Questions tagged [hashkafah-philosophy]
Jewish philosophy as well as Jewish perspectives - i.e. not only formal philosophy. NOT for questions about Jewish practice unless there's a philosophical component.
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Are the laws exclusive to the land of Israel, also relevant in terms of what they teach us everywhere?
There are many laws enumerated in the written and oral Torah. One of their categorizations is those which are obligatory inside the land of Israel and those which are obligatory both in the land of ...
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Does God love every Jew unconditionally?
If a Jew spent his entire life doing terrible sins, would God still love him? For example, does God love Jesus or Jews who have caused similarly terrible damage?
Please provide sources.
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Are there any writings which speak to the spiritual aspects of different materials (Metals/Wood/etc.)?
I found an article on Chabad which got into some spiritual ideas around metals. It specifically touches on Gold, Silver, and Copper and relates each to various concepts of holiness and spiritual ...
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Tikkun for Timtum HaLev
Is there teshuva/tikkun for timtum halev (specifically for forbidden foods)? Please cite sources.
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Where do we find that the Torah is compared to a sea (yam)?
Just need this for something I’m writing.
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How has our attitude changed toward the relationship of morality to Torah observance? [closed]
I have often noticed, in my interactions with other Orthodox Jews, that they seem to feel that the correct resolution of every moral question is to ask a prominent rabbi. For example, when I point out ...
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Have any Rabbis discussed hating Hashem as being part of a deeper level of a relationship with him?
There's a belief that the people you love the most are the ones who can make you hurt the most. Friends & family have a closeness to us which can hurt us in a deeply personal way. The anger and ...
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Do shedim receive schar?
Given that shedim can either do good or bad and are intelligent, speaking creations in this world, can they be punished and rewarded? Do they have mitzvos? Will they exist in olam haba?
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How is it we often see people who are on a mission to do a mitzvah get harmed?
The gemara quotes Rabbi Elazar no less than six(6) times saying, "שְׁלוּחֵי מִצְוָה אֵינָן נִיזּוֹקִין -- those on a mission to do a mitzvah are not harmed." (Pesachim 8a, 8b (twice), ...
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The Gemara teaches the concept that שומר מצוה לא ידע דבר רע. I have a question on that concept
If a person who is observing a mitzvah will not be harmed, how is it possible that Hevel was murdered as a result of the Korban he offered?
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What Biblical couple is the standard for happy and healthy marital relationships?
On Shabbos, we bless our kids with Brochos to grow like our forefathers/mothers. When my kid announced that he's getting married I exclaimed "may God put your marriage like..." and got stuck ...
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Why would God need to introduce Himself when revealing to forefathers?
וַיֵּרָא אֵלָיו ה' בַּלַּיְלָה הַהוּא וַיֹּאמֶר אָנֹכִי אֱלֹהֵי אַבְרָהָם אָבִיךָ ...׃ - That night the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. ...” Genesis.26.24
This is ...
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R' Yohanan's behavior to make women bear kids in his resemblance
To support my previous question ("biblical-genetics-understanding-childs-resemblance-to-his-parents" here's a Talmudic passage (Berakhot.20a):
רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן הֲוָה רְגִיל דַּהֲוָה קָא ...
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What is the Teshuvah for a gentile marrying a Jew
Firstly, is it a sin for a gentile to marry a Jew?
Second, if so, what Noahide law does it break?
Lastly, what is the Teshuvah for that?
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May we always deceive deceivers?
The Tanach says [referring to God]:
עִם־נָבָ֖ר תִּתָּבָ֑ר וְעִם־עִקֵּ֖שׁ תִּתַּפָּֽל׃ -- With the pure You act in purity, and with the perverse You are wily. [2 Samuel 22:27 and Ps. 18:27]”
Does ...
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Looking for the source of an opinion on the definition of good
I heard somewhere that it was the Maharal or a similarly philosophical author who wrote that the definition of good is "something that serves its purpose." It has been escaping me for quite ...
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Usage of honorifics for non-Orthodox authorities
When speaking or when referring to a non-Orthodox Jewish authority, for example, a Reform rabbi (whether male or female), should one use their title of "rabbi" - maybe for דרכי שלום or ...
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Why can't you give a bracha to yourself?
I didn't find anywhere people giving brachas to oneself. We find in Tanach people giving brachas to others. It seems one can't give a bracha to oneself. Why not?
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Did Rambam reflect on non-Jewish sources that shaped his views?
Many commentators and researchers point to the great influence that the Greek, Christian, and Islamic thinkers had on Rambam's theological, philosophical and scientific views, for example, in Hilchos ...
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How does Judaism solve the Euthyphro dilemma?
In short:
Socrates asks whether God loves the pious because it is the pious, or whether the pious is pious only because it is loved by God.
How does Judaism solve this dilemma?
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Rambam's 9th principle - "the Torah will not change/be changed", sources and interpretations
Did Rambam himself elaborate on:
His sources for this principle? Did he derive it from somewhere or it was his own thought?
The principle itself, what it covers, what kind of changes he's talking ...
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Does a soul develop over a lifetime?
@AvrohomYitzchok asked me this question to support the assertions for another question: "Why don't newborns speak? Why do we need to learn a language?"
In my understanding, in Judaism, a ...
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What are the sources that the soul possesses the knowledge of a language?
@AvrohomYitzchok asked me this question to support the assertions for another question: "why-dont-newborns-speak-outright.
What are the sources that the knowledge of a language is a quality of ...
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Why don't newborns speak? Why do we need to learn a language?
In our dualistic approach, the soul is one that possesses the knowledge of a/the language (not clear to me if all souls speak Hebrew or just 70, like the angels or just any language)
AFAIC, the soul ...
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Is "Understanding God half-way" a true understanding?
If I try to summarize answers to various theological questions, it goes like this:
we understand that God is/acts/feels/desires X (good, just, etc) in the literal sense, or in this world, e.g. caring,...
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What keeps the immaterial soul inside the physical body?
By what methods the immaterial soul is contained within the material body during our lifetime?
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How can there be hidur by mitzvos dirabanan?
We find the concept of hidur by rabbinic mitzvos. For example menorah. I saw some paper qoute the rema that one should get new aravos for the 7 days of sukkos because of hiddur. The 7 days are also ...
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Should I donate money to non-jewish organizations that I've benefited from, or is it better to give that money to Jewish institutions?
I was thinking that on the one hand there may be an ענין to give to a non-Jewish organization that you've benefitted from (e.g. Wikipedia) as a way to train yourself in the middah of הכרת הטוב (...
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Eruvin 51a: Using Deception to Assert an Opinion?
The Gemara in Eruvin 51a relates the following:
(Source(s) from Sefaria)
רַבָּה וְרַב יוֹסֵף הֲווֹ קָא אָזְלִי בְּאוֹרְחָא. אֲמַר לֵיהּ רַבָּה לְרַב יוֹסֵף: תְּהֵא שְׁבִיתָתֵנוּ תּוּתֵי דִּיקְלָא ...
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What did Moses understand in Rabbi Akiva's class?
The Talmud (Menachot.29b) records a story about how Moses could not understand laws expounded 1700 years later in his name:
"Rav Yehuda says that Rav says: When Moses ascended on High, he found ...
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Can God do bad?
Man has free will. He can choose to do good or bad.
Does God have free will? Can God choose to do bad things?
If we say that god does only good, isn't that putting a limitation on him?
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What is the halacha about lying to a Non-Jew?
Can one lie to a non Jewish person?
If the answer is Yes, are there certain cases where you can't?
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Is T'zaar Ba'alei Chaim a Mitzvah Bein Adam L'makom, L'chaveiro, or L'atzmo?
Building upon the concept that Mitzvos can be between a person and Hashem, or a person and their friend (Source for "Ben Adam Lemakom" and "Ben Adam Lechavero"), where would T'zaar ...
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Epicurus in Rishonim's writings
I saw a couple of essays yesterday arguing that some teachings in Avot may have been directed specifically against the Greek philosopher Epicurus* and his teachings. I was wondering whether any of the ...
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What seforim or books were written on the Torah approach to modern-day philosophy such as humanism or classical liberalism?
Although I have seen paragraphs here and there in various books explaining the torah hashkafa on specific values (i.e. Rav Kook, Rav Illowy, Lord Sacks on slavery), I have yet to seen a book that ...
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Anthropology, Structuralism, Halacha
Halacha is a typological ideal which we desire to manifest in our actual behavior. Inasmuch as life itself has a structure, halacha is contoured exactly to life in its entirety and beyond. Halachic ...
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Destined how many shidduch proposals?
Rabbi Dr. Wikler (p. 142) quotes a story of a Chassidic Rebbe looking for a shidduch for his daughter who would pay shadchanim for proposing a potential match even though the Rebbe declined the offer. ...
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Being Afraid Brings Fears
A few Rabbonim mentioned in shiurim on TorahAnytime the concept that being constantly afraid of something tragic happening to oneself can bring about its fulfillment. Where do we find such a concept ...
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Fulfilling Someone Else's Mission
Rav Ari Bensoussan quotes the Alter of Navardok who says that when someone doesn't utilize their talents to accomplish a particular mission Hashem designed for them, then anyone can take the ...
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Is it compatible with the Torah to believe that HaShem is not omnipotent in an absolute sense? [duplicate]
I am an Italian Noahide.
HaShem is also defined in the Torah as "Elohim" who in this case expresses, as Ramban teaches, the concept of "Master of all the forces" and "the Power over all the powers". ...
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Warning people/getting people to do teshuva [closed]
Based on Ezekiel 3:18-19:
בְּאָמְרִ֤י לָֽרָשָׁע֙ מ֣וֹת תָּמ֔וּת וְלֹ֣א הִזְהַרְתּ֗וֹ וְלֹ֥א דִבַּ֛רְתָּ לְהַזְהִ֥יר רָשָׁ֛ע מִדַּרְכּ֥וֹ הָֽרְשָׁעָ֖ה לְחַיֹּת֑וֹ ה֤וּא רָשָׁע֙ בַּֽעֲוֺנ֣וֹ יָמ֔וּת ...
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Definition of Right and Wrong?
Halakhah prescribes different standards of conduct for Jews and Gentiles. As far as I am aware, it is not incumbent upon a Noachide Gentile to pursue conversion. Thus I can only conclude that one ...
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Why does Yitzchak's name mean to laugh if he represents gevurah?
Why does Yitzchak's name mean to laugh if he represents gevurah? Gevurah is something that is restrained and hold back. And laughter is something which breaks out of the chains and feels more free.
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Does Pirkei Avot establish we can find morality separately from the law? [duplicate]
One of the more notable things about Pirkei Avot is that it's empty of Halacha for the most part.
It establishes a series of ethical ideals and opinions written by our sages but these ethics and ...
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How did King David think he could thwart God's plan?
The Talmud (Shabbat 30a) relates the following interesting tale about King David's death:
And as to what Solomon said, 'for a living dog is better than a dead lion', — that is as Rab Judah said in ...
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Help me find a quote from Rav Hirsch
I have heard famously in the name of Rav Hirsch that he wanted to close all the synagogues in Germany for a 100 years so that people would value prayers and Judaism properly.
On headlines (time 11:50)...
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Is it permitted to pray for the death of an evil king or other evil national leader?
This is a subset of the question of "is it permissible to pray for anyone's death?" and "is it permissible to pray for an evil-doer's death?" and goes to the question of whether one may pray for the ...
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Does God owe us anything?
This is a question I've been wondering about for a few years. I've not been having an easy time in life, and that's why I have started asking this question. I'm sort of waiting for a "salvation", but ...
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Emunah and failures?
Rav Arush in the Garden of Emunah apparently has a concept that failures are from Hashem see here :
Before making a mistake, a person has apparent free choice not to make a mistake. But, after the ...
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How do references to eternity in Torah square with the finite life of the sun?
How is one to read אות היא לעולם, נר תמיד and שומר ישראל לעד knowing that the sun will not endure?
Torah is written in human language. Is "for ever" confined to human measures, and in fact then, ...
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