Oath (Shvua)

Study the daily lesson of Sefer HaMitzvos for day 108 with Rabbi Mendel Kaplan, where he teaches the mitzvah in-depth with added insight and detail.

Study the daily lesson of Sefer HaMitzvos for day 105 with Rabbi Mendel Kaplan, where he teaches the mitzvah in-depth with added insight and detail.

In this week's portion in which Judah promises the safe return of his brother Benjamin, we look at the severity of oaths and vows, how to know when you've made one and how to be released from it once you have.

Our verse implies that our unconditional connection with G‑d is itself conditional! Can that be right?

Abstention is a humbling admission of defeat – "There's something in the world that G‑d created for a purpose; other people are capable of using it for that purpose; I cannot."

At the time, I thought her a demanding mother, completely oblivious to my limitations. Today I know better. The words, "Yes you can," are not oppressive. They are empowering.

Perjury is in the news again. In the aftermath of the Baseball Steroids Debacle, Congress is now asking the Justice Department to investigate whether a certain star player lied under oath during the course of a congressional hearing on the matter. If conv...

Upon hearing the verdict of the beit din, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman turned pale. Never in his life did he imagine that he would be required to take an oath in court!

Swear to yourself, with an unbreakable oath, "I will not relax until we achieve the true purpose of creation, until we get to 'go home to our fathers.'"

If he would return to his wife, he would not be allowed to cut his hair or drink wine ever again.