Questions tagged [halacha]
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. // 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).
1,163
questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
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2answers
360 views
How to 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 ONE ...
16
votes
3answers
539 views
Chatzi LaHashem
I've been having this discussion with my friends and family about the Halacha of dividing Yom Tov into Chatzi LaHashem (half of the day devoted to prayer and learning) and Chatzi Lachem (half of the ...
14
votes
3answers
341 views
Is there such a thing as “Veset Halom”
One friend of mine told me that his wife always sees a special dream before her veset. Always the same one.
Could such think be counted as veset kavua?
I understand that technically a dream doesn't ...
13
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4answers
2k views
Is downloading pirated music stealing?
Either way, it should be frowned upon as not a nice thing to do, but would it actually be assur?
12
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1answer
762 views
May a woman with artifical metal legs wear a short skirt or pants?
May a woman (or a man) wear immodest clothing over an artificial part of her body?
(Lets assume that beged ish is not a consideration)
i.e. if she has artifical legs, may she wear short shorts?
...
11
votes
3answers
978 views
What should a woman who can only do Chalitza do if her Yevam can't do it?
In some cases of Zikas Yibum, there is a Rabbinic prohibition against their doing Yibum (eg. the deceased husband's brother is a Mamzer, cf. Shulchan Aruch Even Haezer 174) and as such they must ...
11
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0answers
515 views
Tattling on fellow Mi Yodeyans
We are currently in the beginning of the 2012 Mi Yodeya Moderator Election.
To what extent can one avail oneself of the exception of "to'elet"="for a purpose" to the standard rules of Lashon HaRa' (...
10
votes
1answer
192 views
Looking for a particular idea from Reb Yonason Eibshitz
I recall reading a quote from Reb Yonason Eibshitz concerning a judge on a beis din of 23 faced with a strange situation. The defendant seems to the judge to be guilty of murder, but this judge is the ...
10
votes
1answer
566 views
Notched 2x4 for maamid?
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 ...
10
votes
1answer
151 views
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 ...
9
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0answers
95 views
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 ...
9
votes
1answer
286 views
Is shenayim mikra (only) a minhag according to the Chofetz Chaim?
R. Yisrael Meir Kagan writes that every Jewish man needs to know the weekly Torah portion and understand it. He says that the reason why all of Israel reads the verses twice and the translation once (...
9
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0answers
129 views
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 ...
9
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0answers
251 views
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 ...
9
votes
1answer
123 views
Does Beis Din have the authority to quarantine?
In light of the recent discussions about the legality of quarantining potential Ebola patients, I was wondering if Halacha has the mechanism for such a thing.
In an autonomous Jewish society, in ...
9
votes
1answer
539 views
Kissing when one person is meaty and the other is milky
I know that someone cannot eat milk immediately after meat and vice versa. Is it ok for two people to kiss if one person has just had meat and the other has just had milk? Do they, perhaps, need to ...
8
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0answers
76 views
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 ...
8
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0answers
146 views
Could there be a Halachik issue with using a DNA kit such as 23andMe?
Besides learning fun facts about one's DNA and ancestry, there's a lot of good that can come out of using one. For example: people of Ashkenazi Jewish descent can learn if they're predisposed to BRCA1 ...
8
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0answers
101 views
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. ...
8
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0answers
261 views
The status of Christian bibles nowadays
In Shulchan Aruch OC 334:21 it is established that holy scripture written by a pagan should be burnt,
האפיקורסים דהיינו האדוקים בעבודת כוכבים וכן מומרים לעבודת כוכבים
שכתבו להם
כתבי הקודש אין ...
8
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0answers
85 views
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 ...
8
votes
1answer
119 views
maaser to your own employer
I know there are many Jews who work for schools, synagogues, soup kitchens, and other such non-profit organizations that do a community service. Many people also give maaser money to these ...
8
votes
1answer
225 views
How does a recent bar mitzva “complete the weekly portion with the community”
When a person becomes bar mitva during the year, 98% of the time the community has already read 1 or even 50 weekly portions.
Does the bar mitzva need to make up those portions?
Would it matter if ...
8
votes
1answer
346 views
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 ...
8
votes
1answer
229 views
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 ...
7
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0answers
80 views
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 ...
7
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0answers
81 views
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 ...
7
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0answers
95 views
Is a doctor obligated to force vaccination?
As per the injunction of "לא תעמוד על דם רעך" - "Stand not [idly] over the blood of thine fellow"(Leviticus 19:16), is a Torah-observant doctor obligated to vaccinate an unvaccinated patient for a ...
7
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0answers
35 views
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 ...
7
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0answers
96 views
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 ...
7
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0answers
109 views
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 ...
7
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0answers
121 views
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 ...
7
votes
1answer
551 views
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 ...
7
votes
2answers
215 views
When and how often would someone say Kiddush Levana (Blessing for the moon) if he were on another planet?
This M.Y. answer says that there are differing views as to whether someone is exempt from mitzvoth while in space.
If we were to follow the opinion that one is obligated, should a person on Jupiter ...
7
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0answers
150 views
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,...
7
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0answers
113 views
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 ...
7
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0answers
134 views
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 ...
7
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0answers
147 views
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 ...
7
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0answers
203 views
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-...
7
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0answers
210 views
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 ...
7
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0answers
190 views
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 ...
7
votes
1answer
241 views
Person in Eretz Yisrael making Eiruv Tavshilin for Bnei Chutz L'Aretz
This might seem like a "funny" question. I don't think this would be permitted and I really have no basis to think why it should be however I'm trying to work out why this wouldn't work (or perhaps ...
7
votes
0answers
412 views
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 ...
7
votes
0answers
325 views
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 ...
7
votes
2answers
505 views
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) ...
7
votes
1answer
254 views
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 ...
7
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1answer
312 views
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?
7
votes
1answer
320 views
May a non Ethiopian Jew celebrate Sigd?
Ethiopian Jews recently celebrated their festival of Sigd, which involves reaccaptence of the Torah, communal fasting and feasting, and prayers.
Is it acceptable for someone of a Minhag other than ...
7
votes
1answer
221 views
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 ...
6
votes
1answer
153 views
Halacha of not being obligated to spend more than a fifth of one's money on a mitzvah
It is brought down in halacha (Orach Chaim 656) that a person is not obligated to spend more than 20% of his money on performing a positive mitzvah. Is the 20% calculated according to his total bank ...
