Dear Jew in the City, Why is it a mitzvah not to free a slave? That seems pretty messed up. – Moshe Dear Moshe, Thanks for your question. Before I answer, let me contextualize things for readers.  We previously discussed a question about slavery, specifically how American Jews might or might not have participated in […]

Dear Jew in the City, Why didn’t King David deal more harshly with his son who raped his daughter? Why didn’t Yaakov react more strongly to Dinah being raped? – Jason Dear Jason- Thanks for your question, Jason. I understand where you’re coming from, but I think you’re making a lot of assumptions about what […]

Dear Jew in the City, Hamas embeds terrorists with children and hospitals. It is such a cynical approach to take with their own citizens. When Israel sends in troops to carefully excise the terrorists, the danger for Israelis is higher. When Israel bombs the area from a safe distance, the collateral damage on Arab civilians […]

Dear Jew in the City- Are all Jews meant to be in Israel right now, or in general before Moshiach comes? And if we are, is that said to make his arrival come faster? – Eden Dear Eden, Thanks for your question. For an answer, I’m going to give a qualified “no.”  The concept you’re […]

Dear Jew in the City, Some Orthodox communities live very separately from the rest of the world. Is this based on any laws? Thanks, Abbey Dear Abbey, Thanks for your question. I like the way you asked if doing so is “based on any laws.” To that I would say yes – it’s “based on” […]

Dear Jew in the City, I read that until Talmudic times, Jewishness used to be passed on through patrilineal descent. Is that true? If true, why did it change? If false, why do people think that? Sincerely, Harry Dear Harry, Thanks for your question. We have discussed matrilineal descent before, so let’s recap that first.  […]