Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

March 11th, 2025

Our Gemara on Amud Aleph discusses two related prohibitions regarding the special status of a father and mother. It is a biblical prohibition to curse one’s father or mother (Shemos 21:17), as well as a prohibition to wound one’s father or mother (ibid. 15). Presumably, wounding one’s parents is more severe than merely cursing them. Yet, the punishment for cursing them is stoning, while wounding them is strangulation. Given that …
0 comments

Author: Yehuda Lieberman, LCSW

March 7th, 2025

Dear Therapist: I enjoy your column every week. I appreciate how each of you have your own style and way of seeing things. I was wondering if you could each share your opinion on what you think is most misunderstood about therapy. How would you clarify and reframe it for those who may be considering therapy?    Response: Of course, as you said, all therapists have different styles and perspectives. (Thus, our responses to this question …
0 comments

Author: Yehuda Lieberman, LCSW

March 7th, 2025

I find that I get very down and depressed after yomim tovim. Not just Purim but really every Yom Tov, and truthfully after every exciting time of year. I am sure most people have some sort of let down but with me it is really painful. As a matter of fact, when something enjoyable starts, I am already starting to think about how soon it will be over. I guess I just have a rough time with "regular life." How can I get better at handling this? …
0 comments

Author: Yehuda Lieberman, LCSW

March 7th, 2025

I wonder if you have any suggestions for pulling out of what feels like a tailspin these last few weeks. I had been doing really well at work, at home, and in my learning and davening and suddenly I feel like I just lost all interest. It’s hard for me to get out of bed in the morning, I push off my chavrusah, and I am not paying attention at home or work. It seems to have come from nowhere. I know it will pass and I will get …
0 comments

Author: Elan Javanfard, L.M.F.T.

March 6th, 2025

  How you do anything is how you do everything. Parshat Tetzaveh focus on the elaborate designing of the clothing for the Kohanim, emphasizing intricate details and precision.  In the modern fast-paced world, where attention spans are fleeting, the Parsha’s emphasis to meticulous detail in the description of the garments carries a profound message about the importance of being detail oriented and precise in all our actions.   …
0 comments

Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

March 1st, 2025

Megillas MAGA © 2025 Simcha Feuerman Chapter 1: The Bumbling King In the days of BidenOyVeyLeRosh, ruler of 50 (give or take a few disputed) states, there was much confusion in the land. From his mighty throne in the Swamp of Washington, he sat on his throne. His advisors whispered amongst themselves: “Does he need a nap first?” “Which teleprompter setting today: ‘Normal’ or ‘Extra Large’?” One …
0 comments

Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

March 10th, 2025

Our Gemara on amud beis discusses the interesting legal category of the tevul yom. A tevul yom refers to a person who has undergone a ritual immersion in a mikvah but must still wait until nightfall for full purification. During this interim period—between immersion and sunset—the individual or item retains a partial status of impurity and is subject to certain restrictions. Our Gemara provides a prooftext that a tevul yom who perform …
0 comments

Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

March 9th, 2025

Our Gemara on amud aleph tells of the extreme fate of King Yehoyakim, who was singled out for a humiliating punishment that even extended to his corpse:
Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Avuya says: It was written on the skull of Yehoyakim, king of Judea: "This and yet another," indicating that he will suffer a punishment in addition to what he has already received. The Gemara relates: Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Avuya, the grandfather of Rabbi Perida, found a skull …
0 comments

Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

March 7th, 2025

Continuing the discussion of how various despicable acts may not be technically punishable, sometimes the rabbis allowed for extra measures to rein in wholesale abuse and disregard for the law or social order. Therefore, even though one who repeatedly violates a prohibition in the Torah is technically not subject to capital punishment, the Mishna on amud beis rules:
One who was flogged for violating a prohibition and then repeated the viola …
0 comments

Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

March 7th, 2025

Our Gemara on Amud Aleph teaches:
Rava says that regarding the offspring of a cow that gores while pregnant, it is prohibited to bring the animal as an offering, just like any animal that has killed a person. This is because both the cow and its unborn offspring gored together. Similarly, in the case of the offspring of a cow that was the object of bestiality while the fetus was in utero, it is prohibited to bring it as an offering, as both …
0 comments

Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

March 6th, 2025

Continuing the discussion of indirect or less intentional forms of murder, our Gemara examines a dispute regarding a case where one intends to kill one person but “accidentally” kills another. Rabbi Shimon holds that if a person intends to kill Reuven but ends up killing Shimon, he is not liable for the death penalty. This debate may center on whether such an act demonstrates sufficient intent to incur capital punishment.
Even a …
0 comments

Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

March 5th, 2025

Our Gemara on Amud Aleph continues its discussion of various indirect forms of murder, including the case of one who causes a snake to bite a person.
There is a dispute regarding how direct this action is, and according to our Gemara’s analysis, it depends on where the venom is located. Rabbi Yehuda holds that the venom is upon the snake’s fangs. Therefore, in this case, the entire action is performed by the individual who embed …
0 comments

Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

March 4th, 2025

Our Gemara on Amud Aleph discusses various scenarios where a person causes another’s death intentionally but not directly. For example, tying someone up in a situation where the sun will rise and cause them to die from heatstroke. This is known as gramma—an indirect causation—which is not punishable in a Jewish court but is among the many sins that incur a heavenly death penalty. However, in terms of monetary damages on objects, …
0 comments

Author: Elan Javanfard, L.M.F.T.

February 28th, 2025

Terumah presents a profound exploration of the psychology of giving as it unfolds within the construction of the Mishkan. The Parsha details the meticulous instructions for creating a space on Earth to connect with Hashem. The Parsha starts by saying, “V'yikchu Li Terumah – and you should take for yourselves a contribution for me' (Exodus 25:2).” This passuk goes beyond the mere physical construction and provides valuable insigh …
1 comments

Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

March 3rd, 2025

Our Gemara on Amud Beis considers it improper piety to return a lost object to a gentile. In other words, if the local gentile laws and moral codes do not obligate returning a lost object, it is unnecessary, and even vainly pious, to do so. As we discussed in Psychology of the Daf: Sanhedrin 74, Torah law is not only societal but also covenantal. Many legal systems may not consider a lost object to be the possession of the original owner, and thu …
0 comments

Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

March 2nd, 2025

On Amud Aleph, the Gemara discusses a fascinating story about a man who was stricken with lovesickness. The physicians assessed that if he was unable to requite his love, he would die. Much ink has been spilled analyzing the nuanced and multifaceted ways in which the rabbis responded to this person’s situation. For our discussion, we will focus on one particular segment. While there are different accounts of the story, one account suggests …
0 comments

Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

February 28th, 2025

Our Gemara on Amud Aleph references a well-known Talmudic legal principle: Jewish law does not employ a kal v’chomer (a fortiori argument). A kal v’chomer is a method of deriving a law based on logic, where if a certain stringency applies to a less severe situation, it should certainly apply to a more severe one. For example, if one is ticketed for running a yellow light, surely one should be ticketed for running a red light. However, …
0 comments

Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

February 28th, 2025

Our Gemara on Amud Aleph provides an intriguing scriptural source for the obligation to save a fellow Jew from harm. The verse regarding returning lost objects states (Devarim 22:2), “And you shall return it to him.” However, the Hebrew wording, “Ve-Hashevoso” —which literally means “return it to him”—can also be read as “You shall return him to himself.” This subtle shift hints at the i …
0 comments

Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

February 27th, 2025

Our Gemara discusses one of the fundamental laws of preemptive self-defense, as described in Shemos 22:1-2. In certain situations where there is a reasonable presumption that an intruder intends to use deadly force—such as a home invasion, where the thief is prepared to encounter an adversary and therefore ready to kill if necessary—one does not have to wait to be attacked and may strike preemptively. (An obvious and nearly universal …
0 comments

Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

February 26th, 2025

Our Gemara on Amud Aleph discusses how the Ben Sorrer Umoreh—the rebellious son described in Devarim (21:18) who is subject to the death penalty—historically never existed. That is, as draconian as the prescribed punishment seems, it never actually came to pass. One important aspect of the legal procedure is that the parents themselves must bring their child before the court, meaning they are voluntarily participating in a process tha …
0 comments

Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

February 25th, 2025

Our Mishna on Amud Aleph references the idea of having a meal when calculating whether the lunar month is 29 or 30 days. The Aruch Hashulchan (OC 419:2) explains that this meal was intended to incentivize any witnesses who had seen evidence of the new moon to make the trip to the court. He quotes the Kol Bo, which states that the custom of eating a festive meal on Rosh Chodesh in general serves as a zecher le-Mikdash, a way to remember various ri …
0 comments

Author: Elan Javanfard, L.M.F.T.

February 20th, 2025

Parshat Mishpatim delves into the rules set forth after the Ten Commandments, establishing a just world run through the divine providence of Hashem. While there were many commandments that the Torah could have begun this Parsha with, the focus on the acquisition and treatment of a Jewish slave provides us a profound lesson in the treatment of individuals whose life circumstances have led them astray. In considering the psychological concept of re …
0 comments

Author: test

February 25th, 2025

dcfgvbhjnmk,l …
0 comments

Author: Yehuda Lieberman, LCSW

February 18th, 2025

Dear Therapist: I really was not doing well during my mesivta years. I got into a lot of trouble and was a bit out of control. Baruch Hashem, I found myself the right yeshiva and I am really doing good now. I have cleaned up a lot of the issues that I was having trouble with in the past. Over the years people had pushed me to go to therapy but I was never really interested. Now, my parents are bringing it up again and I am more ope …
0 comments

Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

February 24th, 2025

Our Gemara on Amud Aleph notes the linguistic similarity between the Hebrew word mezid (“malicious intent”) and le-hazid (“to cook”). For example, Yaakov cooked lentil stew as part of his scheme to buy the birthright from Esau (Bereishis 25:29), where it says, "Va-Yazed Yaakov Nazid," but the word hazid is also used to denote malicious intent, as seen in Devarim 17:12, when a man deliberately defies a directive from an aut …
0 comments

Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

February 23rd, 2025

Our Gemara on Amud Aleph describes a poignant scene where the sages visit their colleague, Rabbi Eliezer, who is on his deathbed. This is a psychologically complex encounter, as these very same colleagues had excommunicated him for his intense and disrespectful manner of disagreeing with them during the famous "Oven of Achnai" dispute (see Bava Metzia 59b). For obvious reasons, there was tension and regret on both sides, which had never been full …
0 comments

Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

February 21st, 2025

Our Gemara on Amud Aleph describes the actions and words that the Inciter (to commit idolatry) must say in order to be liable for the death penalty. An example is how he might educate someone about a particular mode of idol worship and its rituals: “There is an idol in such and such a place, which eats like this, drinks like this, does good for its worshippers like this, and harms those who do not worship it like this.” It is curious …
0 comments

Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

February 21st, 2025

Our Gemara on Amud Aleph analyzes the verse in Vayikra 20:9 that warns against cursing one’s parents: If anyone curses his father and mother, that person shall be put to death; that person has cursed father and mother—and retains the bloodguilt. In various halakhic discussions throughout the Talmud, a linguistic question arises regarding how to understand the Biblical letter vav when it serves as a conjunction. Does it mean “and …
0 comments

Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

February 20th, 2025

Our daf discusses the various prohibitions against divining omens and portents. The relevant verses are found in Devarim (18:10-18):   Let no one be found among you who consigns a son or daughter to the fire, or who is an augur, a soothsayer, a diviner, a sorcerer,  one who casts spells, or one who consults ghosts or familiar spirits, or one who inquires of the dead. For anyone who does such things is abhorrent to Hashem, and it is …
0 comments

Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

February 19th, 2025

Our Gemara on Amud Aleph quotes a profound theological principle: "The seal of the Holy One, Blessed be He, is truth."   Let us delve deeper into this idea. The Likkutei Halachos (Birchos Hahoda’ah 6:29) illustrates how emes—truth—is embedded within Hashem’s very name. When Moshe asks how he should identify God to the Jewish people, Hashem responds (Shemos 3:14):   “Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh,” and c …
0 comments

Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

February 18th, 2025

Our Gemara on Amud Beis offers an insight into what truly motivated the Jews to engage in idolatry—an insight that remains relevant in our times as well. Even though explicit idolatry is much less prevalent today, heretical beliefs that deny or subvert the Torah certainly persist as a challenge. The Talmud’s psychological analysis of idolatry can similarly be applied to many forms of modern heresy. The Gemara states: Rav Yehuda says t …
0 comments

Author: Elan Javanfard, L.M.F.T.

February 14th, 2025

Any one with in-laws can relate to this week’s Parsha. There are only two people in the Torah who provide criticism to Moshe Rabeynu. One is Hashem, who we see time after time providing Moshe with guidance and feedback. The second is Moshe’s father in law.  Parshat Yitro presents a pivotal moment in the story of Bnei’s Yisrael’s acceptance of the Torah. Moshe Rabeynu’s  father-in-law, Yitro, visits him and …
0 comments

Author: Talli Yehuda Rosenbaum

February 14th, 2025

In this episode, Talli Rosenbaum and Rabbi Scott Kahn blend Jewish wisdom with modern psychology to explore marital doubt, intimacy challenges, and when to stay or go. Tune in for practical insights on transforming even the most challenging relationships. …
0 comments

Author: Elan Javanfard, L.M.F.T.

February 13th, 2025

In Parshat Beshalach, we encounter a transformative moment as Bnei Yisrael, having just left Egypt, find themselves trapped between the pursuing Egyptian army and the seemingly impassable Red Sea. The Parsha recounts the dramatic crossing of the Red Sea, the subsequent song and triumph. However, in the face of this dire situation, Moshe receives a message from Hashem that we can apply to our daily lives. Boxed in between the Sea and the Egyptians …
0 comments

Author: Yehuda Lieberman, LCSW

February 12th, 2025

Dear Therapist: I recently began dating and was surprised that I was extremely nervous during the time I was dating that boy. This is a new experience for me, I am generally laid back and I have never been the anxious type. What bothered me the most was that during the 2 weeks I was dating I had no appetite and could barely eat anything.  When that match didn’t work out, I was back to myself, but then when I said yes to …
0 comments

Author: Yehuda Lieberman, LCSW

February 12th, 2025

Dear Therapist: Is there a way to get my teenagers to be more organized and on top of things or is this just the way that they are and I should learn to live with it?  The constant forgetting and/or neglecting of responsibilities and the things they were asked to do, the oversleeping, and the mess in their rooms. These are great kids who are doing well in school and yeshiva so I don't want to complain, but as a mother it is really hard on me …
0 comments

Author: Yehuda Lieberman, LCSW

February 12th, 2025

Dear Therapist: I was wondering what ideas you would suggest for enhancing communication in a marriage. This is for a couple that has good shalom bayis and is looking to work on it. Somehow although things are going well, when disagreements happen it is the same thing over and over. So, it seems that although there is a discussion, these issues are not resolved.  I don't think in this case therapy is really on the table but perhaps …
0 comments

Author: Yehuda Lieberman, LCSW

February 12th, 2025

Dear Therapist: My son has a tendency to jump around yeshivos. He is in second year and now is talking about switching to another yeshiva which would be his fourth in 6 years. He always has a strong reason behind it, he wants a certain shiur, a better oylam, or just thinks it would be good to have a "fresh start." I would say he is about average in most of the places he has been and they have been happy with him, he seems to keep thinki …
0 comments

Author: Yehuda Lieberman, LCSW

February 12th, 2025

Dear Therapist: I am almost always tired. I get a decent night's sleep, around 7 hours, which is certainly more than most people I know. Still, I have these constant feelings of fatigue throughout the day. I go to the doctor regularly so it isn't like I have some health issue that is causing it. Can this be mental health related? I think I am doing ok and I certainly don't suffer from any serious mental health issues. I guess I am not the happies …
0 comments

Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

February 17th, 2025

Our Gemara on amud beis discusses the degree of liability when a person commits idolatry but is unaware that the Torah forbids it. The Gemara’s primary focus is on whether and what kind of sacrifice must be brought. However, we will set aside that aspect and explore a different dimension of this topic: How does the Torah relate to accidental heresy? What if a yerei shamayim—a God-fearing and sincere seeker of truth—misinterprets …
0 comments