Dear Jew in the City- I heard that the Kabbalah was written by Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. Is that the only opinion or are there other approaches? Thank you, Jake Dear Jake- Thanks for your question. Bar Yochai isn’t credited with writing “the Kabbalah” – kabbalah is the entire corpus of Jewish mysticism – he’s […]
Dear JITC- As the world considers opening back up again in the middle of a pandemic to stave off economic doom and mental health and domestic violence deaths, is there any wisdom we can turn to in Jewish ethics to decide what’s the least bad way to proceed? Best, J.W. Dear J.W.- The situation you […]
Dear Jew in the City- Is there anything in Jewish texts from past plagues that could help us navigate the coronavirus? Sincerely, Jamie Dear Jamie- The Torah tells us (Exodus 21:19) that if one person injures another, the offender is responsible to pay the doctor’s bill to heal him. The Talmud (Brachos 60) points out […]
Dear JITC- We see people who insisted on davening with a minyan now catching and spreading this virus. What Jewish laws are people breaking when they act like this in these challenging times? Do Jewish texts give other examples of misplaced piety? Thanks, Yoni Dear Yoni- You’re being generous by referring to it as “misplaced […]
Hi JITC- I’m a non-shomer Shabbos Jew. I go to shul a few times a month and keep mostly kosher. I would love to see a post about how shuls are changing their traditions in light of the coronavirus. Especially interesting to me would be kissing the mezuzah, drinking from the Kiddush cup that the […]
Dear Jew in the City- Can we ever sin in order to do good? On one hand, I know you can’t do an aveirah to do a mitzvah, but on the other, I heard that Queen Esther committed a sin for the good of the Jewish people. Which one is it? Thank you, L.E. Dear […]
