The mitzvah tag has no wiki summary.
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6answers
449 views
Avot keeping Mitzvot
How are we to understand the tradition that the patriarchs kept all of the mitzvot in the Torah (see for example the last mishna in Kidushin, Rashi Bereshit 32:5, etc.) in light of the many obvious ...
4
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4answers
198 views
2
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2answers
167 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 ...
14
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4answers
716 views
Is there a list of Mitzvot and their corresponding body parts?
The Talmud (Makkot 23B)and the Zohar (1:170B - unverified English translation here) say that the 248 positive commandments correspond to the 248 limbs of the human body. (The Mishna (Ohalot 1:8) lists ...
11
votes
4answers
851 views
If masturbation is so bad, why is it not in list of 613 Mitzvos?
If masturbation is, as stated in the Shulchan Oruch (Even HaEzer 23:1), "the worst sin in the Torah", then why is it not listed in any of the various lists of 613 Mitzvos and why is there no verse in ...
11
votes
3answers
429 views
How many of the 613 Mitzvos are we able to do currently?
There are many Mitzvos we can not do in today's generation. For example there are no Korbonos, no slaves, etc.
Per the Chofetz Chaim, there are 77 positive Mitzvos and 194 negative Mitzvos which can ...
11
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3answers
218 views
Do people have an effect on the mood of God?
If a person commits idolatry or fornication he is sinful. Not only that, but the curse of Hashem is with that person. On the other hand, if a person does a lot of mitswots (commandments) and believes ...
5
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2answers
178 views
connection of obligation to keep mitzvos and sexual maturity
Does anybody know why a boy is obligated to keep mitzvos after he gains sexual maturity (13 years old)? How is the possibility of fathering children connected to that?
Thanks.
11
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4answers
613 views
Why are women exempt from (many) time-bound mitzvot?
I have heard two reasons for women being exempt from time-bound mitzvot and both seem problematic, so either there are additional explanations or I am not properly understanding these two:
Women ...
9
votes
1answer
205 views
Is modesty a positive or negative commandment?
Given that:
There are two types of Mitzvoth (commandments), 'Aseh and Lo Ta'aseh (positive and negative; ie., "Thou Shalt" and "Thou Shalt Not").
a. Positive commandments, with some exceptions can ...
10
votes
3answers
256 views
Are there required “ritual/daily” prayers in Judaism?
I have a question about the daily prayers of Judaism. I noticed on my trip to Jerusalem that a lot of those practicing Judaism got up at a certain time in the morning on the plane and faced a wall and ...
7
votes
3answers
207 views
Is 'simcha' a mitzvah?
"Mitzvah gedola le'heyos be'simcha..." many of us have heard this. I am wondering if there is an actual mitzvah to be be'simcha? (I am looking for sourced comments and not just idea's).
I know that ...
14
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6answers
303 views
What justifications are there for not moving to Eretz Yisrael?
The Gemara in many places is clear that there is some level of mitzvah to live in Israel. This is also the accepted consensus among the rishonim. In the past, it was very difficult to move to Israel, ...
13
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2answers
279 views
Which mitzvah is repeated the most times in the Chumash?
I have learned that not mixing milk and meat is mentioned 3 times in the chumash, and because of this we learn 3 different laws.
I also found out today that the law "not to follow the ways of the ...
8
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3answers
217 views
How is “החודש הזה לכם” the first mitzva?
The following question came up in this week's Parshat Hashavua' Chat:
Rashi, at the beginning of his commentary to the Torah:
אמר רבי יצחק: לא היה צריך להתחיל [את] התורה אלא (שמות יב ב) מהחודש ...
5
votes
1answer
69 views
Is there an imperative to have a fancy menorah?
Is it considered a meritorious practice to have a fancy/expensive/large menorah? Normally the imperative to beautify mitzvos is related to the mitzvah item itself (e.g. talis, tefillin, esrog), so ...
4
votes
3answers
169 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
176 views
Does God benefit from our keeping of the Mitzvos?
Does Hashem benefit from mankind doing the commandments of the Torah?
12
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2answers
469 views
Can a non-Jew don tefillin?
May a non-Jew or a person who is in the conversion process don tefillin? If not, what are the reasons that they cannot?
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 ...
9
votes
2answers
162 views
Eating outside of a Sukkah - Negative or Positive commandment?
On Sukkoth we are required to dwell in a Sukkah, which is generally minimally defined as at least eating our meals (which in turn is generally minimally defined as grain-based products) inside the ...
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2answers
125 views
Visiting Israel: A Mitzvah?
Is visiting Israel a Mitzvah? (visiting as opposed to living)
Just some points I would hope an answer to cover:
Was it a mitzvah back then?
Is it still a mitzvah nowadays?
Does the mitzvah apply ...
7
votes
5answers
157 views
“עם לבן גרתי”? Really? “עם לבן ברתי” maybe
Rashi brings a gematria at the beginning of Parshas Vayishlach:
גרתי בגימטריא תרי"ג, כלומר, עם לבן הרשע גרתי, ותרי"ג מצות שמרתי, ולא למדתי ממעשיו הרעים
Now, if one takes this literally, it is ...
6
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2answers
73 views
Why did Avraham ask Eliezer to swear in the way he did?
Avraham asks his servant Eliezer to place his hand under his thigh to swear an oath regarding finding a daughter for his son. Chazal explain that he asked him to hold his (Avraham's) milah (male ...
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2answers
162 views
Contemporary rabbinic views on social pressure to get people to do Mitzvoth
Background
While on vacation recently, I was walking down the street with a newly acquainted co-traveler, when we were approached by a young Lubavitch Yeshivah student encouraging Jewish men to lay ...
5
votes
1answer
114 views
Where can one get the Pri Yitzchak, a text discussing the 613 Mitzvot
Regarding the Chassidic text written in 1840 entiled Pri Yitzchak that details all 613 Mitzvot and the corresponding 248 limbs for positive mitzvot and 365 sinews for negative commandments.
My Rabbi ...
3
votes
0answers
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. ...
2
votes
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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0answers
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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2answers
659 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 ...
1
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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?
