Captivating Cases in Rabbinic Responsa: Listen in on the surprising, practical questions your ancestors asked rabbis across Jewish history.

 

Dates January 19 - February 23 2026
Lessons Included 6
Course Overview

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.)

Lesson Details

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; ALGIERS, 1732; 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 unexpected rulings that reveal the hidden fallback mechanisms built into Jewish law. These cases show how the law itself protects deeper values like human dignity and family harmony.

 

Cases PAVIA, 1450; SALONIKA, 1550; KRAKOW, 1570; LIOZNA, 1790

 

Lesson 5 Answering the whole person

 

Rules don’t always translate easily into reality. 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