Rabbi Ari Shvat
Rav Kook's Torah, religious Zionism, the Land of Israel & Original Songs
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Are Fewer Ba’alei Tshuva Religious-Zionist?
No hard data exists — but a theory for why an all-or-nothing reaction happens, and why it not only need not…
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Should You Pay a Stranger to Say Kaddish?
Three explanations for an old custom, and why it’s often better left unmentioned to a non-religious family. Q. Is it true…
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How Do You Choose an Hebraicized Last Name?
A working list of how great rabbis actually did it — by sound, by meaning, or by their father’s name. Q.…
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Is There Really No Tshuva for a Habitual Sin?
A mishna sounds like it closes the door on repentance — a closer read says it’s still ajar. Q. Is there…
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Should I Hebraicize My Last Name?
The Chatam Sofer did it, and so did many of Rav Kook’s students on making aliya. Q. Should I Hebraicize My…
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Why Are Some Moral Mitzvot Directed Only at Fellow Jews?
The Torah’s default assumption is a Jew living among Jews in Israel — exile was never the baseline. Q. Why are…
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Using Snow to Keep Food Cold During a Shabbat Blackout
Three major poskim, three different reasons, and a practical ruling for food that’s actually about to spoil. Q. We had a…
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Were Joseph’s Egyptians Circumcised?
Two midrashim in Rashi seem to contradict — the resolution is that neither are necessarily meant literally. Q. It says in…
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Why Is So Little Physical Evidence Left of the Temple?
Skeptics ask: if the Temple was as large as described, why does so little archaeological trace remain? Q. How do we…
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Are All Souls Really One Soul That Split Apart?
A mystical idea holds all souls stem from a single original soul – does that include non-Jewish souls too? Q. The…