Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R
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Showing Results 1680 - 1704 (1704 total)
A Mitzvah: Make No Bones About It Sotah 13 Psychology of the Daf Yomi
Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R
April 9th, 2023
Our Gemara on Amud Aleph tells us about Moshe’s retrieving the bones of Yosef while the Jews were caught up in grabbing the spoils from the drowned Egyptians: תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: בֹּא וּרְאֵה כַּמָּה חֲבִיבוֹת מִצְוֹת עַל מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, שֶׁכׇּל יִשְׂרָאֵל כּוּלָּן נִתְעַסְּקוּ בַּבִּיזָּה, וְהוּא נִתְעַסֵּק בּ …
A Man of Egyptian Extraction Yevamos 45 Psychology of the Daf Yomi
Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R
April 21st, 2022
Our Gemara on Amud Beis tells us the following principle: גּוֹי וְעֶבֶד הַבָּא עַל בַּת יִשְׂרָאֵל — הַוָּלָד כָּשֵׁר. If a gentile fathers a child from a Jewish woman, the child is not a mamzer and considered a Jewish person. The Arvei Nachal (Vayyigash 2) explains this in terms of its metaphysical implications. Let’s begin with a basic assumption that if the halakha dictates su …
A Life Worth Living Bava Metzia 62 Psychology of the Daf
Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R
April 26th, 2024
Our Gemara on Amud aleph discusses the famous moral dilemma of a circumstance where you must choose between another person’s survival or your own survival, such as you are in the desert with another person, and only have enough water for one person to survive. Ben Petora taught: It is preferable that both of them drink and die, and let neither one of them see the death of the other. Until Rabbi Akiva came and taught that the verse sta …
A King-Sized Request Kesuvos 100 Psychology of the Daf Yomi
Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R
October 14th, 2022
Our Gemara on Amud Beis mentions a Tanna, Rabbi Elazar ben Parata, and actually his grandfather as well. I could find nothing to comment on about this daf, so I’ll discuss biographical notes about Rabbi Elazar ben Parata. He, similar to Rabbi Chaninah ben Tradiyon, was arrested for ”crimes against the state”, the age-old anti-semitic canard against Jews who taught Torah, as teaching subversive treasonous material. Th …
A Job Done Too Well Kesuvos 98 Psychology of the Daf Yomi
Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R
October 12th, 2022
One of the famous questions regarding the slavery and oppression of the Jews, and the resulting retribution against the Egyptians is why should Pharaoh be punished for following God’s decree? God tells Avraham that his children will be strangers in a strange land, and serve them for 400 years. Yet in the next verse God assured Avraham that the oppressors will also be judged, and the Jewish people will leave with great wealth (Bereishis 15:1 …
A Holy Family is a Healthy Family Eruvin 27 Rabbi Simcha Feuerman LCSW-R, DHL
Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R
September 4th, 2020
וּכְלָלָא הוּא דְּכׇל מִצְוַת עֲשֵׂה שֶׁהַזְּמַן גְּרָמָא נָשִׁים פְּטוּרוֹת? הֲרֵי מַצָּה שִׂמְחָה וְהַקְהֵל, דְּמִצְוַת עֲשֵׂה שֶׁהַזְּמַן גְּרָמָא הוּא, וְנָשִׁים חַיָּיבוֹת. Is it a general principle that women are exempt from all time-bound, positive commandments without exception? B …
A Hole is Greater than the Sum of Its Parts Bava Basra 19 Psychology of the Daf
Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R
August 4th, 2024
As part of an ongoing discussion regarding the effects of various constructions and substances on adjoining properties, and the requirements of neighbors to each other, the Gemara on amud aleph noted a property of sand: “It heats hot items and cools cold items”, which has implications about whether it would cause damage to a neighboring wall. Sand is fascinating and therefore the subject of symbolic meaning and proj …
A Historical Footnote on the Disputes of Shammai and Hillel Kiddushin 46 Psychology of the Daf Yomi
Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R
September 28th, 2023
Our Gemara on Amud Aleph discusses the rule that a woman cannot be betrothed by allowing her to keep money she had previously borrowed. This is because the marriage bond needs to be effectuated via a transfer of a tangible object. The loan is not tangible, and even if the money was not spent and thus still tangible, the transfer of money to her domain occurred as a loan, and not an exchange for marriage. A second rule discussed is that if a woman …
A Healthy And Whole Person Is In Touch With His Broken Parts Bava Basra 14 Psychology of the Daf
Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R
July 9th, 2024
Our Gemara on amud beis tells us about the contents of the Holy Ark: “Both the second set of tablets and the broken pieces of the first set of tablets were placed in the Ark.” Why keep the broken tablets in the Ark? What prominence and lesson do they hold? Tiferes Shlomo (Sha’ar Hatefila) explains, based on a Zohar (III:283a), that the human heart has two chambers. One chamber represents the aspec …
A Guilty Look Sotah 19 Psychology of the Daf Yomi
Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R
April 17th, 2023
Our Gemara on amud beis discusses circumstances of the Sotah’s retraction of her willingness to drink from the waters. Sometimes it is considered a de-facto confession and therefore she no longer drinks, or instead we believe she is panic stricken, and her refusal is not a confession, rather she may still be innocent and thus drinks: לָא קַשְׁיָא הָא דְּקָהָדְרָא בַּהּ מֵחֲמַת רְתִיתָא ו …
A Grave Cure Bava Basra 171 Psychology of the Daf Yomi
Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R
December 13th, 2024
Our Gemara on Amud Beis quotes Rabbi Ḥanina bar Pappi, who expresses his profound reverence for Rav and Shmuel with a striking metaphor: “Who will give us some of the dust of Rav and Shmuel, and I will place it on my eyes, so highly do I regard them.” At first glance, the notion of putting dust in one’s eyes seems puzzling as an expression of honor. To understand this, we must look to a related account in Sanhedrin 47b, which …
A good heart and good eyes Bava Basra 145 Psychology of the Daf Yomi
Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R
November 17th, 2024
Our Gemara on Amud Beis references a verse in Mishlei (15:15): “A good heart is consistently drinking.” The Gemara interprets this to mean that a person with a “good heart” has a certain equanimity, a disposition that enables them to handle stress and challenges without becoming overwhelmed. Rather than a call for literal intoxication, the verse points to a state of inner resilience and composure. Rav Uri Grossman, citing …
A Fresh Face on the Lechem Hapanim Chaggigah 26 Psychology of the Daf Yomi
Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R
March 7th, 2022
Our Gemara on Amud Beis tells us about the miracle of the Lechem Hapanim, the bread from the special table in the Beis HaMikdash: They would lift the table with the shewbread on it to display the shewbread to the oley regel standing in the Temple courtyard, as it was prohibited for Israelites to enter the Sanctuary, where the table stood, and they would say to them: Behold your affection before God, Who performs a perpetual miracle with the bread …
A Cucumber in Hand is Worth Two in the Bush Kesuvos 83 Psychology of the Daf Yomi
Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R
September 28th, 2022
What is more motivating? A cheap reward that comes quickly or a significant reward that takes much longer to obtain? Our Gemara on Amud Beis references an adage, “בוצינא טב מקרא”. Rashi translates botzina as a small gourd and Kara as a large gourd. The idea is the same as, “A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.” That is, a person would prefer a small gourd, which he can eat right now, instead of waitin …
A Chinuch Lacking in Promise Kesuvos 73 Psychology of the Daf Yomi
Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R
September 16th, 2022
Our Gemara on Amud Beis discusses the situation of a man marrying a woman and then discovering that she had many oaths which has an impact on their personal life. This may invalidate the marriage, as he can say, אי אפשי באשה נדרנית I did not want to marry a woman who is a serial oath maker. Aside from the basic burden of being liable for too many restrictions, Maor Vashemesh (Matos 8) suggests a more characterological p …
A Broken Heart is More Whole Eruvin 105 Psychology of the Daf
Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R
November 22nd, 2020
A Broken Heart is More Whole A dilemma was raised before the Sages: If one priest is ritually impure and another has a blemish, which of them should enter to perform repairs? Rav Ḥiyya bar Ashi said that Rav said: The impure one should enter, as he is permitted to participate in communal service. If the entire community is ritually impure, even impure priests may perform the service, whereas blemished priests may not serve under any circ …
A Bird and a Fish can Fall in Love...
Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R
February 17th, 2019
In Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye exclaims in frustration to his daughter who is considering a marriage outside of the faith, “A bird and a fish can fall in love, but where would they build their home?” Today, many couples find themselves in a position of religious disparity. Whether they started out in the same religious position and one turned more religious and the other less, or they married under this circumstance, it challeng …
Too Much of a Good Thing? Gittin 6 Psychology of the Daf
Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R
May 22nd, 2023
Our Gemara on Amud Aleph discusses the opinion of Shmuel that Babylonia is considered outside of Israel and a Get needs the messenger to attest to the signatures. Shmuel holds that though due to the constant traffic to and from the yeshivos in Israel to Bavel, there ought to be sufficient witnesses who could attest to the signatures on the Get, the Benei Yeshiva are engrossed in their studies and nonetheless would not recognize signatures. …
46 Sinners and Saints Psychology of the Daf
Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R
January 6th, 2021
Our Gemara quotes a Mishna that skins that are worked and processed lose their status of Tum’ah, with the exception of human skin which remains impure. Based on this difference, there is an important polemic between a Saducee and a Sage recorded in Mishna Yadayim 4:6. The dispute is as follows: How does rabbinic law make sense? They render scrolls of scripture as impure, while Greek sacred literature (possibly referring to Homer …
15 Minutes of Fame Eruvin 88 Psychology of the Daf
Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R
November 5th, 2020
בִּיב הַקָּמוּר אַרְבַּע אַמּוֹת בִּרְשׁוּת הָרַבִּים — שׁוֹפְכִין לְתוֹכוֹ מַיִם בַּשַּׁבָּת. If the first four cubits of a drainage ditch were arched over (Kamur) in the public domain, one may pour waste water into it on Shabbat. What is this obscure term, Kamur? Meiri ibid on word Kemoros ועוקה זו מתרת בין בפנים ובין מבחוץ …
Enmeshment: Momma’s Boys and Daddy’s Girls Kesuvos 60 Psychology of the Daf Yomi
Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R
September 4th, 2022
Our Gemara mentions a problematic pattern of behavior that can, according to the Gemara, even affect a woman’s likelihood of conceiving: Redufa leylech el beis aviha, When there is contention in the marriage and the woman tends to return back to her father’s home.There is a normal human pattern for young women to connect to and seek guidance from their mothers, as we saw by Rivkah (Bereishis 24:28): וַתָּ֙רׇץ֙ הַֽנ …
Compatibility Factors in Marriage Yevamos 110 Psychology of the Daf Yomi
Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R
June 24th, 2022
Our gemara on amud beis discusses the idea that certain people may have preference in marriage for someone similar to them, such as a deaf person may prefer to marry a deaf person. If compatibility and similarity in interests are important in marriage, to what extent and what domains can be identified? Doing this can help couples work on enhancing them together, and also help people who are dating identify these areas as priorities. R …
A Token of Appreciation Kesuvos 79 Psychology of the Daf Yomi
Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R
September 23rd, 2022
It is important to show gratitude. Sometimes gratitude does not involve much effort or expenditure, so long as it is sincere. Our Mishna on Amud Beis teaches us: הַמּוֹצִיא הוֹצָאוֹת עַל נִכְסֵי אִשְׁתּוֹ הוֹצִיא הַרְבֵּה וְאָכַל קִימְעָא קִימְעָא וְאָכַל הַרְבֵּה מַה שֶּׁהוֹצִיא הוֹצִיא וּמַה שֶּׁאָכַל אָכַל ה …
מילי דהספידא על אבי ומורי זכר צדיק לברכה
Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R
October 1st, 2017
מילי דהספידא על אבי ומורי זכר צדיק לברכה מאת: הרב שמחה פוירמן ביום שלישי, כ״ט אלול תשע״ז הרב חיים יהושע בן אברהם פוירמן סים מלהגיד שיעורו האחרון בישיבה אוניברסיטי, מכון לחינוך ״עזריאלי״. אמר לאחד ממשרתיו, ״חכה לי, שצריך אני לנוח קצת״, ואז יצאה …