History

Have (Halachic) Coins Always Existed?

When describing how the money used to redeem maaser sheni produce should be treated, the Torah (Devarim 14:25) requires:

24 hrs ago • Boruch Clinton

Squaring the Kabbala vs Halacha Circle

Is questioning Zohar's authenticity compatible with the historical halachic process?

Apr 5 • Boruch Clinton

We are living in amazing times.

Feb 8 • Boruch Clinton

R' Hirsch: Decluttering Midrash

Modern kabbalists seem to enjoy using ambiguous statements from Tanach or Chazal to strengthen their theological or ideological positions.

Jan 20 • Boruch Clinton

What Is a Kingdom...and Why?

In different contexts, both Rabbi Jonathan Sacks (Essays on Ethics: Parashas Shemos) and Rabbi Meir Soloveitchik (in The Free Press) have noted the…

Jan 11 • Boruch Clinton

When Did We All Start Ignoring the "Sealing of the Talmud"?

It’s popularly understood that the completion of the Talmud around 1,500 years ago marked a critical transition in halachic history.

Jan 4 • Boruch Clinton

When Memory Is Your Mesorah's Weakest Link

Years ago, I would frequently share one of my favorite pieces from R’ Hirsch which concerned the first meeting between Lavan and Avraham’s slave…

Nov 1, 2025 • Boruch Clinton

Rabbi Hirsch on Losing the Battles You've Won

The novelist Michael Crichton was supposed to have observed that activists are never useful for more than ten years or so.

Aug 18, 2025 • Boruch Clinton

[repost] What Are We Supposed To Be Doing on Tisha B'Av?

We all know the things we can’t do on Tisha B’Av.

Aug 3, 2025 • Boruch Clinton

When 7+7 Might Not = 14

By all accounts, the fourteenth year after Yehoshua led our ancestors across the Jordan into Israel was eventful.

Apr 28, 2025 • Boruch Clinton

Must One Believe That the Zohar Is Authoritative?

In the spring of 1914, around 125 Jerusalem Ashkenazi and Sefardi Jews (most of them presumably rabbis) signed a document containing violent curses…

Apr 15, 2025 • Boruch Clinton

Strange Stories and Reverse Allegories

Through the course of my 20-year yeshiva high school teaching career, my style evolved.

Mar 2, 2025 • Boruch Clinton

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