All Questions
39,068
questions
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Did Benjamin recognize Joseph when he came down to Egypt
The Torah mentions that Yosef recognized his brothers but they didn't recognize him (Beresheet 42:7-8).
Was wondering whether any commentaries deal with the question of when Benjamin came down did he ...
- 24.3k
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0
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10
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Shabbat gentile worker different time zones halacha?
Can a Jew, let's say on Friday in Eastern time New York 9AM (way before Shabbos) ask a gentile worker who is in Asia (where it is already Shabbos) to do work for him?
Similar question here but I am ...
- 24.3k
0
votes
0
answers
18
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Who spoke the truth?
In the last chapter of the book of Job G-d tells Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar that they have not spoken truth about Him. G-d does not mention Elihu which implies that whatever Elihu said about G-d is ...
- 135
2
votes
1
answer
176
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I am not Jewish - can I wish you a Shabbat Shalom?
I have professional contacts who are practicing/observant Jews. I am not Jewish. Is it improper/bad taste if I say to them "Shabbat Shalom" on Fridays?
- 188
2
votes
0
answers
18
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There is no Shabbat Chol Hamoed for Sukkot this year. Why is Kohelet not read on the same day in both E"Y and chu"l?
I can understand why Kohelet is not read on Shmini Atzeret in E"Y, because it's already a long davening. However, why doesn't everyone read it on the first day of the chag, which is also Shabbat?
- 31
3
votes
1
answer
122
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+100
לישב בסוכה the second night if you've been in the sukkah continuously
Let's say you were in the sukkah on the first day of Sukkos, outside Israel, and said לישב בסוכה. You have not interrupted your stay in the sukkah. Now it's the second night. Do you say the bracha ...
- 2,195
13
votes
7
answers
3k
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What is meant by the 974 "worlds" that were "created and destroyed"?
Midrash Tehillim 90:13 says that God created and destroyed 974 worlds before this one. What exactly does that mean?
I've heard it used in defense of a modern understanding of evolution and cosmology ...
- 1
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2
answers
107
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Is addiction mutar?
How are the addictive properties of coffee different than other addictive substances which I assume is frowned upon in Judaism.
CommunityBot
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1
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0
answers
30
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Why do shuls not announced which order of direction to shake the lulav?
By all means vote for this closed if it is not your experience (and therefore "opinion based") but why do shuls not announce which directions in which order we shake the arba minim according ...
- 5,401
2
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1
answer
1k
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Are Lindeman's fruit lambic beers endorsed as kosher by any other agencies?
Lindeman's Beer has a hechsher from the Triangle K. This hechsher is recommended (by many kosher agencies) only for certain products. Is there another organization that has also verified the koshrus ...
CommunityBot
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35
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Why does God allow a person to experience great suffering at an old age
I have watched elderly people with disease, suffering and experiencing moments of despair like Job did, eager to die because life has lost all it meaning to them. There is no longer any joy, or ...
- 135
2
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0
answers
25
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Gentile Texting a Jew on Shabbat [duplicate]
Shalom,
I (a gentile) texted my non-observant Jewish friend on Shabbat, having totally forgotten it was Shabbat. He responded before I could unsend. Have I "placed a stumbling block before the ...
- 21
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0
answers
36
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What’s the Chabad psak on Beit Yosef and sinta (sirloin steak) in Israel?
I’m in Israel and most Ashkenazim don’t eat sinta (sirloin steak) but I was wondering if Chabad does.
- 24.3k
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0
answers
15
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Two festival days in diaspora [duplicate]
Is having to observe two festival
days in the diaspora a minhag or takkanah? Is it still binding today?
- 45.6k
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0
answers
43
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Will we be counted righteous through Moshiach's merit?
In reading the commentary Malbim on Jeremiah 23:6, it seems to be saying that
Moshiach may deliver Israel by his own righteousness and merit. Does this mean that his righteousness will be considered ...
- 123
2
votes
2
answers
95
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Did King Achashverosh really not know that Haman was planning to kill the Jewish people?
It seems from the flow of the megillah that King Achashverosh had given Haman the authority to do what he wanted.
Haman approached the king with the complaint that there was "a people who were ...
CommunityBot
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1
answer
84
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Sources that support not taking food from the table before the rabbi makes kiddush?
To me this seems like an obvious sense of basic respect to the community but it doesn't seem like everyone thinks as I do and looking for sources that support that this is a practice that should not ...
CommunityBot
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1
vote
2
answers
242
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Is Everything Part of God's Plan?
I'd like to follow up on Joseph telling his brothers: Don’t worry and don’t feel guilty about selling me in Egypt: It was all God’s plan. [Genesis 45:4-8, 50:19-21]
The Talmud teaches that everything ...
CommunityBot
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-1
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0
answers
34
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In the 1000 CE - 1500 CE Northwestern Europe, were Jewish households mainly nuclear families or were they multi-generational houses & households? [closed]
I recall reading somewhere that Northwestern European Jews had a custom/minhag to live close to each other in multi-generational households because it offered more protection and security and benefits ...
- 553
-1
votes
1
answer
121
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Water fasting from Sunday until Friday, to save time, and Havdalah
In a particular week, you have a lot of schoolwork you want to get done. You decide to do a water fast for most of the week, to save time. You'll consume only water, not food.
A.) Are you allowed ...
CommunityBot
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0
answers
52
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Is there anything wrong with an unmarried man learning hilchos niddah?
Does a man need to be married to learn hilchos niddah? Part of a halacha chabura that's learning the halachos of nidah
- 41
1
vote
1
answer
75
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Various groups and individuals and their relation to a specific tribe
1.Is there anyone who attributes the tribe/kingdom of Yehudah to Sefardim, and the tribe/kingdom of Yosef to Ashkenazim (at least in the spiritual sense), as per Ovadiah 1:18?
are there any pairs of ...
- 10.5k
4
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Moses Mendelssohn, permitted to quote him?
Is it permitted to quote Moses Mendelssohn, the father of the Jewish Enlightenment, as a source or reference? Is he considered in jewish lore a heretic?
from wikipedia page linked above:
In the ...
- 14.2k
9
votes
1
answer
201
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Looking for more information about this "Megillah"
My wife's grandmother passed away last year (and her grandfather many years ago) and my mother-in-law gave me this item she found while cleaning out their apartment:
It appears to be printed (on an ...
- 24.3k
1
vote
2
answers
377
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Is this Jewish Neoplatonic idea heresy?
Context:
I've noticed before that whenever I post anything about Neoplatonism in a Jewish context, such posts usually tend to get downvoted to oblivion, and in general, such views are not very well ...
- 5,401
1
vote
1
answer
111
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40 days before the formation of the fetus
I know chazel say 40 days before the formation of a fetus a bas Kol goes out and says "bas ploni lploni" I was wondering in the language of the bas Kol, why does it say "bas ploni ...
- 19.6k
2
votes
1
answer
48
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Can a court retroactively annul a vow that was already annulled by the father/husband?
If a woman made a vow and violated it, and it was later annulled by her father/husband, can the court now annul the vow retroactively if it finds an opening, thereby exempting her from being liable?
- 188
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1
answer
135
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How does halacha deal with idolatrous parents?
Query coming from some of the answers to this question:
How should one prioritize honoring parents in comparison with other laws?
'Rabbi Eliezer was asked: “How far does the honor of parents [extend]”?...
- 24.3k
2
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0
answers
158
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+50
Was Herod Jewish?
Slightly related.
This topic has been on my mind lately. According to Josephus, Herod's father Antipater was the son of Antipas, one of the Edomites converted by Yochanan Hyrcanus. I asked one of the ...
- 216
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1
answer
74
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How did Nissan stay in the spring before the exodus?
B”H
Nowadays, since the exodus, we have the Beis Din occasionally add a leap month to keep Nissan in Chodosh haaviv, or at least rely on the set calendar.
What did people do in the beginning of ...
- 859
1
vote
1
answer
280
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Do Aravot grow berries?
I know that Hadasim can grow berries, but what about the accepted specie of Aravot. Does it grow berries at some point?
I have heard the dvar Torah about fruit (smell/taste), but that only works if ...
- 13.9k
1
vote
1
answer
58
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Alternate responses to priestly blessing
Please explain the response to the priestly blessing that starts "כן יהי רצון" but adds b’zchut Avraham, then b’zchut Yitzchak and finally b’zchut Ya’akov
When did this tradition begin, what ...
- 741
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1
answer
117
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Vayikra 14:19 differences in trope
וְכִפֶּ֕ר עַל־הַמִּטַּהֵ֖ר מִטֻּמְאָת֑וֹ I am having trouble truly understanding the difference of meaning using the different trope (zakef gadol, tipcha, etnachtah OR mercha tipcha etnachtah). I ...
CommunityBot
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3
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288
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+50
Did early biblical figures like Isaac abstain from intimate relations until marriage?
In biblical accounts, several figures, such as Isaac, are noted to have married at a relatively older age compared to today's standards. Isaac, for instance, married at the age of 40. Given the ...
- 139
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1
answer
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Source for a Chatat offering on behalf of deceased father and alive son
I think this is a gemara, but I'm not sure where. I heard that you can still bring a chatat that had been separated already on behalf of a father and son who both did the same sin, but then the father ...
- 553
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votes
2
answers
189
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Why was Avshalom riding a donkey into battle?
In the battle between Avshalom's army and David's forces Avshalom is riding a donkey which runs away when Avshalom is caught by his hair in a tree.
וַיִּקָּרֵא אַבְשָׁלוֹם לִפְנֵי עַבְדֵי דָוִד ...
- 24.3k
1
vote
1
answer
126
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Eating garlic on Shabbat Yom Tov Evening
There is a Minhag (custom) of eating garlic on Shabbat evening. Is this minhag also valid on Shabbat Yom Tov?
- 70
2
votes
1
answer
83
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How does the Torah reading cycle work in Reform and Conservative communities?
I’ve noticed that Kriyat Ha-Torah works differently in Reform and Conservative synagogues. The aliyot are shorter. I heard that this is because they work on a three year cycle, rather than an annual ...
- 5,245
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28
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What is the meaning of the phrase בִּזְכוּת תְּפִלַּת (רַב) רַבִּים?
I know this is only in sefard. But I am curious since I have heard two different options for the meaning of this line. The first is "in the merit of the prayer of many" and the second is in ...
- 553
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87
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What do honorifics represent?
What is the custom for adding a honorific after a deceased person's name? For example we say for [Avraham Avinu - alav hashalom. While the ari has zecher tzadik livracha. Does one signify more of a ...
- 1,017
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0
answers
30
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Birkat Habanim (Blessing of the sons) on Shabbat Yom Tov, Shabbat Rosh Hashana and Shabbat Yom Kippur
Those who bless their sons in Birkat Habanim, every Sabbath evening when returning from synagogue. Should the father bless his sons on Shabbat on that falls on Yom Tov falls? and how will he behave ...
- 987
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0
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39
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Eating Apples and saying Chakal Tapuhin in Shabbat Yom Tov or Rosh Hashana
There is a custom to eat apples on Shabbat, as well as saying (Hakal Tapuchin) "apple field Kaddishin". On Shabbat that falls on Yom Tov, as well as on Shabbat that falls on Rosh Hashanah, ...
- 24.3k
1
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0
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36
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Change of words in Lecha Dodi in Yom Tov versus Shabbat
In the last stanza in Lecha Dodi, Ashkenazi Nusach Sfard, say on a regular Shabbat - "Gam BeRina", whereas on Yom Tov that falls in Shabbat we say "Gam BeSimcha". What is the ...
- 7,424
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1
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275
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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 ...
CommunityBot
- 1
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votes
1
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59
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Curses in the gemara
Should we be worried about the various curses of the chachamim of the gemara? Does this effect practil halacha in any way?
For example, one who bows toward a rainbow, one who prays mincha close to ...
- 1,017
1
vote
1
answer
58
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What does Judaism say about paranoia ticks?
If someone has a paranoia tick (for example they feel they must flip the light switch 3 times when turning it on or something bad will happen), what does Judaism say about this? Is anything like this ...
- 859
5
votes
2
answers
770
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Are you allowed to paint a sukkah?
Many people build sukkahs out of untreated 2x4s. While I understand the aesthetics of leaving them raw and unpainted, emphasizing that it is a temporary structure, is there any reason why you should ...
- 859
6
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1
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187
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Does Nivul Peh apply to writing?
Is it considered Nivul Peh if one writes an inappropriate phrase? (For example, if one is writing a book with fictional dialogue, or a dictionary of slang terms.)
0
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1
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87
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I've got a friend who's not holding with yiddishkeit at the moment, as he's gone through a difficult life [closed]
Should I convince him when he eats out to try and eat vegan.
Or is this counterintuitive, as he will feel that I'm trying to be mekarev him.
- 859
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1
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79
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Are there online sources for learning Te’amim of Tehillim?
Are there any online sources for learning how to read the Sephardi Te’amim of Tehillim? While I can find recordings, I can’t find any list or descriptions of the exceptions and such—for example, when ...
- 10.5k