Unanswered Questions
263 questions with no answers
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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. ...
- 73.9k
8
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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 ...
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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
6
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133
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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
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71
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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
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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 ...
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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
6
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During the nine days, can we do something "slightly dangerous" in order to fulfill a mitzvah?
During the nine days, many hold that we refrain from activities that are considered even slightly dangerous; for example, air travel.
However, I have read that R' Shlomo Zalman Auerbach (who ...
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6
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Do the laws of Ribis apply to loans of virtual currency?
If a Jew lends a player in a multiplayer online game money, and he knows without a doubt that that player is Jewish, does the prohibition of ribis apply? (After all, the only thing that changed was a ...
CommunityBot
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6
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What were Chazal referring to when they said there were 7 notes in a musical octave?
Related: What do Chazal mean when they say that when Moshiach comes there will be another note added to the octave making a total of 8 notes?
There is a well known Medrash (anyone help with the ...
CommunityBot
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5
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0
answers
55
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Who are the lulav and the hadasim?
There is a popular midrash that the four species on Sukkos represent four kinds of people. I usually see it in the form where the smell corresponds to mitzvos and the taste corresponds to Torah ...
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5
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Can one do an issur derabanan so that his friend can do a mitzva doraisa
There’s a rule not to do an aveira to benefit another but would it apply in a scenario where the purpose of performing an issur derabanan is to enable another person to perform a mitzva doraisa.
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5
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Why isn't midrash rabbah learnt as much as other commentaries
I feel like there's more of a stress to learn other commentaries, and midrash rabbah and tanchuma are just nice things extra if you want to. I see amazing droshos in the midrash, and was wondering why ...
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Only Kohanim get reward for mitzvos in this world
There's a concept of שכר מצוות בהאי עלמא ליכא, there is no reward for mitzvos in this world (Kiddushin 39b). Much has been written on what this means and why it's true, but I found a innovative idea ...
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5
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Why is Rosh Chodesh called "the first mitzvah in the Torah"?
I continually see Rosh Chodesh identified as "the first mitzvah in the Torah".[1] I recognize that it is the first mitzvah given to Am Yisrael as a nation. But there are three mitzvot that precede it ...
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