Questions tagged [halacha-theory]
Questions about theoretical issues about psak and general halacha concepts
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0answers
23 views
Definition of a Land-Related Mitzvah (מצוות התלויות בארץ)
The Mishnah (Kiddushin1,9) says:
כָּל מִצְוָה שֶׁהִיא תְלוּיָה בָאָרֶץ אֵינָהּ נוֹהֶגֶת אֶלָּא בָאָרֶץ. וְשֶׁאֵינָהּ תְּלוּיָה בָאָרֶץ נוֹהֶגֶת בֵּין בָּאָרֶץ בֵּין בְּחוּצָה לָאָרֶץ, חוּץ מִן ...
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0answers
20 views
Lack of Mitzvot coverage uniformity in the Mishnah - דברי תורה עניים במקומן ועשירים במקום אחר
This question researches one aspect of the Mishnah's inconsistency - lack of quantitative uniformity, namely the uneven coverage of the 613 Mitzvot. (This, of course, continues into the Gemmorah and ...
3
votes
0answers
64 views
Source for the thirteen principles
What is the Rambam source for the thirteen principles? By that I mean what is his source that without these principles one does not go to Olam Haba? How does he know they're not simply prohibitions? (...
2
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0answers
45 views
Yichud, shomer by night?
For yichud issues, a (Jewish) man and his wife are mutually considered shomer: אשתו משמרתו.
But do this apply by night?
Basis for this question, the Gemara Qidushin 81a
רב ביבי אקלע לבי רב יוסף, ...
2
votes
2answers
43 views
Were Midrashim and Aggadeta transmitted to Moshe on Sinai like the Halachic Torah She'be'al Peh?
The halachic part of the Torah She'be'al Peh was transmitted to Moshe on Sinai along with the written Torah (or in the Ohel Moed afterward).
Sifra:
How is Shemitta relevant to Mount Sinai? Were ...
2
votes
1answer
53 views
Are those below age 20 forgiven more easily?
Are those who are below 20, forgiven by Hashem more easily than others?
The Gemmorah in Shabbat 89b says:
"דל עשרין דלא ענשת עלייהו" - Subtract the first twenty years of his life. [One is not ...
1
vote
0answers
42 views
What were the “pieces” of Moses' transmission of the Oral Law?
BT Eruvin 54b presents the method of Moses' Torah study:
תנו רבנן: כיצד סדר משנה? משה למד מפי הגבורה. נכנס אהרן ושנה לו משה פירקו ... נכנסו בניו ושנה להן משה פירקן ... וכו'
The Sages taught: ...
0
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0answers
44 views
Mishnah formulations: positive and negative
I'm a bit of a nagger, but I think the question is legit:
I start with an assumption that the formulation of the Mishnah was purposeful and not circumstantial, that Rebbe did put much thought in ...
-5
votes
0answers
29 views
Guidelines on using the term “the Halachah”?
The term "הלכה" is very old and was used since the Mishnah, but its exact meaning and intention is unclear to me. Even in the Talmud, when a sage claims "הלכה something" the Talmud itself or the ...
5
votes
1answer
100 views
Were Tefillin worn in the Midbar?
Were Tefillin worn in the Midbar (40 years of wandering) before the Jews entered Israel?
If so what Parshiot were in those Tefillin?
According to those who say Moses wrote Deuteronomy at the end of ...
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0answers
23 views
Does Zevulun/Issachar agreement extend to prayers?
We know that the ZI"A holds for learning Torah, in other words, Zevulun provides to financial support for Issachar to learn Torah all day.
Can that include the Teffilot? If not, can one be extended ...
2
votes
2answers
47 views
What constitutes the mizvah of learning Torah?
Regarding the mitzvah of Talmud Torah:
First, please describe the definition of fulfilling the Mitzvah and please address directly how it might apply to each sub question if possible:
Can one ...
4
votes
0answers
24 views
The sins mentioned in על חטא - why those?
This question about the "אשמנו" list is still left unanswered.
My question is about the apparent inconsistency of the "על חטא שחטאנו" list - so many different categories of sins are listed in the ABC ...
0
votes
0answers
42 views
3000 forgotten Halachot - out of how many?
The Mishnah we have counts around 4200. THe Gemmorah in Temura 16a says:
שלשת אלפים הלכות נשתכחו בימי אבלו של משה
three thousand halachot were forgotten during the period of mourning for Moses ...
2
votes
0answers
51 views
Mishnah wording - why use questions?
The Mishnah is supposedly THE codex of the Jewish Law. I'm trying to understand the purpose of the questions in the Mishnah. It appears to be gratuitous as it adds no information.
Compare the ...
3
votes
0answers
55 views
“A time to act for Hashem” and doing whatever you want
Who under what circumstances has the right to declare that a violation of halacha is in order because "it is a time to act for Hashem"?
I have by now a few times seen this posuk from Tehillim used as ...
1
vote
0answers
23 views
Mitzvot that “are practiced” vs Chayav and Patur
The Mishnah Kiddushin (1:8-9) and the following Gemmorah (35-36) use the word "מצוות נוהגות" instead of the accepted "אנשים חייבים" or "נשים פטורות":
"הַסְּמִיכוֹת,..., וְהַקַּבָּלוֹת, נוֹהֲגִין ...
5
votes
2answers
79 views
Why a married woman is exempt from honoring her parents?
Although the wife should listen to the husband and make her best to please him, it is not a Mitzvah at all, and there are no DeOraytah obligations on the wife toward her husband (Rambam Ishut 22-24). ...
6
votes
5answers
101 views
If we can't understand G-d at all, why do our sources try?
I have for a long time been been confused and dismayed that, although our sources -- including kabbalistic ones -- acknowledge frequently, emphatically, and without limitation that לית מחשבה תפיסא בך ...
1
vote
1answer
66 views
Brocha for hearing great Chazan or concert [duplicate]
Why is there no Birchas HaNehenin for hearing a great Chazan or concert? Prior posts on topic attempting to answer by distinguishing things that enter the body. However, we do have Brochos for special ...
1
vote
0answers
25 views
Can anyone make their own Beis Din [duplicate]
This morning I did Hafaros Nedarim, where a panel of 3 people from my shul became 'Dayanim' and were Matir my Nedarim. Considering these were just regular people from my shul, this gave me the ...
2
votes
0answers
18 views
“Rabbi Shopping” - how often and for what can one change his Rabbi
The other question "rabbi-shopping" asks about asking a single question to two Rabbis.
This question addresses the possibility of changing the personal ruling Rabbi time to time. Assuming a person ...
2
votes
2answers
81 views
How a Machlokes in Halacha is resolved?
How does accepted Halacha come to be when there is a dispute?
More specifically - we notice different approaches in terms of practice: when it comes certain mitzvot: to how to put up a mezuzah, we ...
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votes
1answer
99 views
Minhag Yisrael and OTD
If there was a minhag Yisrael (a minhag accepted by all of clal Yisrael) which had a good reason but was causing people to go off the Derech would that be grounds to abrogate/ignore the minhag? Would ...
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votes
2answers
75 views
What's the source for this reason?
I remember learning that the reason for the rule that a non obligated person cannot do a mitzvah on behalf of a obligated person is because it's more difficult for the obligated person. What is the ...
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votes
1answer
98 views
Time-related Mitzvot - much more obligation than Ptur
The Mishnah in Kiddushin 1, 7 says:
"וְכָל מִצְוַת עֲשֵׂה שֶׁהַזְּמָן גְּרָמָהּ, אֲנָשִׁים חַיָּבִין וְנָשִׁים פְּטוּרוֹת. "
And every positive commandment that is time-dependent, men are ...
1
vote
2answers
70 views
Moshiach and the Talmud sealing
So I've heard many times that the Talmud is sealed and there's no arguing with it or repealing rabbinical decrees. But I've also heard that when Moshiach comes his court will repeal many decrees. But ...
2
votes
1answer
125 views
Is it forbidden for a man to sleep on his stomach?
We learned in Brachot 13b that R' Yehoshua ben Levi "cursed one who sleeps perakdan".
There is a disagreement among the rishonim as to what perakdan means(face-up according to Rashi, Tosafot; face-...
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votes
2answers
86 views
How women's Ptur from time-related Mitzvot works?
THis is a follow-up question to the long-forgotten "why-are-women-exempt..." (2011).
What is the meaning of the word Patur (exempt) here - does it mean like דחויה or הותרה?
Were they obligated on Mt ...
1
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0answers
28 views
“Not being precise” (Rashi) in recording the Oral Torah
This is a very loaded question, but I would like to work it out intellectually, please.
I would like to understand a basic premise of Rashi that reflects on my understanding of the transferring of ...
-5
votes
1answer
71 views
Women in the world to come - united or separated?
The Gemmorah in Taanit 33a says:
"אמר עולא ביראה אמר רבי אלעזר עתיד הקדוש ברוך הוא לעשות מחול לצדיקים והוא יושב ביניהם בגן עדן וכל אחד ואחד מראה באצבעו וכו'"
Ulla of the city of Bira’a said ...
3
votes
0answers
48 views
Exact wording to commit to death penalty
To incriminate a person for a capital sin requires a warning, to distinguish between intentional and unintentional transgression (שוגג או מזיד, Makot 6).
A person should be warned that the action he ...
1
vote
1answer
164 views
Reward for women wearing Tzizit
There is a general rule that a person who is not obligated cannot do a mitzvah on behalf of someone who is obligated, and according to at least one Rishon this is because a person who is obligated has ...
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votes
1answer
60 views
Obligation to accept Rabbinical sayings “על ימין שהוא שמאל”
To continue my scientific/Halachic exploration, I would like to summarize the approaches in one question that addresses the famous Rashi on Dvorim 17,11. I think this long and well-sourced question is ...
1
vote
1answer
72 views
Different counts of the 613 (248) organs - bones or soft tissues?
First read the related questions here (mitzvot-and-their-body-parts and here (613-organs.
The Mishnah in Ohalot (1:8) states that there are 248 organs and lists all of them:
"מָאתַיִם ...
10
votes
2answers
132 views
Non-observant Jewish Couples Having Halachic Weddings
In a shiur, I learned that if secular or non-observant Jews have a halachically binding wedding, then if they separate and don't manage to perform a get (as a get may even seem irrelevant to them), ...
2
votes
1answer
41 views
Citing ancestors: why the Sages said Halachot in their name?
The Gemmorah sets a rule - while saying a Halachah one should mention its [original] source (Megillah 16a):
"אמר רבי אלעזר א"ר חנינא כל האומר דבר בשם אומרו מביא גאולה לעולם שנאמר ותאמר אסתר למלך ...
2
votes
1answer
71 views
Reward for keeping Minhagim and Chumros
Over the years many Chumros and Minhagim have been created. For example, waiting 6 hours between meat and milk for Ashkenazim. Or not eating gebrochts on Pesach. So if it is a Minhag that cannot be ...
2
votes
3answers
126 views
Meaning of “נראים דבריהם מדברינו” - accepting scientific theories over Jewish tradition?
Questions about the reconciliation of the Torah and the science are very frequent and popular, but they are nothing new. The sages were asked similar questions by the philosophers of Ancient Greece ...
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votes
2answers
73 views
Learning from stories that are impossible to negate
The Talmud is full of Musar stories in the following pattern: a Rabbi did X and G-d made him Y, therefore we all should do X so G-d will make us Y.
In many cases, G-d's reaction can be the opposite ...
12
votes
4answers
562 views
How could Rav be disproved?
Frequently, when the Gemara tries to disprove Rav from a Mishna, it answers that he's considered a Tanna and can argue on a Mishna.
But there's this case in Berachos 37a, where Rav and Shmuel both ...
5
votes
1answer
129 views
Retroactive psak and conversions
B"H
I constantly read about Orthodox conversions which are retroactively nullified by the Israeli Rabbanut, sometimes affecting multiple generations. I am not writing this question to express nor ...
4
votes
2answers
76 views
How are we supposed to interpret “Derech eretz kadma l'Torah”?
I'm having a lot of trouble understanding how we should interpret the pseudo-midrash "דרך ארץ קדמה לתורה", ~~ "Derech eretz should come before Torah."
The actual text of the midrashic source is:
...
0
votes
1answer
60 views
When were the names of Mishna Tractates set?
When were the names of the 60 Tractates and 6 Sdarim set? (WIKI here).
1
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0answers
43 views
Can a Beit -Din force a Jew to save another Jew's life?
A Jew that's terminally ill R"l, and the only treatment is thru a bone marrow transplant. He has a very special type of blood (this is not a biological question).
So theoretically and Halachicly (if ...
2
votes
1answer
67 views
Why there are no anti-altering failsafe measures in the Written Torah?
(The original question asked if there are any, but there aren't, hence the update).
The famous ו דגחון Sugiah in Kiddushin 30a:
"א"ל: ניתי ס"ת ואימנינהו, מי לא אמר רבה בר בר חנה לא זזו משם עד ...
2
votes
1answer
57 views
Anti-altering measures of the Oral Torah
The Oral Torah was [presumably] forbidden to be written down.
The Gemmorah clearly shows that even in a span of 100 years there were huge differences in recalling the Mishnaic formulas. For example "...
1
vote
1answer
90 views
The first Halachic compendium that does not follow the Mishnaic order (not שו"ת)?
Since Abraham, the original Oral Torah allegedly consisted of the currently known 6 Sdarim (although the number of Masechtot was much bigger, up to 6000?).
The Mishnah and naturally the Talmud are ...
0
votes
0answers
38 views
How many levels of strictness of positive obligations are there?
When learning Halachic books from the Talmud through Rambam and Shu"A to Mishnah Berurah, one meets different levels of positive commandments that reflect different levels of obligation/strictness/...
3
votes
0answers
35 views
How is Tadir determined when either one can be considered more common?
There is a principle called “Tadir v’she’eino tadir, Tadir kodem” - when presented with something commonly done and something less commonly done, the one that’s done more common takes precedence (...
