All Questions
11
votes
2answers
180 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 bombers, found 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
55 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
164 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
42 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
3answers
121 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
215 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
60 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
106 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
52 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
66 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 ...
9
votes
1answer
179 views
Not to give a divorce (Get) in the month of Iyar
I heard today in Shul that there is a Minhag not to give a divorce in the month of Iyar. What is the source and reason for this Minhag?
3
votes
1answer
70 views
A reference to the soul of a Tzaddik like an eyelash in milk
I know that somewhere in something I have read there is a comment that someone (Yaakov avinu?) was so spiritually pure/holy that his soul did not cling to the earthly shell that was his body but came ...
5
votes
2answers
105 views
Ari Zal and Sefira
Many people do not take a hair cut until the end of Sefira (including Lag B'Omer) because of a position of the Ari Zal. Where is the Ari Zal? What is the source for this? Did the strigency of the Ari ...
2
votes
1answer
62 views
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 ...
-2
votes
1answer
58 views
Did Hezekiah discovered Torah (or scriptures) Last Copies?
There is a story that Hezekiah discovers scriptures. What scriptures did Hezekiah discover?
Is it Torah?
Is it the last copy?
The reason #2 is important is if it's the last copy, then our whole ...
-1
votes
1answer
42 views
What actually happened to Jacob's and Laban's sheeps and goats?
Genesis 30 (JPS):
34 And Laban said: 'Behold, would it might be according to thy word.' 35 And he removed that day the he-goats that were streaked and spotted, and all the she-goats that were ...
3
votes
3answers
176 views
Do permanently unmarried women need to go to the mikvah?
Is the purpose of a woman's going to the mikvah so that she can permit herself to a man (be he her husband or any potential husband), or is it for her own sake? The nafqa mina is that of a woman who ...
4
votes
2answers
139 views
How are pre-creation >4000 BCE human civilization and pre-flood >2300 BCE civilizations that continued reconciled with Judaism?
How does human history fit in with the Torah's timeline?
Not even worrying about why the universe and Earth look so old, there is extensive evidence of a human population and human civilizations from ...
5
votes
4answers
69 views
How to care about the molad
I have read the great answers to Purpose of announcing Molad and understood that the halakhic reason to know the molad is to know what the Sanhedrin would know when they declared a new month.
But ...
3
votes
0answers
16 views
Why redeem hekdesh?
Kind of related to What is my relationship to an object once I have pledged it as hekdesh?
Why would somebody pledge something to hekdesh and then redeem it when he could just donate money directly? ...
8
votes
3answers
127 views
How does Hillel's answer summarize the whole Torah?
In Shabbos 31a, Hillel addresses a potential convert who asks him to summarize the whole Torah, and he says, "What is hateful to you, do not do to others."
This is a nice d'var Torah, but it seems to ...
3
votes
1answer
33 views
Chamisha Asar Ushlosh Meyot - mi yodeya?
Who knows three hundred fifteen?
?חמישה עשר ושלוש מאות - מי יודע
In the spirit of the song "Echad - mi yodeya", please post interesting and significant Jewish facts about the number 315.
Is there a ...
5
votes
1answer
54 views
Confectioners glaze - non alcoholic
Recently I read an article by Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff regarding confectioners glaze.
Confectioners glaze is manufactured from shellac, "a glandular secretion of the lac insect, Kerria lacca, a ...
7
votes
5answers
233 views
Have there ever been inter-faith debates between Jews and Muslims?
There are records of many inter-faith debates (disputations) between Jews and Christians even up to modern times. However I have never heard of similar such debates between Jews and Muslims. Are there ...
3
votes
1answer
61 views
Source for “Ben Adam Lemakom” and “Ben Adam Lechavero”
Where does the concept of Ben Adam Lemakom and Ben Adam Lechavero come from?
I know there is a concept of the first five of the ten commandments being between 'man and his friend' and the second ...
4
votes
1answer
31 views
Annulling nedarim on the basis of noladim
I am trying to understand the opinion of Rabbi Meir in the Mishna, Nedarim 9:3-4. If you are already familiar with Masekhet Nedarim, you can skip to the fourth paragraph of my question. If not, the ...
3
votes
2answers
85 views
What is my relationship to an object once I have pledged it as hekdesh?
Once someone has pledged an object as hekdesh, what is his relationship with that object? He is able to redeem it, so does that mean that he still has some kind of connection to that object? If not, ...
2
votes
4answers
124 views
Is it written anywhere that one must stand up for what he believes is right?
This may sound like a weird question, but I was wondering if it is written anywhere (Gemarah, Commentators, etc) that one has an obligation to stand up for something he believes is right, continuing ...
7
votes
2answers
71 views
If you must stop shmoneh esrai, should you take 3 steps back?
If you are davenning shmoneh esrai and you must stop (for example there is filth, something untznius, pictures, a dangerous animal, etc), should you take 3 steps back?
I'm asking both about taking 3 ...
1
vote
1answer
32 views
Is there a law of Hachana?
The Gemara (Eiruvin 38) says that R' Eliezer holds of Hachana or else one would be allowed to lechatchila make an eiruv on the second day.
On the other hand, when R' Chisda says that there is such a ...
6
votes
1answer
78 views
Davening in front of a picture of 'Avodah Zarah
This afternoon I found myself Davening in a classroom. It must have been a comparative cultures type of class, judging by the items that were hanging on the walls - posters and artwork and such.
As I ...
4
votes
2answers
157 views
Conversion to Islam
Although Islam is considered monotheistic I would imagine that in a case of 'oness' (coercion) one would still not be allowed to convert. Is conversion to Islam considered to be a case of יהרג ואל ...
2
votes
1answer
88 views
Who edited the “Nusach Sefarad” nusach?
There are two (Ok, three if you count Teimani) traditional families of nusach in use - Ashkenaz (the Nusach which people from northern/eastern Europe traditionally prayed in) and Eidot Hamizrach (the ...
2
votes
1answer
89 views
Segulot for finding a Shidduch
If someone is having a hard time finding a shidduch, what can they do to help the process along?
Are there any recommendations brought in the holy books that will make it easier?
6
votes
2answers
96 views
Why is one permutation of the name of God backwards?
If you spell out each letter that makes up the name of God, then add up the gematria (numerical value) of each letter of each fully spelled out letter you get various values. The value depends on how ...
0
votes
1answer
60 views
May one make a siyum on a day he is fasting?
If a person accepted a personal fast, is he allowed to make a siyum on that day even though he is fasting and won't eat? Also, is there something special about a personal fast day (other than not ...
3
votes
1answer
64 views
What is a Shabbos Kallah?
A common tradition that I have observed is for a kallah to have a "Shabbos Kallah" on the shabbos before her wedding. What exactly is a shabbos kallah and why do people have them?
2
votes
0answers
43 views
Maris Ayin and bags from restaurants
Similar to this question, suppose there is a chain of restaurants that is mostly non-Kosher, but there happens to be one kosher franchise in the chain. The example I am thinking of is that there is ...
2
votes
0answers
36 views
Why does 'sharpening' depend on effort, and memorization on divine assistance?
The Bavli, M'gila 6 amud 2:
ואמר ר׳ יצחק אם יאמר לך אדם יגעתי ולא מצאתי אל תאמן לא יגעתי ומצאתי אל תאמן יגעתי ומצאתי תאמן הני מילי בדברי תורה אבל במשא ומתן סייעתא הוא מן שמיא ולדברי תורה לא אמרן ...
2
votes
2answers
55 views
Why don't merchants have torah, according to R. Yochanan?
The g'mara on Eiruvin 55a, expounding "it is not in heaven...nor across the sea" (D'varim 30:12-13), says (Soncinco translation):
Raba expounded, It is not in heaven, it is not to be found with ...
3
votes
1answer
63 views
Strange abbreviation זי"ע [duplicate]
Apparently this abbreviation is supposed to mean זכותו יגן עלינו. Surely this is grammatically incorrect, as the word זכות is feminine, and the phrase should be זכותו תגן עלינו?
2
votes
1answer
54 views
Amen on a Berachah that may be out of place but isn't false
An answer to another question says that, when a particular modern-day Torah scholar heard someone recite the blessing of "SheHalak" (recited in the presence of only the most eminent scholars of Torah ...
2
votes
1answer
69 views
Bar Mitzvah candle-lighting?
I was recently invited to a bar mitzvah celebration and mention was made of a “candle lighting ceremony”. I’d never heard of such a thing, and Google turns up pretty vague references.
Which segments ...
