Unanswered Questions
500 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
10
votes
2
answers
208
views
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?
- 2,013
9
votes
0
answers
152
views
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. ...
- 73.9k
9
votes
1
answer
443
views
Reincarnations - Let's work out how many one would need to be personally obligated in all 613 Mitzvot in the superset
In a nutshell, the Arizal says (Shaar Gilgulim Ch. 16) we are reincarnated in order that every Jew gets a chance to experience all 613 mitzvot as a chiyuv (personal obligation) at least once. My ...
- 14.7k
8
votes
0
answers
179
views
Mitzvos from the 613 that are not included in the Ten Commandments
The Chasam Sofer to parshas Nasso says (Toras Moshe I, ד"ה ושמו שמי) that it is known that even though the Ten Commandments contain all the 613 mitzvos (see Rashi and here), the three mitzvos that ...
- 979
7
votes
0
answers
66
views
Why does Pirkei d'Rebbi Eliezer only connect certain berachos of Shemoneh Esrei to events in Tanach?
According to Pirkei d'Rebbi Eliezer:
The first beracha of Shemoneh Esrei, "Blessed are You, Hashem, Protector of Avraham," refers to Hashem's protecting Avraham during the war with the four kings (ch....
- 17.9k
7
votes
0
answers
97
views
Is there a connection between the two times 7 cows, ears and years that Yaakov worked for his wives?
Is there any connection or relationship between the seven fat & seven lean cows, the seven beautiful and seven parched ears of grain that Pharaoh dreamt and Yosef interpreted, and the seven years ...
- 46.6k
7
votes
0
answers
49
views
Is Nehemiah's description of Abraham's events out of order?
In Nechemia 9, we read a recap of God's interaction with Avraham:
אֲשֶׁ֤ר בָּחַ֙רְתָּ֙ בְּאַבְרָ֔ם וְהוֹצֵאת֖וֹ מֵא֣וּר כַּשְׂדִּ֑ים וְשַׂ֥מְתָּ שְּׁמ֖וֹ אַבְרָהָֽם׃
וּמָצָ֣אתָ אֶת־לְבָבוֹ֮ נֶאֱמָ֣ן ...
CommunityBot
- 1
7
votes
0
answers
319
views
Hazi"v La"kh: what's behind the division?
The Talmud (Rosh Hashana 31a) tells us that the Haazinu song (Devarim 32) was sung weekly in the Temple and divided into six segments, given by the mnemonic HaZIV LaKh הזיו לך (where each letter is ...
- 101k
7
votes
1
answer
274
views
Source that Og told Sarah about the Akeidah, and thus she died
Someone recently told me that they were taught as a child that Og was the one who told Sarah about the Akeidah, causing her death. I always understood it as the Satan. Indeed, that's what Midrash ...
- 20.2k
6
votes
0
answers
133
views
Operating a mechanical calculator on Shabbos
Are mechanical calculators Mukzte on Shabbos? Would it be considered a form of measuring?
Mechanical calculators have no electric parts. Everything is purely mechanical:
If it is considered measuring,...
- 3,907
6
votes
0
answers
71
views
Earliest source for teaching Torah in secret to hide from the Romans
A number of online sources (such as this article by Rabbi Ari Enkin, or this article by Rabbi Yair Hoffman) mention the tradition that rabbonim used to go out into the woods and teach Torah while ...
- 28k
6
votes
0
answers
1k
views
Multiple characters with the same name in the bible
In the Bible most of the names are unique, especially for the main characters.
As far as I know there is only one Abraham and only one Moses etc.
There are some names that appear more than once like ...
- 362
6
votes
0
answers
119
views
Why isn't imitating Hashem's traits a constant mitzvah?
In the introduction to Sefer HaChinuch, the author delineates what he feels are six constant mitzvos from the 613.
מששה מצות מהן שחיובן תמידי לא יפסק מעל האדם אפי' רגע בכל ימיו. ואלו הם. א' להאמין ...
- 20.2k
6
votes
0
answers
95
views
Significant drop in the age of having first child after the Flood
There is a significant drop in the age of having first child after the Flood. Shem begot Arpachshad already two years after the Flood, when he was 100. Arpachshad begot his first child when only 35. ...
- 61
6
votes
0
answers
195
views
Rabbi Akiva seeing Bar Kochba sleeping on his back?
I once saw it in some sefer that Rabbi Akiva saw Bar Kochba sleeping on his back (not on his side) and then he knew that he wasn't Mashiach. Does anyone know where this is written? I'm pretty sure its ...
- 73.9k