The sources-mekorot tag has no wiki summary.
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Is the name of God associated with bris milah?
I recall learning, but have no source for, the fact that part of what is achieved by the bris milah process is a form of etching (part of?) the name of God into the makom ha'milah.
What is the ...
3
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106 views
How much must be eaten from the lechem mishneh
Inspired by following 2 questions:
Not eating from the Lechem Mishnah
Challah Loaves on Shabbat have a minimum size?
When eating a Shabbos Seudah how much must the ones that are being yotzee from ...
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2answers
96 views
What is Ruach Rah
Right in the beginning of Shulchan Aruch we see this idea of "Ruach Rah". In regards to washing ones hands and all that comes before that -- not walking more than 4 amos without washing one's hands, ...
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Minhag not to learn Torah on the night of Nitel (Who and where)
This related question explains what this minhag is and a couple of reasons for it.
I was wondering to what extent is this minhag practiced today apart from Chabad (see Hayom Yom - 17 Tevet)...do all ...
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Source for not referring to Chanuka lights as a “menora”
Following up on this question about the use of the words "menora" or "chanukiya" to refer to Chanuka lights:
I find it interesting that the use of "chanukiya" apparently originated in 1897 through a ...
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111 views
Maimonides on Circumcision
These are not questions about circumcision. They are about what Maimonides said about the practice.
I would to know if the following things do, or do not, in fact represent things Maimonides said ...
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100 views
Why is wine poured by a non-Jew forbidden?
The S"A 125:1 (YD) states that a non-Jew pouring non-Mevushal wine makes (at least) that wine unfit, but other than citing earlier authorities (maybe, I can't figure that part out) he doesn't give a ...
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The history behind the composition and inclusion of V'lo N'tato
I'm curious about the composition and inclusion in the shabbat shacharit of the paragraph beginning ולא נתתו (v'lo n'tato). I understand the talmudic basis for the underlying idea, and how it fits in ...
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Young boys returning Chumashim after Torah reading
I often see young boys going around shul after the Shabbos/Yom Tov morning Torah reading to collect Chumashim and return them to their shelves. Is this an actual 'minhag' with a history behind it? If ...
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2answers
73 views
The source to be Dan L'Caf Zechut
From where do we know that one must be "dan" someone "l'caf zechut"? (that we must judge someone favorably even though from a certain act it might seem they are doing something?
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“Think about love for fellow Jews before praying” - source?
At the risk of being a guessing-game, I thought I'd read that before starting prayers (the beginning? The Amida?), one should take a minute to think about love for fellow Jews.
Any source for this?
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what is the source for “Ein Melech B'Lo Am”?
There is a seemingly well known chazal "Ein Melech B'Lo Am" there is no king without a people. Which is supposed to indicate that God cannot truly be king without subjects. Where is this chazal found ...
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1answer
119 views
Babies in the field Midrash
What is the source for the Midrash that says that in Egypt some babies were put into fields and saved by Malachim who looked like their fathers? Also, what is the context in which the Midrash is ...
2
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2answers
233 views
Source that martyrs don't feel pain?
A lot of people have told me (and I seem to remember seeing so myself) there is a view in the Rishonim that someone who is killed Al Kiddush Hashem (for the sanctification of G-d's name, ie., ...
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98 views
Source? The day you were born was the day Gd decided the universe could no longer exist without you
I am looking for the source for the following quote
The day you were born was the day Gd decided the universe could no longer exist without you
The greeting card I saw it on said the quote was ...
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2answers
89 views
Source for washing by your bed
What is the source in the Halachic literature outside of the Mishnah Berurah who says it is a requirement to place a washing cup by your bed instead of going to the sink to wash your hands upon ...
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2answers
303 views
Pleasure of woman at the end of relations (source in Chazal?)
I heard that it says in chazal the woman only has pleasure at the end ("gamar bia") of tashmish (relations). Is there any source/citation for this?
2
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1answer
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Ashkenazi unsure whether he or she counted the 'Omer one night
According to the Daily Halacha website:
If a person is unsure whether or not he counted a day of the Omer, and cannot determine conclusively if he had counted or if he had missed that day, he ...
2
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1answer
63 views
A quote of Shlomo ibn Gabirol
A co-worker posted this as her "Quote of the Day" in an e-mail message. It's attributed to Shlomo ibn Gabirol:
The first step in the acquisition of wisdom is silence, the second listening, the ...
2
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1answer
59 views
Source that a woman is considered to have a bris milah
I recall learning, I think in mesechtas kiddushin, that a woman is the (halachic?) equivalent of a man who has had a bris milah performed. In other words, since she does not have the same organ she is ...
2
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1answer
72 views
Trees l'asid lavo
I recall learning that la'asid lavo the trees themselves will be edible (ta'm ha'etz k'tam hapri) as in gan eden. I cannot find the source for this though.
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What is the source for “the custom of our forefathers is in our hands”?
Where does "minhag avoseinu byadeinu" as a halachik concept, which is commonly cited as the source for keeping two days of yom tov outside of Israel, originate from?
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1answer
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Seeking Original Aramaic for Talmudic Phrase
What is the original Aramaic of this phrase:
May the words of the Torah be burned rather than handed over to women.
I think it is in Sotah in the Jerusalem Talmud.
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What does the word “Karpas” mean?
That which by the Seder on Pesach we eat "karpas", what does this word actually mean and where does it come from?
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Midrashic sources regarding the Sea splitting into twelve paths
Tehilim 136:13 says:
לְגֹזֵר יַם סוּף לִגְזָרִים כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ
To Him Who cut the Sea of Reeds asunder, for His kindness is eternal.
Rashi's commentary indicates that this is ...
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2answers
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Minhag Kaparos with Money - What's the source?
In the Rama on SA OC Siman 605, we find the custom of "Kaparos" that many do Erev Yom Kippur. Of those who perform this custom a chicken is used. However many also use money (i.e. instead of waving a ...
2
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1answer
119 views
Belief in Yechidah
According to Chabad.org,
Yechidah connotes the essence of the soul--its unity with its source,
the singular essence of G-d. For the essence of the soul of man is
"literally a part of G-d ...
2
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1answer
143 views
What is the original source that a soul is split in half before conception?
Does anyone knew of the original source (from a sefer) for the idea in this quote: "According to Jewish thought, a husband and wife were originally one soul before birth, split into two halves when ...
2
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1answer
71 views
Source for “Ein Mazal B'Yisroel”
I know that there is a Gemarah (somewhere in Shabbos I think), that discuses birth signs, based on days of the week and month. The Gemarah ends with Ein Mazal B'Yisroel and a few stories that ...
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2answers
106 views
Web sites where I can post divrei Torah
Can anyone suggest a good site where I can post a weekly list of marei mekomos in Ramban on the Parsha?
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1answer
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Location in Ohr Sameach of discussion of the nature of a messenger for a get
I've heard there is a discussion in the Ohr Sameach regarding when someone appoints a shliach (messenger) to divorce his wife, whether the person must use his own klaf (parchment) to write the get on ...
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1answer
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Learning Torah without understanding
The Magen Avraham in Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim Siman 50 Sif-Katan 2 writes that learning (Torah) is only called "learning" if one understands what they learn (see there for the context in which he ...
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1answer
61 views
Chazzon Ish and Parshas Parah being D'Oraisa
I heard today that the Chazzon Ish says that the reason Parshas Parah is m'doraisa (See here) is because of the pasuk:
והזהרתם את בני ישראל מטמאותם
"And you shall separate the children of ...
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3answers
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Pasuk about community service
I'm looking for a pasuk to pay tribute to a couple being honored for their service to both my local community and the greater Jewish community. Does anyone have one I can use?
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The order of the wording of the Ben Sorrer U'Moreh source Mishnah
In Mishna 1 of of the Eighth Perek of Masechet Sanhedrin it states that we know the ages in which the halachot of ben sorrer u'moreh apply from the fact that the Torah says "ben" (boy) and not "ish" ...
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1answer
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Communities where men didn't put their טליתות over their heads?
I heard that the Rambam in his commentary to the Mishna mentioned cases where the custom of the place was different, one such place being יָוָן, where men didn't cover their heads with their tallitot, ...
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1answer
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Mitzvah of Ner Channukah — not until after churban habayis?
Someone said over today (in then name of the Sfes Emes) that the mitzvah of Ner Channukah didn't officially "start" until the 2nd Beis HaMikdash was destroyed, since it was established as somewhat of ...
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1answer
90 views
Earliest source for diping apple in honey on Rosh Hashana
What is the earliest source for the custom of dipping an apple in honey on Rosh Hashana?
(It is found in the Tur (Siman 683), the Abudraham (quoted by the Rama there) - believed to be a student of ...
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49 views
Origin of using priestly blessing on Friday night
I know why we use Ephraim and Menashe when blessing the children on Friday nights, (see: Why Does Hashem Bless Us Like Efraim And Menashe?) but why do we use Birkat Kohanim? Is there any specific ...
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Whence “בלי עין הרע”?
What is the source, or earliest reference, I guess, of using the phrase, "בלי עין הרע"?
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1answer
59 views
The Rif and the Rosh on Nazir and Sotah
Where can I find the commentaries of the Rif and of the Rosh on Tractates Nazir and Sotah? They're not in my gemara (Oz v'Hadar), and I was wondering if they were appended to a different tractate?
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Charging interest to “your brother”
A deleted post from a long time ago made the claim that
[W]e are [allowed to charge interest to other Jews] but not from
immediate family. Even from another Jew, if he or she is not a member
...
2
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1answer
62 views
Wearing wool Tzitzis on Shabbos
Is it better to wear wool tzitzis? indicates that it is better Halachically to wear a woolen Beged with woolen Tzitzis. Recently I met a fellow who the entire week wears cotton Tzitzis, yet on Shabbos ...
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Water from the Kohanim washing their hands by nei'lah
I heard about a minhag the other day (for the first time) and was wondering if there is any makor for it. I was told that people ran out to "catch" the water that was used to wash the Kohanim's hands ...
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Are there mystical underpinnings to Maccabi?
One of the explanations I have heard for the title מכבי is that it is an acronym for the pasuk 'מִי-כָמֹכָה בָּאֵלִם ה (Shemos 15:11). Is there any reason, mystical or otherwise that that pasuk (or ...
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129 views
Go out to receive the Torah then come back to convert Egypt
I just heard from my uncle a novel idea about the Exodus. Apparently, the original intention was for the Jews to go out of Egypt to receive the Torah, and then come back to convert the Egyptians.
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56 views
Rambam (Maimonides), talks about different kinds of people
I have heard in school from our teacher that Rambam talks about different kinds of people, one that sees things he does not understand and disregards them as nonsense, another who when faced with ...
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92 views
Two-letter shorashim and phonetic shorashim?
I have heard many times in the name of Rabbi Shimshon Rafael Hirsch that every Hebrew shoresh (usually defined with three letters) has a more basic root of two letters. I also heard in his name that ...
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Text for birchat habayit
I'd like to write a couple birchos habayis and get them illuminated as gifts. Does anyone know of a good existing text? I'm looking for something five or six lines long, preferably not the usual one ...
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Midrashim That Contain Elements That are Against Nature [closed]
I a compiling a list of midrashim that contain elements that go against the laws of nature (e.g. Og's picking up a mountain the size of the camping of Bnei Yisrael). Can anyone help me?
