Printed fromChabadBedford.com
Ask the Rabbi
Contact
Home
About
Sign In
Chabad of Bedford
High Holidays Sukkot Chanukah Purim Passover Lag BaOmer Shavuot Tisha B'Av
Services Family Reserve Dinner
Services Sushi in the Sukkah Lulav Simchat Torah
Bedford Village Menorah Lighting Pound Ridge Outdoor Menorah Lighting Mt Kisco Menorah Lighting
Purim Eve Comedy Purim Day Puppy Show Mishloach Manot Guide
Seder Sell Chametz Synagogue Services Guide
What Is Lag BaOmer? Customs & Traditions Event Search Insights History Q & A Stories Audio Classes Videos Lag BaOmer Parades with the Rebbe
7 Ways Lag Baomer 2025 Is Unique
Feature
13 Recipes to Make for Lag BaOmer How to Celebrate Lag BaOmer How to Dye Eggs Red (Using Onion Skins) for Lag BaOmer How to Eat Carob (and Why We Eat it on Lag BaOmer)
Holidays
Hebrew School Teens Gan Preschool Bar/Bat Mitzvah
About Us Register Bar/Bat Mitzvah Photos Aleph Champ Homework Calendar
Come Back and Give Back CTeen Programs Photos CTeen Bake for LA
Significance of Bar & Bat Mitzvah Bar & Bat Mitzvah @ Chabad Ceremony Options Preparations for Bar & Bat Mitzvah Bar/Bat Mitzvah Calendar Forms and Fees Dedication Tree
Youth
Shabbat Morning Services Special Events Facility Rental Jewish Learning Institute Sisterhood Chabad Program Guide 2025-2026 Membership Morning Minyan
Kiddush Sponsorship
Shabbat Parsha & Play Mitzvah Day Mother's Day Babka Bake The Skills of Real Connection
Bris/Baby Naming Bar/Bat Mitzvah Wedding Party/Event Host Your Kiddush/Simcha @ Chabad Memorial Service @ Chabad About the Chabad Event Space
JLI Enrollment Form
Women's Tanya Study Mother's Day Babka Bake
Membership Details & Benefits Membership Form Membership Renewal Form Membership FAQs
Synagogue
Purim Children's Celebrations Purim Comedy Night Chanukkah 2025 in Bedford Village Sisterhood Food, Hope, Resilience Event Purim 5784 Sisterhood Challah Bake Grand Opening Groundbreaking Chanukah Giant Lego Menorah Bedford Village & Pound Ridge Menorah Lighting Purim 2023 Sisterhood: Cocktail Event with Michal Oshman Gala 2023
Photo
Gallery
Preschool
Donate
About Search Contact
ב"ה
Synagogue

Jewish Learning Institute

Captivating Cases in Rabbinic Responsa

Listen in on the surprising, practical questions your ancestors asked rabbis across Jewish history.

Join this six-session course to discover the little-known world of rabbinic responsa, a vast archive of the real-life questions of ethics and practice Jews asked across history—and the scholarly answers rabbis wrote.

Algiers is under siege: May I pray in a bathhouse? The Inquisition is watching: How will I celebrate Passover? Seventeen Jews are held hostage in faraway Regensburg after a blood libel: Must I help pay their ransom?

See what enables Jewish tradition to offer relevant guidance in a rapidly changing world—and come face-to-face with raw Jewish history.

(If you don’t know what a “rabbinic responsa” is, you’ll fit right in.)

 

WHEN

6 Wednesdays,
7:00-8:00 P.M.
Jan 21 - Feb 25

Chabad of Bedford
220 South Bedford Road
Bedford Corners, NY 10549

JOIN NOW

More Info

Members $79, Non-Members $109

Lesson 1
The people who asked the questions

What do these questions reveal about our ancestors? What did they think, feel, and value? Explore five fascinating stories to find out.
Cases / Barcelona, 1300; Algiers, 1450; Modena, 1530; Spain, 1450; Auschwitz, 1944

 

Lesson 2
The quest for facts

Do sages make assumptions about how reality works, or do they investigate the facts? Follow rabbis as they conduct five fascinating investigations worldwide.
Cases / Cairo, 1548; Altona, 1709; Hamburg, 1772; Jerusalem, 1866; Brooklyn, 1958

 

Lesson 3
How the Torah stays relevant

See inside the process that enables the Torah’s ancient code to guide life in an ever-changing world. Witness the precise process of applying Talmudic precedent.
Cases / Barcelona, 1300; Valencia, 1380; Pavia, 1478; Berezhany, 1908

 

Lesson 4
When the exception is the law

Explore four unexpected rulings to uncover the hidden fallback mechanisms within Jewish law: these aren’t exceptions to the law. They’re the law revealing its quiet values (like human dignity, and peace in the home).
Cases / Pavia, 1450; Salonika, 1550; Krakow, 1570; Liozna, 1790

 

Lesson 5
Answering the whole person

Rules don’t always translate into reality easily. See how sages account for the practical, social, and emotional realities around a question to ensure their ruling leads to its intended outcome.
Cases / Cairo, 1173; Barcelona, 1300; Lodmir, 1615; Lubavitch, 1871; Brooklyn, 1954; Manchester, 1963

 

Lesson 6
Responsa from the future

Could Artificial Intelligence decide Jewish law? Is lab-grown meat kosher? See how Jewish law is addressing the questions posed by tomorrow’s cutting-edge technology.
Cases / Jerusalem, 2003; Maaleh Adumim, 2009; New York, 2015; Beit Shemesh, 2022; worldwide, 2026


 
 


Chabad of Bedford
220 South Bedford Road Bedford Corners, NY 10549
914-666-6065

Powered by Chabad.org © 1993-2026 Privacy Policy