Questions tagged [halacha]
Jewish law. Specifically, the legal process beginning with the written Torah and continuing through the Mishna, Talmud, and the legal codes (e.g., Rambam, Tur, Shulchan Aruch). // NOTE: Like Wikipedia, this site makes no guarantee of validity, and does not offer professional (particularly rabbinic) advice. Treat information from this site like it came from a crowd of your friends.
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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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Is the obligation for Gentiles to establish a system of courts communal or individual?
One of the seven laws of Noah for gentiles is to set up a system of courts.
Is the obligation to set up a system of courts a communal obligation on Gentile communities, or does every single Gentile ...
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Forbidden to immerse, as opposed to doesn't work?
I was learning Pesachim, and on 17b I saw Tosafos say the following:
דבתוך הכלי ודאי אסור לטבול מדאורייתא
It is definitely biblically forbidden to immerse something within a vessel (as opposed ...
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May one ride in a utilitarian car?
A new study has confirmed the obvious: people want to survive:
even though participants approve of autonomous vehicles that might sacrifice passengers to save others, respondents would prefer not to ...
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Seemingly Hefker Esrog - used for the Mitzva
This past Erev Succos I arrived at a local synagogue that had a fellow selling Lulavim and Esrogim in their Simcha hall. The fellow left three Esrogim (not in the greatest condition - yet Kosher) on ...
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Spam texts to run up a person's bill
Many cell phone plans allot a person a certain number of texts each month and charge for every text over that limit. This is for both texts sent and received.
Now, phone calls can be denied, but ...
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Liability for bed bugs
If one tenant in an apartment brings in bed-bugs (and that can be proven), and they spread throughout the building, and the other tenants have to vacate their apartments to be fumigated, or whatever ...
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What is the status of professional video game players?
A friend remarked to me that playing video games professionally today is the equivalent of professional gamblers in the times of the talmud, specifically in that both are not involved in "Yishuvo shel ...
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Who is pulled to safety first?
If a group of people are in mortal danger, all of the same gender (cf. Horayot 13a; some suggest that the Mishnah on Horayot is not discussing a case of rescuing from physical danger, cf. Tziz Eliezer ...
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Hackintosh in Halacha
A Hackintosh is a bootlegged version of Apple's macOS loaded onto a computer that has not been manufactured by Apple and doesn't have a license to run macOS. According to Apple's macOS license,
I. ...
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Tumat met on the London Underground
Apparently part of London's subway network causes problems for kohanim because it is underneath a museum that includes human remains:
Due to the Science Museum and the Underground entrance sharing ...
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Those who observe "Ben Zachar" at night and "Shalom Zachar" by day
There's a pretty common custom to observe what's commonly called a "Shalom Zachar" on the Friday night after a baby boy is born. People go to where the baby's father is, eat snacks, sing and share ...
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Is one allowed to bid on a house if he knows another Jew has already made an offer?
This question is related to the halachic concept of ani hamehapech b'charara, or tortious interference, which I happened to just come across in studying Mishnah Peah.
If one has been looking at a ...
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Can you fulfill Netilat Yadayim by dipping your hands in a sink?
According to the Gemara in Hullin on 107a, if there's a vessel with a hole in it, and there's a "stream" (more than a drip but not necessarily the "sheffoferet hannod" required for a real mikveh) ...
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A Jew is born in space. What time rules does he follow?
I know that the title sounds like a sequel to a TV show (Lost in space). But based on a statement in this article :
The Rabbis therefore rule that a person should continue to follow the
time from ...
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What is the status when there are two anointed kings at the same time?
The Rabbi's teach that one kingship does not overlap with another even a hairbreadth (Yoma 38b). I understand this to mean that there may be only 1 Jewish king ruling at a time, or in the case where ...
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Minimum Halachic Definition of Bread
This is sort of the counter question to Mezonos bread. At what point does a grain based admixture transition between bread and non bread?
To clarify:
The general position of Sephardic Jewry is that ...
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What in a siddur can be changed?
There are many different editions of siddurim with many commonalities but also many differences, see here for discussion on MY. Also different communities use different siddurim to match their ...
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How much effort should be expended searching for the missing?
Say a Jewish person gets pulled out to sea while rescuing someone from drowning and goes missing, lost at sea. And then a search for him or his body by the Jewish community, supplementing official ...
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May a Jew sell marijuana?
It is held by Rav Moshe zt''l that a Jew may not smoke marijuana, but following the legalization of marijuana in Washington, I am curious if a Jew may run a store that sells marijuana in a ...
user5540
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The Alter Rebbe's view of chazarah - is it followed in practice?
Related: comment thread in What should a Jew learn regularly?
In the end of the Shulchan Aruch Harav Yoreh Deah, chelek ה, the Alter Rebbe has a wonderful exposition on the laws of Talmud Torah. In ...
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Outdoor prayer facing rainbow
Berakhot 59a
אמר רבי אלכסנדרי אמר רבי יהושע בן לוי הרואה את הקשת בענן צריך שיפול על פניו שנאמר כמראה הקשת אשר יהיה בענן וגו׳ ואראה ואפל על פני לייטי עלה במערבא משום דמחזי כמאן דסגיד לקשתא אבל ברוכי ...
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Is there a halachic preference for milah over hatafas dam bris?
While hatafas dam bris is clearly valid for a convert who is already circumcised, is this considered bedieved? Suppose a man who is not already circumcised intends to convert.
Suppose he is also ...
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Is general anesthesia or coma considered sleep?
Is general anesthesia or coma considered Halachicly as sleep and in what aspects (like should one say Hamapil before or Birkas Hatorah after or wash hands etc)?
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Is Sous-vide Cooking or Roasting?
It has been discussed here previously regarding the Sous-vide method of cooking.
However I have a separate question. What type of method is halachically categorized as?
Is it Tzli or is it Bishul?
...
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Distribution of כבוד אב between kids
Imagine a family of parents and 5 kids sitting at the Shabbos table and the father says - "I'm thirsty - bring me some water".
All the kids are immediately obligated in כיבוד אב D'Oraysoh and the ...
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Why does the Chazon Ish not allow supporting the schach with nailed planks?
The Chazon Ish in Hilchos Sukkah 143:2 writes:
ולכן לדידן שאנו נוהגין להחמיר בדין המעמיד הסכך בדבר המקבל טומאה כדעת
רמב"ן ור"ן, אין לקבוע הכלונסות במסמרים.
Therefore according to us, who ...
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Telling yourself lashon hara
There are several websites that let you send an email to yourself in the future (example). It's also possible to accomplish something similar in a lower-tech way, like making a time capsule.
Are you ...
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Sources that allow "important women" to be taught/learn Torah?
The Shulchan Aruch (YD 246) codifies the law that women should not be taught the Oral Law. It seems it is also not the best thing to teach even the Written Law, but that if you do, it's not the same ...
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Can anyone warn a man's wife to give her the status of a sotah?
In the Mishna, Sotah 4:5 (and Bavli 27a) it explains that in certain situations Beit Din may warn a woman not to be secluded with a man and this warning carries the legal status of kinuy such that if ...
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How to determine a trespasser's intent from a Halachic Perspective?
How do we determine a trespasser's intent from a Halachic Perspective?
The Rambam writes:
If it is clear to the house-owner that the thief who breaks in will not kill him and instead is only ...
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Parameters of לא תעשון כן לה' אלקיכם
There is a prohibition to destroy a synagogue based on the verse (Deut. 12:4) לא תעשון כן לה' אלקיכם, "you shall not do so unto the Lord your God." Rambam, in the minyan hamitzvot at the beginning of ...
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May I daven wearing headphones?
There are many paths to concentration. I have known students who doodle because it helps them focus on a lecture more effectively. Others like to listen to music while they study either to help them ...
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Is altering human genetics wrong in Judaism?
So, our colonists of the oceanic planet Mayim (yes, that's its name), of whom every single one is a Jew, have encountered a problem: there is no more room on the buoyant-colony-thing that they live in,...
user11094
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Why not read missing words (in Esther) from a printed copy?
Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 141:19:
צבור שאין להם מגילה כשרה כדינה מכל מקום אם היא כתובה כהלכתה רק שחסרים איזה תיבות באמצעה כיון שלא חסר בה ענין אחד שלם יכולין לקרות מתוכה עם הברכות והטעות יקרא הקורא בעל ...
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Is the mourning for a late relative dependent on the state of their relationship before death?
Are the halochos (laws) about observing mourning rituals for a relative (e.g., shiva, shloshim, etc.), affected in any way by the state of the relationship between the mourner and deceased before his ...
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Halachic opinions on tefillin peshutim
I was discussing the subject of tefillin with my father motzei-Shabbat and particular, the battim (leather boxes that contain the parshiyot, or parchment scrolls). We ended up wondering what the mid-...
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Beam for s'chach with wood glue + embedded screws
Let's assume that there is a lechatchila to not use metal object that are mekabel tumah (susceptible to tumah) for something that supports the s'chach ("maamid"), which can be avoided by using ...
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eBay Judaica auctions
I occasionally check eBay for assorted items; this is typically for the science half of my life, but I sometimes find Judaica which probably should not be sold there. For example, I know that in the ...
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After-death care of a non-Jewish relative
If a Jew has been entrusted with the after-death care of a non-Jewish relative, what should be done? Specifically, if the non-Jewish relative requested to be cremated after death, can or should a Jew ...
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Obligation to leave through a different gate
The prophet Ezekiel (46:9) tells us of an obligation when visiting the Temple.
וּבְב֨וֹא עַם־הָאָ֜רֶץ לִפְנֵ֣י יְהוָה֮ בַּמּֽוֹעֲדִים֒ הַבָּ֡א דֶּרֶךְ־שַׁ֨עַר צָפ֜וֹן לְהִֽשְׁתַּחֲוֺ֗ת יֵצֵא֙ דֶּרֶךְ־...
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Moving with magnets: what's the status in halacha?
If I move something on Shabbos with the force of a magnet, is that considered Halachicly like I move it with my hands (גופו), with my force (כוחו), indirect (גרמא), or have I done nothing?
This is ...
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Davening in Open Orthodox Shul
Although there may be a wide range of Open Orthodox shuls, may one daven in an Open Orthodox shul if a woman leads as the chazan for shacharis or ba'al koreh? Would such an Open Orthodox shul have the ...
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Is there a penalty under the law for attempted adultery?
If a married man or woman propositions sexual misconduct to a person, or a man or woman propositions a person they know is married, is there a prescribed penalty according to the law, i.e. would a a ...
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How does one proceed at a stand-up Kiddush?
How does one proceed at a Kiddush where the one making Kiddush can sit down but everyone else stands? The cake is not covered before kiddush. In every case attendees make a brocho before eating or ...
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Pronunciation of YHVH in the Pesel Micha story
The Minchas Shai on Shoftim 17:3 quotes the Gemara (Shevuos 35a) and Maseches Sofrim (4:6) regarding if the names יהוה and אלהים in the story of Micha's idol are holy or not. The Tanna Kama says that ...
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What defines a "בהמה" (also "חיה") for the application of kosher-animal indicators?
As discussed in *Asher Bamayim* (אשר במים) in kashrus halacha, *Tzomeach* (צוֹמֵחַ) in kashrus halacha, and *Of* (עוֹף) in kashrus halacha, there are different rules used to determine the kashrus ...
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Would a Greek sefer Torah be read from in Greek?
If a sefer Torah was written in Greek, would it have been publicly read from in the Greek translation only, or would they also use a Hebrew scroll?
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Shomronim and Halakha
Do the Baraitot brought down by Masechet Kutim and other random halachot in the Talmud that were said about "kutim" apply to the 750 remaining Samaritans in the world today (who currently live in ...
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What if someone accidentally gave an Aliya to a non-Jew?
A gabbai called someone up for an Aliya. Yaamod, Reuven ben Shimon Shlishi.
Then, it turns out that Reuven isn't Jewish (he thought he was, his mother had a reform conversion and he thought that was ...
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