In the Star Trek Universe the transporter can be used to move people and objects across great distances. Although from the name transporter one might assume it moves things through space, it actually doesn’t. A transporter disassembles the person or object at the source, and then reassembles an exact copy at the destination to recreate…
Entering Hyperspace Just Before Shabbos
Does time continue to elapse while in hyperspace, or have you entered a dimension beyond time, and therefore not bound to stop one hour before Shabbos? We’re going to examine the data surrounding hyperspace travel to answer the hypothetical question: Could our Hero’s Journey (Luke, Ben, Han, and the rest, in Star Wars:A New Hope)…
Is the Heart of a Targ Kosher?
Klingons speak frequently about eating the heart of a Targ, and it is eaten in the Klingon Day of Honor ceremony. If a Jew were invited to join with some Klingon friends, could the Jew partake of a Targ heart as well? Many people say seem to believe that since blood is not allowed to…
Rebels: Halachic Jedi in Search of Truth
Tee Watt Kaa: But is it worth killing for? Fighting for something doesn’t necessarily mean you have to destroy everything in your path. Only when you lay your arms down and pursue a course of nonviolence can you make this claim to me that the Jedi are peacekeepers. From Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Season…
Do Jewish Zombies Need to Eat Kosher Brains?
This blog post is based on a siur I gave last year. You can see the source sheet for the shiur at Sefaria. The Talmud derives in several places (Shabbat 30a, shabbat 151b, Niddah 61b) the principle that the dead are not obligated to perform mitzvot. This is one of the reasons that we can…