Hot answers tagged kedusha-holiness
13
I understood the term to mean designated, differentiated or set aside for a purpose. So Kiddush-קידוש would be the verbal declaration that designates the day of Shabbat and differentiates it from all the days that precede it (see the Rambam on the Mitzva of Kiddush). The קדושת היום would be the legal designation of the day. The בית המקדש is a place ...
13
Masturbation per se does not change one's halachik status at all, although it does generate an obligation to repent.
Ezra originally established that a man who is impure from any seminal emmision (not just masturbatory) cannot say shema, pray or say other blessings until he has gone to the mikva. However this decree was later rescended, and the law and the ...
7
The Mishnah Berurah (231, S"K 5) writes:
וראיתי לאנשי מעשה שקודם אכילה היו אומרים הנני רוצה לאכול ולשתות כדי שאהיה בריא וחזק לעבודת הש"י.
And I have seen accomplished men who, prior to eating, would say, "I hereby desire to eat and to drink so that I will be healthy and strong for the service of HaShem, Blessed Be He."
6
In general, one's status does not change, and one should not feel that one is prohibited from learning or davening. That said, it is important to take steps to rectify this very serious sin.
Aside from the necessary steps for teshuva regardless of the sin, one should go to the mikvah as soon as possible - if one is not available, a shower will do - and ...
6
People seem to have turned kippah into a ritual object, when it really isn't. It's religiously appropriate to cover your head, and a kippah is just a convenient way to do so.
In the Star-K guide to sheimos disposal, they make clear that a worn-out kippah can be thrown in the trash! (I suspect they saw people depositing them for dignified burial along with ...
6
I think the difference might be that קֹדֶשׁ means "something holy" (just as אֹכֶל means "something edible"), whereas קְדֻשָּׁה is the abstract noun "holiness."
The form קְדֻשָּׁה doesn't seem to appear in Tanach; things there are always described as קֹדֶשׁ or קָדֹשׁ, with the former often - but not always - modifying a noun in construct form. So שבת קדש ...
4
The dictionary compiled based on the works of Rav Hirsch gives an extensive list, divided by sense like a modern dictionary. However, the bibliographic element of that entry mirrors closely the listing, divided by binyan, of Ibn Janach's Sefer Hashorashim.
קדש - prepare for task, dedicate all resources
1: preparing2: reserving, prohibiting for use4: making ...
3
Let me add a couple things, based on English-language responsa on the Institute for Dayanim website.
"Cleaning off Zera" says the principal halacha is that you can pray even with semen on your clothing. It adds that if you masturbated, it's "proper" to wash your bedsheets to remove semen. The responsum uses the term "proper", not the term "obligatory". ...
3
I can't see the problem with saying "welcome back".
What might be considered innapropriate is "welcome home".
Jews should always consider their country to be Israel.
Devarim Rabbah records a conversation between Moshe and Hashem, where Moshe complains that Yosef's bones will be buried in the land of Israel, wheras he, Moshe, will be buried outside of it. ...
3
Some practices I have adopted that have worked well for me include
Taanis HaRaavad (towards the bottom) - basically you try to leave over a portion of food at the end of your meal. If you're eating a slice of pizza forgo that last bite. It is harder than it sounds but it trains you to control your ta'avah
Eating in a way that symbolically corresponds to ...
3
There is a halacha that once you elevate something, you can not diminish it. This is one of the reasons why we light 1 candle the first night, and 8 candles the last night.
If you view wearing a kippah as a "davar shel Mitzvha", that is, an item which you fulfill a mitzvah with, then it must be treated with "more respect" than a normal item. The halachot ...
3
The very Basic answer is separated from matters of Sexuality and Sin as the first Rashi in Kedoshim says:
קדשים תהיו: הוו פרושים מן העריות ומן העבירה, שכל מקום שאתה מוצא גדר ערוה אתה מוצא קדושה, אשה זונה וחללה וגו' אני ה' מקדשכם, (ויקרא כא ז - ח) ולא יחלל זרעו אני ה' מקדשו (ויקרא כא טו) קדושים יהיו אשה זונה וחללה וגו' (ויקרא כא ו - ז):
The Ramban who ...
2
The Radak explains that קדושיו refers to the ascetics of the world, just like a nazir is called "kadosh" for being an ascetic (similar to the language of נזיר אחיו "[Yosef] elevated over his brothers" (ba)). He is telling them not to fear that they will run out of things to feed themselves — fear only G-d.
2
R' Shneur Zalman of Liadi, when discussing this minhag (and citing earlier sources about it), adds that we consider these days כעין יום טוב - "akin to a Yom Tov" (Orach Chaim 429:9).
In Hilchos Nefillas Apayim (131:5), he writes that tachanun is omitted when a groom is present, מפני שיום טוב שלו הוא - "because it is his Yom Tov"; on the day of a ...
2
it seems to me that a kipah is a head covering just any other hat is, and if a kipah has any "kedusha" (holiness) so would any other head covering. Basically, the reason most people wear a kipah because it is more convenient than wearing a hat. Also, don't forget that there are a great many people who do wear a hat most of the time, would hats then have the ...
2
There are the admonitions for eating that Rav Yedida Raphael Abulafia wrote in the second edition of his siddur(this is them copied over in the siddur Rechovot HaNahar by Rav Benayahu Shmueli). They were brought down from numerous sources in the Rishonim and Acharonim which he was kind enough to source. They are(in part) translated into English here.
Then ...
1
I would agree in principle with double AA in that "they all have the same kedusha", but would add a practical component. In stacking the books in a specific order based purely on content, you could end up with larger books stacked on smaller books thus increasing the probabiltiy that the whole stack will fall over on to the floor which I would think is a ...
1
All Torah works are considered holy and must be treated with respect, regardless of the specific genre (halacha, Talmud, kabbalah, etc.), even if the name of God is not mentioned in them. (This is true even if they are not written in Hebrew.)
The only difference between Torah works is that Biblical books are should not be placed underneath non-Biblical ...
1
It really is based on your emotions. There are some things that according to Halacha are banned, such as throwing banned. However other things are based on ones emotions. For example if you are brought up in a town where you only frisbee things that are sacred and that is the way you show respect, then by all means frisbee them.
However if you, like most ...
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