Emor 5774-2014
“The Sadducees and the Counting of the Omer”
One of the best known and most formidable disagreements between the Sadducees (the literalists) and Pharisees (the traditionalists) during the final years of the Second Temple concerned the counting of the Omer.
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Shoftim 5765-2005
"The Extent of Rabbinic Authority"
In this week's parasha, we are introduced to the Torah law that affirms rabbinic authority. In the traditional observant Jewish community today, the nature and extent of rabbinic authority is a matter of dispute. This dispute regarding Daat Torah (whether advice given by great Torah scholars must be followed by Jews committed to Torah observance) very much revolves around the meanings and interpretations of the verses cited in parashat Shoftim.
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