11
votes
Accepted
Why did the son of the Egyptian and Jew have to convert?
Ramban says that by "he converted", it means he chose to live according to a Jewish lifestyle. The rest of the nations followed the patrilineal system, according to which he would have been Egyptian. ...
- 22.9k
9
votes
Why did the son of the Egyptian and Jew have to convert?
Rav Hirsch on 24:10 states that one reason for the doubt is that he was born before the revelation. This would make it a case in which a woman converts after she has given birth so that the child is ...
- 42.6k
7
votes
Why not count 50 days of the omer instead of 49?
We do count 50 days. On day 50 we say in Kiddush "This day of Shavuot" which essentially means "Today is 50 days" since by definition "Shavuot" is the 50th day of the Omer count (not unlike counting ...
- 96.1k
6
votes
Accepted
The Omer during Shmita
There was a korban omer even during shemitah. (Otherwise, how could one have eaten from chodosh in chutz la'aretz?) It came ideally from the "sefiach" (self-seeded produce); though if that ...
- 17.4k
6
votes
People with defects and their role in serving
See Thursday and Friday
Yesterday, we noted the question as to whether the Torah prohibition
which forbids a ba’al mum – person with a physical deformity – from
performing the avoda (service) ...
- 7,248
6
votes
How was the Mekalel given the death penalty if the punishment wasn’t known?
The Chasam Sofer Kovetz Teshuvos 85 says that even though they did not know whether the Mekalel (blasphemer) was Chayav Misa(liable to death) or not, they still warned him that transgressing could ...
- 11.3k
6
votes
Kohen Gadol and marriage
Yevamot 6:4 tells us that even if a kohen had only betrothed (eres) a widow before being appointed kohen gadol, he is subsequently permitted to consummate the marriage.
- 39.8k
5
votes
Accepted
Source of Hirsch Vayikra 23:15
There have been two published versions of English translations of R' Hirsch's commentary on the Torah:
R' Isaac Levy's translation, published by Judaica Press, is out of print now, but can be found ...
- 47.3k
5
votes
Physical defect vs. defect in Holiness
Rav Hirsch explains the concept of מום at length in Vayikra - Emor 21:17
The entire explanation is too long to put here, but I will try to give a brief summary. I have been asked to edit in the ...
- 42.6k
5
votes
Accepted
How do we know that ממחרת השבת means from the first day of Pesach and not the seventh?
Menachot 65b cites 4 Tan'aim who provide 4 explanations to reconcile these 2 verses:
(1) Rabbi Eliezer
(2) Rabbi Yehoshua
(3) Rabbi Yishmael
(4) Rabbi Yehuda ben Betera.
Rabbi Yishmael says ...
- 22.5k
4
votes
Accepted
Is the name אזולי/אזולאי based on the verse of אשה זנה וחללה לא יקחו
In the preface to his translation of the Chida's diary, Benjamin Cymerman writes as follows:
Ha'im Yosef David Azulai was born in Jerusalem in 5484 (1724), or
thereabouts. The exact date is not ...
- 48.5k
3
votes
Physical defect vs. defect in Holiness
Rabbi Adam Mintz explains,
Your question this week is a troubling and difficult one. It is
also a question for which most of the medieval explanations will not
satisfy our 21st-century ...
- 12.9k
3
votes
Why, in Vayikra 21:10, does the verse state "...HaGadol MeEchav" instead of simply "HaGadol"?
Sifra (halakhic midrash to the book of Vayikra) seems to pick up on this unusual phrasing, and derives from it laws regarding the status of the Kohen Gadol and his relationship to the other kohanim.
...
- 39.8k
3
votes
Accepted
Which tasks ar left for a ba'al mum to perform
The gemara in Yoma 23b (ArtScroll 23b2 notes 12 and 17) in discussing the removal of the ashes, states that the restrictions on a baal mum applies only to those duties which are considered avodah. The ...
- 42.6k
3
votes
Meaning of "Shabbatot" when it's translated as "weeks"
R' Samson Raphael Hirsch, in his commentary1 on this verse, explains that while shavua' refers simply to a run of seven days, shabbat, in this context, refers to the Shabbat day and the surrounding ...
- 47.3k
3
votes
Why mention the ger in Lev 19:10, 23:22?
I'm throwing this out as a possible answer (more of a thought, really) without really doing any research to see if it actually fits.
The Talmud, Yevamos 47b, tells us that when one accepts a convert ...
- 43.2k
3
votes
Does Ezekiel 44:22 contradict the Torah?
There are two answers, one from the main translation (as explained by Rashi) and one that I came up with based on logic.
Yechezkel 44:22
And neither a widow nor a divorced woman may they take for ...
- 42.6k
2
votes
Sukkot--Object or place name?
I don't believe any Peshat commentators offer this as an option (I'm sure you can find it somewhere in a Chassidish Sefer), for a number of reasons:
The Nikkud of Basukkos seems to imply in "The" ...
- 20.8k
2
votes
Is there a difference in meaning between קָדֹֽשׁ and קֹֽדֶשׁ?
Is one word a noun and the other an adjective?
Yes, exactly.
Wiktionary explains that קדוש is an adjective, and קודש is a noun.
So, קְדֹשִׁ֤ים יִהְיוּ֙ לֵאלֹ֣הֵיהֶ֔ם means they shall be holy (adj.) ...
- 22.9k
2
votes
Accepted
Why aren't Aharon's sons or B'nei Yisra'el mentioned in Vayikra 21:17?
Ramban explains that Hashem specifically said to tell Aharon about his sons. Not tell Aharon and his sons about themselves, or his sons about themselves.
Why?
ולא ירצה להזהיר את אהרן עצמו בתורת ...
- 22.9k
2
votes
Avodah Melachah; work what is the difference
In terms of the difference between the tow words for what we call in English, "work" here are some quotes from websites exploring this:
http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/95906/jewish/...
- 37.2k
2
votes
Why are the commandments for the holiday of Succot interrupted by commandments regarding sacrifices in general?
Although not too many earlier commentators seem to have been bothered by this issue, there are a few who have mentioned it:
Seforno: it is a completely unique holiday in that it has an eighth day, ...
- 21.7k
2
votes
What does Rabenu Tam think is really the source for a minyan comprising ten?
The third possibility is the right.
אין להביא ראיה מעשרה מרגלים לדבר שבקדושה
It is not a right inference to provide a proof from a group of wrongdoers for groups of Holy work. (The attributes of a ...
- 22.5k
2
votes
Limping צלע and פסח
Rav Hirsch (Shemos 12:11) explains 'פסח is a limp, stepping haltingly over something', while writing (Tehillim 35:15) צלע means 'to limp, not actually falling but the reeling which precedes an ...
- 12.9k
2
votes
When to start counting the Omer
It would be helpful to consider the text from Verses 11 through 16 with Rashi’s commentary, which you may do (for example) at the Chabad website.
Verse 11 says: And he shall wave the Omer before the ...
- 2,129
2
votes
A ba'al mum profanes His sanctuary?
Rav Sampson Rafael Hirsch (on Parshas Emor; Vayikra 21:17) explains (in part) that Hashem is asking the blemished Kohen to avoid service, because the world will look at the Temple as a place for ...
- 10.6k
2
votes
A ba'al mum profanes His sanctuary?
Okay please read the verse carefully -- if he came in to do the priestly service, he would take mikdashai, "my holy things" -- plural, and make them chol -- mundane, or non-holy. The Talmud's ...
- 128k
2
votes
Why is מקראי קדש not נסוג אחור?
According to its Wikipedia page, Nasog Achor is not an absolute rule, and there are great numbers of exceptions that do not follow any rules that would exclude them (see the page for examples):
...
- 20.8k
2
votes
Why, in Vayikra 21:10, does the verse state "...HaGadol MeEchav" instead of simply "HaGadol"?
GEMARA YOMA 18a (גמרא יומא, דף י"ח, עמוד א).
והכהן הגדול מאֶחיו, אשר יוצק על ראשו שמן המשחה ומילא את ידיו ללבוש את הבגדים". "שיהא גדול מאחיו בכוח, בנוי, בחוכמה ובעושר. אחרים אומרים: מנין שאם אין ...
- 6,859
2
votes
Why are laws of damages written in the middle of the story of the blasphemer?
Rav Yitchak Bechor shor of orleans (12th century one of baalei tosfos) says Vayikra 24,17:
ואיש כי יכה כל נפש אדם. כלומר, אף עלבונם אני תובע מענותנותו של הק[ב"ה] בא להשמיענו כי הוא תובע עלבון עמו, ...
- 11.3k
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