Shalom

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Apr 30	comment	What happens to the family of a Kohen today if his wife is a victim of rape? @Seekingclarity mamzerut only occurs if we wouldn't recognize any binding marriage between this couple. A kohen who chooses to go marry a zonah can be whipped as punishment, but the marriage is still binding. Same thing here, the children would be chalalim but not mamzerim. (And I presume the kohen would be stripped of any priestly privileges so long as he remains married to her -- yes that can sound harsh.)
Apr 30	comment	What happens to the family of a Kohen today if his wife is a victim of rape? @SeekingClarity, not at all "self-indulgent." It's certainly understandable for people to say "I am not strong enough to be able to follow the will of G-d in this case." "Self-indulgent" is "oh religion must be wrong if it feels bad to me right now."
Apr 29	comment	Why did nobody succeed the Lubavitcher Rebbe? It's also been suggested that he couldn't tell his followers "no I'm not the Messiah" as there were points in time where he couldn't definitively state that's NOT how history would go.
Apr 29	comment	What happens to the family of a Kohen today if his wife is a victim of rape? @Seekingclarity, no. A single woman is invalidated from marrying a kohen if her partner is a non-Jew. (If it was a Jew, we say "if we'd marched this couple down the aisle right now they could be married.") A married woman is prohibited from having relations with anyone other than her husband (if we march a married woman down the aisle with another man, no marriage takes effect), and thus whether she's raped by a Jew or non-Jew, the problem would arise.
Apr 29	comment	Why did nobody succeed the Lubavitcher Rebbe? @Daniel and some believe he's coming back, so they shouldn't replace him. And there are now two factions you'd have to reunite.
Apr 26	comment	How much is an ashkenazi kesuba today That's all that's needed for the marriage to be kosher. Customary amounts -- including the zekukim -- are a monetary contract on how to split the property; today most Americans go into marriage with the assumption that it will be split according to equitable distribution (hakol keminhag hamedinah), which is what most batei din do practically today. Rabbis Broyde and Reiss argue that for American Ashkenazim with no other indication, it could be strongly argued that the default terms they agreed-upon are those of Rav Moshe Feinstein.
Apr 26	comment	How much is an ashkenazi kesuba today We have a requirement of no gravely-mistaken notions with regards to the kiddushin (mekach ta'us) -- i.e. if she's assuming the ring is made of gold it should be made of gold, and she's assuming he's not on the FBI Most Wanted List; then we also have a rabbinic requirement that the woman have the option of demanding 200 zuz upon the dissolution of the marriage. Why should anyone be required to go into the marriage with more detailed knowledge than that?
Apr 26	comment	How much is an ashkenazi kesuba today @Shulem, almost. A beis din can decide what is "absolutely required" (i.e. to apply the basic kesubah and not the tosefes kesubah). And if you're writing a legal prenup, it's much wiser to say "whatever beisdin XYZ calls 'minimum required payment' ", rather than say "the minimum halachically-required payment" and then the state courts are left trying to interpret that phrase.
Apr 26	comment	May a man become a gynecologist? @Yehoshua, sorry it's a Binyan Tzion. Take a look.
Apr 25	comment	Eating new grains on the 17th vs the 18th of Nisan Excellent question, and yes generally the two-day thing is limited to observing laws of holidays. I was wondering about this too. Chayei Adam records that the Vilna Gaon would eat matza made of new grain on the first day it was permissible to do so, i.e. the 18th of Nissan.
Apr 24	comment	Responding to “that's not a Jewish name” Someone once attacked Rabbi Fabian Schoenfeld shlit'a, the dean of Queens rabbis, ad hominem because of his first name. I heard Rabbi Rakeffet point out that there is a Tosafist named "Rabbeinu Peter."
Apr 24	comment	Which Amora is mentioned most often in the Gemara? @SethJ, downloaded texts from mechon-mamre and ran my own scripts on them.
Apr 24	comment	Can a shul give an aliyah to an openly gay Jewish man when it gives aliyah to people who violate Shabbos? @Avi afraid you just missed the point. Halacha is focused on actions, not interests. A person makes a choice to sleep with someone the same way they make a choice to drive a car.
Apr 22	comment	Can a single-parent father be exempt from time-bound mitzvot? @DoubleAA, see the commentaries there. Praying with a minyan is a "yishtadel me'od" in shulchan aruch ("one should strive very much"); there's definitely an obligation for the community to have a weekly Torah reading, but some say it's not on the individual to hear it. And yes there could occasionally be osek b'mitzva, but not categorically.
Apr 22	comment	Can a single-parent father be exempt from time-bound mitzvot? @msh210 -- yes it's surprising. Shulchan Aruch YD239 says if someone swears to eat pork, that's immediately null and void; if someone swears to never attend synagogue that's binding. (Though they should get it annulled asap.)
Apr 18	comment	Depicting the Jewish wedding I could see it as a little weird or tacky - "here's what I think my wedding will look like when I meet Mister Right" -- and when the right time comes, G-d willing, please realize that things don't always play out as you'd fantasized they would; but no there's no law or custom against drawing weddings!
Apr 17	comment	Is it a popular notion that a Jew should “have at least three children…”? Two to fulfil "pru urvu", and another two to fulfil "uva'erev al tanach yadecha."
Apr 17	comment	Is it a popular notion that a Jew should “have at least three children…”? judaism.stackexchange.com/a/450/21
Apr 17	comment	Stitches on Shabbos If it involves going to the emergency room, DO. LIKE. TUESDAY.
Apr 16	comment	Is Unitarianism considered to be idolatry? RYHH - pretty sure it's in Bnei Banim; heard it on a Rabbi Linzer shiur on Christianity vis-a-vis Judaism.