All Questions

Is there any halachic reason not to use a recruiter that will approach currently employed employees to attempt to poach them for my business?

Does anyone know if vocabulary flashcards are available for students of the Aramaic of the Bavli?

Can someone recommend a good edition of Aish Kodesh by R. Kalonymus Kalman Shapiro? I am looking for an English or Hebrew edition.

It's the shortest masechet and has only 7 chapters. It start from 25b, which is unusual. Can you make a siyum on it?

Akedah is a term which now means Abraham's final test. Obviously when it occurred, as recorded in Genesis 22:1-19, it was not known if this would be Abraham's final test. Only when we read about the ...

If you are unaware, doctors recently performed a surgery in which they added a genetically modified pig kidney into a living person. I was curious, does this violate laws on kosher? Would it be ...

I've heard many times the argument that many Torah Laws and sanctioned behaviors (such as slavery, killing entire enemy nation, marrying a rape victim, etc.) are to be understood (in an ethical sense) ...

Just wondering if watching a Marvel movie or TV show [besides for the prohibitions on watching secular TV and movies in general] is considered idolatry or not, being that it deals with many pagan &...

With recent talks about Russia and Ukraine or China and Taiwan was wondering is there a source in the Torah that would allow or disallow a gentile nation to invade another gentile nation?

Seriously, some gabaim just kicked me out for no valid reason, someone else said that no gabai there has any legal rights to it, so who does actually own it?

I have been making an excel spreadsheet that calculates molads. I started from the Molad for Tishrei in Year 1 Anno Mundi. Based on various websites (including TorahCalc), the Molad was on Tuesday at ...

In Menachos 75a and other places it says that meshicha, smearing of oil, on the רקיקים wafer-offerings, is done כמין כי יווני - like a greek letter chi. Tosefos there brings quite a few explanations ...

I am looking to buy a Mishnah Berurah set. The Oz VeHadar and the Dirshu sets look like good options. Does anyone have a recommendation to offer for one set over the other? Or is there another set ...

What are the halachic issues which might come up in printing verses of the Talmud and Torah and sticky-taping them on a wall? One example would be Taanit 20a:16 - 20b:3.

Any particular message or story or idea as a son on my father's first yahrtzeit anyone has meaning to share please with me as I will speak in public on the yartzeit...

I repeatedly noticed a similar headdress not only among the Karaite hakhams, but also among the Romaniote and some Mizrahi rabbis.

Stuff becomes muchshar l'kabel tum'a, contaminable, if it becomes wet by the owner's will (or at least by human will). Machshirin, chapter 3, mishna 5, in my own, loose translation: Suppose someone's ...

At what point in the Neshamah: Levels of Soul Consciousness is the separation between Jews and Non-Jews?

Is hassidut based on the canonical Jewish texts (Tanakh, Mishna, Midrash, Gemara)? What is its basis? In other words, how do we know that hassidut has divine roots and presents us with ontological ...

Does anyone know whether an online version (PDF, ebook etc.) of a book called "Aiding Talmud Study" by Aryeh Carmell exists?

Practically, all Jewish second-Temple diaspora in the 7th and 8th centuries fell under the rule of Islam. How did rabbis respond to the new sister religion? Did they attribute any special qualities, ...

Allegedly, the 7 Noahide Mitzvos were given to Adam and passed down to Moses. Even if we follow the approach that our forefathers were Noahides prior to the receiving of the Torah, they would be ...

The Talmud tells us that the Sages had long discussions about which books should be included in the Tanach [Bava Batra 14b-15a]. Their decisions were important. First, the books they excluded do not ...

From the Jewish Encyclopedia: Armenia is also mentioned in the Midrashim: "God said, if I let them pass through the deserts, they will die of starvation. Therefore I lead them by the road of ...

I have difficulty connecting to mysticism. Can anyone recommend a hassidic thinker or a work of Hassidut that would be appealing to someone who is not into mysticism?

From what I have learned, different sins which are punished via the court system deserve different types of death penalties. In Parshat Yitro (19:12-13), the text indicates that one who touches the ...

The scenario: a guy charges $50 an hour, offers to replace a computer disk with a bigger one. For convenience, he also buys the new drive for the client from a supplier. After three hours of work (...

I once heard a Rabbi recount a story of the Baal Shem Tov. A student of the Baal Shem Tov witnessed a rich man leave some money in an area, a poor man found it and took it. The student asked the Baal ...

Can someone recommend a Shtender? I am looking for one that is a) lightweight b) sits on one's lap (so not a standing Shtender) c) holds the pages of the book open d) looks nice

I remember hearing/seeing a מעשה about someone who constantly reviewed מסכת חגיגה to the point of knowing it בעל פה. One day he died and no one knew about it, when an unknown woman suddenly appeared ...

Someone pointed me to the following unusual verse (Malakhi 1:6): בֵּ֛ן יְכַבֵּ֥ד אָ֖ב וְעֶ֣בֶד אֲדֹנָ֑יו וְאִם־אָ֣ב אָ֣נִי אַיֵּ֣ה כְבוֹדִ֡י וְאִם־אֲדוֹנִ֣ים אָנִי֩ אַיֵּ֨ה מֽוֹרָאִ֜י אָמַ֣ר ׀ ...

In Masechet Moed Katan 9b we find a very special way that looks strange at first sight. The blessing was given for a son that his father sent him to be blessed by Talmidei Hachamim. What was the ...

When is the next Yovel (Jubilee) Year?

The accuracy and reliability of various editions of Midrashim, especially Midrash Rabbah, is not great. I have the few available volumes by Mechon Schecter, who have been putting out critical editions ...

Can someone recommend an edition of Nefesh HaChaim? I am looking for a nice edition with clear type and explanatory notes.

I've websearched all over for both the everyday and the Shabbat Metsudah siddur -- the seforim sellers are out of stock or have only nusach Sefarad. Used copies are expensive (for "acceptable&...

In which language did the Rav write most of his essays? I prefer to read authors in the original but it's not clear to me in which language his essays were written.

There are lots of claims that ancient Israelis were black/brown/white or even east-asian looking? So which one is accurate is there any evidence from Torah or from other biblical resource?

May one perform either of the following actions on Shabbos or Yom Tov? Placing fruit into a bin with dry ice, and closing the bin to force the carbon dioxide to sublimate into the fruit Connecting a ...

Moed Katan 7b: Have you not taught us, our teacher, that King Jotham was only born to Uzziah, the king of Judah, during the days of his confirmed leprosy? This would indicate that a confirmed leper ...

This is an except from G.K. Chesterton's "Romance of Orthodoxy". Chesterton was a English writer, philosopher, lay theologian, and argues that Buddhism and the Theosophical concept of one ...

Can someone recommend an edition of Tzidkat HaTzadik by HaRav Tzadok HaKohen MiLublin? I am looking for an edition with clear type, accurate text, and perhaps some explanatory notes.

In bereshit 49: 10 it is written: "לֹֽא־יָסוּר שֵׁבֶט מִֽיהוּדָה וּמְחֹקֵק מִבֵּין רַגְלָיו עַד כִּֽי־יָבֹא שִׁילֹה וְלוֹ יִקְּהַת עַמִּֽים׃" Who is Shiloh? "Shiloh, to whom the scepter ...

Where is an explicit reference to reincarnation first mentioned in Jewish literature?

I am currently looking for a book that gives a thorough introduction into the Rishonim's and other Meforshim's understanding of the Chumash in their compilations and a guide to Parshanut and (Jewish) ...

How many different individuals listed the 613 Mitzvot? Who was the first, and who was the most recent?

Does anyone own the smaller edition of the Shulchan Aruch Habahir? Any thoughts on it? Is the print size difficult to read? I am referring to the new 10 volume desk sized edition. Did they have shrink ...

Scientifically speaking, a better version of an organ could be found in many animals (besides the human brain, maybe). IIRC, octopuses have better eyes, birds have a more efficient cardiovascular ...

When Yisro came to the Jewish nation, he said that now he knows that Hashem is the greatest because "in the very same thing in which they sinned against them" (18:11). What does this mean ...

The Torah does not give details as to how the Bnai Yisrael got water in the desert. Given that there were 600,000 men between twenty and sixty (about 2 - 3 million people total) they could not have ...