30
votes
How can the Rebbe be considered Moshiach?
I'm going to answer this question indirectly. I have had discussions with several Lubavitchers who have come up with some compelling (to them) reasoning how the Rebbe זצ"ל can be Moshiach, which leads ...
- 4,244
24
votes
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Discrepancy between Sefer HaMitzvos and Sefer Hachinuch
This discrepancy was noticed by the Mishneh LaMelech in his Parshas Derachim Derech Mitzvosecha 4:487, and the Minchas Chinuch § 487, among others.
As mentioned, the Chinuch leaves out the mitzvah ...
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23
votes
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Differences between RaMbaM and RaMbaN's mitzvah count
The following is just my understanding of the sources, and if there are any mistakes (ex: in the Ramban's reasons to disagree with the Rambam, the titles given to mitzvos, etc.), please point them out ...
- 18.2k
17
votes
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How many halachot are detailed in the Mishneh Torah?
According to Mechon Mamre:
TL;DR
TOTAL - 16,818 (+ 104)
Hamada` - 725
Ahavah - 730 (+ 63)
Zemanim - 1,738 (+ 41)
Nashim - 1,207
Qedushah - 1,140
Hafla'ah - 820
Zera`im - 1,582
`Avodah - 1,537
...
- 7,343
17
votes
How can the Rambam's Eighth Principle of Jewish Faith be believed in light of Hazal?
R' Yaakov Weinberg, in an audio recording, addressed this issue (as an issue with the ani maamin, which R' Weinberg, like you, rejected), and he explained that the point of the Rambam is not to say ...
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17
votes
How can the Rebbe be considered Moshiach?
See Gil Students tremendous treatment entitled "Can The Rebbe Be Moshiach?"
In Chapter Five called What Counter-proofs can be
Brought? Rabbi Student brings the arguments that many meshichist ...
- 15.1k
16
votes
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Is anyone against the rational teachings of Maimonides?
Yes, several subsequent Jewish authorities criticized Maimonides, either for his general approach or for specific statements. A few examples:
Nachmanides in his commentary to Genesis 18:1 criticizes ...
- 47.8k
15
votes
Where is it taught that you can't sleep with socks
The Gemara (Yoma 78b) writes that one who sleeps with shoes on, 'has tasted a taste of death', and since tasting death is probably not a good thing, some poskim write that sleeping with shoes on ...
- 21.4k
15
votes
Did Rambam have Rashi's works?
Did Rashi's works even reach the lands in which the Rambam lived?
To summarize Prof. Shamma Friedman's piece, scholars in the early 20th century assumed from Rambam's silence, that he did not have ...
- 34.8k
14
votes
Rambam's responsum about treating depression with music
In the introduction to his commentary on Masekhet Avot (Shemonah Peraqim), chapter five, the Rambam says (in Shmuel ibn Tibbon's translation):
והוא הדין מי שהתרגשה עליו מרה שחורה, ועמד והסירה ...
- 2,356
14
votes
Accepted
Why is the Frankel Rambam divided unusually? Madda-Ahava and Avoda-Korbanot
I wrote to Hotzaat Shabsi Frankel with this inquiry, and they responded that the unusual numbering is due to a misguided guess at how many volumes the set would ultimately be:
Thanks for your ...
- 4,253
14
votes
Accepted
Should we interpret the Torah literally or allegorically?
Almost everyone will agree that neither extreme is correct. That is to say, that almost no one will interpret every word of the Torah literally, and almost no one will interpret every word of the ...
- 47.8k
13
votes
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Praise of Mishneh Torah amongst the Rishonim
The Meiri (13th cent.) describes the unique features of the Mishneh Torah in his introduction to Beit HaBehira:
That it is omits the Talmudic dialectics, and presents just ruling.
That it is written ...
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13
votes
When enumerating the Ketuvim, why does Ramba"m omit Ezra / Nechemia?
Several rabbinic commentators raised this question without being able to answer it:
R. Noach Simcha Faks pointed out this omission and noted that in the Talmudic source-text in Bava Batra 14b, Ezra ...
- 47.8k
13
votes
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Did manna really fall from heaven according to Rambam or Gersonides?
Both Maimonides and Gersonides believed that manna fell from heaven.
Maimonides discusses the verse which describes the manna as raining down from the doors of heaven and asserts that the "doors ...
- 47.8k
13
votes
For kiddushin, why does Rambam say kesef is "mi'divrei sofrim" but doesn't say that for shtar?
Rambam discusses this exact question in a responsum (1:150 in the Machon Yerushalayim edition) to R. Pinchas the Judge. He tells R. Pinchas to read his Sefer Hamitzvot where he lays out the rule that ...
- 47.8k
12
votes
Am I supposed to Ignore Most Non-Religious Jews?
No, you are not supposed to ignore most non-religious Jews.
Rambam Hilchos Mamrim 3:3:
אבל בני אותן הטועים ובני בניהם, שהדיחו אותם אבותם ונולדו במינות, וגידלו אותן עליו--הרי הן כתינוק שנשבה לבין ...
- 31.3k
12
votes
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Why did Rambam order Mishnah Torah in this particular structure?
Rav Nachum Rabinovitch, שליט"א, in his magnum opus, Yad Peshuta, (Hakdama U'minyan Hamitzvos, Intro to the Division of the Books pp. 187-190) contrasts the Rambam's division of 14 categories of ...
- 17.2k
12
votes
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Instances in Shas where Tosfos quotes the Rambam?
According to a quote from Rav Chaim Kanievsky, there are only 3 places in Shas where Rambam is mentioned in Tosfos (brought down in the stories at the end of the 29th chapter of the Artscroll English ...
- 6,684
11
votes
Accepted
Stars are living creatures?
The Rambam himself addresses your question. He writes the following in Moreh Nevuchim regarding the science in the Gemara:
Moreh Nevuchim (3:14):
אל תדרוש ממני להתאים את כל ענייני האסטרונומיה שהם ...
- 1,501
11
votes
Accepted
Does Maimonides Allow Prayer to Angels?
There is indeed at least unnamed but very early Rabbi who believed this prayer to be proof that there's no prohibition of praying to angels. See the responsum published by Simcha Emanuel in Hamayaan, ...
- 21.4k
11
votes
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Source for a story: Rambam paskening people out of heaven
This is quoted in the Afrakasta D'anya (4: 370) of R. David ben R. Baruch Kalonymus Sperber (leader of pre-war Romania) in the name of R. Moshe Stern in the name of the author of Imrei Yosef in turn ...
- 34.8k
11
votes
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Why does the Brisker Derech focus on the Rambam?
In his article "'What' Hath Brisk Wrought? The Brisker Derekh Revisited," R. Moshe Lichtenstein argues that,
the basic change wrought by R. Hayyim was the refocusing of the
learning process upon ...
- 13.7k
11
votes
List of instances where Rambam argues on the Rif
We have testimony from Rambam himself about this. Towards the end of his introduction to his Commentary on the Mishnah, Rambam writes as follows:
וההלכות שעשה הרב הגדול רבינו יצחק זצ"ל הספיקו ...
- 47.8k
10
votes
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Where did the "a cat will always be a cat" story about the Rambam come from?
This folktale is quite popular throughout European and Asian cultures, and predates Jewish oral accounts.
In Folktales of the Jews, Volume 1: Tales from the Sephardic Dispersion, folklorist Dov Noy ...
- 10.7k
10
votes
Tefillin shel rosh first?
The premises of your question appear to be incorrect.
The Rambam (Hil. T'fillin 4:5) says to first put on the shel yad (phylacteries of the arm) and to then put on the shel rosh (phylacteries of the ...
- 16.2k
10
votes
Is there any place where Shulchan Aruch rules with the Rosh against the Rif and Rambam?
The Shulchan Arukh (OC 259:1) rules like Rosh, against Rif and Rambam, that wool shearings used to insulate a pot before Shabbat are not Muktza even if they weren't designated as insulation as long as ...
- 95.2k
10
votes
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Could someone tell me where this comes from?
This is from Mishne Torah, Laws of Foundations of the Torah (1:1-3):
.יסוד היסודות ועמוד החכמות לידע שיש שם מצוי ראשון והוא ממציא כל נמצא
וכל הנמצאים משמים וארץ ומה שביניהם לא נמצאו אלא מאמתת ...
- 6,672
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