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The Twelve Minute Shiur

Freehof Institute

Byte-sized audio learning from the Freehof Institute of Progressive Halakhah

religion & spirituality judaism

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00:12:22

#64 - The Strange Case of the Stolen Lulav

The Twelve Minute Shiur ·

2024/10/13

Can you fulfill the mitzvah of n'tilat lulav on Sukkot with a lulav that is stolen? That is, if you use a stolen lulav, are you yotzei? Do you fulfill your requirement? After all, even if it's stolen, it's still a lulav!Or does the halakhah refuse to recognize the action on the grounds that you have fulfilled a mitzvah by way of a transgression against the Torah?In this installment, we consider the legal and the moral aspects of this question.Download the source sheet at

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00:12:34

#63 - Ba`al T'shuvah vs. Tzadik Gamur

The Twelve Minute Shiur ·

2024/10/01

Who is the better person: the ba`al t'shuvah, the repentant sinner,or the tzadik gamur, the wholly righteous individual who has never sinned at all?You can argue it either way. And - are you surprised? - the tradition does argue it either way!Plus, there's an element of halakhah that rides on the decision, which is why we talk about it here.Download the source sheet at www.freehofinstitute.org/podcast

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00:11:37

#62 - How Many Shofar Sounds Are We Supposed to Hear?

The Twelve Minute Shiur ·

2024/09/05

The Torah says we are to hear the sound of t`ru'ah on Rosh Hashanah.What's a t'ru`ah?Why must it be sounded by a ram's horn?And how many sounds are we supposed to hear - one? Nine? Thirty? Sixty? 100?So many questions - can we answer them in twelve minutes?We can try!Download the source sheet at www.freehofinstitute.org/podcast

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00:12:42

#61 - Judicial Ethics

The Twelve Minute Shiur ·

2024/08/23

The ethics of judges is - unfortunately - a timely subject. So it's a good time to look at some of what the halakhic literature has to say about it. As is often the case, our study may leave us with more questions than answers. But then, asking the right questions is a good first step.

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00:11:49

#60 - Yom Tov Sheni, Part 3

The Twelve Minute Shiur ·

2024/07/30

In 1846, the Reform rabbinical conference at Breslau annulled the observance of yom tov sheni shel galuyot, the second festival day traditionally observed by Jews living outside of Eretz Yisrael. How could they simply do away with such an ancient religious practice? Is there any halakhic justification for their action? As those Reform rabbis would have replied (loosely translated from the German): you betcha!Download the source sheet at www.freehofinstitute.org/podcast.

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00:12:20

#59 - Yom Tov Sheni, Part 2

The Twelve Minute Shiur ·

2024/07/10

More on the second festival day, like: why do many Jews still observe it when we no longer have any doubt as to the right date of yom tov? And what about the second day of Rosh Hashanah? It looks, smells, and quacks just like a regular yom tov sheni... but it's not!Source sheet available at www.freehofinstiute.org/podcast.

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00:12:38

58. Yom Tov Sheni, Part 1

The Twelve Minute Shiur ·

2024/06/25

Why do many Jews outside of Eretz Yisrael turn every Biblically-ordained festival day (yom tov) into a two-day observance? What's the nature of that second day, especially since we no longer have any uncertainty about determining the months and the dates of the Jewish calendar? And why do progressive Jews dispense with the observance of yom tov sheni altogether? Lots of questions, and we'll try to answer them, beginning with this installment. Warning: some of the answers may surprise

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00:13:19

#57 - May a Blind Person Be Called to the Torah?

The Twelve Minute Shiur ·

2024/06/07

Rabbi Yosef Caro, in his Shulhan Arukh, holds that a blind person may not be called up to the Torah. That ruling stirred a halakhist of the next generation, Rabbi Binyamin Selonik, to write a responsum that holds the opposite. Just your ordinary, run-of-the-mill halakhic mahloket - except that Rabbi Selonik himself was blind, a reality he emphasizes explicitly and passionately in his text, making sure that we read the sources through the eyes of one who - if the Shulhan Arukh is right - would be

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00:13:30

#56 - Thinking Halakhicly About Disability

The Twelve Minute Shiur ·

2024/05/23

In halakhah, as in life, there are two ways - one "passive," the other "active" - to think about disability and of our response to it. In this episode, we consider examples of each. Source sheet available at www.freehofinstitute.org/podcast.

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00:13:11

#55 - Who Is Worthy to Lead Us in Prayer? Part 2

The Twelve Minute Shiur ·

2024/04/28

Picking up where we left off in episode #53. What qualities should we want in a shaliach tzibur (prayer leader)? And what qualities are we best advised to avoid? The halakhah weighs in.Get the source sheet at www.freehofinstitute.org/podcast.

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00:13:37

#54 - Getting Rid of Hametz

The Twelve Minute Shiur ·

2024/04/11

Pesach is coming. Time to get rid of your hametz. And there are four different ways to do it. Oh, the choices! This episode explores the whys and the hows.Get the source sheet at www.freehofinstitute.org/podcast.

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00:12:57

#53 - Who Is Worthy to Lead Us in Prayer? Part 1

The Twelve Minute Shiur ·

2024/03/19

The leader of the prayer service - the shaliach tzibur - is traditionally considered our representative or emissary before God. So it's understandable that we want to appoint the very best person, or at least someone who is worthy for that job. Okay... but how do we define "worthy"? The first of a two-part series.Get the source sheet at www.freehofinstitute.org/podcast.

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00:12:18

#52 - "They Teach Him the Principles of the Faith":...

The Twelve Minute Shiur ·

2024/03/04

For nearly a thousand years, students of the Mishneh Torah, Rambam's great code of halakhah, have sought to identify the Talmudic sources of his rulings. Sometimes, he appears to have no source whatsoever. When this happens, we have to ask: is Rambam just making this up? Is it permissible even for a great posek to derive a rule of halakhah on the basis of common sense or of his personal judgment? In this installment, we look at two outstanding commentators with two very different answers to

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00:12:39

#51 - B'rakhot: Is It Okay to Change the Text?

The Twelve Minute Shiur ·

2024/02/09

Progressive Jews have been writing new texts for the b'rakhot, the blessings or benedictions that form the core of our worship, for just about 200 years. There are lots of reasons for that, but our question here is whether we violate halakhah when we do it. Does Jewish law permit us to alter the text - the nusach - of a liturgical form that tradition says was ordained by the ancient Rabbis and perhaps even by Ezra the scribe? We have a theory that says "yes."Get the source sheet at

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00:12:37

#50 - Why Are We Still Saying Kiddush in the Synagogue?

The Twelve Minute Shiur ·

2024/01/19

We ask that the congregation please rise... to observe a custom (minhag) that was created for a very specific reason. That reason disappeared over 1000 years ago. So what did the Jews do about that? You guessed it: they maintained the minhag and came up with new reasons for it. That in itself tells us something about the role of minhag in our religious life. And as for those new reasons, do they have anything to teach us? Well, just maybe.

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00:12:42

#49 - The Death of King Saul and Physician-Assisted...

The Twelve Minute Shiur ·

2024/01/10

It's one of the most famous cases of suicide in all of Jewish literature. Saul, king of Israel, falls on his sword in order to avoid being taken alive and abused by the Philistines. Does this story serve as a precedent in support of physician-assisted suicide in cases of terminal illness? Some say yes. But (and you saw this coming, didn't you?) it's complicated. Download the source sheet at www.freehofinstitute.org/podcast.

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00:12:28

#48 - On the Flexibility of the Halakhah

The Twelve Minute Shiur ·

2023/12/20

At the Freehof Institute, we understand halakhah in its best sense not as a set of fixed rules but as a discourse, a language of thought and of argument that Jews utilize to study their sacred sources and determine just what they tell us when it comes to matters of sacred action. And we believe that language to be a flexible one, a process that can yield guidance fully coherent with our own liberal and progressive religious outlook. We certainly don’t believe that Rabbi Hayyim David Halevi (d

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00:12:43

#47 - What's Wrong with the Electric Hanukkiah?

The Twelve Minute Shiur ·

2023/11/29

According to halakhah, can you fulfill the mitzvah of Hanukkah, the lighting of the Hanukkah lamp, by using electric lights? Most Orthodox authorities say "no." We say "yes," and here's why. Source sheet available at www.freehofinstitute.org/podcast.

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00:12:26

#46 - Deception: Part 2

The Twelve Minute Shiur ·

2023/11/15

In shiur #44, we saw that the halakhah prohibits g'neivat da`at, deceptive speech and conduct, behavior that creates a false impression in the mind of another. In this shiur we ask: are there exceptions to this isur, this prohibition? Is there any situation in which we are permitted to deceive? The Talmud clearly says "yes" - there are exceptions. But Rambam just as clearly says "no" - the prohibition is absolute. Now there's a conflict worthy of discussion! Source sheet

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00:19:35

#45 - On the Halakhah of War

The Twelve Minute Shiur ·

2023/10/26

Does Jewish law distinguish between "just" and "unjust" wars? And what duties do we owe to noncombatant populations during wartime? This episode was recorded in October 2023, when these subjects suddenly and sadly became relevant for Israel and the entire Jewish people. Source sheet available at www.freehofinstitute.org/podcasts .

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