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).
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Any Halachic problems with app publishing?
I'm currently in the process of developing a mobile app, that, be'h will have various Israel related feeds. I was wondering if there could be any Halachic issues with respect to including news feeds ...
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May a Jewish actor playing a role swear "falsely"?
Avraham the Jew from New Jersey puts on a costume, takes off his head covering, walks onto a stage, or movie set ... action! And says "I, John Jacob Schmidt of Oklahoma, do solemnly swear that I ...
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Minhag vs Halacha - 3 types of clashes
There are minhagim that seemingly go against halacha. I want to know essays or sources that cover this age-old debate.
It is my view that these minhagim are of three types:
Machlokes of major poskim ...
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Tefillin on Yom Tov - P'shat and source for quote by Mishna Berura
The Mishna Berura 31:3 explains why we do not wear Tefillin on Y"T as follows;
ויו"ט ג"כ מיקרי אות דבפסח מצרים כתיב אות והוקשו כל מועדי ה' בפ' אמור
The Rishonim all give different ...
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Does one have to eat in a sukkah if they were going to eat outside anyways?
If a sukkah is a temporary replacement for a home, does one need to eat in a sukkah if they were in a park or at a restaurant?
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Why we have to say Keriat Shma on the bed in the Sukkah?
It is known that on Passover night the custom is not to say Keriat Shma on the bed since it is called Shimurim night - a night that is preserved from the 'bad winds' (Mazikim). We don't put a Mezuza ...
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Bowing at the royal coat of arms
In British Magistrate and Crown Courts the royal coat of arms is located behind the bench where the magistrates or judge sit. It is etiquette for solicitors/barristers and anyone giving evidence to ...
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May a Kohen with Auto-Brewery Syndrome Duchan?
This question is related to another question asked (How much alcohol does one need to consume in order to be halachically drunk or intoxicated?).
Auto-Brewery Syndrome is a condition in which fungi or ...
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Can you eat foods during Passover, if you already opened and ate from the package before Passover?
Let's say that a person opens a jar of pickles that is kosher for Passover, and eats from it during the week before Passover starts.
Can the jar still be used during Passover?
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Selling a house after COVID
According to the mishna on 25b of Masechet Megilla, "בני העיר שמכרו רחובה של עיר לוקחין בדמיו בית הכנסת" (if the people of a city sell an open area, the money is used to buy a synagogue). ...
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Can I refrigerate an esrog?
I recall a teshuva of R Moshe (which I can’t find and may be remembering wrong) that says that an esrog that was stored in a vacuum from last year is not kosher even though it’s perfectly yellow and ...
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Why do we say הנותן ליעף כח with Hashem's Name?
The Rema rules in OC 225:2:
יש אומרים מי שנעשה בנו בר מצוה יברך בא"י אמ"ה שפטרני מעונשו של זה וטוב לברך בלא שם ומלכות
Some say that one whose son becomes a Bar Mitzvah should make a blessing ...
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Halacha to discourage a convert once every 6 months?
A friend of mine told me that the halacha of discouraging a convert three times has a little nuance - the convert has to make the second and third attempt (to persuade the rabbi to let him convert) at ...
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The treatment of Jewish unbelievers in Halacha
There is a man, not an am ha'aretz by any means nor a Tinok Shenishba who has become an Apikores by any definition. He is not evangelical about his unbelief and is observant. He does not publicly ...
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Can a Beit Midrash demand payment for carrying a smartphone?
I went to a certain Beis Midrash and saw a sign saying that anyone who enters with a smartphone has to donate money to the Beis Midrash as a penalty.
Is someone entering with such a phone really ...
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Sitting shiva for intermarrying child
We all heard about families sitting shiva if a child marries out of faith.
Are there documented cases of this happening? (With all the rites of Shiva, not just cutting the child out of the family.)
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Shabbat: Electric Apartment Door in Doorman Building
Let us say a person lives in an apartment building where the apartment doors (door to the apartment itself) are fitted with electronic locks. The building has a 24-hour "concierge" doorman (non-...
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Who's responsible if B puts a "hefker" sign on A's item?
Suppose Aaron leaves something in a public place, where people often leave such things without intending to forfeit them.[1] Baruch then puts a sign on the item indicating that it's forfeit and ...
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Who decides whether it's normal to eat something in a certain fashion?
The Shulchan Aruch in several places writes that if something is eaten in an abnormal fashion, it gets a Shehakol rather than its usual bracha.1
What defines whether something is a "normal" way of ...
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A widow using her deceased husbands semen to conceive?
If a husband has some of his semen frozen/saved and then dies, what halachic and hashkafic issues have to be addressed when deciding if his widow is allowed to/can/should use that semen to become ...
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Is there a problem with buying a Christian a Christmas gift?
To make the question easier, suppose that the recipient of the Christmas gift is a devout Christian who actually celebrates for religious reasons.
Potentially there are several issues with buying a ...
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Are there any limitations on changing a personal name in Halachah?
Following "naming-a-child-an-embarrassing-name", I stated, based on my personal understanding, that there are no Halachic limitations on how a person calls himself and how he can change his names ...
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Use of "חלק" measure of time in Halachah
"חלק", being a 1/1080 part of an hour, is used in calculating the New Moon.
Rambam in הלכות קידוש החודש mentions that the original tradition of calculating the New Moon was forgotten and the system ...
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Can a ventriloquist chant the Torah?
A ventriloquist essentially recreates sounds using a different part of the speech system. For example, mouthing the sound ‘B’ would give away the act, so it must be recreated in a different part of ...
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Are there any applications of dofen akumah outside of sukkah?
The Gemara (in several places, here's one) lists a group of three halachos related to walls that were taught to Moshe at Sinai:
gud [asik/achis] - extending a partial wall up or down under certain ...
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Putting breadcrumbs in the toilet
Mishnah Berurah writes in 180:10 that while throwing crumbs onto the ground where they will be stepped on is kasha l'aninus, God forbid, this does not apply when the crumbs are thrown into water. ...
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Why is an infant firstborn child not simply exempt from the firstborns' fast?
The Fast of the First Born was instituted for the day before the first Passover Seder.
I have an older brother, so I'm not obligated to fast then. But my first child was a son, and he is obligated to ...
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Practicing melikah on a bird
Is there any prohibition to perform the method of melikah on a bird to practice or to learn how it was done in the mikdash?
Is it bal tashchis, or is it considered doing something productive such as ...
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is there any redemption for a gentile who breaks any of the 7 Noahide laws
If a gentile breaks any of the 7 laws of Noah, are they doomed? Is there any way for them to redeem themselves, or is their fate sealed?
Does it depend on which laws they break and how often they ...
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How does a non jew inherit his father?
The gemarra in Kiddushin 17b says that a non Jew inherits his father. My question is according to the Achronim1 who say the concept of "rov" doesn't apply to non Jews, how can a non Jew know who their ...
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Does one say this prayer for medical procedures on a procedure that gives guidance rather than help?
Shulchan Aruch (OC 230:4, as explained by Magen Avraham ibid. :6) paskens that when one undergoes a medical procedure he should say the following prayer:
יהי רצון מלפניך ה׳ אלקי שיהא עסק זה לי ...
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The Monsey Karfif
The Monsey/Rockland Eruv map indicates one large karfif (in red). A karpef/karfif is as an area not designated for residency which invalidates an encompassing eruv if it is not itself separated by a ...
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Investing in cryptocurrency. Is there an issue?
Is there a problem with investing in a digital currency and letting it sit on Shabbat and holidays? It's fairly volatile and can increase or decrease greatly in value. So I'm wondering if these ...
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Does Halakhah permit one to daven a different Nussach in a bind?
Suppose one's minhag is to daven Nussach A; but, one finds oneself in a synagogue, which only has siddurim of Nussach B, and one has not committed all of Nussach A to memory. He could daven Nussach A ...
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A priori decision to ask multiple rabbis
There is a known law that if one has a ruling from a rabbi, you should not go to a second rabbi for a ruling except under specific circumstances such as where you have real doubts as to the ...
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Is there a chazakah (halachic presumption) that an Eruv is down after a blizzard?
I remember, I was once at shul Friday night, and it was just starting to snow and it was predicted to be a huge blizzard. The Rabbi got up and announced that tomorrow people should work under the ...
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Excluding water from blessing after food
One common scenario is for someone to make a berakha on water at some point in the morning and to drink the water throughout the day. Suppose during the day, the person decides to have a snack whose ...
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Teaching Machshava and Hashkafa to Non-Jews
I know there is a prohibition against teaching Oral Torah to Non-Jews, but what about Machshava and Hashkafa? Sometime Non-Jews ask questions and the answer relates to either Hashkafa/Machshava. Is it ...
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If a local store holds a "Christmas Sale" in the days leading up to Dec. 25th, may I shop there?
My question
In mid-December, I received the weekly advertising flyer of a local store chain. At the top, the flyer said "Christmas Sale".
If a sale is advertised like this, with the name of a non-...
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Arvei Nahal - Acceptable Species
Vayikra 23:40 provides the commandment to take up the 4 species on Sukkot: וּלְקַחְתֶּם לָכֶם בַּיּוֹם הָרִאשׁוֹן פְּרִי עֵץ הָדָר כַּפֹּת תְּמָרִים וַעֲנַף עֵץ עָבֹת וְעַרְבֵי נָחַל וּשְׂמַחְתֶּם ...
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Renting digital services to Jews who are known to work on Shabbes
Given the following scenario:
A Jew is the sole owner of a digital business which rents its services (a digital platform that does not require human intervention from part of the owner) for a monthly ...
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Why are we so concerned about mistaking meat on Pesach?
The Shulchan Aruch in siman 469 and 476 lays out the concerns we have that someone might mistake you main course for a real Korban Pesach. This includes not saying 'this meat is for Peasach' and not ...
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How to answer the simple son?
In the debate over how to respond to a question about leaning during a seder that took up a noticeable amount of time in chat a question was danced around. The debate was mostly centered around how to ...
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Can you carry an object from the step outside your house inside your house?
According to the laws of carrying on shabbos one may not carry from one domain to another aside from a makom petur ("exempt area"). A makom petur is less that 4X4 handbreadths and more than three ...
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Does a seller acquire each coin one at a time, or all at once?
Let's say i owe someone 5 coins. I hand them to him one at a time. Does he acquire each one as i hand it to him, or does he get all of them after all 5 are in his hand? When exactly does ownership get ...
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Is there an obligation to reattach a severed body part?
If a part of a person's body is severed for whatever reason, is there an obligation on the person who lost it to reattach it?
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Two brachos one mikvah
If I made a bracha and immersed two vessels, and then someone came over and asked me to immerse their vessel as well, since I did not have their vessel in mind, do I say a new bracha?
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Issues of lifnei iver with an inaccurate clock
Is there any problem with lifnei iver (giving bad information) in having an inaccurate clock that someone else will look at?
I'll examine a few cases here.
The clock is a few minutes off. I don't ...
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Containers and wine
Is there any outer container (a frame or box, perhaps) into which an open bottle of non-mevushal wine can be placed that will shield the bottle in such a way that, if a non-Jew (or heretic) casually ...
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Do i have a responsibility to report users breaking the rules?
If I know that a certain user of a website is breaking the rules, can I just turn a blind eye, or must I report it? Also,
Does it matter what kind of rule it is? (E.g. No swearing vs. age requirement)...
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