Hot answers tagged mitzvah
8
I think that the question presupposes that the coming of Moshiach is a reward for our work during the era of exile, and in that case that's a fair point, since we're supposed to do mitzvos "not in order to receive reward" (Avos 1:3).
However, the Lubavitcher Rebbe zt"l cites in this connection a statement by R. Schneur Zalman of Liadi (Tanya, ch. 37) that ...
6
Basically, we don't have the power to declare someone categorically exempt. Abudraham suggested one explanation, but our system of laws categorically says "all men are obligated", "all women are not."
If a person is truly in a situation beyond their control, halacha recognize that. If it's five minutes before sunset and a single dad who hasn't yet prayed ...
4
From http://www.star-k.com/kashrus/kk-shiluach-hakan.htm
Even if one does not eat the offspring after taking them, and his sole motivation is to perform the mitzvah, he has properly fulfilled the mitzvah.
To perform a halachic acquisition, they should be lifted to a height of three tefachim (about 12 inches). Upon completion of the mitzvah, one may ...
4
It's basically been debated by rabbis for the last 500 years. (Rabbi Mordechai Willig shlit'a writes about this in Beis Yitzchak in Hebrew a few years ago, and in a very recent YU-to-go journal (in English) related to dating and marriage.
The Gemara says if a parent says "I know you just found Joe Schwartz's wallet, but don't return it to them!", the child ...
4
Rashi to Devorim 24 (19) about the forgotten sheaf says
SO THAT [THE LORD, YOUR GOD,] WILL BLESS YOU: Although [the forgotten
sheaf came into his hand without intention [of the owner]. How how
much more so [will one be blessed] if he did it deliberately!
Hence, you must say that if someone dropped a sela, and a poor man
found it and was ...
3
Anonymous tzedakah is valued because needing charity is embarrassing. If they know you're the donor (even if you don't know them), they'll feel weird when you're around; if you know they're the recipient (even if they don't know who gave it), you'll feel snide when seeing them. So anonymous is best.
I'm not aware of any reason to value anonymity when ...
2
I think the following story about R' Yishmael ben Elisha may answer your question (This is a translation of story told in a couple places in the Talmud Yerushalmi):
Rabbi Ishmael's mother was a very pious woman, and she worshipped her son. But one day she astonished the Sages when she appeared before them to complain about her son. Said she, "Rebuke my ...
1
If a congregation did not read the Parsha (portion) of the Torah one Shabbos they read that Parsha the next Shabbos, but if the Shabbos they didn't read (or the next Shabbos) was a double Parsha or the next Shabbos was a new Chumash (e.g. they didn't read Vayichee) then there is a disagreement whether they should make up for the missed Parshiyos. See SA OC ...
1
I heard a lecture by Rabbi Yisroel Reisman (of Brooklyn; one of his weekly-in-the-winter motzae Shabas lectures on N'viim) which cited various opinions (see also Shalom's answer) and concluded, as best as I can recall, that at least some major pos'kim (halachic decisors) rule practically as follows: The command to revere/respect one's parents (mora) includes ...
1
An answer from Chabad.org (I assume based on some talk or letter by the Lubavitcher Rebbe zt"l, although I haven't found the specific one) is that this demonstrates that the Torah is not just a set of laws superimposed on an existing world (i.e., that there exists a natural reality which Torah comes to regulate), but that on the contrary, the purpose of all ...
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