Bo 5779 ‘And Moshe called to all the elders of Yisrael and he said to them ‘draw forth and take for yourselves a sheep for your families, and slaughter the Pesach offering’ (Shemos 12:21) Paragraph The Mitzva of...
Yom Kippur 5780
Rabbi Yossi SprungPaternity Testing and the Adulterous Wife in Halacha
Naso 5779 “If a man’s wife will go astray and commit a treachery against him.” (Bamidbar 5:12) Paragraph In this week’s Parsha, the Torah outlines the laws of the Sotah – the woman whose husband suspects her of being...
Performing Medical Procedures on Parents
Mishpatim 5779 ‘And somebody who strikes his father or mother shall surely die’ (Shemos 21:12) Paragraph In this verse we learn of the grave sin of striking one’s father or mother. The Gemara in Sanhedrin (84b-85a)...
Chatzitza and Contraceptive Devices
Metzorah “And he shall wash his clothes and immerse his body in water, and he will be pure.” (Vayikra 14:9) This verse is the source of the law...
Switching Shabbos Shifts with Non-Observant Colleagues
Matot-Masei 5779 “But if her husband shall annul them on the day of his hearing, anything that came out of her mouth regarding her vows or the prohibition upon herself shall not stand; her husband had annulled them and...
Chillul Shabbos and Experimental Therapy
Korach 5779 “And Moshe said to Aharon, Take the fire-pan and place fire on it from upon the altar and place incense …” (Bamidbar 17:11) In this week’s Parsha, following the death of Korach and his followers, a raging...
Forceps Delivery and Pidyon Haben
Ki Tisa 5779 “Every first issue from the womb is Mine; and all your livestock that produce a male, that which emerges from an ox or a sheep. That which first emerges from a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, and if...
Rabbi Yosef SprungWork-Life Balance and the Torah-Observant Physician
Ki Teitzei 5779 “…and so shall you do for any lost article of your brother that may become lost from him and you find it; you cannot hide yourself.” Devarim 22:3 Practicing medicine, though famously described by Chaza”l...
Does the Prohibition to Disrespect One’s Parents Apply to Psychotherapy?
Ki Tavo 5779 ארור מקלה אביו ואמו ואמר כל העם אמן (דברים כז, טז) “Accursed is one who degrades his father or mother. And the entire people shall say Amen.” (Devarim 27:16) According to Rashi, the word...
May a Kohen Skip to the Head of the Line?
Emor 5779 “You shall sanctify him, for he offers the food of your G-d; he shall be holy to you, for holy am I, Hashem, Who sanctifies you.” (Vayikra 21:8). The Mishna in Horayos (13a) famously rules that a Kohen must be...
