Unanswered Questions
7,392 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
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Who authored the 13 Ani Maamin's?
The Rambam in his Hakdama to his Pirush on Perek Chelek in Mesechtas Sanhedrin mentions the points of belief a Jew must have. To the best of my knowledge these are the basis of the well-known ...
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Oops, said too much Hallel. What now?
On Rosh Chodesh and on Pesach after the first yom tov, most communities recite Hallel b'dilug ("half" Hallel). In most siddurim that I'm used to, the skipped-over portions are Psalms 115:1–...
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Counting Sefirah in a made up language
Can one fulfill the mitzvah of counting the Omer by counting in a language that only he/she understands? What if a few people understand? An entire goup?
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Maharam Shiff’s Mnemonic indexes
The Wikipedia page (from Jewish encyclopedia) for Rabbi Meir Shiff states:
A mnemonic index to the Bible and the Talmud by him is also extant.
Where can I find such an index?
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Eliezer's daughter and descendants
Medrash Rabah Parshas Chayai Sara 59:9 says that Eliezer had a daughter and was hoping that she would marry Yitzchak. Avraham told him you are cursed (come from a cursed family) and my son is blessed. ...
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Why wait to eat if it rains on the first night of Sukkot?
If it is raining on the first night of Sukkot, Rema Orach Chayyim 639:5 writes:
לילה הראשונה צריך לאכול כזית בסוכה אף אם גשמים יורדין ויקדש בסוכה כדי שיאמר זמן על הסוכה
On the first night, one ...
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The soul and Sleep
I’ve heard from a Rabbi that the falling feeling you get while your sleeping that wakes you up (known as the hipnic jerk) is your soul falling back into your body. Are there any other sources that ...
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Establishing the relative order of Rashi's commentaries
In learning Masekhet Ketubot, I encountered Rashi's definition of בי שמשי on daf 103a. There, since the passage is clearly referring to twilight on erev shabbat in particular, Rashi explains why so ...
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Spam texts to run up a person's bill
Many cell phone plans allot a person a certain number of texts each month and charge for every text over that limit. This is for both texts sent and received.
Now, phone calls can be denied, but ...
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What is the reason for the ark opening & closing procedure during Aleinu in High Holiday Musaph?
The Art Scroll & Birnbaum siddurim Nusach Ashkenaz for both Rosh Hashannah & Yom Kippur state this ark / opening procedure during the cantor's recital of the Aleinu prayer during Musaph on ...
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Liability for bed bugs
If one tenant in an apartment brings in bed-bugs (and that can be proven), and they spread throughout the building, and the other tenants have to vacate their apartments to be fumigated, or whatever ...
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What would have happened if the sin of the spies never occurred?
If the spies had not given a bad report about Eretz Yisroel or the people had not accepted their bad report, how would history have been different?
I have heard speculation that upon entering the ...
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Can you fulfill Netilat Yadayim by dipping your hands in a sink?
According to the Gemara in Hullin on 107a, if there's a vessel with a hole in it, and there's a "stream" (more than a drip but not necessarily the "sheffoferet hannod" required for a real mikveh) ...
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Who is pulled to safety first?
If a group of people are in mortal danger, all of the same gender (cf. Horayot 13a; some suggest that the Mishnah on Horayot is not discussing a case of rescuing from physical danger, cf. Tziz Eliezer ...
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What's the Shiur of Mashehu?
Certain issurim (forbidden things) can become batel (halachically nullified) if they were unintentionally mixed in heter (permitted things). In order for this to happen, the heter must outnumber the ...
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