In this episode we are joined by R' Yitzy Tanner who shares with us a responsum of the Beis Dovid (no. 71) about Kohanim - or any Jewish male - serving in their country's armed forces. We also learn about the author, Rav Zev Wolf Leiter zt"l, who was a local rabbi in Pittsburgh, but who earned an international reputation.

We are joined by Rabbi Daniel Korobkin, medieval scholar and the translator/annotator of the Feldheim edition of Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi’s Kuzari, who takes us into the story of a community in arms over whether and when to permit the study of secular knowledge. By looking at several responsa of the Rashba (1:415-417; Kisvei Yad no. 150) we get a glimpse into the age old question of how Judaism ought to interact with the broader world around it.

Can I drink beer and Scotch on Pesach? Don't get your hopes up just yet, but Rabbi Yehoshua Domosh, a trained Kashrus professional, takes us through some fascinating halachic analysis (Responsa of Rivash, no. 255) about why distilled alcoholic beverages might not be so bad afterall - and also why an innocuous, unflavored seltzer may indeed have some potential issues bubbling just under the surface....

Rabbi Yehuda Halpert takes us 5 years back to the COVID Zoom Seder controversy, contrasts the different rabbinic responsa, and unpacks their significance for the post-pandemic era.

Stay tuned for his upcoming book: Speaking to an Empty Shul: Timeless Lessons from Unprecedented Times (Mosaica Press, 2025).

Rabbi Ariel Rackovsky shares with us a whimsical, yet real, case adjudicated by the Beis Yitzchak (E.H. 1:23) about a man who "purchased" for himself the Kohen status...which sounded good at first, until it had serious ramifications for his marriage. We delve into the principles of halacha which govern speech, deed and much more to understand how this case was resolved and how it served as a precedent for future batei din.

In this episode, Rabbi Barry Gelman shares with us a personal case he dealt with regarding a family who was adamant about reburying their deceased six feet under. Rabbi Gelman shares with us the responsum he received from Eretz Hemdah (B'Mareh HaBazak 7:81) and how it made its way into a Texas courtroom. This is a fascinating discussion that incorporates Halacha, the American legal system and a regrettable family drama all wrapped up together.

Today, Zachary Ottenstein join us as we look at the monumentalMinchas Yitzchak of Dayan Yitzchok Yaakov Weiss and explore a lesser known responsum(4:30) about secular text books which has broader implications for recent trends in the Jewish world.

Editor's Note: This episode is dedicated in memory of Joy Rothke (Shayna Fradel bas Reb Velvel) a"h. I want to thank Ben Rothke for his friendship and ideas that have helped me throughout this project. May our learning be a zechus for his sister's neshama and may Hashem give him and his entire family much nechama.

- Moshe Kurtz

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In this episode, Rabbi Michoel Zylberman delves into a fascinating responsum by HaRav Nota Greenblatt zt"l of Memphis (reprinted in Kol Tzvi 22-23, 5782-5783) in which he defends a local conversion that was later challenged by rabbis in New York. Rav Greenblatt's uncompromising fealty to rigorous halachic standards and to the needs of his community serves as a paradigm for rabbinic leadership in America.

Rabbi Michoel Zylberman is the Sgan Menahel (Associate Director) of the Beth Din of America. A Yadin Yadin musmach of RIETS, he was a member of the Bella and Harry Wexner Kolel Elyon, and holds an MA from the Bernard Revel Graduate School in Medieval Jewish history. In addition to his work at the Beth Din of America as an administrator, mesader gittin, and dayan, Rabbi Zylberman serves on the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary faculty as a rosh chabura and functions as the director of geirut for the Rabbinical Council of America. He is the author of Tov Lev on Masechet Pesachim with an appended Kuntreis Da’at Yehudit on the laws of Gittin and Gerut.