Rabbinic Mitzvot, The

Did you know that lighting candles on Friday night, setting the seder plate on Pesach, reading the megillah on Purim, and lighting the menorah on Hanukkah are all rabbinic enactments? That may seem surprising, but think about it, can you remember learning...

The Talmud challenges the notion of reciting a blessing on the Chanukah menorah, which is a rabbinic mitzvah, based on different teachings related to agriculture law and tithing.

Without even realizing it, he moved his hand to tilt the lamp! Suddenly he stopped himself in mid-air. “What am I doing?” he exclaimed...

Is it true that there is no mention of the synagogue in the Torah? It’s hard to imagine “Judaism”—at least as we know it today—without synagogues!

"I love my wife," said Berl. "That's why I do everything she asks me to do. She says, 'Berl, please take out the garbage,' and right away, I take out the garbage." We all agreed that Berl loves his wife.

Why do the rabbis add so many laws to the Torah? Isn't that what caused Adam and Eve to sin--the fact that Eve made unwarranted additions to G‑d's law?

Once I was hooked on raw food, the awful restrictions seemed like a privileged progress towards a higher plane of sensitivity and consciousness—precisely the Jewish view of G-d’s restrictions.

Is it inconceivable that the Sages would deprive all of Israel of the benefits afforded by one of the greatest mitzvot we have—simply on account of a few ignorant souls who might otherwise err?