Responsa Radio

As a gabbai, I am often reluctant to correct the person reading Torah so as not to add to their anxiety. I am wondering if we are entering a moment where technology might be helpful, such as writing the vowels and trope onto the Torah itself, or, less radically, making a see-through overlay. Would any of those options be acceptable to make reading Torah more accessible to all?

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Music featured in this episode: Help You Stand by Justin James. https://youtu.be/ICnzG6Qfibo?si=3n9K_3FRlNGQnBVD

Can I read my horoscope? Does it matter whether I’m reading it “just for fun” or if I’m really trying to predict the future? Are horoscopes more forbidden for us than they were for medieval rabbis, who probably considered astrology a legitimate science?

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Music featured in this episode: All The Stars Have Aligned by The Morning Glass

In the mishnah we see the idea of a person who would translate the Torah into Aramaic after each verse is chanted from the Torah scroll. Would it be appropriate to have something like this now in order to enhance the understanding of the community?

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What is the history and reasoning behind the mechitzah? Why do they vary so much in size and material? In a setting where this is a mechitzah, can a man walk over to the women’s side to carry a Torah?

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As a person who is disabled, how am I supposed to relate to a system of mitzvot that often assumes its audience is able-bodied? For example, the morning blessings include the line thanking God for "opening the eyes of the blind"—but what if I am blind? Am I supposed to say this blessing?

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I am a kohen who lives in Israel where I make the priestly blessing every day. After October 7th, I was recruited to my town’s First Response Team and am now required to carry my gun at all times, including the synagogue. Is it prohibited to make the blessing of Birkat Kohanim, which is essentially a blessing about peace, while carrying a weapon?

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There is a principle that says that milk from a deathly sick animal is not kosher. But in today's modern dairy industry it may be reasonable to assume that most if not all cows fall into this category. Can we justify consuming factory milk? If so, how? This episode was recorded live at Hadar's 2024 Halakhah Intensive.

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I was at a meal at a non-Jewish colleague's home. We agreed to order food from a kosher restaurant but one of the dishes looks homemade. I don't want to be rude. Can I eat it? How can the framework of "sfeik sfeika," having two axes of doubt, help us make decisions when we don't have all of the information? This episode was recorded live at Hadar's 2024 Halakhah Intensive. 

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My community has a retreat over Yom Tov where almost everyone spends a lot of time at the pool. I grew up in a community that never swam on Shabbat or Yom Tov and now I'm trying to navigate a community where everyone does it. What should I do?

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While almost all Jewish communities celebrate a boy's Bar Mitzvah at 13, many communities are split for girls—some 12, some 13. Why should girls be required to do mitzvot before boys? What does this age split accomplish? And is it still relevant in egalitarian Jewish communities?

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