Chanoch

6,128 reputation

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bio	website	iit.edu/~kbloom1
	location	Chicago, IL
	age	30
visits	member for	3 years, 3 months
	seen	16 hours ago
stats	profile views	208

Sepharadi Jew in Chicago.

	6,128 reputation	bio	website	iit.edu/~kbloom1	visits	member for	3 years, 3 months
929 badges		location	Chicago, IL		seen	16 hours ago

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Apr 4	comment	Does someone maternally Jewish, but without documented proof, need “giyur l'chumra”? Is giyur l'chumra procedurally any different than gerut for someone who's definitely not jewish? (Or does it simply mean we 're being machmir to do gerut for someone who we suspect is Jewish.)
Feb 17	comment	Which comes first, borei nefashot, or me'en shalosh? @DoubleAA: I've added a link to the Kaf HaHayyim.
Feb 15	comment	Which comes first, borei nefashot, or me'en shalosh? After seeing this answer, I checked the Pri Megadim, and his reason is that it's because there are opinions that say Me'en Shalosh is d'oraita (from the same mitzvah as Birkat Hamazon), so that makes it more chashuv than borei nefashot, which is d'rabbanan.
Jan 3	comment	Does the act of masturbation cause a change in one's spiritual/religious status vis-a-vis what he may and may not do? @Fred: Thanks for the perspective.
Dec 14	comment	Why don't we read from 2 torahs on every shabbat? This sounds pretty much like the discussion we had when we learned this sugya in Ta'anit.
Nov 29	comment	Sifrei Mussar/Machshava/Avodah from the Rishonim Sefer Chasidim was written by R' Yehudah HaChassid of Regensburg, not Rabbi Yehudah HaLevy. The former is one of the Chassidei Ashkenaz, the latter a sepharadi.
Oct 22	comment	Wedding ring composition My rabbi told me that even though platinum and white gold rings are the same color, we don't see that as a reason to avoid getting platinum or white gold rings.
Oct 14	comment	“Tzon k'doshim!” ―“Baa!”: source/provenance I have indeed seen a sefer Ben Yehoyada on Chumash. It can be purchased here or here.
Oct 14	comment	Anim Zemiros is highly anthropomorphic; how come we sing it in public? א thru ד. He could easily have included ה in the this answer as well.
Oct 10	comment	Saying Birkat ha-Mazon without having said ha-Motsi before eating Note that my previous comment, I used pizza as an example because it was the example already given in the answer, but the Halacha Berurah actually paskins that pizza is like bread, and you make hamotzi on it no matter how small an amount you're eating.
Oct 10	comment	Saying Birkat ha-Mazon without having said ha-Motsi before eating Shulchan Aruch Orach Chayim 168:6. Halacha Berurah 168:15 mentions that (assuming the things we've assumed about pizza) if you were to change your mind and then eat two slices of pizza, in addition to the one you already ate, you'd have to wash and say hamotzi before eating the additional slices of pizza.
Aug 28	comment	What is the correct pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton? @Jona21: The vowels found in many printed books today are those of the word "l'olam".
Aug 26	comment	How can people effectively bless when blessing is God's domain? @MonicaCellio: That's just the power of prayer: it is life-changing, and it does influence God to answer it. One's prayer is more powerful, and more likely to be answered the greater the merit the person praying has. And Yitzchack Avinu was way up there in merit.
Aug 26	comment	How can people effectively bless when blessing is God's domain? @jake: When Yaakov dressed up as Eisav, the blessing that Yitzchak gave him was explicitly not the blessing that God gave to Avraham of "great nation, chosen people, etc." Yitzchak gave him that blessing later when he left for Haran.
Aug 26	comment	Women and Mayim Acharonim From the AishDas thread above, you can also note Ari Zivotovsky's article who says this is the only justification that he's found for women not washing mayim acharonim.
Aug 26	comment	Why did Moshe Rabbeinu object to the mirrors, but not the kumaz? I suddenly realize that the kumaz may be no more objectionable than a piece of jewelry worn anywhere else on the body, given that it is forbidden for men to gaze at any of piece of jewelry.
Aug 26	comment	Women and Mayim Acharonim Sources saying both men and women should wash mayim acharonim include Ben Ish Chai, First Year, Parshat Shelach, #11 and Halacha Berurah 181:1. I took a quick glance at the Mishnah Berurah and didn't find anything there about men or women in particular. The source for not requiring it for (almost) anybody is Shulchan Aruch OC 181:10.
Aug 23	comment	What is the original source that a soul is split in half before conception? Notice that the top hit says "split in half when the first of the two is conceived." Other hits say "split into two halves when the older of the two was conceived"
Aug 16	comment	Is animal sacrifice practised among modern Jews? You just need to add that all of the sacrifices in the world mean nothing if the person doesn't also do teshuva -- show regret, resolve not to repeat the sin, and put in place measures to not repeat the sin.
Aug 2	comment	Nudity at home? @DoubleAA: This is more general. Someone could (and should) research whether a husband can be completely naked in front of his wife, and it would answer this question, but not the others.