The mitzvah tag has no wiki summary.
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216 views
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111 views
Do a mitzva for mashiach?
I recently saw in The Moshiach Times, a popular Chabad-Lubavitch publication for children, an exhortation to "do a mitzvah for moshiach": to do a mitzva with the specific purpose of hastening the ...
4
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3answers
72 views
Honoring parental requests that don't benefit the parents
If one's parents ask him to do something that is not beneficial to the parents in any way whatsoever (though not harmful to the parents, the child, or anyone else, either), is he nonetheless obligated ...
4
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1answer
113 views
Convert that had children prior to conversion
If a fellow converted (his children remained gentiles) and prior to his conversion he had children - has he fulfilled the Mitzva of Peru U'Revu? (sources)
4
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3answers
165 views
Mitzvah of living in Eretz Yisrael
What halachic sources exist affirming the post-destruction mitzvah of individuals to live in Eretz Yisrael, and what is the nature (obligatory, meritorious) of the mitzvah? This question does not ...
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3answers
132 views
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1answer
162 views
sperm donation and p'ru ur'vu
Does donating sperm to a woman who is not your wife (who then goes on to bear children from it) fulfill the mitzvah of p'ru ur'vu?
Alternatively, is it a violation of halakha? Does it matter whose ...
4
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1answer
89 views
Matzah the entire week
Is it the Vilna Gaon who maintains that it is a mitzvah to eat matzah (to eat matzah, in addition to abstaining from chametz) every day and night during the week of Passover, or somebody else? The ...
4
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0answers
53 views
Are you yotzei by lighting candles through a grama?
Does one fulfill the mitzvah of lighting candles (sabbath or chanukah) if done by a grama (indirect action)? Example
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96 views
Matzah Shemurah on the 8th day of Pesaḥ (in the Diaspora)
According to those who hold that there is a Kiyyum Mitzvath 'Aseh DeOraitha (a fulfillment of a positive Biblical commandment) every time one eats a KeZayith (olive size's worth) of Matzah on Pesaḥ, ...
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3answers
175 views
Does God benefit from our keeping of the Mitzvos?
Does Hashem benefit from mankind doing the commandments of the Torah?
3
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1answer
61 views
Do you get credit for unintentional mitzvot?
I have heard stories such as
A wealthy man felt like abandoning his Judaism and went to the kotel to 'say his goodbyes'. There he saw a chasid davening with such fervor and tears that the wealthy ...
3
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1answer
61 views
Mamzer honoring his father - why wouldn't he?
The Shulhan 'Aruch (240:18) writes that a Mamzer has an obligation to honor his father.
Why might I think otherwise?
3
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3answers
151 views
Petur (exemption) - Does intent matter?
Does one's intent factor into one's ability to rely upon an exemption in Halachah?
For example on Sukkoth, if I have no Sukkah and no intention of building a Sukkah (let's say at work, for one ...
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2answers
80 views
Oleh Regel Today
Is there a Mitzvah to be Oleh Regel in today's days (meaning when there is no Beis Hamikdash)?
3
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1answer
40 views
Is it a greater mitzvah to return a lost item anonymously?
While of course it is a mitzvah to give tzadekah, I have heard (though I don't have any attribution) that different kinds of giving are of different worth. Particularly, I have heard that giving ...
3
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1answer
69 views
How can you keep Shabbos till Tuesday?
I have heard that there are people who keep Shabbos till Tuesday. I would like to understand how that works practically. A few examples of puzzling situations:
What shmoneh esrei does such a person ...
3
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1answer
60 views
At what cost must one perform a mitzvah?
To what lengths must one go to fulfill a positive commandment, or avoid transgressing a negative one?
Obviously, with few exceptions, one must not go so far as to die in order to fulfill a ...
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2answers
62 views
Why does the Haggadah tell us that “Even if they are all Chachmim” they are obligated in Sippur?
Why does the Haggadah tell us that "Even if they are all Chachmim..." they are obligated in Sippur? Are ChaChamim excluded from any other Mitzvot? Do they not have to pick up a Lulav because they are ...
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2answers
141 views
Did Yitzchak not Fulfill the Mitzvah of “Be Fruitful and Multiply”?
According to the understanding of many commentators "pru u'revu" (be fruitful and multiply) is a positive commandment which is not fulfilled unless a man has both a son and daughter as offspring. ...
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1answer
60 views
Sefirat ha'omer as Conditional mitzvah
Are there any other “mitzvot” besides counting S’fira that are cumulative? In other words, if you forget a day of S’fira you can no longer count with a bracha. Are there any other types of mitzvot ...
3
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1answer
58 views
Sha'atnez and small children
I was sent an email today alerting my community that Sha'atnez has been discovered in a line of baby pants. A quick internet search turned up other baby clothing that has been discovered to have ...
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0answers
60 views
Pretending in kiyum hamitzvot
When a woman (or, if need be, a man) lights candles for Shabbat, she covers her eyes before making the bracha to "pretend" that the candles aren't lit yet because we generally say the bracha before ...
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52 views
Understanding hachnasas orchim
Is hachnasas orchim (welcoming guests) a mitzvah (either of biblical or rabbinic origin)? If not why is it considered more important than greeting the divine presence (bereshis 18:3 Rashi)? Does it ...
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69 views
Why kiss Tzitzith?
Why do we kiss Tzitzith when making the Birchath HaMitzvah, reciting Shema', and after Baruch SheAmar (at least acc. to Minhag Ashkenaz)?
An acceptable answer (for my purposes) would either
a. ...
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4answers
199 views
How can we know God?
How can we know God? Isn't God unknowable? We learn and study and follow God's commands and pray, but how do we know God (as opposed to what God wants)?
What is a true way to know GOD better? ...
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2answers
164 views
Upper limits of “kovea itim”
It is known from the gemara (Shabbos 31a and cited in maamar Toras HaBayis ch. 1, among other places) that when a person dies, he is asked if he had set times for learning. I know that these times can ...
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3answers
128 views
Why offer the Nations mitzvos from the Torah that are already in the Noahide Laws?
When Hashem went around offering the Torah to the other nations each asked what is written therein to each nation He told them of the commandment representing their weak point or vice, hence they ...
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3answers
102 views
Punishment for mitzvos asey?
Are you punished from Hashem if you don't do a mitzvah asey (brachos, davening, asher yatzar, etc.)?
2
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1answer
39 views
What is the connection between joy and divine love in Rambam's mitzva #3?
Ramba"m lists love of God as the third positive commandment in his Book of Commandments. It includes the following line, which somehow relates the comprehension of God with joy and the ultimate ...
2
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1answer
41 views
Why do we still even try to do Sheluach HaKan?
If we don't need the birds' eggs, as they used to, why do we send a mother bird away from her own eggs just to fulfill the mitzvah of Sheluach HaKan? Would the mitzvah even apply if we are doing it ...
2
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1answer
66 views
Killing all of 'Amalek - Mitzvah or Reshuth?
This may be two questions that are closely related.
Would engaging in war with 'Amalek without a specific command (a la Shaul) be a Milhemeth Mitzvah or Milhemeth Reshuth?
Is killing all of 'Amalek ...
2
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1answer
68 views
Do Jews have to keep the 7 Noahide laws?
Well, I heard that a Jew only has to keep a Noahide law if it's repeated in the Torah, since Jews aren't obligated in Noahide laws. The practical application of this would be an exemption from the law ...
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2answers
78 views
VeNiShmartem - Positive or Negative?
VeNiShmartem Meod LeNafshotheichem (Devarim 4:15), the Mitzvah of self-preservation - requiring that we guard our health - sounds rather proactive. However, it is written with the word ShMR, to ...
2
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1answer
53 views
Dedicating a Mitzva to unborn child
Can a Mitzva be done on behalf of an child still in the womb?
I.e can I do a donation to a charity in my name, my wife's and my soon to be +1?
If so, in what name would that mitzva be done in as +1 ...
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0answers
45 views
Honoring a wicked father who has repented - How is he still considered wicked?
The Shulhan 'Aruch (Y"D 240:18) writes that one is obligated to honor his father even if the father is wicked (actually, it says that a Mamzer is obligated, but I believe that the implication is that ...
2
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2answers
99 views
Correspondence between 365 negative commandments and days of the year?
There are 365 negative commandments which correspond to the days of the (solar) year (see Makos 23b; Tanchuma Ki Seitzeh 2). Apparently the prohibition of Gid HaNasheh (sciatic nerve) corresponds to ...
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2answers
655 views
Why does the Rambam (Maimonides) equate all sex outside marriage as prostitution?
Shalom told me about it in his answer to this question:
What does adultery mean in the 7th commandment?
That Si'naf in 7 commandments means only having sex with someone else' wife. However, judaism ...
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1answer
49 views
Wearing pieces from two different sets of tefillin
Tefillin are usually thought of as coming in sets, one for the hand (shel yad) and one for the head (shel rosh). But is there any reason two sets can't be mixed and matched? May one wear tefillin ...
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1answer
53 views
Allowing the forbidden for the sake of a Mitzvah
There are a few mitzvot which are effected through the use of that which is specifically forbidden. The first two examples are of tzitzit being made from shatnez and the mei sotah being infused with ...
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1answer
43 views
Women and Birchas Hatorah
Why do women have to say Birchas Hatorah they are not commanded to learn Torah as men are?
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25 views
Meditation before Mitzvah activities
Who invented the meditation that is often printed before such things as counting the 'Omer, inviting the Ushpizin, and other Mitzvoth or Mitzvah-related activities, and what is the basis for it?
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What are the differences between G-d's mitzvos, chukkim and mishpatim?
In Parasha Netzavim, Devarim 30:16, we learn the commandment to love Hashem, to walk in His ways, and to keep "His commandments [mitzvosav] and His statutes [v'chukosav] and His ordinances ...
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65 views
What if there is no object for use in a mitzva?
There is a story I once heard about the Ben Ish Chai examining the only known etrog available in Iraq. Despite the great need for it, he declared the etrog passul for use and no one could fulfill the ...
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57 views
What is so special about the 613 mitzvos?
There are arguments in the Rishonim about what the 613 mitzvos are. But even if you hold something's not part of the 613, it's still a mitzva, so what's so special if it is part of the 613?
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1answer
40 views
Commandments on emotions [duplicate]
I can understand if the Torah commands one to wear tefilin or put on a mezuza.
But to command a person not to hate anyone, not to covet anything of anyone, not to bear a grudge, love your fellow as ...
