All Questions
1
vote
1answer
67 views
What parts of the service do you say when late to Shacharit?
According to the Shulchan Aruch (please cite Saeef and Siman so I can read further):
What should one do when he's late to Shachrit? What should he skip and what must he say?
4
votes
0answers
31 views
Are placebos permitted without telling the person they are getting one?
Does Judaism allow placebos where the person thinks it does something, and is thereby cured, even though the item does nothing?
Is this gnevas da'as (or some other issur), or because it can help them ...
5
votes
1answer
48 views
Would a replacement kohen gadol be anointed on yom kippur?
Here is what I know:
When a kohen gadol dies we replace him. In fact we've got a replacement kohen gadol waiting in the wings on yom kippur just in case
Any kohen who becomes kohen gadol gets ...
0
votes
2answers
73 views
Are homeopathic remedies kosher?
I'm not sure what they put in the remedies but I would like to know if they are kosher and would batel beshishim apply in this case if there was a non-kosher ingredient?
6
votes
0answers
47 views
How do we translate חַטָּאִים?
Isaiah 1 (28): And destruction shall come over rebels and sinners
together, and those who forsake the Lord shall perish. כח.
וְשֶׁבֶר פֹּשְׁעִים וְחַטָּאִים יַחְדָּו וְעֹזְבֵי יְהֹוָה ...
1
vote
0answers
33 views
HaKohen, HaLevi - source and reason
What is the source, earliest recorded record, and reason many who are Kohanim and Leviyim write after their name HaKohen or HaLevi?
3
votes
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
votes
0answers
43 views
Answering “amen” to “Ahavas olam” in the evening but not in the morning
Mishna B'rura 91:16 cites a difference of opinion regarding whether one should respond "amen" to the shatz's (leader's) blessing immediately before "Sh'ma" or should, on the contrary, finish saying ...
1
vote
0answers
19 views
Invalidating women from the priesthood and from terumah
In Yevamot 6:2, we are told that one who has sexual intercourse with various types of women will "invalidate" them. The language is as follows:
וכן הבא על אחת מכל העריות שבתורה או פסולות כגון ...
2
votes
0answers
53 views
Blowing shofar at a wedding
Friends of mine are getting married this Sunday and asked me if I would blow shofar at the chuppah. I have been ba'al toke'a probably 2/3 of the years since my bar mitzvah (2002) in three different ...
-1
votes
0answers
34 views
Can a gentile celebrate the holidays like Rosh Hashanah or Pesshach with jews?
we have gentile friends that would like to celebrate the Chagim with us.
Can they do it? Also on Yom Kippur?
3
votes
1answer
56 views
Is there a halachik problem with wearing shorts while davening?
I have often heard that one should not wear shorts while davening. This makes intuitive sense to me that we should do this out of respect. But is there any halachic reasoning behind this? Is it ...
5
votes
0answers
43 views
Reasons for divorcing a woman (sourcing a chiddush)
The Mishna in Gittin 9:10 provides a few different interpretations of ערות דבר (Deuteronomy 24:1). While the school of Shammai hold that for a man to divorce his wife he needs to find significant ...
3
votes
0answers
46 views
Is it considered tzaar baalei chayyim to deliberately feed a live animal to another animal?
There are many pets available today that experts recommended to feed (infrequently or at times solely) on live animals. Many reptiles (snakes, chameleons, geckos, monitors, etc.) and many fish are ...
1
vote
0answers
22 views
Seudas Pidyon HaBen and Bris Milah together
If someone had a baby boy and the bris was pushed off until what came out to be the day of the Pidyon HaBen. Can the 2 seudas, one for the Bris and the other for the Pidyon HaBen be made together as ...
3
votes
2answers
52 views
What is the proper way to hold one's hands while praying?
Similar to Not interlacing fingers in prayer
What is the proper way that one should hold his hands while praying, if there is such a way? What is the level of obligation to hold one's hands in that ...
3
votes
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 ...
2
votes
1answer
52 views
Seeing dam due to relations and the halachos of vests
If a woman was a "ro'eh machmis tashmish" (she saw blood after having relations), does the day that it happened go into the account of her "vestes" (the days that she will have to be concerned she may ...
1
vote
0answers
36 views
Is a child believed (neman) for halachos in regards to himself?
I will pick 2 examples however I don't have any makoros at the moment (so please help to provide or correct me/help edit.)
If a katan (child) is not neman (believed) in regards to tovelling celim for ...
0
votes
0answers
44 views
I doubled wrapped something in a treif microwave and it opened, now what? [closed]
I doubled wrapped something in a treif microwave and it opened, now what? The plastic wrap stayed on but the container itself opened. Is the food treif? Is the container treif?
1
vote
1answer
56 views
What is a Hava Amina Teretz?
B"H
If "hava amina" means slightest notion, what is a hava amina teretz?
I think teretz means an answer. So what is a slightest notion answer?
-1
votes
1answer
89 views
What are the most recited verses during Jewish prayer?
What are the top three most recited/used verses/supplications (from or not from Torah) in Jewish prayers? Not asking about the single most used one only.
I think, if a passage or a sentence is ...
3
votes
0answers
45 views
Going to lectures with overhead projector on shabbat
Is attending public lectures (and looking at the screen) permissible on the Sabbat? Information from a computer is projected onto a movie screen and the lecturer may be using a microphone. The ...
6
votes
3answers
137 views
Misreading a k'suva
The k'suva text varies slightly depending on whether the bride is a virgin, independent of whether she has been married previously. (For one thing, the amount of money mentioned in it is different; ...
1
vote
2answers
49 views
Why did it take so long to conquer and divide the land?
We learn that Yehoshua took 7 years to conquer the land and another 7 to divide it. Why did both of these take so long?
Conquest (at least from the details of the description in the text) took at ...
4
votes
1answer
40 views
How to fix incorrect omer count
Suppose someone accidentally counts the wrong day of the omer after making a bracha, and then realizes later that night what he had done. How should he rectify this? Should he count the correct day ...
7
votes
1answer
90 views
Is Niddah considered to be gilui arayos for purposes of martyrdom?
Gilui Arayos as is known is one of the 3 "big avaros" that one has to give up their life for. Is the prohibition of a Niddah considered forbidden to the extent that one would have to give up one's ...
4
votes
2answers
59 views
Are there any books which specifically deal with the laws of an Aguna? Preferably in English?
I know where it is written in the Torah that a man needs to write a document for his wife in order to divorce her, but I want to know if there is a thoroughly explained book written on the topic of ...
4
votes
1answer
39 views
How does one request a haskama (approbation)?
Are there any rules or or general best-practices for requesting an approbation? Can an approbation that was sent based on an incomplete manuscript still be used if changes are made to the work later ...
2
votes
1answer
84 views
canned whipped cream on shabbas?
Can one use a pressure can of whipped cream on shabbas ?
It is funny because on the actual can it says to ask your Rabbi if one can use it or not.
1
vote
0answers
50 views
The Brakhah 'Ha-Tov ve-ha-Meitiv' and Wine
I think I vaguely remember that one of the occasions when one makes the brakhah 'ha-tov ve-ha-meitiv' is when you have been drinking wine and someone brings out another bottle of wine that is of a ...
5
votes
1answer
51 views
How much of the sefer torah did the king read each day?
According to D'varim 17:18-20, a king was required to write for himself a sefer torah and read from it each day ( וְקָרָא בוֹ כָּל-יְמֵי חַיָּיו). This doesn't say he had to read the whole sefer each ...
5
votes
0answers
38 views
The Torah scrolls written by Jewish kings
The Torah commanded Jewish kings to write their own Torah scroll from a master in the possession of the Levites, and to read it every day of their life so that they should not become haughty and so ...
10
votes
2answers
167 views
May a Jewish cemetery refuse a body?
Based on a recent news item wherein cemeteries have been refusing to inter the body of one of the (alleged) Boston bombersfound here I was curious if a Jewish cemetery's operators were allowed to ...
3
votes
2answers
76 views
Eating bread on Shabbos
A friend was on a diet and was told that if he does not want to eat bread on Shabbos, he does not have to. Is this correct? Do we have an obligation to wash for bread and have three meals on ...
1
vote
0answers
53 views
When did the Kanievsky family switch from Chasidic to Litvish?
R' Chaim Kanievsky shlita davens Ashkenaz and wears Ashkenazi tefilin. His grandfather z'l was a Chernobyler chasid. It's not clear to me how the Steipler Gaon ztz'l conducted himself with regards ...
5
votes
2answers
162 views
Is it permitted to learn in kollel without earning a living?
Based on this post which states in part:
Ramoh in Yoreh Deah, 246:21
“A person should hire himself out for alien work rather than requiring assistance from others”; “The man who is ...
4
votes
1answer
41 views
Does a siyyum in the 9 days obviate other issurim?
Each year, I try to coordinate my learning so that I can make a seudat mitzvah during the nine days and some close friends can have some meat and wine to celebrate. Does the siyum also allow them to ...
2
votes
2answers
105 views
Why is Avraham's monotheism not mentioned in the torah?
One of the more famous achievements of Avraham was his discovery in a single God. However there is no mention of this accomplishment anywhere in the Torah. In fact there is no conclusive proof that he ...
4
votes
1answer
58 views
Did Chava tell Adam she was giving him fruit from the etz ha'das?
When Chava gave Adam fruit from the etz ha'das to eat did she tell him where the fruit was coming from or not?
1
vote
0answers
51 views
Why did Chava give Adam the fruit to eat?
For what reason did Chava give Adam fruit from the tree of knowledge to eat?
12
votes
4answers
202 views
Zeraim Moed Nashim Nezikim Kodshim Taharos - why not Moadim?
The names of the Shisha Sidrei Mishna (Six Orders of Mishnah) are: Zeraim, Moed, Nashim, Nezikim, Kodshim, Taharos. All of them besides Moed are in plural form. However Moed is in singular form. Why ...
5
votes
1answer
58 views
What is the origin of the dispute on which way to wrap tefilin shel yad?
Non-Chasidic Ashkenazim wrap their tefilin shel yad inward toward the body when coming over the top of the arm, while Sefardim and Chasidim wrap outward away from the body when coming over the top of ...
2
votes
1answer
102 views
What is the meaning of this painting?
I am in possession of this mysterious painting with Hebrew characters, but I do not know what words mean. I suspect that they may provide a clue to what is being represented in each of the painted ...
3
votes
1answer
51 views
Forgot to say Yaaleh V'Yavo by Shacharis Rosh Chodesh - before the Molad
Orach Chaim 422:1 mentions that one who forgets Yaale V'Yavo at Maariv does not have to Daven again since we do not do Kiddush HaChodesh at night. However if one forgot at Shacharis or Mincha he does ...
7
votes
1answer
65 views
Source for shuls flying in yemos hamoshiach?
My son mentioned to me that he learned in school that when Moshiach comes all the shuls (and schools?) will miraculously fly to Eretz Yisroel. What is the source of this idea?
-4
votes
2answers
79 views
Who should be asking a nidda shaala
Who should be asking a niddah shaala the woman or her husband, or is there no difference or does it perhaps depend on what the shaala is.
Rabbis prefer woman for a variety of reasons. The man often ...
2
votes
0answers
41 views
Who said to whom? (M'nachos 70)
Bavli, M'nachos 70 amud 1:
בעי ר׳ אבהו שבולת שמרחה בכרי ושתלה וקרא עליה שם במחובר מהו כיון דמרחה טבלא לה כי קרא עליה שם קדשה לה או דלמא כיון דשתלה פקע ליה טבלא מינה אמרי ליה רבנן לאביי אם כן מצינו ...
1
vote
0answers
28 views
Why is Chronicles so similar to Kings?
Why is Chronicles so similar to Kings? Consider these two passages:
Ⅱ Kings 22
Ⅱ Chronicles 34
It's almost the same word for word. Were they originally the same book that got forked out like open ...
0
votes
0answers
27 views
Is one allowed to sin a small sin to save himself from bringing a Chatas?
The Gemara in Shabbos says that Bibi bar Abaye asks if one can violate a Rabbinic commandment (unsticking a loaf from an oven) to save oneself from being "chayav a chattas".
The Gemara says that ...
