Jewish Migrations: Origins of Ashkenazim and Sephardim, Part 2a - May 10, 2023 - Part 1 of Week 2 of a 4-part series on how Ashkenazim and Sephardim developed. Separate communities develop after the heyday of the Gaonim, in part due to decentralization of communal authority, as well as the halachic roots of Ashkenazim and Sephardim in Israel and Bavel. Geared toward a group including people who lack strong background in Torah text study.

Jewish Migrations: Origins of Ashkenazim and Sephardim, Part 2b - May 10, 2023 - Week 2b of a 4-part series on how Ashkenazim and Sephardim developed. The leaders of the early Sephardic communities: Rabbi Yitzchak Alfasi (Rif) and Rabbi Yosef HaLevi ibn Migash (Ri Migash). Geared toward a group including people who lack strong background in Torah text study.

Business Ethics: Non-Disclosure Agreements - May 10, 2023 - Does a company own its intellectual property, such that it could require employees to keep it confidential? Are financial incentives to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) permissible? What validity is there for an agreement made under duress? If an employee is coerced into signing an NDA, what recourse do they have to invalidate it? And what happens if an employee signs a valid NDA and then learns that her confidentiality could lead to harm for someone else?

Kohelet, Week 4: Approach 1 to the Problems - Explain them away - May 9, 2023 - Our first approach to the apparent internal contradictions as well as the contradictions of Tanach's philosophy: Explain them away via close textual analysis, midrashic readings, and the assignment of multiple voices within the text. More on this next week.

Ketuvot b'iyun #7 Part 2: Why did Rabbi Yehoshua differentiate between migo's? - May 5, 2023 - Why did Rabbi Yehoshua reject the migo argument of "I could have said I was a מוכת עץ", while accepting the migo argument of "I could have said I always owned this field"? What is the analogy to a slaughtered ox? Five views in the Rishonim, and to be continued with the Rambam's view.

Ketuvot b'iyun #7 Part 1: Was Rabbi Yochanan ben Berokah Disagreeing? - May 5, 2023 - In the first mishnah of the second perek in Ketuvot, was Rabbi Yochanan ben Berokah disagreeing with the Tanna Kama regarding the signs of a betulah's wedding in Yehudah, or were they discussing two different places? And why did the gemara record Rav Pappa's ignorance of a wedding custom?

Parshah Questions: Emor 5783 - Calendar Control - May 4, 2023 - A quick look at questions on the parshah. Parshat Emor: Why does Hashem empower human beings to manipulate - accidentally or intentionally - the calendar?

Giants Of #21: Rabbeinu Gershom's Decrees - May 4, 2023 - Looking at the list of Rabbeinu Gershom's decrees, and specifically his ban on polygamy and on accessing other people's communications. Note: The history is more overview than granular, and certainly not academic.

Shemuel #159 - Chapter 31:8-13 - Shaul's Head; Yavesh Gilad; Cremation - May 4, 2023 - Why did Shemuel omit the fate of Shaul's head, while Divrei haYamim said it was put in the temple of Dagon? What was the origin of the relationship between Yavesh Gilad, Binyamin and Shaul? Why is Shaul's burial site beneath an Eshel here, and beneath an Elah in Divrei haYamim? And what's wrong with cremation?

Business Ethics: The Living Wage and Government Intervention in Commerce - May 3, 2023 - To what extent does Halachah endorse government control of business practices for the sake of supporting the needy? And in a specific example - would Halachah mandate that employers pay their employees a "living wage"?