Questions about Jewish customs and traditions.
18
votes
2answers
981 views
Questions about Polygamy in Jewish Law and Culture
I've recently been looking into polygamy (having more than 1 wife), and had a few cultural questions.
Was polygamy accepted at the time of David and Solomon? Were there any laws about it?
Was ...
11
votes
7answers
581 views
15
votes
7answers
1k views
11
votes
5answers
453 views
Nittle Nacht Meaning
What is Nittle Nacht?
What does the name mean?
What is its significance?
Which Halachic authorities speak about it, and what do they say?
What is the actual date for it?
How is it effected this ...
11
votes
5answers
639 views
Wearing your tzitzis out
Why do certain people wear their tzitzis out for people to see, and others do not?
7
votes
3answers
203 views
Meforshim Nick"names
It has become common practice to refer to most meforshim by acronyms of their name (eg Rashi, Rosh, etc.). When and why did this practice start, and is it proper?
3
votes
2answers
220 views
Who says the Ribbono shel Olam in Birkas Kohanim?
I've "seen" many Talmidei Chachamim not saying the Ribbono shel Olams following each bracha of Birkas Kohanim. At least, I hear them chanting with the Kohanim from start to finish. Are these tefilos ...
11
votes
5answers
392 views
Why does the Tefilin Shel Yad have a protective cover?
When you purchase Tefilin, the Tefilin Shel Yad has a protective cover. Why? Is it Halachically necessary?
11
votes
8answers
339 views
What is the source for the “Upsheirin”?
In some families/communities, little boys do not get their hair cut until they are three, and then there is a gathering for cutting their hair. The haircut is called an "upsheirin" or "chalakeh."
...
11
votes
2answers
1k views
B'siyata D'shmaya or Baruch Hashem
Often, at the top of written work, Jews write either ב"ה, which stands for Baruch Hashem =blessed is the Name i.e., God, or בס"ד, which stands for b'siyata d'shmaya =with Heavenly help.
What is the ...
10
votes
3answers
367 views
Talis Gadol for Unmarried Individuals
In my minhag (and I believe it's minhag Ashkenaz), unmarried men do not wear a Talis Gadol (only a Talis Katan).
Why is this so?
8
votes
1answer
117 views
Do the customs in regards to *Yud Av* apply to *Yud-Aleph Av* on a year when the fast is pushed off?
I know that people have the custom (I don't know how universal it is), to keep a lot of the restrictions of the nine days until Chatzos on Yud Av. Such as not eating meat or doing laundry.
This year ...
7
votes
1answer
166 views
Electronic communication immediately before wedding
Is it permissible to chat with your future spouse during the week before the wedding when you are not supposed to see each other face to face? Are any, all, or none of the following permissible:
...
12
votes
1answer
286 views
Why don't we bow “correctly” during tefillah anymore?
According to the Gemara (Megillah 22b), and according to the RaMBa"M (Hil. Tefillah 5:13) (and apparently R' Avraham ben HaRaMBa"M was adamant), when we pray we are supposed to bow down ON our knees ...
9
votes
4answers
369 views
Why do we eat Milchigs (dairy) on Shavuos?
Why do we have a Minhag to eat Milchigs (dairy) on Shavuos?
8
votes
3answers
259 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 ...
7
votes
1answer
115 views
Origin of Spilling Wine by 10 Plagues
The custom among all Jews (as far as I know) is to spill a drip of wine for each of the plagues as they are mentioned in a list in the haggadah. This custom is not mentioned anywhere in the Talmud (as ...
6
votes
1answer
485 views
Different traditions in Hebrew pronunciation
The theme of Hebrew pronunciation is one that facinates me and, as such, I want to get some feedback on some issues I've been thinking about for years. I have already discussed some of these issues ...
14
votes
1answer
221 views
Why don't people bentch on a kos nowadays?
Bentching with a kos (recite Grace after Meals with a cup of wine) was clearly a popular thing to do in the times of the gemara. Additionally many Ashkenazi rishonim (Rosh, Ri, and many other ...
13
votes
2answers
286 views
Shape of the Luchot
According to the Talmud in Bava Batra 14a, the Luchot HabBerit were square. Where did the common "tablet" shape come from, with rectangles and a rounded top? Besides in pictures, I see it in ...
11
votes
2answers
236 views
Stacking Seforim
From the things I heard in yeshiva category:
Are we allowed to place less revered seforim on top of more revered seforim? I believe that the consensus is that you are only allowed to stacks seforim ...
11
votes
3answers
234 views
Stripes on a Talis
Is there any reason for the stripes on a talis? Does the color of the stripes have any significance?
10
votes
4answers
163 views
Not falling on hands for Tachnun
How come Sepharadim do not "fall on their faces" during Tachanun as Ashkenazim do, if the prayer is called "nefilat apa'im" (literally the falling of the faces)?
The Shulchan Aruch seems to hold of ...
8
votes
2answers
137 views
When there are four aveilim (mourners), Is it better to have one minyan of 40 people or 4 minyonim of ten each?
Today I was in a shul where there were four parallel mincha services because four mourners wanted to lead the services. I thought there was a principle of ברב עם הדרת מלך?
What sources are there that ...
8
votes
2answers
205 views
Kiddush Levanah - Saying Aleichem Sholom with the other person?
As discussed here, while doing Kiddush Levanah, we say "Shalom Aleichem" to 3 other people, and they respond back with "Aleichem Shalom". I've seen some people saying "Aleichem Shalom" together with ...
8
votes
3answers
960 views
Sefira Restrictions During Chol Hamoed Pesach
For those who hold sefira from the first day until the thirty-third, are the restrictions in effect during chol hamoed? While you are not allowed to cut your hair even during chol hamoed Succos, can ...
6
votes
2answers
319 views
A Convert taking on customs of ashkanazim or sephardim
When someone converts is there any determining factor on what minhagim (customs) they will take upon themselves in terms of Ashkanazim or Sephardim? Should it be dependent on the Beis Din they ...
5
votes
12answers
390 views
What is the most widespread Israeli Minhag?
What is the single most widely practiced minhag among Jews in Israel today? By "widely practiced" I mean practiced by the most people.
4
votes
4answers
268 views
Matzah meal before פסח
On the subject of not eating Matzah before פסח, may one eat products containing Matzah meal in that time?
4
votes
3answers
200 views
What's the deal with all the washings?
Sometimes we wash with a cup, sometimes not; sometimes we wash twice, sometimes thrice; and not everyone agrees on method or pattern in all cases. Who says which ways we are supposed to wash, in ...
4
votes
3answers
4k views
Rules for Cutting Nails
My question about nail-cutting is whether each of the following is halacha, minhag, or old-wives' tales.
Not cutting both fingernails and toenails on the same day.
Not cutting nails at night (is ...
4
votes
2answers
652 views
What makes something “chukat goyim?”
One of the most famous examples I have heard is that one should not even tie one's shoes like the non-Jews do in times of persecution. That seems rather excessive. What if the Jews started doing some ...
16
votes
4answers
373 views
How does an outsider know how to dress for a particular Orthodox community?
Standards of dress (at least for women) aren't nearly as consistent within Orthodoxy as we might wish. Wearing exactly the same halachically-correct clothing I have been under-dressed in some places ...
15
votes
1answer
316 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, ...
12
votes
4answers
539 views
Why do people frequently change tunes toward the end of Lecha Dodi?
Frequently, perhaps even most of the time, I've noticed that the chazan (prayer leader) for Kabalat Shabbat switches tunes for the last four verses of Lecha Dodi. Is there any reason for this, or are ...
9
votes
2answers
221 views
Shliach Mitzva money
Many people give their friends money to give to Tzedakah when they are traveling. The reason they do this is that it says "Shluchei Mitzva Ainom Nizakim". If someone is travelling to Eretz Yisroel ...
19
votes
2answers
174 views
Matza on 14 Iyar
I have seen a custom (it seems to me primarily among Chassidim) to eat matza on 14 Iyar (known as Pesach Sheni). What is the earliest source for this custom? What are the reasons given for following ...
18
votes
2answers
201 views
Why the custom to switch around negative-sounding numbers, such as שד?
Often in sefarim we find that if the number of the siman spells out something negative, such as siman 304 which has a letter value of שד, we switch it around so it no longer reads as a "bad" word. ...
12
votes
6answers
772 views
Why is Soy milk considered Parve and not Milchig/Halavi?
Considering that milk is forbidden with chicken (as stated in this answer), because chicken could be confused with meat, why isn't soy milk considered milchig as well?
In Israel, chicken is ...
12
votes
2answers
156 views
People half-standing for אלקינו in zimun
When conducting a zimun with ten or more men, the nusach is to say "...ברוך אלקינו שאכלנו משלו".
I have noticed that many people, when saying the word "אלקינו", get up from their seats at least a ...
11
votes
7answers
659 views
Do Chasidim avoid wearing ties?
Do Chasidim not wear ties as a rule?
If so, is this by design or an accident of history?
If by design, where can I find said intended reason in print?
6
votes
1answer
95 views
Explanation for couple not seeing each other before the wedding?
What is the source and reason for a couple not to see one another before the wedding?
6
votes
1answer
174 views
Speaking while wearing Tefillin
Is there a real halachic source for the widespread practice not to speak while wearing tefillin? Of course, one is required to keep his mind on the tefillin, and may not get drawn into conversations ...
6
votes
3answers
337 views
Cutting Tefillin Retzuos
As we know, the outside of the tefillin's retzuos (phylacteries' straps) must be black. Lately, I've noticed that the very end of the retzuah of my shel yad (tefillin of the arm) is cracking and ...
5
votes
3answers
191 views
Saying selichos before midnight
What is the position with saying selichos (end of Elul and Aseres Ymei Teshuva) with a minyan that starts straight after maariv at say 10:30 or 11pm?
2
votes
1answer
70 views
What is the point of Hataras Nedarim every year?
The second paragraph of Hataras Nedarim has the person being mattired saying that "I am making a modaah that any oaths being made in the future are considered to be as if 'bli neder'".
Is this ...
12
votes
1answer
192 views
Kubutz and shuruk in Polish/Hungarian pronunciation
What is the origin or basis of the Polish and Hungarian prevalence for pronouncing "oo" vowels as "ee"? The variants of other vowels are easier to understand in the context of phonological shifting, ...
10
votes
2answers
326 views
Source for the practice of not blowing out candles/flames?
It seems that a custom exists not to blow out candles/flames, but rather extinguish them another way, such as waving in the air. (Snuffer anyone?) What is the source for this custom? I am including ...
9
votes
2answers
203 views
Source for not eating Matzah prior to פסח?
Thanks to this question I am compelled to ask:
What is the source for not eating Matzah prior to פסח?
Is there a source for not eating it for 30 days prior?
9
votes
1answer
165 views
Dipping fingers in Havdalah Wine
What is the source or origin of the custom to dip one's fingers in the wine poured over the candle to extinguish it at the conclusion of Havdalah?
As a side note, and a reason I'm tagging it this ...
