Ketuvot 12a - The Practice in Yehudah - Oct 2, 2021 - May a man claim lack of betulim if he was alone with his wife before the wedding?

S. Y. Agnon's HaNidach, Part 1 - Sep 26, 2021 - An introduction to Agnon's classic tragedy about the animosity of Misnagdim toward Chasidim in Buczacz, built from a story that happened with the Eishel Avraham. Part 1 of 2.

Ketuvot 12a - A husband's foolish assumption - Sep 18, 2021 - What happens to the ketubah and marriage if a man marries a widow/divorcee and then claims he had thought she was a betulah, despite her first marriage?

Shemuel I 5:1-8 - The Aron vs Dagon - Sep 14, 2021 - Why did Hashem mutilate Dagon, and give the Plishtim a hideous bowel ailment?

Ketuvot 11b - He didn't know the betulim were gone - Sep 11, 2021 - Addressing the question of the ketubah amount where a man was unaware that his wife had lost her betulim prior to the marriage due to a non-sexual trauma (mukat eitz)

Ketuvot 11b - What determines 100 vs 200 zuz? - Sep 4, 2021 - A couple of notes on previous parts of the gemara, and then a discussion of whether the ketubah drops from 200 to 100 due to lack of betulim, or due to prior sexual experience.

Shemuel #104 - Chapter 21:1-4 - David Deceives Achimelech - Sep 2, 2021 - Yehonatan (mostly) loses David, but retains Shaul. David deceives Achimelech to save his life - but why does he ask for five rolls, specifically?

The Birthday of Adam or the Birthday of Eve? - Sep 1, 2021 - Rosh HaShanah is the anniversary of the creation of human beings, but which human - Adam or Chavah? Their different experiences of Hashem provide different models for Jews in their relationships with Hashem. Also connects with the two views of how Avraham came to Hashem, and with the religious experiences of Sarah and Yitzchak. Geared toward a group including people lacking strong background in Torah text study.

Shemuel I 4:12-22 - The End of Eli's Immediate Family - Aug 31, 2021 - Eli's reaction to the terrible news about the Aron - and his children; the death of the wife of Pinchas in childbirth and the naming of Ichabod; Shaul and Goliath at Shiloh?

Iyov, Faith and Loyalty: High Holidays in the Era of COVID - Aug 31, 2021 - A lesson from Iyov, for those who have suffered and are having trouble with the idea of coronating G-d and apologizing to G-d on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.