Questions related to how something was in the past, and how it's developed since then.
11
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4answers
616 views
“If God had not delivered us from Egypt we would still be slaves”? Really?
One part of the Pesach seder that has always bothered me is saying that if God had not taken us out of Mitzrayim at that time we would still be slaves today. This seems lacking in faith in God; ...
11
votes
7answers
201 views
Zmanim accuracy before digital clocks?
How was time measured for the purpose of Zmanim before we had accurate clocks like we do today? Was it possible to accurately determine Chatzos (at night) or the different watches of the night? I know ...
11
votes
3answers
140 views
What is the explanation for the destruction of the First Temple?
What is the explanation (according to the Jewish Bible, Talmud, etc.) for the destruction of the First Temple?
11
votes
3answers
371 views
What has the Holocaust taught us as a people?
The Holocaust was one of the most horrific and important events in our history. What have rabbis said are lessons we should take from it?
I am looking for lessons that should apply to all Jews, ...
11
votes
3answers
119 views
Who is the voice of Tosafoth?
Tosafoth were the sons-in-law, grandchildren, and students of Rashi (and their students), and "they" wrote a commentary on the Talmud that is often at odds with Rashi's earlier commentary. Sometimes ...
11
votes
2answers
142 views
Is there a model of reconciliation in the Tanach?
Monica asked an excellent question about how to correct someone who posts something objectionable on a public forum. I was struck by the suggestion that the usual course of action was "to take the ...
11
votes
2answers
281 views
Was there a GOLEM?
was there really a golem made in Prague that was alive and interacted with other people?
I heard that this story was nothing more than a made up tale in a children's book. Does anyone know the real ...
11
votes
2answers
204 views
What are the sources for the stories of Chanukah?
I'd like to find the sources for the stories associated with Chanukah. When I was younger, I was taught stories like:
Eliezer Maccabee being crushed by an elephant.
The rebellion staring in Mode'in ...
11
votes
1answer
118 views
First-Temple-Era names of the Hebrew months?
The Chumash refers to the months simply as "the first", "the second", and so on. Today we know them by their Babylonian names (Nisan, Iyar ...) Occasionally the Prophets from the First-Temple Era use ...
11
votes
2answers
222 views
Is it heresy to follow secular dating on the destruction of the first Temple?
There is a discrepancy between rabbinic and secular sources regarding when the first Temple was destroyed -- a difference of some 165 years or so, which are called the "Missing Years."
My question is ...
11
votes
2answers
470 views
Origins of איל משולש and Vilna Ga'on's bathroom math
There is a well-known fact that the Vilna Ga'on studied math while in the bathroom since Torah was out of the question in an unclean place. It is also somewhat well-known that he produced the material ...
11
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2answers
165 views
Is there a chief Rabbi of the United States?
Is there currently or has there ever been historically a chief Rabbi of the United States? If not, why not?
11
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2answers
134 views
“Avram” for when he was young?
The Gemara in Brachot 13a teaches us that we should only refer to Avraham as Avraham and not as Avram.
תני בר קפרא כל הקורא לאברהם אברם עובר בעשה שנאמר (בראשית יז) והיה שמך
אברהם רבי אליעזר אומר ...
11
votes
1answer
246 views
What is a “Sephardic Jew”?
My name is Paul Avila (yea, I know, doesn't sound Jewish at all) I was born in the Azores Portugal and moved to the United States when I was 2. People always ask me if I am Persian. Never ...
11
votes
3answers
260 views
Understanding of Ps. 137 before the exile
Psalm 137 starts (in my own translation)
On Babylon's rivers, there, we sat, also cried, in our remembering Zion.
and continues to describe the scene. Ibn Ezra cites some who hold that David ...
11
votes
2answers
127 views
Division of Verses in Tanach
In light of comments here, what is the history of the current division of tanach into pesukim? Specifically, to what extent do we view our breaks as coming from Sinai? Are there Christian influences ...
11
votes
1answer
211 views
How often did the average Israelite bring offerings to the temple?
In addition to the mandated communal offerings, individual Jews were liable for, or permitted to bring, a variety of offerings of their own. How often did the average Israelite bring each type of ...
11
votes
2answers
194 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 ...
11
votes
4answers
212 views
Why do we still use the non-Jewish way of delineating chapters in tanach?
The "perakim" (chapters) of tanach were established by non-Jews. Why do we continue to use them? Many of the chapter breaks do not correspond to our petucha/setumah paragraph system, and they often ...
11
votes
2answers
493 views
What is the red string all about?
Where did the concept of wearing a red string come from? I have heard different opinions ranging from "you should definitely wear it" to "its forbidden like idol worship" - who is right?
11
votes
1answer
211 views
How does Orthodox Judaism view the Book of Jubillees
How is the Book of Jubilees regarded by Orthodox Jewry (I'm not asking if we believe it existed, but if we hold any of the information in it to be accurate).
Is it ever quoted by any of the ...
11
votes
1answer
227 views
Origin of the term Yoshke?
I have often heard Jews refer to Jesus as "Yoshke". Is the origin of that appellation based on halachic issues regarding mentioning names of foreign deities, or some other Jewish law or custom? When ...
11
votes
1answer
98 views
Were Avraham's tactics in rescuing Lot typical of the time?
Parshat Lech L'cha describes how Lot was captured in the battle of four kings against five kings. When Avraham heard, he mounted a night-time attack to rescue him. This got me wondering: was a ...
11
votes
2answers
174 views
Rabbinic Responses to Landline Telephones
Recently the use of cellphones and smartphones has met with a lot of criticism in some communities. I'd be interested to see if landline telephones encountered any similar opposition when they were ...
11
votes
1answer
207 views
Did people ever place actual physical stumbling blocks before the blind?
I know that the prohibition against placing stumbling blocks before the blind has been understood to be a prohibition against misleading or causing people to sin, but the simple meaning of the text is ...
10
votes
4answers
246 views
Was King David also a Navi?
Is there any suggestion in the scripture (even implicitly) that King David might have been also a Navi?
10
votes
5answers
216 views
Is there a good visual companion to Tanach?
I'm looking for a visual companion to Tanach, i.e. maps, charts, and timelines. So when I'm learning Sefer Yehoshua, for example, I can see maps that chart the various battles and such.
Are there any ...
10
votes
2answers
271 views
Why do we think of the korban pesach as a sheep, not as a goat?
Ask many a grade-schooler (and many an adult, for that matter) what animal the korban pesach is, and he'll tell you "a sheep".[1]
In fact, it can be a sheep or a goat. (It's explicit in chumash ...
10
votes
2answers
121 views
What was the dietary source of calcium in Talmudic times?
The Mishna in Ketubot Chapter 5 describes the basic diet of a working-class woman at the time (around the year 200):
ה,ז [ח] המשרה את אשתו על ידי שליש--לא יפחות לה מקביים חיטים, או מארבעת קבים ...
10
votes
3answers
138 views
Who instituted the Musaf prayer?
According to the Gemara in Brachot, there are two views about Shacharit, Mincha, and Maariv: one is that the Avot instituted them, and one is that they correspond to the daily tmidin and the burning ...
10
votes
5answers
341 views
Existence of Heaven and Hell
I heard from a Jewish colleague that the concept of Heaven and Hell were not originally part of Judaism. I couldn't find references to these concepts in the Old Testament. So
Were these part of ...
10
votes
2answers
214 views
Why isn't there a single, centralized Sanhedrin today?
It seems that many mitzvot in the Torah are opened to interpretation in some way, potentially subject to ruling by the Sanhedrin. And some mitzvot (examples below) seem to require the presence of the ...
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votes
3answers
513 views
Is Hebrew the mother of all languages spoken today in the world?
I often wonder what language Adam, Seth, Noah and Abraham (may peace and blessings be upon them) used to speak. What was their native tongue? Was it classical Hebrew? If yes, then would it be right to ...
10
votes
3answers
201 views
Were our symbols for trope and nekudos created by the Masoretes, or transmitted by them?
It is commonly said in secular sources that the shapes of the trope and nekudos we use today were invented by the Masoretes (7th to 11th Century CE), but I cannot find any source in our mesorah to ...
10
votes
1answer
161 views
What are these three types of Amos?
I'm not one to usually go to Google itself to learn about Judaism, but I feel that the circumstances around how I discovered this is really intriguing...
Google Maps has a nice little feature that ...
10
votes
3answers
368 views
Disparity between male and female pronunciation of Cholam
In many Yeshivish communities in the US, the male segment of the population vocalizes the cholam as "oi," while their female counterparts vocalize it as a long "o". How did this come about? Does the ...
10
votes
2answers
272 views
Who didn't recite Kabbalas Shabbos?
In this article, R. Michael Broyde writes that:
Indeed, there have been prominent halachic authorities of the last generation who did not recite Kabbalat Shabbat.
Can anyone provide examples of ...
10
votes
2answers
98 views
Did Shuls in Europe display their countries' flags prior to the holocaust?
Prior to the holocaust, did Shuls in Europe display their countries' respective flags? Do Shuls currently display their countries' flags? When did it start and why?
10
votes
2answers
237 views
What rabbinic/Judaic scholar has the lowest Erdős number?
From Wikipedia:
The Erdős number describes the "collaborative distance" between a person and mathematician Paul Erdős, as measured by authorship of mathematical papers. ...
Due to the very high ...
10
votes
1answer
109 views
Babylonian Jewry and Chanukah
For many years I have been bothered by the following.
There was a large Jewish population living in Babylonia during the time that the events of Chanukah played out. Yet, I have never seen any ...
10
votes
3answers
491 views
What is the original halachic source for a woman covering her collarbones out of modesty (tznius)?
Many contemporary instructions on women's modesty (tznius) say that necklines have to be high enough to cover the collarbones.
I can certainly accept that if this is the communal standard, it should ...
10
votes
2answers
233 views
What's the source for a Cheirem al pi Kabbalah?
The Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe describes:
"'a real cheirem as prescribed by Kabbalah' requires the following: a
court of seventy-two rabbis fast for forty consecutive days (excluding
Shabbos ...
10
votes
1answer
68 views
Who instituted the Nusach of the Mi SheBerachs that we say?
Who instituted the Nusach of the Mi SheBerachs that we say for a newborn, for a sick person, after an Aliyah, etc.?
10
votes
1answer
125 views
What happened to the Eirev Rav?
What happened to the Eirev Rav after the Jews entered Israel? They were open trouble makers in the desert, yet nothing was mentioned of them later?
Did they clean up their act? Did they die out?
9
votes
5answers
787 views
Have Jews believed that Ezra was the son of God?
In reading the Qur'an, I noticed this passage:
Qur'an 9:30 The Jews say, "Ezra is the son of Allah "; and the Christians say, "The Messiah is the son of Allah ." That is their statement from their ...
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4answers
265 views
Can a convert be a prophet?
I don't think there were any gerim amongst the nevi'im, but would it have been possible?
9
votes
4answers
1k views
Is a rabbi required to be married?
I have heard (I honestly cannot remember where...) that to be a rabbi a man must be married. Is there any truth to this?
I am more interested in knowing if this "WAS" true in time of Jesus, than if ...
9
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1answer
99 views
9
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3answers
314 views
How Kabbalistically accurate is the golem-making procedure described in “Niflaos Maharal”?
There's been plenty of discussion about the historic authenticity of "Niflaos Maharal", a book that appeared in the early 1900s describing how the Maharal made a Golem to defend the Jews against blood ...
9
votes
2answers
217 views
Does our literature discuss invalidating a conversion because the convert would not put his/her lot with the Jewish people?
When a person is interested in converting, there are really two questions they are asked:
Are you prepared to accept the theology and observance of Judaism?
Are you prepared to accept your identity ...
