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11
votes
2answers
474 views

Giving gifts to non-Jews at Christmastime

Is it okay at Christmastime to give a gift to a boss or for kids to give gifts to teachers if they are not Jewish?
8
votes
3answers
254 views

Is it permissible to name one's child with a name from the opposite gender?

Is a person allowed to name a boy with a girl's name and vice versa? I remember seeing that one musn't, although in Nach one finds these things a lot. I understand it is not best practice for ...
4
votes
4answers
408 views

Matrilineal Descent

I have heard that matrilineal descent (i.e. having Judaism passed down through the mother) comes from the Roman period when women were raped by Roman soldiers and the babies were then said to be ...
15
votes
1answer
309 views

Blessing the Children on Friday Night

I have noticed that many families (including my own) have the custom for the father to bless all the children on Friday night before kiddush. When and where did this custom originate, and by whom, ...
13
votes
6answers
349 views

Height of a mezuzah and children:

If a child cannot reach the upper third of the doorway and he is the primary occupant of said room, may the mezuzah be affixed lower than the upper third?
15
votes
1answer
225 views

Is a convert obliged to honor his parents?

Is a convert obliged to honor his parents? I understand that a convert loses all halakhic relationship to his parents upon being "reborn." Therefore, does the mitzvah of kibud av va'eim still apply?
4
votes
7answers
575 views

How can God be just in light of Deuteronomy 23:3?

Deuteronomy 23:3: A bastard shall not enter into the assembly of the LORD; even to the tenth generation shall none of his enter into the assembly of the LORD. I asked a similar question here ...
4
votes
1answer
133 views

Should one say amen to an unnecessary bracha made by a child on the autism spectrum?

If a very verbal (often too verbal) 12 year old child on the autism spectrum has trouble speaking appropriately and particularly likes to say a bracha when he wants to and not necessarily when it's ...
9
votes
1answer
214 views

Honor thy children?

What responsibility do parents have to their children vis a vis Kavod? General Kavod HaBerioth? Some level of relational Kavod like spouses have or like children have to their parents, only to a ...
7
votes
2answers
227 views

Naming your child using a dead relative's initial

Is there a Jewish tradition of naming your child using the first letter of the name of a recently deceased relative?
21
votes
4answers
999 views

Are children adopted by Jews Jewish?

I was adopted around the time I was three months old by my parents who are both Jewish. I do not know what religion my biological mother was, in fact I have very little detail about her at all. I was ...
11
votes
2answers
136 views

Promised to name son Shimon - now husband is Shimon!?

A woman who desperately wanted to get married traveled to Meron, the burial place of Rebbi Shimon bar Yochai, and vowed that if she found her match, she would name her first son Shimon in his merit. ...
10
votes
1answer
182 views

Does a child own what he's implicitly given by his parents?

I assume that when a parent owns an object and a child uses it, it remains the property of the parent's absent any intent/declaration on the parent's part to grant it to the child (and absent an act ...
10
votes
3answers
392 views

Infant seeing reflection in mirror

I have heard that some people do not allow a child to see his or her reflection in a mirror before they can speak (or say their name, possibly). Is there any traditional source for this practice?
7
votes
3answers
186 views

Can a grandparent name a child differently than the parents?

We all know that Moshe Rabeinu had 7 names and was called Moshe which was the name Basya gave him. Recently I was in a Shul and there was a fellow there that had a grandaughter the previous week. The ...
6
votes
3answers
366 views

Baby boy's MOTHER as the sandek(et)

I have recently come upon historical evidence of the mothers of baby boys serving as the sandek(et) during the brit milah. From page 18 of The Orthodox Jewish Woman and Ritual: Options and ...
5
votes
1answer
99 views

Is a child born to a kidnapper also considered kidnapped?

According to Torah law if a man kidnaps a woman and has a child with her is that child now considered kidnapped as well? The question being has the man now violated the prohibition of kidnapping ...
3
votes
1answer
136 views

Named a male by mistake with a female name

Suppose a person's wife goes to the hospital to give birth and the husband remained home with the rest of the children. They made up that the nurse will call and let the phone ring once if it is a boy ...
2
votes
2answers
208 views

Why are children from a gentile wife not considered Jewish with a Jewish father?

Why are children who have a Jewish Father and gentile mother not considered Jewish?
2
votes
1answer
107 views

Conversion and starting a family

I wonder if there are any 'best practise' rules when a man would like to start a family and grow up children according to the Jewish tradition and the Torah, if such a person should rather convert or ...
1
vote
3answers
144 views

Did Mordechai have children?

Megillas Esther ends by saying: וְדֹבֵר שָׁלוֹם לְכָל־זַרְעוֹ - and speaking peace to all his seed. I realize Rashi applies this to the previous clause, of all the nation, but perhaps there are ...
0
votes
0answers
57 views

Should a parent bless a child resting one hand or both?

When a parent gives the traditional blessing usually done on Shabbat evening should the parent place one hand on the head of the child or two?
-4
votes
2answers
201 views

When did the switch to matrilineal descent occur?

Does anyone know when the switch the matrilineal descent took place? I've seen other information about the potential impetus, but when did it become so? Was there even a switch?