Questions tagged [sources-mekorot]
Questions seeking sources for a given practice in general or in specific Jewish communities, alternatively seeking the location of a specific source of a teaching/idea/philosophy based on Torah writings.
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Hanging pictures of living people
Did anyone ever hear of not putting up pictures of people that are still alive in their house?
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Are we missing the point in the idea of a bashert?
There are several sources which say that our spouse is predetermined from when/before we are born. I remember hearing a Rav say once that there are many people who we could be equally happy with as ...
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The Rokeach and the Chanukah candle
Rabbi Daniel Glatstein (The Light And The Splendor, p. 336-337) quotes the Rokeach, Rabbi Elazar Rokeach of Worms and mentions the following parable:
When a new building is complete, the first ...
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Comparison of different hashkafas
I'm curious whether anyone has published a (reasonably unbiased) comparison of different major hashkafas and the key differences between them. Has anyone come across such a thing?
To clarify: I'm ...
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Sources for Halachic opinions influenced by kabbalah
Is there a source (like a book, website, etc.) that has a list of halachic opinions/rulings based on kabbalah and/or the Zohar? I’m asking because I am looking more into Halachic methodology and I ...
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Running CCTV system with monitor over Shabbos
Does anyone have any sources for what the halacha is of running a home security CCTV system with the monitor on over Shabbos in a place where it is easily visible within the house? I'm specifically ...
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How did the Greeks make the menora-oil impure?
The Gemara in Shabbos 21b famously writes "Mai Chanukah"- what is Chanukah? The Gemara elaborates:
When the Greeks entered the Sanctuary they defiled all the oils that were in the Sanctuary
...
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An ancient text arguing that an assembly with no opposition should be dissolved
In Benjamin Aryeh Hakohen Weiss's "Even Yekarah” (Choshen Mishpat, sec. 20) it refers to an ancient gentile text which specifies that when the state government has no minority/opposition members, ...
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Further sources and exploration of the Neshomo as data
Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan writes in his essay Immortality and the Soul that the Neshomo is effectively the data of our "memories, thought patterns and personality traits" and discusses the idea of ...
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Eretz Yisroel as G-ds palace
Based on this answer, I was looking for sources that describe Eretz Yisroel as the "palace of G-d".
Are there any sources that describe Eretz Yisroel as such? As "Palace of the King&...
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Source for Bloody Fruits Story
Recall reading a story when I was younger, pretty sure in a kid's book of Midrash/Aggadah, like Our Sages Showed The Way.
Trying to find the original source, could be have some details wrong.
Someone ...
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Locating a Sfas Emes on the influence of Chanukah
In addition to this question, I am eagerly looking for the location of a Sfas Emes where he discuss the following concept (parphrased):
Chanukah and Purim are both Rabbinical festivals. Chanukah and ...
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Chanukah and Purim as two friends: insight of the Shaloh
The Shaloh HaKadosh in Aseret HaDibrot, Yoma, Derekh Chayim famously writes that:
וחנוכה ופורים הם שני רעים - Chanukah and Purim are like two friends (my own translation)
What exactly does this ...
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Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi’s yahrtzeit
I’ve seen in various calendars that 15 Kislev is the yahrtzeit of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi. Does anyone have a source for this?
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Chesed and food - healthy or tasty?
When a person prepares food for someone else, as an act of chesed, should they prioritise making the food healthy, or tasty?
In case someone wants to make the case that they are not mutually ...
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Original version of Radak on borders of Eretz Yisrael after Moshiach comes
Sefaria offers a translation of the Radak's commentary to Bereishis 26:23. The translation of that Radak says:
ויעל משם באר שבע. This was not far away from Gerar as we already
explained. As to the ...
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Simanim at the end of the Parshah
Does anyone have any coherent history of and/or source for the siman for the amount of pesukim in each parshah?
(I’m sure it’s been asked here before, but I was unable to find anything while searching ...
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Being MeChadesh Torah saves lives
HaRav Shaul Alter shlit"a, when he was at the Beis Medrash of Lakewood Commons in Lakewood earlier this month, he delivered a Divrei Chizuk (Words of Strength) on the war and quoted the Midrash ...
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Geographical location of Gan Eden
Do the sources give us the location of Gan Eden in which Adam and Chava lived?
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Connection between tefillin and Divine spousal relationship
We say "I will espouse You to me forever" when we put on tefillin. We have the romantic contrast between our tefillin, which express our love for Hashem, and Hashem's tefillin, which praises ...
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Segula for marriage: saying Shir Hashirim 40 nights in a row?
When I was in yeshiva, someone told me of a segula for finding one's zivug is to say Shir Hashirim 40 nights in a row, at chatzot.
Does anyone know of any mention of this segula anywhere?
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Examples of practical hishtadlus in Torah/Nevi'im
What examples are there of practical hishtadlus in Torah and Nevi'im? Two come to my mind immediately - Yaakov Avinu splitting the camp 3 ways before meeting Esav, and Moshe Rabbeinu fleeing ...
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(how) does מיגו still work?
A מיגו is a logical argument used multiple times throughout the Rishonim and Achronim (for example, the Sha"Ch has a very long discussion about it here: https://www.sefaria.org.il/...
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רִבּוֹן כָּל הָעוֹלָמִים אֲדוֹן כָּל הַנְּשָׁמוֹת אֲדוֹן הַשָּׁלוֹם - source of this Shabbat prayer
Here is its entry in the open siddur project.
The open siddur project demonstrates that the claim that this was composed by Rabbi Joseph of Rashkow, Posen can't be true as it is found in the siddur ...
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Locating this Rokeach on sefer Devarim
I have been told that the Rokeach, in his introduction to sefer Devarim, writes that
מספר משנה תורה - MiSefer Mishneh Torah shares the same gematria (1386) as סמוכים לעד לעולם עשויים באמת ויושר - They ...
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Rosh Chodesh - importance in history?
In the Wikipedia article on Rosh Chodesh it says that historically it had much more importance, why did it change? Do Rabbinic sources or commentators attest to this? Is there evidence during the ...
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The search for invariants
In an interview, French Jewish intellectual Jacques Attali claimed that modern science is partly based on Jewish tradition because like talmudic discussions, it is based on the "search for ...
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Rav Elchonon Wasserman's parable on living without bread and air
In Kovetz Maamarim (p. 130, sv. "Eretz Yisrael"), Rav Elchonon Wasserman zt"l explains the need to "breath the air of Torah". He says that for two thousand years, we endured ...
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Why is זֵכֶר לְמַעֲשֵׂה בְרֵאשִׁית left out sometimes on Shabbat Amidah?
Sometimes, the paragraph beginning יִשְׂמְחוּ בְמַלְכוּתָךְ ends with זֵכֶר לְמַעֲשֵׂה בְרֵאשִׁית, and sometimes it doesn't. The only exception I could find composing and researching this question was ...
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Are there any sources that discuss political activism?
Are there any Jewish sources (halachic) that explicitly discuss political activism, or being involved with secular governments. The older and more primary the source(s), the better.
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Confused about the layout of this
Joshua 6:12-13 Speaks about the Kohanim, armed men, and rear guard and how they were ordered when they walked with the Aron. Is there a representation of this actually looked, I'm not sure who was in ...
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Bashert-Steipler
I recall hearing in the name of the Steipler that the only time we can know that a shidduch is actually the one that was נגזר עליו מ' יום קודם יצירת הולד is if the shidduch is from 2 separate cities ...
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Where does the idea of chosenness and particularly the phrase "Light unto the nations" originate?
Is it falsely attributed to Judaism? Is it really Jewish? Is it found in the Pentateuch? Talmud? Post-Talmudic? Are there certain branches of Judaism that don’t accept these doctrines?
By the way, I ...
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The end of a parasha as a message for the new parasha
There are some places where there seems to be a connection between the parsha hashavua and the parsha preceding it. See for example this question.
I did some research, but could not find any answer to ...
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Tehillim 119:98 - interesting interpretation. Source?
מֵאֹיְבַי תְּחַכְּמֵנִי מִצְוֺתֶךָ כִּי לְעוֹלָם הִיא־לִי׃
Thy commandments make me wiser than my enemies: for they are ever with
me.
Tehillim 119:98
I recently heard Rabbi YY Jacobson using this ...
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Did demons and other supernatural creatures definitely exist? [duplicate]
There are plenty of stories in various Jewish sources of demons and other supernatural creatures, and I've only ever heard these taken at face value. Does everyone agree that these creatures really ...
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Were the malochim who visited Avraham human?
Based on this answer, there is plenty of evidence that malachim can be human. There is a widespread opinion that the 3 visitors who came to Avraham were malachim. Are there any opinions who agree ...
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Learning principles of software development from the Torah
I suspect that like myself, a lot of other users on this site are software developers and are also on Stack Overflow, so hopefully this isn't considered too off topic/niche...
When Hashem creates Adam,...
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If I don't think that someone would leave Christianity, is it recommended to guide them to more monotheistic/non-Trinitarian Christianity? [closed]
Let's say as a hypothetical: I'm in an argument with a typical trinitarian Christian and they are absolutely stubborn. I can show them all the proofs of the incoherence of the topic of trinity and ...
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The Belzer Rebbe's approach to nationalism and zionism
In "The Rabbis Speak Out", the 3rd Belzer Rebbe, Rabbi Yissachar Dov Rokeach is quoted (Kuntres 22 Cheshvan, p. 108) in saying that:
Zionism itself is founded on denial of G-d‟s providence, ...
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Noam Elimelech and the primary aspect of a mitzvah
In this article By Rabbi Abba Wagensberg, a teaching from the Noam Elimelech is cited. It reads:
The primary aspect of a mitzvah is not its technicalities and details, but rather the love we put into ...
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What are some of the specific sources saying that Yitzchak’s central attribute is Gevurah or Din?
What are some of the specific sources saying that Yitzchak’s central attribute is Gevurah or Din?
I have heard and read this many times, but always in the abstract. Like:
“Chazal reveal the central ...
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Deeper meaning behind the schach on the sukkah
The Rambam (Laws of Sukkah and Lulav, 4:7) writes:
A sukkah that does not possess a roof is invalid
This is from a halachic perspective. However, I was wondering what the deeper meaning behind the ...
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Is there a special term for a King who is also a Rabbi?
I'm looking for whether there is a specific term or a title for a King who also happens to be a Rabbi/Chief Rabbi. In other words, both the religious authority and the political authority.
Just as an ...
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"And this nation will arise and stray after idols" - the Ohel Moshe's story about Rabbi Shlomo Lorincz
I came across a Ohel Moshe on parashas Shemos, where he cites the sefer Bimechitzatam Shel Gedolei HaTorah.
The explanation in both seforim, deals with the posuk in Devarim (31:16) where it says:
And ...
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Sourcing a quote from the Rambam
I came accros a quote from the Rambam, apparently in his teshuvos, that a person should be "רודף אחר כוונת התורה". I saw it in a piece from Shem MiShmual (Lech Lecha תרע"ב, second piece)...
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Is the soul eager to enter this world?
Is it brought down anywhere that before birth, the soul yearns to be brought into a physical body, and be in this world, and if yes, how do we reconcile that with what it is taught that the soul is ...
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Importance of good counsel
It appears to me that in the situation of Pharaoh in Egypt and King Achashverosh in Persia, both had begun their plot against the Jews using advice from their advisors.
Where can I find Torah ...
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Sources for importance of achdus
What are some good sources of the importance (and benefits) of achdus to encourage people to work on improving it? (Preferably in English)
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The Tzadik, The Nations and the Geulah: the chiddush of Rabbi Mordechai Rottenberg
Rabbi Mordechai Rottenberg, Rabbi of Antwerp (1872-1944), has written an interesting teshuva on the Shalosh Shevuos (the three oaths. Refer to Kesubos 111a). Rabbi Rottenberg, in his reaction to some ...
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