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8
votes
1answer
294 views
Four Holy Cities
I have often seen reference to the Four Holy Cities: Jerusalem, Hebron, Safed and Tiberias. What is the earliest source to reference this? Why these four cities? Has there ever been a different count? ...
61
votes
3answers
2k views
Implications of Samoa skipping a Friday
This week, the island of Samoa is switching time zones, causing it to skip from Thursday directly to Saturday. Out of simple curiosity, what implications might this have on any Jews on the island? ...
3
votes
3answers
66 views
Why did Hashem tell Moshe to look behind him when looking into Eretz Yisroel?
The Posuk says:
וְשָׂא עֵינֶיךָ יָמָּה וְצָפֹנָה וְתֵימָנָה וּמִזְרָחָה וּרְאֵה בְעֵינֶיךָ
The question is Moshe is standing in Chutz Laretz why look back thats not Eretz Yisroel that is also Chutz ...
10
votes
2answers
126 views
ribis and foreign currency conversion
I am afraid that I have only recently started to study this kind of thing and I completely unlearned compared to most of the contributors here, so I apologize if my question is somewhat ...
4
votes
6answers
121 views
Al Hamichyah - Wide land?
In the Brocho after eating grains which are not bread we say:
על ארץ חמדה טובה ורחבה
Translated very loosely as: On the Land (ISRAEL) that is desirable good and WIDE.
Now, anyone with a ...
11
votes
2answers
196 views
Were the people of Chelm really unintelligent?
There are many stories that are told over about the people who lived in Chelm. They all have the theme of: the people in Chelm were fairly unintelligent. Where did this come from? Is it true? It ...
5
votes
2answers
66 views
Are there any eruvs that include both sides of a US Interstate Highway?
Are there any eruvs that include both sides of a US Interstate Highway?
I assumed this was halachically and/or logistically impossible. Is that correct? Can anyone prove this wrong by (groan) ...
6
votes
1answer
95 views
When is “vesain tal umotor” said in Australia?
When is "vesain tal umotor" said in the Southern Hemisphere eg Australia?
2
votes
1answer
76 views
Michvar goats' sneezing from Jerusalem incense?
Tamid chapter 3 says (in my own free translation):
One could smell from Y'richo the scent of the blend[1] of the k'tores. Rabbi Eliezer b. Diglay said, "Father's house had goats on Mt. Michvar ...
2
votes
0answers
62 views
Where are the borders of Eretz Israel nowadays? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What are the Halachic boundaries of Eretz Yisroel?
How far into Jordan/Lebanon/Syria/Egypt is still considered "Halachic" Eretz Israel?
3
votes
1answer
66 views
The list of Binyamin's cities
When Y'hoshua 15:21–62 lists the cities of Y'huda, it does so by area/topography. M'tzudas David to 15:37 says that "everywhere it counts some separately and others separately", it does so by area or ...
3
votes
2answers
104 views
cities that start with ה־
There are a good number of cities referred to in Y'hoshua, of course, and a sizable percentage (I'm guesstimating about 5%) of them start with ה־ (most famously הָעַי, I think).What ...
7
votes
2answers
64 views
Why is it that there appear to be so many different nuschaos of Selichos?
Why is it that there appear to be more different nuschaos of Selichos than other tefillos? I have heard of Askenaz, Sfard, Lita, Polin and Ungvar.
6
votes
1answer
99 views
Location of the Beit HaDeshen
In "aizeho mekomon" (the 5th chapter of Maseches Z'vachim)we learn that the the porim hanisrofim were burned in the Beit HaDeshen. What please was the location of the Beit HaDeshen? I seem to remember ...
8
votes
2answers
177 views
Is there a difference between “p” and “f” when transliterating from English to Hebrew?
When transliterating an English name to Hebrew (e.g. for a Ketubah or Get), is there a way to distinguish between a "p" and "f" sound? E.g. Fine, NY vs Pine, CO. Would both just be spelled (assuming ...
2
votes
2answers
144 views
5
votes
1answer
193 views
Shabbat in the arctic
If I were to travel to Barrow, Alaska in the summer, when there is no sunset, when should I light the Shabbat candles?
(This is not a hypothetical question; I work remotely for an Alaskan corporation ...
10
votes
1answer
236 views
When does a day start/end in the far North/South?
As I understand it, a day in the Jewish calendar is from sunset to sunset. How is this handled if you are living so far north or south that you have long periods of daylight or darkness?
2
votes
1answer
64 views
Redistribution of refuge cities after expansion
When the Torah commands the establishment of cities of refuge in Eretz Yisra'el to protect accidental murderers from vengeful relatives it states that the three cities must be evenly placed ...
3
votes
1answer
91 views
4
votes
3answers
305 views
Where is the Sambatyon?
Where is the Sambatyon? Is there really a river somewhere that throws stones all week and rests on Shabbos?
5
votes
3answers
198 views
'Goshen' was where?
Tonight I thought occurred to me regarding Yosef going to meet Yaakov for the first time in Egypt. It depended on where Goshen was, which I thought was south of the main then center of Egypt. I could ...
7
votes
2answers
90 views
How did the Sages know that Jerusalem had a wall in the times of Joshua?
The criterion for whether a city celebrates Purim on 14 Adar or Shushan Purim on 15 Adar is whether it was walled in the times of Joshua (about 3300 years ago). (Well Shushan itself is an exception, ...
8
votes
4answers
579 views
How precisely oriented towards Jerusalem should we face for praying?
I know we're supposed to face towards Jerusalem when praying/davening. For most of us in the Europe or the Western Hemisphere, we're used to facing "Mizrach", east.
How precise should we be? If ...
5
votes
2answers
66 views
Yiddish city name from the 19th c
There is a locale referenced in a few places in stories or other materials relating to R' Y'chi'el Tz'vi Margaliyos called טאקאלא, on which extremely little information seems to be available online. ...
