For a seven-day period you will celebrate before Hashem, your G-d… for Hashem, your G-d, will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, and you will have nothing but joy. (Deut. 6:15)Are the words “you will have nothing but joy” a mitzvah? Rashi says no, rather they are a promise […]

You are children of the Almighty, your G-d. You shall neither cut yourselves nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead. For you are a holy people to the Almighty, your G-d …(14:1, 2) There is a Torah prohibition to against cutting oneself or tearing out one’s hair when grieving over the loss […]

Leading The Jewish high court has a rule when judging a defendant for a capital crime: the judges always look for some reason why the defendant shouldn’t get the death penalty. Perhaps he wasn’t aware of the severity of his crime, maybe it was inadvertent or a host of other reasons. When vote is taken, […]

The Torah states that because Jews are children of G-d (Deuteronomy 14, 1), we are forbidden to excessively mourn the loss of a parent by doing such things as cutting one’s self or tearing out the hair on one’s head and making a bald spot. The commentary of Chizkuni (13th century) explains that when a […]