All Questions
39,692
questions
1
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0
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45
views
Age of the the Azazel goat?
I was curious, are there any opinions that say the Azazel goat should be (or shouldn’t be) of a certain age or ages? If so what, would it be a minimum age or a maximum age? And what would the age be, ...
- 840
2
votes
0
answers
50
views
Halacha on being attentive to someone when they're speaking to you
BH
Does Halacha or any teaching in the Torah address the following scenarios:
A) When someone is talking to you, must you be attentive to show them respect that you're listening to what they're saying?...
- 755
1
vote
0
answers
56
views
Having a Chassidishe Gaiva
BH
One of my teachers said once that a student of the Alter Rebbe was in a city filled with so much materialism and sin that he was later asked how he was able to overcome the tests and so he said &...
- 755
2
votes
0
answers
37
views
What is the source of not to speak dvarim betelim
BH
What’s the source and meaning of not speaking dvarim Beteilim purposeless words?
- 755
1
vote
1
answer
43
views
What is the explanation of And don’t let the evil inclination assure your that the grave will be a place of refuge for you mean
BH
What do the main poskim and commentators explain “And don’t let the evil inclination assure your that the grave will be a place of refuge for you” mean in Pirkei Avot 4:22
- 755
1
vote
1
answer
81
views
Caution against a person belittling himself
BH
I heard someone say that a person should never say "I am this [negative character trait]" or "I am that [negative character trait]" because Chas ve Shalom Hashem can bring that ...
- 755
0
votes
0
answers
54
views
Where does R Yitzchak Abadi's understanding of kashrus differ from mainstream kashrus organizations?
In a previous question I asked about when one can use ingredients lists to determine kashrus. Now, I'd like to ask how specifically does R Yitzchak Abadi's understanding of kashrus differ from the ...
- 647
2
votes
0
answers
57
views
Should I add verses in Kerias Shema on the bed
When saying the 3 parshiyot of Kerias Shema on the bed, should I add "Kel Melech Ne'eman" before the Kerias Shema (Since it is read Yechidi (alone) and not in Minyan). Should I say after ...
- 1,139
2
votes
1
answer
55
views
Do we have physical desires after death?
This is a follow on from this question. I was always under the impression that the Nefesh Behamis is responsible for our physical desires, such as hunger for food. If it is immortal, does that mean ...
- 2,148
0
votes
1
answer
47
views
Are these Sheimos Hashem?
Someone just showed me an "ayin hara necklace" that has the words "אלד" and "סאל" on the charm and asked me to explain what it means. What are those words?
(Some websites ...
- 13.8k
3
votes
1
answer
112
views
Is the extra casing over tefillin required
On the tefillin shel yad, there is an outer black box that covers the actual tefillin box. Is this required?
- 1,812
3
votes
2
answers
486
views
New responsa on releasing terrorists in exchange for hostages?
The State of Israel has over the years engaged in the exchange of terrorists and criminals in exchange for the release of hostages. This topic has prior been explored in posts such as Q 10731 and Q ...
- 6,483
0
votes
0
answers
126
views
Broken teffilin box
If a plastic teffilin case is broken by being chipped into different pieces, but the leather boxes as well as the leather straps are intact, do they need to put the whole teffilin in Geniza?
Or should ...
- 840
3
votes
2
answers
375
views
Does the Nefesh Behamis survive death?
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 ...
- 2,148
2
votes
0
answers
154
views
Ashkenazi speed-mumble davening: origins and halachic basis? [duplicate]
What are the origins of the Ashkenazi practice of mumbly-speed-through davening? I refer both to:
Shemoneh Esrei where the words are not articulated with the mouth (albeit silently) but rather the ...
- 93
1
vote
0
answers
40
views
What are the best books that teach Dikduk? [duplicate]
What are the best books to learn Dikduk? Both Lashon Hakodesh and Rabbinic/Mishnaic Hebrew.
- 43
3
votes
1
answer
937
views
Story of a woman hitting a rabbi because husband said
BH
I heard there was a story from the Talmud, correct me if I’m wrong, that a man told his wife to hit a rabbi on the head or something and she went hit him and after she hit him he asked: "My ...
- 755
2
votes
1
answer
159
views
Does anyone know from which book this excerpt comes from?
Someone posted this excerpt on social media:
Freedom in Judaism is defined by the ability of the soul to rule over
the body, the capacity of the mind to channel the emotions of the
heart. Not that ...
- 247
1
vote
0
answers
32
views
Tzedakah, peah, Maaser while in debt?
If somebody is in debt to someone else, and they own a farm or do something that obligates them in Maaser or Peah, do they still have to pay or leave their crops for others? And if they aren’t ...
- 840
1
vote
0
answers
57
views
Can a Messianic Jew (Christian) be counted in a minyan? [duplicate]
There are a group of people who claim to be "Messianic Jews." This is a group of people who are either natural born Jews who adopted Jesus as their messiah and other Christian practices or ...
- 935
4
votes
1
answer
165
views
Can a divorced man sleep in the same household (no intercourse) with his ex-wife? [closed]
The man is visiting his kids, from another country, and will stay in the ex-wife's house.
- 41
3
votes
2
answers
125
views
Source that we are inherently deserving
The question is about the concept not the song.
I noticed an interesting difference in the lyrics of two versions of the song "Ribon" by Beri Weber. The original English version contains the ...
- 2,181
2
votes
1
answer
70
views
What type of enemies are being spoken about in Shaar Habitachon?
In Duties of the Heart, Ibn Paquda writes in Shaar Habitachon (Treatise on Trust, Ch. 4):
אבל עניני אויביו וחומדיו ומבקשי רעתו יבטח בעניניהם על הבורא יתעלה
ויסבל חרפתם ואל יגמל להם כפעלם אך יגמלם חסד ...
- 7,202
5
votes
0
answers
51
views
Approximately how many Jews would make the pilgrimage for aliyas l'regel during its height? How large of a gathering was it?
I've seen some writers talk about the rally in D.C. being the largest single gathering of Jews since Sinai. I would think that is not accurate in that, at the very least, we may have had greater ...
3
votes
1
answer
299
views
Is replacing a jamb that had a mezuzah obligates to bless again for the mezuzah
A person that replaces jambs with new ones. On the old one there was a mezuzah that many years ago he blessed for putting the mezuzah. When placing the mezuzah back on the new jamb should he bless ...
- 1,139
3
votes
1
answer
615
views
Is there any interest in eating a baked donut on Chanuka?
A person who for health reasons avoids eating fried foods. Can he make the minhag (custom) to eat a donut baked in the oven without oil on Chanuka?
- 1,139
1
vote
0
answers
52
views
Were there prophets, in and out of Israel, who were not recorded in the Tanakh? [duplicate]
Were there prophets, in and out of Israel, who were not recorded in the Tanakh? Have other sources determined the identities of some of them? Please cite the sources, if any. Thanks in advance.
- 247
2
votes
1
answer
52
views
Winnow of piles with objects that just fell
If there is a pile (say of leaves), and somebody drops an object into it on Shabbat, are they allowed to throw it into the wind so they can retrieve the object they just dropped? Does the prohibition ...
- 840
3
votes
1
answer
209
views
Reciting/singing Aḥeinu outside of the formal prayer setting and origin of tune
Where, when and why did the prayer Aheinu begin to be recited outside of the liturgical context? It seems that it originated as and was restricted to being recited after reading from the Torah, ...
- 6,483
2
votes
2
answers
683
views
Is one punished for sinful thoughts? [duplicate]
Is one punished for sinful thoughts brought upon by one's yetzer hara? Please give sources, thanks in advance.
- 247
1
vote
0
answers
40
views
Bitachon when collecting tzedakah
In the Chavos Halevavos chapter on Bitachon, we are comparing an alchemist to someone who has trust in Hashem. Its writes:
והשמיני שבעל הכימיה איננו מתעכב בשום מקום מיראתו שמא יתגלה סודו. והבוטח ...
- 379
6
votes
0
answers
82
views
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, ...
- 2,361
3
votes
0
answers
82
views
May acheinu be said without a minyan?
May the prayer of אַחֵינוּ כָּל בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל be said without a minyan?
- 454
1
vote
1
answer
77
views
What is the Correct Translation of Leviticus 19:18?
I realize there are debates about whether how this commandment should be interpreted. My question is about how it should be translated. My Hebrew is far from fluent, so can someone help me understand ...
- 335
2
votes
1
answer
134
views
Lashon harah about someone who leads people astray
Is it lashon harah to publicly criticize or attack those who you perceive as misleading people/leading people astray? For example, Rabbi Natan Slifkin has a blog in which he’s publicly criticized ...
- 840
4
votes
0
answers
49
views
Parallel between the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 princes of Ishmael?
Genesis 35:22
ויהי בשכן ישראל בארץ ההוא וילך ראובן וישכב את בלהה פילגש אביו וישמע
ישראל ויהיו בני יעקב שנים עשר
And it came to pass, while Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went
and lay with ...
- 6,483
-1
votes
0
answers
60
views
Patrilineal ancestors who lived in multiple lands of different nuschaot [closed]
A Jew who knows his patrilineal ancestry back to Abraham, but his patrilineal ancestors lived in lands of these nuschaot:
Nusah Adot Hamizrah (1st Century AEC to 11th Century AEC)
Catalan rite (11th ...
2
votes
0
answers
30
views
Are there time parameters for when 10 people have to combine for Shemone Esrei?
Say you have a minyan, and when the Chazzan starts Shemone Esrei, 8 of the others are up to that point and begin as well, but the others aren’t yet up to Shemone Esrei. Is that a problem for the 9 ...
- 830
3
votes
0
answers
38
views
Friday night kiddush in shule - is this a bracha l'vatalla?
For those shules that have the minhag to make Kiddush in shule on Friday night - why is this not a bracha l'vatalla?
Yes, I am aware that the Gemara mentions this was done in the shules in those days ...
- 91
0
votes
0
answers
32
views
does adverse possession law in NY govern over halacha [closed]
my neighbors fence is sticking in to my lot 2ft and hes claiming adverse possession since he living there for over 30 years and the first 15 years he lived there my house was owned by a non jew and ...
- 1
4
votes
1
answer
706
views
Is a Jewish Queen allowable?
The Torah gives us halachos of a king, but I'm curious whether anyone discusses whether it is halachically acceptable to have a female reigning monarch - a queen, and if there was one, whether she ...
- 2,148
1
vote
0
answers
51
views
Democratically elected leader vs King
I've heard that a number of different opinions suggest that a king is not the ideal situation, but that the Torah gives us halachos of monarchy because that's what people often want. At the time that ...
- 2,148
2
votes
1
answer
107
views
Meaning of inscription in synagogue
On the ceiling of the main synagogue of Florence, Italy, is a Star of David with a Hebrew inscription inside it (below). It looks like mem kaf bet heh. What does it mean and why is it there?
- 20.7k
3
votes
1
answer
135
views
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 ...
- 2,148
5
votes
1
answer
759
views
Can the Sandak be a non-Jew?
This question discusses other roles a non-Jew could take in a bris but leaves the Sandak question open:
Can a non-Jewish person participate in a bris?
- 305
5
votes
2
answers
315
views
Did Rashi have Talmud Yerushalmi?
Rashi quotes a couple of times from Yerushalmi but doesn't seem to have had regular access to it. This being from the numerous times Rishonim ask on him from it.
3
votes
2
answers
182
views
Question about Binyamin being named "Ben Oni" in Vayishlach
Vayishlach (35:18) says that Rachel named Binyamin "Ben-Oni" (according to Rashi "son of my pain"). Is this meant to be suggestive of a double meaning in that Binyamin was actually ...
- 445
2
votes
0
answers
43
views
If Jews conquer a random new land does it become holy like Eretz Yisrael? How might this relate to kibbush yachid? And does kibbush yachid even count?
If Jews conquered New York City let's say does New York City become holy just like Eretz Yisrael?
What if a "Jewish king" declared it as a Jewish state? I'm very curious..
5
votes
0
answers
65
views
Can one pray with different nusach pronunciations [closed]
Can I pray with switching off between how different nusachim pronounce different words? The most obvious is example is Taf vs Saf- let’s say I’m saying Shema, am I allowed to say some words with the ...
- 1,812
5
votes
0
answers
22
views
How old was Menashe when he was Yosef's assistant?
According to the midrash Yoseph appoints Menashe over grain logs, has him subdue both Shimon and Yehudah on two separate occasions, and even sends them after his brothers to "retrieve" his ...
- 51