16
votes
What is the problem with dogs?
There are a few explanations, all of which (except one) can be found by looking at the following commentaries on the verse cited in the question, Deut. 23:19:
Ibn Ezra thought that dogs were simply ...
- 21.8k
15
votes
Accepted
Why can't a woman demand a divorce?
The woman can ask but the torah specifies that the man must write (order the writing of) the divorce document and deliver it to her. There are cases in which the court can order the man to write the ...
- 42.9k
12
votes
Why is a Torah written by a woman not considered a kosher Torah?
The Talmud (Gittin 45b) says:
תני רב המנונא בריה דרבא מפשרוניא ס"ת תפלין ומזוזות שכתבן אפיקורוס עובד כוכבים ועבד אשה וקטן וכותי וישראל מומר פסולין שנאמר וקשרתם וכתבתם כל שישנו בקשירה ישנו בכתיבה ...
- 97.3k
12
votes
What are reasons of מצוות עונה marital sex?
A woman has a right to receive sexual pleasure from her husband, just as much as food and clothing. See below:
Ra’avad, Ba’alei Hanefesh, Gate of Holiness – selection 4:
:הארבע כוונות אשר המעשה ...
- 5,021
12
votes
Accepted
Lists of chukkim and mishpatim?
In "Chorev" R. Samson Raphael Hirsch divides the Torah into several categories, two of which are mishpatim and chukim. Here is an image of the table of contents, showing which mitzvot are classed in ...
- 49.1k
11
votes
What is the point of having a rapist marry the woman he raped?
From a historical perspective one has to understand a few things.
One: We live in a time of such safety and ease that our ancestors would not be able to fathom it. Cities used to have walls, because ...
- 10.5k
11
votes
Accepted
Why is alcohol not prohibited?
Rabbenu Avraham ben HaRambam writes:
If God would forbid everyone to drink wine and alcohol as he forbade non-kosher animals and fowl, not all would be able to comply...such a prohibition would ...
- 35.4k
11
votes
Connection between accidental murderer and Kohen ha'gadol?
The Rambam writes that the death of the High Priest distracts the mourners from seeking vengeance on the possible killer in the city of refuge:
The chance of returning from the exile depends on the ...
- 20.7k
10
votes
Why did God need to command the Jews not to kill?
A Medrash states that G-d offered the Torah to the children of Eisau. They rejected it, saying they could not accept this very commandment against murder. This begs the question: Eisau's descendants ...
- 5,310
10
votes
Accepted
Passover Lamb: Why is the bone not broken?
Sefer HaChinuch #16 explains breaking bones was the way of the poor and at the table of the seder we act as free and wealthy men (e.g., reclining)
For it is not honorable for the sons of kings and ...
- 47.8k
10
votes
Accepted
What is the purpose of the goat for Azazel, as opposed to conventional offerings?
In Guide for the Perplexed 3:46 Rambam writes:
The goat [of the Day of Atonement] that was sent [into the wilderness] (Lev. xvi. 20, seq.) served as an atonement for all serious transgressions more ...
- 49.1k
9
votes
Can a single-parent father be exempt from time-bound mitzvot?
As someone in this category, I would like to remind everyone that this is what psak is for. One cannot be exempted from commandments, a competent rabbi familiar with a single-parent father's ...
- 5,021
8
votes
Why did God need to command the Jews not to kill?
If not for the prohibition, murder would carry no defined penalty in civil courts. The Torah prohibition makes murder always a capital crime. Same with stealing - if there was no explicit mitzvah, ...
- 5,310
8
votes
Accepted
getting up for an elder on a wheelchair
The Talmud asks this question (Kiddushin 33b) and concludes that רכוב כמהלך דמי riding is like walking (in this context, at least), and so rules the Shulchan Arukh (YD 244:2). So you would have to ...
- 97.3k
8
votes
Why does water purify?
R Aryeh Kaplan in his beautiful book Waters of Eden (also part of his Anthology vol. 2) writes this is a chok and cites Bamidbar Rabbah 19:8
By your lives, a dead person doesn't make things impure, ...
- 47.8k
8
votes
Why is kisui hadam (covering of the blood) only done for a bird & wild animal, but not for a domesticated animal?
According to the "Klei Yakar" (Vayikra 17-13):
The main reason for the Mitzvah of "Kisui Ha'Dam" is to make a distinction that one should not come to eat blood - "Dam Ha'Nefesh" (violating the ...
- 181
7
votes
What is the purpose of the goat for Azazel, as opposed to conventional offerings?
The Sefer HaChinuch explains (§95) that the two goats of Yom Kippur are symbolic for the choice presented to a sinner – the goat for Hashem representing one who repents, and the goat for Azazel ...
- 34.1k
7
votes
Why was Shaatnez used in making the Mishkan?
This really is not unexpected that something that is the choicest material and is used in the service of God is not allowed to be used by normal people for everyday use. For example the blood and fats ...
- 3,463
6
votes
Why does God hate sexual immorality?
Rabbi Mayer Twersky writes:
Rashi, commenting on the verse "you shall be holy" (Vayikra 19:2) states:
"abstain from sexual immorality ... because wherever you find
abstention from sexual ...
- 1,436
6
votes
source for the mitzva to walk in Israel
aish brings the sources
You shall possess the Land and dwell in it - Bamidbar 33:53
and the gemara in Ketubot 111a
Whoever walks four amot in the Land of Israel may rest assured that he will be ...
- 47.8k
6
votes
Dog that was exchanged for a lamb
It is a sheep who was traded against a dog that is forbidden to be brought as an offering. See the gemara in Temura 30a and following. Such a sheep is forbidden as the verse continues: as it is "...
- 47.8k
6
votes
Accepted
Purpose for commandments?
Both of the reasons that are suggested in the OP are correct according to Torah. The primary reason is to inherit the World to Come, as explained in Mesilas Yesharim chapter 1:
והנה מה שהורונו חכמינו ...
- 3,463
5
votes
Accepted
Why is Rosh Chodesh festive?
See the Oruch HaShulchan in סימן תיט - דין סעודת ראש חודש who mentions various reasons why Rosh Chodesh is considered festive:
Rosh Chodesh is mentioned in the Torah (Bemidbar 10:10) as one of times ...
- 42.8k
5
votes
Why can't a woman demand a divorce?
Your question uses some ambiguous language. You asked "Why can't a woman decide by herself to divorce?" The answer to your question depends on what you mean by "can't."
On a simple level, the Torah ...
- 24.7k
5
votes
Accepted
Significance of a Four Cornered Garment
While the garment may have more than four corners, the command is to to put tzitzit on four corners. Rashi connects this to the four expressions of redemption (just like the four cups at the seder).
...
- 42.9k
5
votes
why love your neighbor as yourself?
Rabbi Aqiva and Ben Azzai have a dispute as to what is the overriding principle behind the Torah. According to R' Aqiva, it is "love your peer as yourself", and according to Ben Azzai, it is "these ...
- 9,388
5
votes
Meaning of the mitzvah to not eat Gid Hanashe
The Sefer Hachinuch has a known explanation in Mitsva 3:
משרשי מצוה זו, כדי שתהיה רמז לישראל, שאף על פי שיסבלו צרות רבות בגלות מיד העמים ומיד בני עשו, יהיו בטוחים שלא יאבדו, אלא לעולם יעמד זרעם ...
- 22.7k
5
votes
Why Yom Kippur is on the 10th of the 7th month?
If you search through the Written Torah, you will see that nothing happened on this date.
Well, the written Torah explicitly mandates Yom Kippur being on the 10th day of the month (Leviticus 16:29, ...
- 18.8k
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 ...
- 42.9k
5
votes
If the Torah tells us to love the stranger, וַאֲהַבְתֶּם, אֶת-הַגֵּר is there a command to love one's husband/wife?
ואהבת לרעך כמוך includes loving ones wife. (See Rabbi Samson Refael Hirsh on the Pasuk). There reason a convert is written separately is people may not include a convert in ואהבת לרעך כמוך.
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