Questions tagged [geography]
Questions about places with Jewish connections.
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Noach's deluge: local, but referred to as everywhere
Some try to reconcile Noach's story with the fact that the Chinese (and other cultures like the Native Americans) existed beforehand and afterwards (with documented history) and didn't die by saying ...
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Recommend introductory resources on Jewish traditions in the Balkans
A couple of years ago I found out that I have some Jewish ancestry when investigating my family's history. I know that my great grandfather perished in the holocaust, but I was led to believe that it ...
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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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לָשַׁע the place
The lands of the Cannanites are described in parashat Noach 10:19:
And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon as you come to Gerar, until Gaza, as you come to Sodom and Gomorrah, and Admah and ...
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Why didn't Terach go to the Land of Canaan?
In Genesis 11:31, Terach takes Avraham (then Avram), Sarah (then Sarai), and Lot to the Land of Canaan, i.e. Israel. However, they stopped in Charan, and Terach spent the rest of his life there. Why ...
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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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What options are there for chanukiah lighting in southern latitudes?
What options are there for lighting chanukiyot in southern latitudes where younger children will be going to bed well before sunset?
Adults may stay up for lighting chanukiyot but what options are ...
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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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Holidays south of the equator
When Jews first started establishing communities south of the equator, they must have noticed that the holidays fell completely at the wrong times of the year. (For example, Pesach, referred to as hag ...
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Is there something shocking about the location of Mount Gerizim and Eval?
In Devarim 11:30, after describing the blessings and curses to be delivered on Har Gerizim and Eval, Moshe says the following:
הלא המה בעבר הירדן אחרי דרך מבוא השמש בארץ הכנעני הישב בערבה מול הגלגל ...
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Why does the cave of machpelah have special significance?
Avraham spends considerable money and effort to acquire the cave of machpelah. I think the medrash mentions that Adam and Chava were buried there. My question is, is the cave of machpelah special ...
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Rashi to Devarim 11 (11). In what way is mountain land superior to the land of the plain?
Rashi on Devarim 11 (11) "But the land, to which you pass to possess, is a land of mountains and valleys and absorbs water from the rains of heaven” says
The mountain land is superior to the land ...
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Where is "Nachal Mitzrayim"?
According to Numbers 34:5 the south-western most point of (Biblical) Israel is "Nachal Mitzrayim". My first question is what river is this referring to?
The first time I remember reading this I ...
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Over what parts of current Israel do the laws of Shemittah apply?
Over what parts of current Israel do the laws of Shemittah apply?
Do the laws apply to the West Bank (Judea and Samaria)?
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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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Who or what was Gilaad?
In parshas pinchas ch 26 vs 29 we find Menasheh had a son Machir who had a son Gilaad (גלעד). In fact this family group was called "Gilaadi" (גלעדי). At the end of parshas Matos ch 32 vs 39 - 40 we ...
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Where did the well come from?
Numbers 21:16, on the topic of the "Wars of God", after describing the flow of the streams of Arnon toward the borders of Moab says:
וּמִשָּׁם בְּאֵרָה הִוא הַבְּאֵר אֲשֶׁר אָמַר יְהוָה ...
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What nationality was Bilam?
In Numbers 22:5, the Torah is unclear as to where Pethor is. If it wants to tell us where Pethor is, then tell us, but one can only figure out where Pethor is if one knows of which people was Bilam. ...
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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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Why did God say יִקָּווּ הַמַּיִם, it should happen by itself naturally
In Bereishis 1:9 it says וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים יִקָּווּ הַמַּיִם מִתַּחַת הַשָּׁמַיִם אֶל מָקוֹם אֶחָד וְתֵרָאֶה הַיַּבָּשָׁה , And God said, "Let the water that is beneath the heavens gather into one ...
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Does anyone hold that בֵּית לָחֶם is also a person's name?
In Divrei Hayamim I 4:4 Hur is listed as the father of בֵּית לָחֶם.
אֵלֶּה בְנֵי-חוּר בְּכוֹר אֶפְרָתָה, אֲבִי בֵּית לָחֶם
The commentaries I have seen read this as he fathered people who lived ...
user5092
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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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Shmos 2:15 – Moshe fled from Paroh and dwelt in Midian. Why Midian?
Shmos 2:15 – Moshe fled from Paroh and dwelt in Midian.
Why did he choose Midian?
The only slightly helpful references I saw said
a) (attributed to a Medrash but I do not see it) that he was ...
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Where was Adam created?
The Torah tells us G-d brought Adam into Gan Eden after his creation from earth (Bereishis 2:15). If this is the case where was Adam created?
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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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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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Where was the "beis Ha'Sereifah"?
On daf 68 of Yoma, we learn that the par chotas (chatos bull) and seir Hashem (goat for God) were intertwined and taken by cohanim to the "beis Ha'sereifah", outside the camp, to be burned. We also ...
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Why does Pniel have two spellings? [duplicate]
In Parshat Vayishlach, the place where Yaakov is named Israel is named פְּנִיאֵל (Pniel) by Yaakov, and then one verse later it is called פְּנוּאֵל(Pnuel). Why are these two alternate spellings so ...
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Why does Scripture in parashat bereishit need to mention the four rivers?
In Bereishit 2:10, scripture mentions the following:
10: And a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it separated and became four heads.
11: The name of one is Pishon; ...
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Tourist guides for Kohanim
I recently saw a tourist guide for Kohanim, published online by the Chicago Rabbinical Council, listing certain Chicago tourist sites that are, and are not, problematic for Kohanim.
Are there any ...
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Why does the eruv tavshilin only apply to Jews in this city?
When we make an eruv tavshilin, we often close with "for us and for all the Jews in this city." so that others who forgot or aren't observant can rely on your eruv for their own shabbas preparations.
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Did God know the holy place right away during the exodus?
Around the time of the exodus, the Torah says (Deut. 12:11, in Rabbi Kaplan's translation):
there will be a site that God will choose as the place dedicated to
His name. It is there that you will ...
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reprinting of tanyas in many locations, why?
Why do Lubavitcher חסידים print “ספר של בינונים" in many different places — something about outward expansion of wellsprings?
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Is Gan Eden a physical place?
Is Gan Eden mentioned in Genesis a physical place? Does it exist physically somewhere on the planet or is it some kind of spiritual place or even some kind of analogy?
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Why is it common for the people in the chumash to name every place they pass?
It seems pretty arbitrary, but in many cases in the Chumash, we find our patriarchs, Moses, etc, name places they pass based on some action that took place there. Is there any additional meaning to ...
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Did Achashverosh rule over the entire Old World?
Megilla 11a says "Three ruled over the world - Achav, Achashverosh and Nebuchadnetzar." It suggests a few other names that weren't on the list and rejects them because they didn't rule over one ...
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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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What is meant by the term "midina"/"provinces" as in the 127 ruled by Ahasuerus?
Esther 1:1 says:
Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus -- he was the Ahasuerus who reigned from Hodu to Cush, one hundred twenty-seven provinces.
For historical context, the period of the ...
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Why is elevation not factored into zmanim in places like New York?
As you might already know, zmanim (for Shabbos, etc.) are determined by a number of factors, one being the elevation of the particular locale. But for some reason, if you check the charts and ...
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Why wasn't the Torah given in Israel?
One might naturally expect that the Jewish people would enter the land and then receive the Torah there. It seems logical to me that the Torah should come from a holy place characterized by the ...
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Why was the torah given on a mountain?
I have seen many divrei torah about the fact that Har Sinai was not the tallest mountain (based on Sota 5a) and the importance of humility in acquiring torah. But, why was the torah given on a ...
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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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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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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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What are the oldest interpretations of Deuteronomy 33:2?
This verse in Torah sounds highly cryptic and it seems that a message is conveyed in it:
And he said: The LORD came from Sinai, and rose from Seir unto them; He shined forth from mount Paran, and ...
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Geographic size of an Eruv
Inspired by Is Juneau, Alaska -- surrounded by natural barriers -- a natural eruv
Is there a maximum square mile or square kilometer area that may be enclosed by an Eruv? (sources)
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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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What route did Bnei Yisrael take through the Midbar? Seeking sources
The question of which route the Israelites took from Egypt to the Holy Land has been asked for centuries and discussed by pseudo-historians and pop-sci documentarians in the History Channel age, and ...
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Why did the Baba Sali leave Yavneh? [closed]
I remember hearing that the Baba Sali very suddenly decided to move away from Yavneh.
Does anyone know the story of what exactly occurred?
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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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