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Unanswered Questions

224 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
7 votes
0 answers
184 views

Why does Mishneh Torah have Shem uMalchut for Yishtabach?

I was looking into the Seder haTefillot as well as other siddurim based on it, and something always bothered me about Birkat Yishtabach, which as most of you know "closes" the Pesuqei deZimra section ...
7 votes
1 answer
174 views

Why don't we make a bracha on the sense of hearing?

Why don't we make a bracha on the sense of hearing, like we make on seeing פוקח עורים ?
6 votes
0 answers
91 views

Why do we say הנותן ליעף כח with Hashem's Name?

The Rema rules in OC 225:2: יש אומרים מי שנעשה בנו בר מצוה יברך בא"י אמ"ה שפטרני מעונשו של זה וטוב לברך בלא שם ומלכות Some say that one whose son becomes a Bar Mitzvah should make a blessing ...
6 votes
0 answers
179 views

What blessing would one have said on seeing Einstein for example?

The Oruch Hashulchan O Ch 224, 6 says הרואה חכם מחכמי ישראל שגדול בתורה מברך: "ברוך אתה ה' אלהינו מלך העולם שחלק מחכמתו ליריאיו, Someone who sees a Jewish Torah sage makes the blessing “ ...
6 votes
0 answers
502 views

Source of wishing "Titchadesh" - תתחדש on new clothes

What is the source for wishing someone "תתחדש" for a new item of clothing? See the Rema OC:224 who brings a minhag to wish someone that bought new clothes "תבלה ותחדש". Literal translation is "You ...
6 votes
0 answers
342 views

Use of speaking "Baruch HaShem" in 1492 Spain

I am writing a play that takes place during the Spanish Inquisition. A Rabbi is walking home from the King's court and his belongings are tossed to the ground by hooligans. A young Spanish girl picks ...
6 votes
0 answers
183 views

What is the ruling for a bracha's usage being extended across different food forms?

There's a tricky halacha with brachos that I couldn't figure out. It goes something like this: If you make a bracha on one food item without having others in mind, if more of the food item remains in ...
6 votes
0 answers
224 views

How are Birchos Krias Shema blessings on Krias Shema?

The Ramban (Brachos 11b) writes that Birkas Kriyas Shema are blessings over the Mitzva of saying Shema. What's in the text of Birkas Kriyas Shema that has to do with Shema? It talks about angels, ...
6 votes
0 answers
137 views

Should one make a bracha on seeing geological arches, hoodoos or balanced rocks?

I am considering visiting Arches National Park in Utah. This park has several "arch" rock formations and a few hoodoos and a balanced rock. Shulchan Aruch O.C. 228:1 states that one should make a ...
6 votes
0 answers
198 views

Blessing on Immersing Vessels to Purify Them

A Mikvah can be used to purify humans or certain vessels which have contracted ritual impurity (Rambam Mikvaot 1 (English)). When humans use the Mikvah to purify themselves they recite a blessing (...
6 votes
0 answers
186 views

Answering "amen" to "Ahavas olam" in the evening but not in the morning

Mishna B'rura (61:16) cites a difference of opinion regarding whether one should respond "amen" to the shatz's (leader's) blessing immediately before "Sh'ma" or should, on the contrary, finish saying ...
6 votes
2 answers
284 views

Can minhag hamakom allow you to make what is for you a bracha levatala

I have a question about a specific case but it relates to a broad subject so I'm making the question less narrow. Pesachim 101a presents a minhag they used to have to make Kiddush in synagogue. Even ...
6 votes
1 answer
175 views

Halachic status of ישמך אלקים כאפרים וכמנשה

Yaakov blessed Ephraim and Menashe by stating that future generations would bless their children by saying "ישמך אלקים כאפרים וכמנשה" - "God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh" (Gen. 48:20). Was this ...
5 votes
0 answers
117 views

Don't rely on rov for general blessings, but do for tevila

The Mishnah Berurah (215:20) brings from the Chayei Adam (Kelal 5) and Pri Megadim (Pesicha LeHilchos Berachos) that even if there's sfek sfeka (a double doubt) telling you to make a blessing, we don'...
5 votes
0 answers
44 views

Kiddush levana – intensity of moonlight required in areas of light pollution

The answer to this question came from Mishna Berura 426:3 which defines the light from the moon on which one can make the blessing as follows: ג) ונהנין מאורה - דהיינו בעת שזריחתה ניכרת ע"ג קרקע. ...

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