Torah Corner

The Torah blog of Rabbi Yosef A. Cohen, MD of the Fleetwood Synagogue

Below you can find links to blog posts covering a range of topics. Rabbi Cohen writes about the parsha, chagim, and halacha, as well as a range of medical questions and how these topics overlap. 

There are also posts available on YUTorah by both Rabbis Cohen and Dayan.

The top of the page displays the most recent posts, while the categories section below can connect you to summaries and posts on a particular topic. 

Recent Posts

  • The Fleetwood Synagogue SoundCloud Page

    In addition to the various blog posts directly on the Torah Corner here on the Fleetwood Synagogue website, there are a large number of audio files on the Fleetwood SoundCloud page. These are audio only, without written commentary beyond the file name. The entire page is embedded below, although only a […]

  • Halachic Talking Part III

    ii. Speaker not Halachic Talking The first halachic authority to significantly argue that any form of a microphone is not considered halachically attributed to the person who made the original sound is Rabbi Aurbach[1]. To make his case, he used Rabbi Halpern’s exception as the rule. The opposing view assumed […]

  • Halachic Talking Part II

    B. Sources i. Speaker as Halachic Talking One of the earliest sources that discussed microphones in Halacha was written by Rabbi Spira, the third leader of the Mumkatch Hassidic dynasty. Rabbi Spira’s[1] responsa primarily focused on fulfilling an obligation heard over a speaker where the person talking and the one […]

  • Yom Kippur: Remembering Why

    נעילה Now is the time. Over the last month we have spent a significant amount of time preparing for this final moment. We have reached the climax of the יום כיפור service. We fasted all day, prayed all day in preparation for the last תפילה we will now say together […]

  • The Prayer of Rosh Hashana

    Tfilat Hannah: A Model of Thanksgiving I’ve always been struck by the profound impact of a particular prayer on Rosh Hashanah, one that we don’t actually recite ourselves but rather find in the haftarah portion – the prayer of Hannah, תפלת חנה. Hannah’s story is a testament to unwavering faith […]

  • Parshat Netzavim: Accomplishment of Yamim Noraim

    The non clearly defined rules of Parshat Hakel have led to much debate among rishonim. Once every seven years on Sukkot, following Shmitta, some Torah portion is read in front of some number of people. One of the points of debate is why specifically on Sukkot. The Abarbanel makes the […]

  • Parshat Shoftim: Spheres of Prayer

    עגלה ערופה is a strange halacha. Instructions are given for a governing body, not directly related to the welfare of the people of the town to come atone for the sins of the members of the city. An unidentified cadaver was found within a short distance of the town. The […]

  • Parshat Ekev: Recipe for Love

    Love is complicated. Let us attempt to address what we really mean when we discuss loving someone. Some forms of love are much easier to explain than others. Some forms of love can cynically be simple biological imperatives or evolutionary developments: we love our children, we love our parents. It […]

  • Parshat Devarim: Menashe and Love of Eretz Yisrael

    On the list of events that are repeated in Sefer Devarim is the request of Reuvan and Gad to settle the land conquered by the Jewish people before they formally entered Israel proper. As we know, Moshe, assuming they sought to benefit from the war waged by their brothers without […]

  • Parshat Pinchas: Transition of Shevet Levi

    ספר במדבר is also titled ספר ספרות or the Book of Countings, referring to the two times the Jewish people were counted in the Book, once prior to the חט המרגלים where the דור יוצאי מצרים were counted and once after where their children, the generation that was imminently entering […]

Categories of the Posts of the Torah Corner

Tags of the Posts of the Torah Corner Blog

39 melachot (3) audio (2) beginning of life (1) chagim (5) chanukah (1) electricity (3) English (44) fast (1) gozez (1) Hebrew (3) Israel (1) medical halacha (14) medicine (1) microphone (1) migglah (1) parsha (1) Pesach (2) plastic surgery (2) Purim (3) residency (1) saris (1) Shabbat (6) shofar (1) surgery (2) talking (1) tattoo (1) wounding (1) writing (2)