Torah Cafe Zalman Gordon

The Torah has various rules and laws for owning slaves. Throughout the early part of Jewish history, Jews owned slaves. Does Judaism allow for slavery? Is it ever okay for one human to own another?

Since the Era of Enlightenment and particularly since the end of the Civil War in the United States, slavery has been viewed as a horrible institution and contrary to human rights and human dignity. How can we reconcile Judaism's approach to slavery with our modern understanding of the evil of slavery?

A fascinating discussion about Judaism and slavery.




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For the first 2,000 years or so of Judaism, Jews were mostly agrarian farmers. Many of the commandments of the Torah involve farming and agriculture particularly in the land of Israel. There are rules about how and when to plant and harvest, tithes, gifts for the poor and gifts for G-d. 

Most Jews left farming about 1,300 years ago but there have been repeated attempts to return Jews to the farm in the years since.

A fascinating class about the history and laws of Jewish farming. 




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When someone is wronged, it is human nature to feel resentment towards the person who wronged them. Is it okay to feel resentment? Can we do something to express that resentment? Or should we just turn the other cheek?

A fascinating discussion about the Jewish view of resentment. 




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One of the most amazing events in Jewish history was the miraculous fall of Sennacherib and his massive armies at the gates of Jerusalem. This story is told in detail three times in Tanach (more than any other event) and mentioned countless times as well. 

A class about this incredible Passover miracle. 




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The Haggadah, the book that we use for our Passover Seder is one of the oldest and probably the most widely used Jewish book. It has been printed thousands of times with thousands of commentaries.



A fascinating discussion about the Haggadah, it's history and how we got the Haggadah that we use today.


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The Torah prohibits a Jew from owning Chametz on Passover. A common workaround to that prohibition is for Jews to sell their Chametz to a non-Jew before Passover and then purchase it back from them after Passover. 
A fascinating discussion about selling our Chametz over Passover!

Sell your Chametz today (by Sunday, April 21 at noon) at jccmb.com/sellchametz

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