Captivating Cases

30 Captivating Cases in Rabbinic Responsa

Listen in on 30 surprising, practical questions your ancestors asked rabbis across Jewish history. Click Here for full list

• What would you do if saving your child meant another life would be lost?
• How do you keep Shabbat… on Mars?
• Should a Jewish community protect a murderer from execution?
• Is lab-grown meat kosher?
• And who is the mother when a child is born through Mitochondrial Replacement (the "three-parent baby")? 

See the full list of questions here 

These are not thought experiments from a philosophy class.
They are real questions, asked by real Jews, in real moments of crisis—and answered by rabbinic leaders who understood that Torah is not only eternal, but alive.

This course takes you inside these moments across centuries and continents—from medieval Spain to Auschwitz, from ancient Cairo to the age of artificial intelligence.

This is the course  I wish every thoughtful Jew could experience .

Each session explores a gripping case:

• A moral dilemma with no easy answers

• The human story behind the question

• The halachic reasoning that guided Jewish leadership with courage, compassion, and clarity

You’ll see how rabbis confronted war, medicine, technology, and ethical chaos—and how their decisions continue to shape how Jews live, choose, and think today.

This course isn’t about abstract law.
It's about leadership under pressure, faith in complexity, and living with integrity when the stakes are real.

If you’ve ever wondered how Judaism adapts without losing its soul—or how timeless wisdom guides impossible decisions—this course is for you.

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