May a medical student observe a surgery performed on Shabbos? What about a common person who wants to observe it out of curiosity or "entertainment"? R' Yaakov Wolff, host of Shtark Tank, unpacks a responsum from Rav Yaakov Emden (She'ailas Ya'avetz, no. 41) on this topic and contextualizes it within the broader literature.

Check out the Shtark Tank podcast here: https://open.spotify.com/show/34xll8GhTfu1BiRdhb8AyR?si=nkZT9JV5T8mvliMIxgIC0g

In the lead up to Purim, R. Gil Student analyzes a pivotal responsum of the Maharik (no. 167) regarding an inadvertent infidelity, what we can learn from Esther, and its implications for post-Talmudic hermeneutics. (As the title indicates, we discuss some sensitive topics so listeners' discretion is advised.)

At the end of this episode, Rabbi Student reveals his latest groundbreaking initiative: TorahApp (thetorahapp.org).

Rav Nachum Rabinovitch zt"l was one of the great Israeli poskim of recent memory. In this episode we welcome a talmid of his, Rabbi Yitzchak Sprung, who shares one of his rebbe's responsa (Siach Nachum, no. 30) about shaving and uses it to profile Rav Rabinovitch's unique approach to paskening halacha.

A person can always repent and completely atone for their previous sins, right? In the cases of a penitent ex-follower of Shabbtai Tzvi and a previous "worshipper" of Hindu deities we see that this matter is not so simple.

Rabbi Mordechai Becher, Jewish historian and lecturer, provides us with a remarkable responsum of the Chacham Tzvi (no. 13) and the Noda B'Yehudah (O.C. 2:10) which weigh the individual and communal factors involved in welcoming back such individuals as full members of the synagogue community.

In this episode, Rabbi Michael Freund, a scholar, previous member of the Netanyahu administration, and father of sons serving in the IDF, discusses the religious significance of the land of Gaza, and what it means for the broader Land of Israel.

We explore a teshuvah of Rabbi Yaakov Ariel, published by the Machon Torah V'Ha'aretz (cf. Responsa B'Ohalah shel Torah 4:7), who expounds on this topic prior to the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

May someone who subscribes to a stringent halachic position ask someone else to be his "shabbos goy"? Our guest, Rabbi Mark Glass unpacks a responsum of the Minchas Asher (1:11) to help us understand the difference between stringencies that result from a pious practice versus principled disregard for other opinions.

In this episode R. Daniel Mann contrasts a personal letter of R. Shlomo Zalman Auerbach (v'Aleihu Lo Yibol, p. 268) with how it is presented in Halichos Shlomo (Krias HaTorah 12:24) to address how concerned we should be for understanding Hebrew grammar by and what it means for the responsible application of Responsa Literature writ large.