All Questions
6
votes
2answers
118 views
Changing someone else's name
In parshas Shlach Moshe changes Yehoshua's name.
Does this mean his name really changed? IE was he called up to the torah as Yehoshua? Were his kids "ben Yehoshua"?
Are there any other examples in ...
6
votes
1answer
92 views
Is there an exhaustive list of astronomical/environmental events for which there are blessings?
Inspired by:
What Bracha do you say on a Hurricane?
What Blessing Does One Make on a Solar Eclipse?
Bracha for the transit of Venus?
Is there anywhere in the Halachic literature that lists all of ...
6
votes
5answers
281 views
What are some practical things we can do to bring Moshiach?
I am looking for the best and most practical suggestion as to what any average person can implement on a daily basis to help bring Moshiach. This could be either a positive action or refraining from a ...
6
votes
1answer
130 views
Why only 100 zuz to a widow/divorcee?
In a Ketubah, the Rabbis instituted that a man should obligate himself to pay his wife, should he chose to divorce her (or he dies). If she had never been married before, he obligates himself to pay ...
6
votes
0answers
138 views
Chad Gadya: The price of a kid goat
Was the fair market value of a kid goat really two zuzim? This piyyut is of course allegorical, but, if the value given is highly inaccurate, is the discrepancy in value symbolic beyond the symbolism ...
6
votes
2answers
198 views
Maris Ayin when nobody knows you're Jewish
According to this answer, wearing a toupee without a kippa on top may pose a problem of maris ayin.
My question is: Suppose the toupee-wearer has no distinctive Jewish features other than wearing a ...
6
votes
1answer
183 views
Microwave on Pesach
A friend told me that his family will kasher his microwave in general (ie if non-kosher food was heated up in it) but will not kasher it for Pesach, letting it lie dormant instead. Does anyone have a ...
6
votes
2answers
871 views
At a non-kosher restaurant, is sliced raw fish kosher?
At a non-kosher restaurant, is thinly-sliced raw fish kosher?
Let's assume one sees the preparer clean the knife and cut from the whole fish.
Also, let's assume this raw fish is sashimi — ...
6
votes
1answer
144 views
New date at sunset: question on Sifse Chachamim
Avoda Zara 25 cites a difference of opinion as to how long the sun stood still for Y'hoshua: twelve hours, twenty-four, or thirty-six. According to those who say twelve or thirty-six, the sun finally ...
6
votes
5answers
234 views
K'zayis as a weight measurement
The label of the one-pound box of Cohen Halperin Shmura Matza reads:
משקל כל מצה כשיעור כזית
In English (with some Hebrew thrown in, in transliteration, of necessity), that's:
The weight of ...
6
votes
3answers
235 views
Typing on Chol Hamoed
Is typing allowed on Chol Hamoed? Does it make a difference if whatever is typed will be printed afterwards?
6
votes
3answers
180 views
רָקִיאַע or רָקִיַע
The מנחת שי at the beginning of בראשית (on "יהי רקיע") cites a מחלוקת whether the word 'רָקִיעַ' (and likewise for other words with a פתח גנובה) is pronounced as רָקִיאַע or as רָקִיַע, that is, with ...
6
votes
3answers
742 views
Electric Appliances and Mikva
Do electric appliances need to be dunked (toveled) in a mikva?
Obviously, if the parts that touch the food are removable (e.g. an electric mixer's bowl and blade, or a blender's carafe, or the ...
5
votes
3answers
158 views
May one use a Sephardic Torah in an Ashkenaz minyan?
May an Ashkenaz minyan use a sephardic torah (written in כתב וועליש) for their minyan or vise versa? Please cite a source
5
votes
2answers
174 views
Hechi Kedushah anytime?
May a Ḥazzan decide on his own to do a Hechi Kedushah, or are there rules for when it is appropriate/mandated?
5
votes
1answer
104 views
Why do the Leviim wash the hands of the Kohanim when they go up to bless the people?
When the Kohanim washed their hands and feet in the Beis HaMikdosh they did not have anyone to help.
Why then do the Kohanim need others to wash their hands when they go up to bless the people?
Why ...
5
votes
1answer
122 views
What is the level of “Divrei Kabbalah”?
There are times in the Gemara that laws are derived from Psukim in Nach. They are called "Divrei Kabbalah".
What status do they have (are they considered like Torah Laws or like Rabbinic laws).
For ...
5
votes
5answers
423 views
Mordechai - Religious Leader or Political figure?
I'm looking to gather some more background, context, sources and opinions, regarding Mordechai's religiousness, or lack thereof.
This was the topic of a recent comment thread on Was Darius ...
5
votes
2answers
128 views
Tallit Katan and Tallit brachot
Why is that when you wake up you put on a Tallit Katan and then you go to shul and put on a Tallit Gadol? How is it that you can say two different brachot? If it is in fact, that each peice of ...
5
votes
3answers
369 views
חַס וְשָׁלוֹם: why and for what
What is saying חַס וְשָׁלוֹם (chas v'shalom) supposed to accomplish? Does it do so, or is it just a waste of breath?
Based on the answers given to my previous question about this phrase, it seems ...
5
votes
1answer
230 views
Wine made/handled by non-religious Jews
Assume for the purposes of the question that all circumstances are the same as if the wine had been made/handled by non-Jews. I don't want answers regarding whether it is Mevushal or whether Mevushal ...
5
votes
2answers
146 views
What is the meaning of Davar Shebakedusha?
How does something become a Davar Shebakedusha? What is the criteria?
This question was inspired by the discussion over here. People half-standing for אלקינו in zimun
5
votes
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.
5
votes
5answers
316 views
Chabad custom of not allowing water to touch matzah on Pesach
What is the origin of this custom? This must be fairly recent and "Lubavitch-specific", because my grandparents, who were very observant, always had matzah ball soup and fried matzah with eggs for ...
5
votes
3answers
1k views
Why isn't eating milk with chicken kosher?
I remember learning that the reason you don't eat milk with beef is because you shouldn't cook a calf in its mother's milk. However, when you are dealing with two different species, this same logic ...
5
votes
3answers
209 views
Boruch Sheomar - kissing the Tzitzis
The Mishna Berura Siman 51 :1 says that you should kiss the 2 front Tzitzis when you finish saying Boruch Sheomar.
http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=14170&st=&pgnum=155
1 - Why do we ...
5
votes
5answers
187 views
Chodosh - where does it apply?
Does the prohibition against consuming new grain ("Chodosh") before the second day of Passover (Leveticus 23:14) apply only in the Land of Israel or in the Diaspora as well? (Sources appreciated)
5
votes
2answers
110 views
Why Does Hashem Bless Us Like Efraim And Menashe?
I know there are lots of reason's why but What is the main reason Hashem made it so that we get blessed like them?
5
votes
5answers
296 views
5
votes
5answers
743 views
Good Place Online For Cheap Seforim
Any one know where to get cheap seforim online? I mean real seforim.....not digital ones.
5
votes
12answers
385 views
What is the most widespread Israeli Minhag?
What is the single most widely practiced minhag among Jews in Israel today? By "widely practiced" I mean practiced by the most people.
5
votes
2answers
163 views
Return to Egypt: Allowed?
There is an injunction on returning to Egypt. Why was it and is it ignored? For example, how is it that the Rambam an even Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef lived there?
5
votes
2answers
242 views
Is human blood treif?
OK, I know it isn't kosher, but what is the shiur? And do we hold "chetzi shiur assur min haTorah"?
For an application, what if you get a cut while hiking in the woods; is it assur to clean the wound ...
5
votes
3answers
234 views
5
votes
3answers
310 views
Is Yom HaAtzma'ut a Chag?
Is Yom Ha-Atzma'ut (Israeli Independance Day) considered a Chag (Jewish Holiday)? I have been to three types of Shuls (Synagogues) on this day:
Those that have added the saying of Hallel but without ...
4
votes
1answer
142 views
9 be-Av on Shabbos
When 9 be-Av falls on Shabbos, it is moved to the following Sunday.
Are there any restrictions on Shabbos because of 9 be-Av (maybe tashmish is forbidden)?
4
votes
4answers
268 views
Matzah meal before פסח
On the subject of not eating Matzah before פסח, may one eat products containing Matzah meal in that time?
4
votes
1answer
111 views
Why refer to Isaac Luria as the Arizal, and not Arizatzal?
One of the common ways to refer to the R' Isaac Luria is "the Arizal". I understand this to mean, The Ari, zecher L'bracha (may he be mentioned/remembered for blessing).
However, one usually refers ...
4
votes
3answers
196 views
What's the deal with all the washings?
Sometimes we wash with a cup, sometimes not; sometimes we wash twice, sometimes thrice; and not everyone agrees on method or pattern in all cases. Who says which ways we are supposed to wash, in ...
4
votes
1answer
319 views
Why is this wine Yayin Nesech?
There is a letter of the Lubavitcher Rebbe where he writes a letter to a person whose brother said that not traveling on a Jewish owned ship is a "hard test" (which the person seemed to have failed).
...
4
votes
2answers
287 views
What are the Halachic boundaries of Eretz Yisroel?
What are the Halachic boundaries of Eretz Yisroel?
4
votes
3answers
4k views
Rules for Cutting Nails
My question about nail-cutting is whether each of the following is halacha, minhag, or old-wives' tales.
Not cutting both fingernails and toenails on the same day.
Not cutting nails at night (is ...
4
votes
2answers
633 views
What makes something “chukat goyim?”
One of the most famous examples I have heard is that one should not even tie one's shoes like the non-Jews do in times of persecution. That seems rather excessive. What if the Jews started doing some ...
4
votes
4answers
385 views
Tzitzis while exercising?
Does one need to wear tzitzis while exercising? Isn't it disrespectful to the tzitzis to make them all sweaty?
3
votes
0answers
125 views
Is one allowed to go to a standup comedy show during the 3 weeks?
I know that one is not allowed to listen to live music during the 3 weeks.
My question is if Standup comedy is not allowed as well?
3
votes
2answers
113 views
3
votes
2answers
262 views
Intentional Shilu'ach Hakan
Can one fairly be judged as a "bad person" or a naval bir'shus haTorah (see bottom) if he actively seeks out opportunities for shilu'ach hakan gratuitously (i.e. does not make use of the young birds)?
...
3
votes
3answers
436 views
Attending non-frum event
Is it permissible to attend a non-frum event, such as a wedding or bar/bat mitzvah of a family member or friend?
3
votes
1answer
444 views
Eating your own (kosher) food in a non-kosher restaurant?
This was brought to mind by this question:
What are the rules about joining your co-workers (or the like) for a meal in a non-kosher restaurant, but bringing your own food? Is it prohibited as mar'is ...
2
votes
0answers
62 views
Fill m'nora in order?
I know that (at least when lighting at a window), one lights the Chanuka m'nora from left to right: the new lamp first and rightward from there. I've seen people careful to fill them with oil (or ...
