revelation, an otherworldly...
The Cheresh That Learned to Speak – Is He Still a Shoteh?
Mishpatim 5780 “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot.” (Shemos 21:24) Chaza”l famously explain that this Pasuk refers to monetary compensation for physical injury. The Gemara in...
Halachic Measurements and Technology: Man vs. Machine
Trumah 5780 “Exactly as I show you – the form of the Mishkan and the form of all its vessels – so shall you do.” (Shemos 25:9) The Gemara in Bechoros (17b) discusses whether a human being is capable of acting with...
Women in Scrubs – Room for Slack?
Tetzaveh-Zachor 5780 “You shall make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness; they shall extend from the hips to the thighs. They shall be worn by Aharon and his sons when they enter the Tent of Meeting or when...
Shinui and Shabbat: Knuckles, Thimbles, and Left Hands
Vayakel – Pekudei 5780 On six days work may be done, but the seventh day shall be holy for you, a day of complete rest for Hashem; whoever does work on it shall be put to death. (Shemos 35:2) One of the...
Sleep, Anesthesia, and Mitzvos
Vayikra 5780 If one’s offering is a burnt offering from the cattle, he shall offer an unblemished male; he shall bring it to the entrance of the Ohel Moed voluntarily before Hashem. (Vayikra 1:3) The Gemara (Arachin...
Birchas haGomel & COVID-19
Tzav 5780 “If he shall offer it for thanksgiving, he shall offer with the thanksgiving offering unleavened loaves mixed with oil, unleavened wafer smeared with oil, and loaves of scalded fine flour mixed with oil.”...
Do Ma’achalos Asuros Cause Diseases?
Shmini 5780 To distinguish between the contaminated and the pure, and between the creature that may be eaten and the creature that may not be eaten. (Vayikra 11:47) Following the spread of the novel coronavirus in...
Self-Endangerment and Participation in Coronavirus Vaccine Trials
Tazria – Metzorah 5780 Pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions around the world are rushing to develop a vaccine for COVID-19. As in previous vaccine trials, the development of the vaccine is taking...
Measuring a Hospital Visitor’s Temperature on Shabbos
Acharei Mot – Kedoshim 5780 And you shall not place a stumbling block before the blind. (Vayikra 19:14) This Pasuk defines the prohibition of Lifnei Iveir – causing another Jew to stumble in any manner...
Showering on Shabbat after Working with Infectious Patients
Emor 5780 For six days labor may be done, and the seventh day is a day of complete rest, a holy convocation, you shall not do any work; it is a Sabbath for Hashem in all your dwelling places. (Vayikra 23:3) One of the...
The ECMO Lottery: Allocation of Limited Resources in Halacha
Behar – Bechukotai 5780 And your brother shall live with you. (Vayikra 25:36) The allocation of limited resources is a famously difficult quandary in medical ethics and Halacha. The Poskim grapple with...
Miscarriages, Ultrasound, and Pidyon haBen
Bamidbar 5780 “And Hashem spoke to Moshe saying, “Behold! I have taken the Levi’im from among the Children of Israel, in place of every firstborn, the first issue of every womb among the Children of Israel, and the...
Refua and Halacha: You Can’t Have One Without the Other
Shavuos – Naso 5780 R’ Yishmael (his) son [of R’ Yochanan ben Broka said: One who studies Torah in order to teach is given the opportunity to study and to teach; and one who studies in order to practice is given...
ברוך דיין האמת – הרב אליהו בקשי דורון זצ”ל
יחד עם כל בית ישראל קיבלנו את הבשורה המרה על הסתלקותו של הראשון לציון, מרן הגאון הרב אליהו בקשי דורון זצ”ל בזכרוננו עוד טרי הרושם העמוק מאירוע פתיחת בית המדרש להלכה ורפואה, לפני יותר משנה, כאשר בין גדולי...
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