Classes by Mordechai Dinerman
Episodes
Predicting the Redemption: What About the Talmudic Prohibition?
12 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Talmud tells us to refrain from predicting when Moshiach will come, and Rambam affirms this ruling in his code of law. But Rambam himself, and so ...
The Dead Sea Scrolls (Part 3): The Philosophical Dispute
10 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The abundance of name calling in some of the Dead Sea Scrolls exposes diverging worldviews about how halachic interpretation should operate. The Dead...
Paris 1240: Disputation and Devastation
06 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Rabbi Yechiel of Paris was forced to defend the Gemara before a Christian tribunal. Despite his courageous efforts, the Talmud was condemned to the fl...
The Dead Sea Scrolls (Part 2): An Alternative Jewish Calendar
03 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Dead Sea Scrolls present a sectarian system for measuring time and celebrating the festivals, and it may help us understand an enigmatic line...
Gun Control: Talmudic Perspectives
29 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Supreme Court recently issued a landmark decision regarding the “right to bear arms.” What does Halachah offer on this topic? Gun Control: Tal...
Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls? A Talmudic Approach
26 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The first of a three-part series analyzing how the Dead Sea Scrolls can deepen our understanding of the Mishnah and Talmud. Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scr...
The Scandal of the Missing Line: Allegations of Textual Corruption against Chabad
22 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Tzemach Tzedek wrote about the proper brachah to make on a talis katan, but some have alleged that we tampered with his text. The Scandal of the M...
The Curious Case of the Desert Dead
19 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Talmud famously recounts how one of its sages discovered the “dead of the desert.” Drawing on a range of sources, the Rebbe explained this Tal...
Remembering and Forgetting: The History of Chof Sivan
15 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This day has a sad history of persecution, but also an interesting tendency to be taken seriously at first, only to peter out after some time. Remembe...
The Rebbe’s Reshimas Hamenorah: An Overview
12 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Yehudah (Rebbi) debated how the furniture in the Beis Hamikdash was situated, and this reflected their philosophies about life....
Spelling Hashem’s Name in Hebrew Manuscripts
08 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We are used to seeing two Yudin as a substitute for G-d’s ineffable name. But it wasn’t always that way. Spelling Hashem’s Name in Hebrew Manusc...
Shavuos Art, and the Strange History of Akdamus
01 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
By examining the liturgy and art in a tiny medieval machzor, we learn how hearing the Aseres Hadibros was experienced seven hundred years ago, and how...
Shavuos Through the Lens of Historic Jewish Art
29 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Why animal heads replace human heads; why the luchos morph into a Torah scroll; and the origins of the areinfirenish and dairy on Shavuos. Shavuos Thr...
Explaining the Holocaust? Multiple Approaches by the Frierdiker Rebbe and Rebbe
25 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Many assume that "explaining" and "Holocaust" are never to be seen in the same sentence. How did we get here? And was it always this way? Explaining t...
Mishneh Torah: A Biography
22 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We can document how the Mishneh Torah was drafted, finalized, updated, disseminated, illuminated, critiqued, printed, and censored. Mishneh Torah: A B...
The Cairo Genizah: Shedding Light on the Life and Works of the Rambam
18 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Cairo Geniza unveils much about Rambam’s communal activism, teaching, authorship, lost works, and overall life. The Cairo Genizah: Shedding Ligh...
A Jewish Guide to Horoscopes and Astrology (Part 3)
15 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The final class of the series, in which we introduce Rambam’s position, Chasidic sources, and wrap up the topic with the key takeaways. A Jewish Gui...
Overturning Roe v. Wade: Good for the Jews?
11 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A leaked draft suggests that the highest court of the land is primed to overturn one of the most controversial cases in American history. It’s time ...
A Jewish Guide to Horoscopes and Astrology (Part 2)
08 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Continuing to explore astrology from a Jewish perspective. What are the theological problems with accepting astrology and how did the rabbis address t...
A Jewish Guide to the Evil Eye
04 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The background and origins of red strings, kinora, and “poo-poo”; Rambam’s position on the matter; and two models for how Jews understood this m...
A Jewish Guide to Horoscopes and Astrology (Part 1)
01 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Continuing our series of classes on Judaism and the paranormal, this class begins a three-part deep dive into the topic of astrology. As with all of t...
A Jewish Guide to Demons and Spirits
27 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Do demons exist? Did they ever exist? Is adultery with a demon considered adultery? (Yes, poskim addressed that question.) Jewish sources are not of o...
Blatant Disregard of a Torah Law? On the Prohibition Against Settling in Egypt
18 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Some of the greatest Torah sages lived in Egypt even as the Talmud ruled that this was forbidden. Over the years, numerous justifications have been pr...
Dominating Wives, Suffering, and Reincarnation: The Debate About Gilgul and It’s Connection to Pesach
13 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
While the kabbalists embraced the concept of reincarnation, other rabbis were skeptical. What lies at the root of this dispute? And how did the kabbal...
The Blood Libel and Talmudic Censorship
10 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Since ancient times, Jews have been falsely accused of killing non-Jews for ritual purposes. In medieval Europe, beginning in the twelfth century, thi...
The Old, the New, the Forgotten: Halachah and Minhag In Haggadah Art
06 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Medieval illuminated Haggadahs shed light on how the observance of the past was both similar to and different from the present. Taking this journey is...
Finders Keepers? Halachic Implications From Tzaraas In the Home
03 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Every so often we hear of someone who is blessed with a true windfall. In such instances, we often find multiple parties claiming a stake in the bonan...
Evolution of the Haggadah: A Pictorial History, from the Cairo Genizah, to the Medieval Art Workshop, to the Modern Printing Press
30 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Story of the Haggadah is synonymous with the story of the Jewish people. Observe how this most famous Jewish liturgical work has evolved in its ap...
Kosher Pig? Analyzing a Mysterious Midrash (Part 2)
27 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Continuing to explore whether there can ever be a time when mitzvos are suspended, and how this relates to the mysterious teaching that the pig w...
The Letter and Spirit of the Law vis-a-vis Imitation Products
23 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Is it appropriate for a Jew to eat kosher imitation bacon, crab, or shrimp? Is this undermining the spirit of Kashrus? Central to the contemporary dis...
Kosher Pig? Analyzing a Mysterious Midrash (Part 1)
20 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
There’s a well-known tradition that it will be permissible for Jews to consume the meat of a pig when Moshiach comes. What is the source for th...
Purim Through the Lens of Historic Jewish Art
16 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Jews throughout the ages who employed art to depict the Purim story left us a legacy rife with messaging. Synagogue walls, biblical manuscripts, a...
Purim Class - The Manos Halevi by Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz: Overview and Highlights
13 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
One of the most important commentaries on Megilas Esther was authored by Rabbi Shlomo Halevi Alkabetz (d. 1576), the famed author of Lecha Dodi. We ex...
Rabbinic Police Powers, Love and Hate, and Stern Censorship: Insights from Newly Discovered Passages of the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch
09 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Czarist regime forbade rabbinical courts from employing coercive measures and adopted policies to promote assimilation. This led to the censoring ...
The Halachic Status of Christianity: Insights from Newly Discovered Passages of the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch
09 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
For centuries, Halachic authorities have debated how to designate Christian theological beliefs. In recent weeks, a new manuscript of the Alter Rebbe’...