Tag: halakhah

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, ...

Rabbi Steven Kane March 26, 2025 CJLS Halakhah

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?

Joshua Klein February 4, 2025 CJLS Halakhah

If Jews Like It, They Put a Ring On It: On When Jews Get Engaged

Getting engaged, like other lifecycle events in Judaism, offers us a chance to opt-in to this wonderful and rewarding project we call Judaism

Rabbi Malka Michel October 30, 2024 Divorce Engagement

Considerations for Yom Kippur During or Immediately Following a Hurricane

What to do on Yom Kippur during/after a hurricane. In all matters of Jewish law, the preservation of human life is of primary concern. Period.

Rabbinical Assembly, Exploring Judaism October 9, 2024 Holidays Yom Kippur

Redemption Of Captives And Freeing Hostages: An Ethical Imperative

While Jewish law contains many opinions, the moral imperative is clear: every effort should be made to negotiate the release of hostages without delay.

Moti Kaplan, Rabbi Miriam C. Berkowitz September 22, 2024 High Holidays Holidays

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.

Rabbi Aaron Alexander July 31, 2024 Fasting on Tisha B'av Halakhah

On Changes in Judaism (1845)

Rabbi Zecharias Frankel in 1845 explores the nature of Judaism as it faces progress and highlights the nature of change in Judaism.

Rabbi Zecharias Frankel z''l July 17, 2024 Conservative Judaism Core Conservative Judaism Ideas

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?"

Jessica Chod July 5, 2024 Child Birth CJLS

Democracy in Post-Biblical Judaism (1948)

Rabbi Greenberg writes, many ideas matured in rabbinic thought, particularly "group of ethical values usually associated with the concept of Democracy."

Rabbi Simon Greenberg z''l July 2, 2024 CJ Journal - 1945-1959 Conservative Judaism

The Biblical Basis of Democracy (1948)

Rabbi Gordis writes, "the main current of Biblical thought and Jewish tradition is fundamentally democratic..."

Rabbi Robert Gordis z''l July 2, 2024 CJ Journal - 1945-1959 Conservative Judaism

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?

Exploring Judaism April 4, 2024 Blessings CJLS

Pesah and Continued Kashrut Slavery: A Conceptual Reflection

A conceptual reflection of Pesah and Kashrut can bring more meaning to how we follow the halakhah of food on Pesah.

Rabbi Aaron Alexander March 12, 2024 Holidays Passover

Women and Headcovering

In a written teshuvah, Rabbi Jane Kanarek explains the answer to the question, "Should women and girls wear a headcovering?"

Reena Bromberg Gaber January 3, 2024 CJLS Halakhah

What does Judaism say about Abortion?

An overview of what Judaism says about abortion based on the decisions and analysis of the Rabbinical Assembly.

Rabbi Susan Grossman, Rabbi Avram Israel Reisner December 10, 2023 CJLS Halakhah

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.

Reena Bromberg Gaber September 28, 2023 CJLS Halakhah

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.

Rabbi Avram Israel Reisner 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."

Rabbi Max Leon Forman z"l June 29, 2023 CJ Journal - 1945-1959 Conservative Judaism

Conservative Judaism as a Unifying Force (1949)

Rabbi Max Arzt z"l wrote, "Its realistic and reverential attitude to tradition is animated by a profound concern for Jewish unity..."

Rabbi Max Arzt z"l June 28, 2023 CJ Journal - 1945-1959 Conservative Judaism

A Jewish Lens on Investing and Gambling

What special ethical concerns arise as the distinction between company owners and customers is blurred by equity investment?

Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal, The Observant Life (Book) May 25, 2023 Business Ethics Commerce

Three Types of Prohibited Speech According to Jewish Law

It is largely agreed upon that the types of speech encompassed by the biblical prohibition fall into three categories of increasing severity.

The Observant Life (Book) May 19, 2023 Every Day Human interactions

Creating a Sacred Physical Space

Halakhah demands that we invoke God’s name in prayer only in settings that are worthy of the sacred enterprise of prayer.

Rabbi Dr. Karen Reiss Medwed, The Observant Life (Book) May 16, 2023 Every Day Prayer

Planning my Queer Halakhic Jewish Wedding

Making the choices for our queer wedding ceremony including the ceremony, ketubah, sheva berachot, circling, and breaking the glass.

Rabbi Becca Walker May 15, 2023 LGBTQ+ Lifecycles

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.

Rabbi Deborah Megdal May 8, 2023 CJLS Divorce

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?

Exploring Judaism March 19, 2023 CJLS Halakhah

Fixing Common Errors in a Kosher Kitchen

Mistakes will happen in a kosher kitchen. While some are easily corrected, others require a bit more effort. Here's what you do.

Rabbi Paul S. Drazen z"l, The Observant Life (Book) February 8, 2023 Every Day Guidelines for a Kosher Kitchen

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 ...

Rabbi David Golinkin, The Schechter Institutes February 5, 2023 Halakhah Learning

Tefillin: A Reminder of What is Holy

Rabbi Julie Schwarzwald on wearing Tefillin: As I go about my work and my mundane routine, I am regularly reminded of what is holy.

Rabbi Julie Schwarzwald January 25, 2023 Accessories for Prayer Every Day

Rituals of Sukkot

Sukkot, one of the shalosh r’galim, the three pilgrimage festivals is celebrated five days after Yom Kippur.

Rabbi Alan Lucas, The Observant Life (Book) October 14, 2022 High Holidays Holidays

Erev Yom Kippur and the Customs Preceding It

Preparations on Erev Yom Kippur are intrinsic to the awe-inspiring observance of the day: a special meal, candle lighting, and charity.

Rabbi Alan Lucas, The Observant Life (Book) October 3, 2022 High Holidays Holidays

The Shofar on Rosh Hashanah

Sounding of the shofar is a characteristic mitzvah of Rosh Hashanah. The holiday is alternatively called the Day of Sounding the Shofar.

The Observant Life (Book), Rabbi Alan Lucas September 16, 2022 High Holidays Holidays

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?

Exploring Judaism March 31, 2022 CJLS Halakhah

What is an Eiruv Tavshilin?

One is only permitted to cook on festivals to make food for the holiday itself, not for other days. There is an exception: eiruv tavshilin.

Rabbi Alan Lucas, The Observant Life (Book) March 22, 2022 Holidays Passover