ברוכים הבאים
This web site is a portal to many of my writings, including Torah Posts on the weekly portion and festivals, essays on Jewish Law (responsa), and a selection of other essays, videos and audio files.
Updated versions of my responsa on technology may be found in my 2024 book, Torah and Technology: Circuits, Cells, and the Sacred Path (Izzun Books).
I welcome your feedback by email: rabbidanielnevins@gmail.com.
Recent Torah Posts
Resurrecting Resurrection: Vayeilekh/Shuvah 5786
The Torah itself is the mechanism of reviving the dead. When we teach their Torah, then we experience their presence. Moses is in the room with us today, and so too are all of our teachers who have left us in body, but conveyed their messages to guide us in life.
Chukat 5785: The Torah of Mortals and Machines
Might an obscure ancient ritual that has not been practiced in millennia have relevance for contemporary technology such as artificial intelligence? Let’s consider a curious turn of phrase in Parashat Chukat, “this is the Torah (of) a person who dies” (זאת התורה אדם כי ימות). Numbers 19 describes an unusual ritual to purify a living…
Ki Teitzei 5784: The Extended Effects of Captivity
Danny Nevins, Ansche Chesed, Minyan Maat Shabbat Ki Teitzei 5784 /September 14, 2024 During the 330 days that her son Hersh was held captive, Rachel Goldberg-Polin made dozens of speeches that moved people across the world. From the UN to the Vatican to the DNC, she spoke as a mother in agony, an activist demanding…
Recent Responsa
Halakhic Guidance for Jews of Blended Religious Backgrounds was a joint effort with Rabbi Katja Vehlow, approved by CJLS in November 2024. We addressed the complexities of religious identity and halakhic status for people whose ancestry or personal practice has involved more than one religious tradition. Using the lenses of past, present, and future, we address rabbis and other Jewish educators on best approaches for guiding such people to deepen their Jewish engagement.
Early Circumcision During a Pandemic. As the Covid pandemic intensified and some jurisdictions imposed lockdowns, it became difficult for some families to convene for a brit milah on their son’s eighth day of life. In such circumstances is it permitted to circumcise early in the hospital? How might the mitzvah of brit milah be later fulfilled, and with what liturgy? This responsum was approved by the CJLS on December 10, 2020.
Recent Video
Rabbi Justin Pines interviewed Wall Street Journal Senior Tech writer Joanna Stern and me about the issues raised in her work and my book, Torah and Technology, on the Jewish Broadcast Network. Originally aired on January 14, 2025.
Changemakers: What’s Next for Jewish Life? A Discussion on the Post-Covid Jewish World with Rabbis Sharon Brous, Menachem Creditor, Mitchel Malkus and Julie Roth, April 15, 2021.
Rabbi Danny Nevins 