Questions tagged [geography]
Questions about places with Jewish connections.
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When does a day start/end in the far North/South?
As I understand it, a day in the Jewish calendar is from sunset to sunset. How is this handled if you are living so far north or south that you have long periods of daylight or darkness?
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Shabbat in the arctic
If I were to travel to Barrow, Alaska in the summer, when there is no sunset, when should I light the Shabbat candles?
(This is not a hypothetical question; I work remotely for an Alaskan corporation ...
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Implications of Samoa skipping a Friday
This week, the island of Samoa is switching time zones, causing it to skip from Thursday directly to Saturday. Out of simple curiosity, what implications might this have on any Jews on the island? ...
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How to reconcile Biblical Flood story vs science and history?
Genesis spends a good deal of time -- Chapters 6 through 11 -- discussing the "mabul mayim", a flood that killed all humanity outside the ark. Here is what the Torah's text says about the universality ...
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Commencing Shabbos: Shkiya behind a mountain
It is common practice nowadays for Shuls to publish the zmanim (times) to begin Shabbos (the Sabbath) and other activities. These times, it would seem, are based upon standard calculations of sunrise ...
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Four Holy Cities
I have often seen reference to the Four Holy Cities: Jerusalem, Hebron, Safed and Tiberias. What is the earliest source to reference this? Why these four cities? Has there ever been a different count? ...
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So where are these mermaids?
According to the answers to Would a mermaid be kosher?, the Gemara and poskim apparently believed that mermaids exist, and would not be kosher.
So, if these mermaids and sirens exist, where would ...
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ribis and foreign currency conversion
I am afraid that I have only recently started to study this kind of thing and I completely unlearned compared to most of the contributors here, so I apologize if my question is somewhat ...
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Walled cities for Purim other than Jerusalem
The holiday of Purim is unique in that some locations celebrate it on different days. The rule is: if the city was walled at the time of Joshua's conquest of the Land of Israel then they celebrate on ...
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When is "vesain tal umotor" said in Australia?
When is "vesain tal umotor" said in the Southern Hemisphere eg Australia?
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Saying Mashiv HaRuach in the Southern Hemisphere
In the Southern Hemisphere (Brazil, Australia, South Africa, etc.) in October they are heading into the summer. Do they say Mashiv HaRuach at this time of the year or do they say it from Pesach to ...
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What are the major regions relevant to Ashkenazi minhagim?
Motivating this question are the instructions in the ArtScroll Siddur for the two versions of kel erekh apayim, said on weekdays before taking out the sefer torah: one is identified as “נוסח אשכנז, ...
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Did Rabbi Akiva Go To Africa?
The Gemara in Rosh Hashana 26a says:
ואמר רבי עקיבא כשהלכתי לאפריקי...
Rabbi Akiva said: when I went to Afriki
Is this referring to the continent of Africa?
Was Africa in this time period ...
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Did Shuls in Europe display their countries' flags prior to the holocaust?
Prior to the holocaust, did Shuls in Europe display their countries' respective flags? Do Shuls currently display their countries' flags? When did it start and why?
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Pre-1948, what flags were found in American synagogues?
Certainly throughout the 1970s and 1980s, it was not at all uncommon to see an American synagogue where the Aron Kodesh was flanked by American and Israeli flags.
Pre-1948, was there just an American ...
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Online maps of the Biblical Middle East overlaying the modern ME
Are there any maps online that contain relatively reliable Biblical landmarks, cities, routes, and boundaries overlaying the modern Middle East? I'm particularly interested in the boundaries of the ...
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Where is the land of Sinim?
In Isaiah Perek 49 Pasuk 12 it says:
הִנֵּה-אֵלֶּה, מֵרָחוֹק יָבֹאוּ; וְהִנֵּה-אֵלֶּה מִצָּפוֹן וּמִיָּם, וְאֵלֶּה מֵאֶרֶץ סִינִים
Behold, these shall come from far; and, lo, these from the north and ...
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Maps of Biblical Israel according to different authorities
After learning through Sefer Yehoshua with a variety of commentaries, I noticed that there seems to be a lot of differing opinions in how the land was divided up amongst the Shevatim and the shape of ...
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Was the whole earth covered during The Flood?
Are there commentaries that suggest that the flood during the time of Noach was localised to one geographic area, as opposed to the whole Earth. In Bereishit 8:9 when the dove was sent out it says:
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Hagalah in Denver?
In high-altitude cities, water boils at a lower temperature than the standard 212 degrees Farenheit. For example, in Denver the boiling point is about 203 degrees. Can one kasher utensils with hagalah ...
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How precisely oriented towards Jerusalem should we face for praying?
I know we're supposed to face towards Jerusalem when praying/davening. For most of us in the Europe or the Western Hemisphere, we're used to facing "Mizrach", east.
How precise should we be? If I'...
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How animals populated different continents after the flood?
What are some understandings as to how animals populated different continents after the flood?
Did some species of animals survive the flood? Or are we to understand that the flood only affected the ...
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Where was Goren H'Atad physically located?
Where was the place referred to in Bereshis 50:10 as Goren H'Atad physically located? Is it the name of another city?
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Where is הגר? The country, not the person
In the מטה אשר (commentary to שמלה חדשה), it is recorded that it was the custom of Jews in "מדינות מלכות רוסיא וגאלציא וגם במדינת הגר בקהילת היראים" to use the sefer שמלה חדשה to learn the halachos of ...
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Source for Africans being Caananites?
In Alex's answer to Did any Achronim comment on the American Revolutionary or Civil Wars? he says that a certain Rav was opposed to the Emancipation Proclamation, because it goes against Noach's curse,...
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Why is Edom considered to be "Western culture" and not southern Jordan? [duplicate]
I have a vague notion of hearing in various places that America or Western culture in general is Edom and that this final exile is called Galus Edom. Also as in reference to the blessings in Genesis ...
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"פְּנִיאֵל" and "פְּנוּאֵל"
Is the פְּנִיאֵל of BeReishis 32:31 the same as the פְּנוּאֵל of 32:32? If so, why the change in term used to refer to it? If not, is there a story behind the two places with such similar names?
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Dividing the world for the sons of Noah
Rashi (Gen 12,6) mentions that Noah divided the world between his sons and that Israel was given to Shem and his descendants:
והכנעני אז בארץ. הָיָה הוֹלֵךְ וְכוֹבֵשׁ אֶת אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל ...
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Is it permissible to live in California (or similar places) that have an earthquake risk?
I'm from a place that usually never gets an earthquake, I want to move to California but it sounds dangerous because of the earthquake possibility (soil turning to liquid, no warning, etc)...
Is ...
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How do we determine "population statistics" for population-dependent Halachot?
There appear to be several halachot that are based on "a majority of Israel". For example:
Mishnah Berachot 54a:
הרואה מקום שנעשו בו נסים לישראל אומר ברוך שעשה נסים לאבותינו במקום הזה
IF ...
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Why don't islands read the m'gila two days?
Bavli, M'gila 5 amud 2, cites a doubt as to when the m'gila is read in T'verya: on the fourteenth of Adar, as in most places, or on the fifteenth, as in a city walled since the time of Y'hoshua. The ...
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Ritual locations during the times of the Mishkan
There are certain, rituals such as the sending away of the scapegoat on Yom Kippur or the drawing of water on Sukkot which are described in Mishna as relating geographically to the location of the ...
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Does Shmita apply in Jordan?
Since the East bank of the Jordan River was given to shevet Reuven as an inheritance, was Shmita observed there as well? If so, does shmita still apply there?
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Is all-night Shavu'ot learning as prevelant in the Southern Hemisphere?
In the Northern Hemisphere, Shavu'ot falls in the late Spring or early Summer. As a result, sunrise is relatively early, so learning "all night" and then praying the morning service at the earliest ...
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Facing Yerushalaim during Kaddish
Must one face Yerushlaim (or the Hechal) when reciting Kaddish,the way one should for Amida? This seems to be generally practiced; does it have a source in the Shulchan Aruch or achronim or is it a ...
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Rivers in Genesis
I will be upfront about it - I am skeptical of our tradition about the Torah being given on Mount Sinai, and suspect that Judaism is a man-made religion. It's not that I don't want Judaism to be true, ...
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Is the term Cushite used to refer to people of African descent?
While reading the book of Numbers (I am a Christian, I don't know if it is referred to something else in Judaism), I came across the passage (Numbers 12:1-15) where Miriam and Aaron were speaking ...
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Does learning Torah or doing Mitzvos protect others from enemies?
I know from the gemarah Bava Basra 7b-8a that learning (being a talmid chacham) or doing many mitzvos can protect oneself from enemies (such that when a city is taxed for a wall that was built to ...
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Is Juneau, Alaska -- surrounded by natural barriers -- a natural eruv
I recently visited Juneau, Alaska. It is a small city of 35,000. The city limits are quite large, however – 3,225 square miles – but much of this area is separated from downtown Juneau on Douglas ...
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How did the Sages know that Jerusalem had a wall in the times of Joshua?
The criterion for whether a city celebrates Purim on 14 Adar or Shushan Purim on 15 Adar is whether it was walled in the times of Joshua (about 3300 years ago). (Well, Shushan itself is an exception, ...
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42 camps and 42 non-refuge Levite cities (Masei)
What is the significance of the numerical correspondence between the 42 camps or waypoints mentioned in the recounting of the forty years of wandering (Bamidbar 33) and the fact that 42 of the 48 ...
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Sources for the world being round in the Gemara
Can anyone bring me proofs from the Gemara that proves the world was round-and that this was known 2000+ years ago?
I have looked around and I can't seem to find any sources which prove this.
user5538
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Late sunset times and Jewish observance
This question is distinct from other questions which ask how and when to begin Shabbat, etc. when there is no sunset. I am asking about places in which sunset occurs very late during certain times of ...
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Why Italia of Yavan?
The gemara in Megila 6b refers to איטליא של יון זה כרך גדול של רומי, which translates literally as: Italy of Greece, this is the great city of Rome.
This seems odd insofar as I know, Italy never ...
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Comprehensive map/list of active Orthodox synagogues in the U.S
Does anyone know of a map or list of all the active Orthodox shuls in the U.S.? When I was looking for which residencies to apply to it was my limiting factor and sometimes it was hard to find out ...
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Southern Birkas Ha'ilanos
I've seen Saying Mashiv HaRuach in the Southern Hemisphere. Similarly, is Birkas Ha'ilanos (ברכת האילנות) said in Tishrei in the southern hemisphere? That's when the trees bloom.
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Where does the Maharsha mention the Bermuda Triangle?
Someone once told me that the Maharsha talks about Bermuda Triangle in meseches berachos.
Does anyone know where the Maharsha speaks about it?
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What's the history of Hekhalot/Heichalot/Heikhalot literature?
There is a field of study, which focuses on the Hekhalot literature. However, the internet gives conflicting information about them.
For example, some state that they were written by the early ...
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Where is the Sambatyon?
Where is the Sambatyon? Is there really a river somewhere that throws stones all week and rests on Shabbos?
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