Category: Halakhah

Halakhic Zmanim (Jewish Times) Explained

Zmanim, halakhic times, divide the Jewish day. They determine and inform when we can perform Jewish activities. On Friday evenings, there is a time to ...
January 18, 2026 Afternoon Prayers (Mincha) Daily Living

Are We Allowed to Wear Weapons on Shabbat?

In asking the question "Are we allowed to wear weapons on Shabbat?", we can explore a rabbinic controversy between fashion and ferocity.
November 6, 2025 Halakhah Holidays
Teshuvah Summary: Medical and Recreational Cannabis Usage

Teshuvah Summary: Medical and Recreational Cannabis Usage

What is the halakhic and Jewish ethical status of consuming, possessing, and selling cannabis for both medical and recreational purposes?
July 18, 2025 CJLS Halakhah
What Medicines May One Take During Pesah?

What Medicines May One Take During Pesah?

If medicine is not food, why should there be any restrictions on taking it during Pesah? The question arises because although medicine is not food, ...
March 26, 2025 CJLS Halakhah
What’s the deal with electricity on Shabbat?

What’s the deal with electricity on Shabbat?

Why is electricity such a complicated issue when it comes to Shabbat? What are the considerations? How can I learn more about it?
February 4, 2025 CJLS Halakhah
How to Get the Get (A Jewish Divorce) and Why It Matters

How to Get the Get (A Jewish Divorce) and Why It Matters

The Get or “decree of divorce,” plays a fundamental role in the Jewish life cycle of a couple whose marriage has come to an end ...
November 3, 2024 Divorce Halakhah
כיצד ראוי לחגוג את שמחת תורה בשנת תשפ״ה?

?כיצד ראוי לחגוג את שמחת תורה בשנת תשפ״ה

חווינו אחד מן האסונות הגדולים ביותר בתולדות המדינה, ומאז, כיצד ראוי לחגוג את שמחת תורה בשנת תשפ״ה?
September 20, 2024 Halakhah High Holidays
How to Appropriately Celebrate Simchat Torah in 5785

How to Appropriately Celebrate Simchat Torah in 5785

With the ongoing tragedy of October 7th and the ongoing hostage situation and war, how do we appropriately celebrate Simchat Torah in 5785?
September 20, 2024 Halakhah High Holidays
Medieval Musings on the Emotional Content of a Fast

Medieval Musings on the Emotional Content of a Fast

Can we do work and labor on Tisha B'av? What role do our emotions play in that? The Medieval posek Terumat HaDeshen has an answer.
July 31, 2024 Fasting on Tisha B'av Halakhah
Are Non-Kosher Animals Permitted for Organ Transplants?

Are Non-Kosher Animals Permitted for Organ Transplants?

Are non-kosher animals permitted for organ transplants? Rabbi Shai Cherry explains the recent teshuvah from the CJLS.
July 10, 2024 Animals CJLS
The Jewish Status of a Child Born Using a Gestational Carrier

The Jewish Status of a Child Born Using a Gestational Carrier

In a recent teshuvah, the CJLS answers the question, "what is the Jewish status of a child born using a gestational carrier?"
July 5, 2024 Child Birth CJLS
What blessing do I recite over an eclipse?

What blessing do I recite over an eclipse?

A solar eclipse is certainly a unique natural event that causes us to ponder our place in the universe. What blessing do I recite?
April 4, 2024 Blessings CJLS
The Mitzvah of Environmental Sustainability

The Mitzvah of Environmental Sustainability

What does Judaism say about environmental sustainability? Yishuv Ha'olam is the mitzvah to build and maintain a sustainable world.
January 3, 2024 CJLS Climate and Environment
Women and Headcovering

Women and Headcovering

In a written teshuvah, Rabbi Jane Kanarek explains the answer to the question, "Should women and girls wear a headcovering?"
January 3, 2024 CJLS Halakhah
Tallit on the Bimah: Optional or Required?

Tallit on the Bimah: Optional or Required?

This CJLS teshuva explores where and when a tallit should be worn on the bimah. This also addresses women wearing tallitot.
January 3, 2024 Accessories for Prayer CJLS
What does Judaism say about abortion

What does Judaism say about Abortion?

An overview of what Judaism says about abortion based on the decisions and analysis of the Rabbinical Assembly.
, December 10, 2023 CJLS Halakhah
Non-Fasting Sh"tz on Yom Kippur

Non-Fasting Sh”tz on Yom Kippur

When should we use a non-fasting sh"tz on Yom Kippur? This CJLS teshuvah, originally written by Rabbi Gail Labovitz, explains.
September 28, 2023 CJLS Halakhah
Halakha and the Assessment of Risk

Halakha and the Assessment of Risk

Halakha can be used for the assessment of risk; this can be relevant for pikuach nefesh (saving a life) or kashrut.
September 7, 2023 Ethics Every Day

Distinctive Emphasis in Conservative Judaism: Vis-a-Vis the Halakha (1952)

Rabbi Max L. Forman z"' wrote: "the formulation of a dynamic approach to Jewish law; not to a corpus or platform, but to a methodology."
June 29, 2023 CJ Journal - 1945-1959 Conservative Judaism

Jewish Obligations of Parents to Children

When speaking about family, there is a wide variety of opinions and also a variety of obligations of parents, situations and relationships.
, May 30, 2023 Family Halakhah
A New Egalitarian Divorce

A New Egalitarian Divorce

Rabbi Barmash's new teshuvah empowers women and infuses the rites of marriage and divorce with more equality and dignity for both partners.
May 8, 2023 CJLS Divorce

When Using Tribal Distinctions, How Might Women Be Called Up for Aliyot?

While writing a teshuvah on changing our language for aliyot to kohenet from bat kohen, Rabbi David J Fine, PhD, reflects on egalitarianism.
April 30, 2023 Blessings CJLS
Mujaddara on Passover

Mujaddara on Passover

How my family created and passed down cultural traditions, and how the Conservative Teshuvah on Kitniyot impacts our life outside the academy.
March 19, 2023 Food Halakhah
When Can a Passover Seder Start Early?

When Can a Passover Seder Start Early? Other Festivals?

When is the earliest time that we can begin observing Jewish festivals, on first or second day of Yom Tov, in particular, the Passover seder?
March 19, 2023 CJLS Halakhah

What Does Jewish Law Say About Autopsies and Organ Donation?

The halakhah does not generally permit autopsies, due to honoring the dead. However, there are two important exceptions to that rule.
, February 28, 2023 Confronting Death Death and Dying
Is Alcohol the best way to celebrate Purim?

Is Alcohol the best way to celebrate Purim?

According to a well-known custom, drinking – and drinking to excess – on Purim is required for Jews celebrating the holiday. What is the origin ...
, February 5, 2023 Halakhah Learning
How to call Non-Binary Jews to the Torah

How to call Non-Binary Jews to the Torah

Being called to Torah is a moment of sacred encounter. Here's how to call Non-Binary Jews to the Torah based on the CJLS Teshuvah in ...
August 1, 2022 CJLS Halakhah
Blurry image of rice with the words What are Kitniyot and when can I eat it?

What are Kitniyot and when can I eat it?

In the early medieval period, it became customary for Ashkenazi Jews to not eat a category of foods called kitniyot. What are they?
March 31, 2022 CJLS Halakhah