Cinderella: Orphans, Stepmothers, and Fairy Godmothers, Oh My! - Rabbi Gershon Schaffel

What can Cinderella teach us about Jewish ethics? In this episode, join Rabbi Gershon Schaffel for a surprisingly deep journey through one of the world’s most famous fairy tales, explore questions you probably never expected Cinderella to raise: What obligations does Judaism place on caring for orphans? Does a child have to honor a stepmother — especially an unfair one? Could Cinderella wear a dress made from discarded materials? Is marrying royalty considered ideal in Jewish thought? Is marrying INTO royalty restricted to only a select few? Is there any Jewish concept similar to a “fairy godmother”? What does Judaism think about benefiting from miracles? Is there any benefit to returning one shoe - to clarify, if I lose one of a pair of earrings, am I liable for both earrings, or for only one? Whether you grew up with the 1950 animated classic or know Cinderella through modern retellings, this episode uncovers layers of meaning hiding beneath the glass slipper. I am excited to welcome Rabbi Gershon Eliezer Schaffel to this episode to answer our questions. Rabbi Schaffel was raised and continues to live in Skokie, Illinois, with his family.  He received his bachelor’s degree from the Hebrew Theological College and his Rabbinical Ordination from Rabbi Shlomo Morgenstern, former Dean of Hebrew Theological College. Rabbi Schaffel received Yadin Yadin semichah in the area of Jewish Business Law which qualifies him to serve as a judge in a Jewish Court (Bais Din) involving civil matters. In addition to serving as the Rabbi of Young Israel of Skokie since 1995, Rabbi Schaffel teaches at several schools in the Chicago Jewish community and leads one of the most well attended Daf Yomi shiurim. Rabbi Schaffel also writes articles for Business Weekly, Daf Yomi Digest, and Mishna Brurah Yomi which are distributed worldwide. He lectures on a variety of topics for many different community organizations. For more Rabbi Schaffel, please follow his podcast at https://listen.jewishpodcasts.fm/rabbigershonschaffel for links to various podcast platforms.