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Unanswered Questions

280 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
3 votes
0 answers
89 views

Wearing or not wearing a tallit gadol

Related to Why do we don the tallit gadol? and Is there any basis for Chabad minhagim regarding tallit gadol? I'm not really clear on the rules of when someone who is called for a function during ...
3 votes
0 answers
75 views

How does Rambam decide what defines a Mitzvah?

Rambam in Sefer Hamitzvos lists 14 rules that guided him in writing his Sefer Hamitzvos. Practically all of them focus on what does not consitute a Mitzvah Deoraytah: השרש הראשון שאין ראוי למנות בכלל ...
3 votes
0 answers
41 views

Studying versus doing

In commenting on Leviticus 26:14, Or HaChaim argues that if you study the details of the sacrifices today, when you cannot actually do them, you have fulfilled the commandments on sacrifices better ...
3 votes
0 answers
60 views

How long does "bikur cholim" last?

When someone visits the sick and fulfils the mitzvah of bikur cholim, when is he "finished" or is he constantly fulfilling the mitzvah as long as the choleh wants him to stay? If he is constantly ...
3 votes
0 answers
77 views

According to the Ramban, Did all the descendants of all the Sh'vatim observe the Torah before it was given?

From the Ramban in Beraishis 26:5 it seems that not only Avraham Avinu kept the Torah, but also his descendants, including Yaakov, Yosef, Amram, Moshe etc. He derives this from the passuk "that he [...
3 votes
0 answers
53 views

Why does the Rambam change the wording of the Mishna in Succah 20b?

The Mishna in the beginning of the second Perek of Succah writes הישן תחת המטה בסוכה - לא יצא ידי חובתו When the Rambam codifies this Halacha in the Mishna Torah, he changes the word הישן to היושב. ...
3 votes
0 answers
170 views

Melody for Studying Mishneh Torah

When in Israel I went to a Temani synagogue named Beit Kenesseth haRambam and after services they study a bit of the Mishneh Torah but to my surprise the entire community chanted the Mishneh Torah in ...
3 votes
0 answers
455 views

Marriage and p'ru urvu

An answer here states: The mitzva of Pru Urvu covers only marrying someone believed to be fertile. And one here: "The mitzva per se of pru urvu means: "marry someone who is able to bear ...
3 votes
0 answers
87 views

Were Benei Noach chayiv in Priah u'Reviah and Bris Milah before Sinai?

The Gemara in Sanhedrin 59a says that any mitzvah given to Benei Noach and repeated at Har Sinai, generally speaking, was given to both groups. Thus, both groups are given the issur of Avodah Zarah, ...
3 votes
0 answers
66 views

Rabbinically speaking, does honoring a Mitzvah in year 5777 matter more than honoring a Mitzvah during year 1?

"A person who honors a Mitzvah now, they will receive a greater grace and reward in the world to come than if they were honoring the same Mitzvah during the time of revelation. The above statement ...
3 votes
1 answer
246 views

Rambam and Torah Lishma

The Rambam (Teshuva 10:2) defines the ideal motivation of performing mitzvot as (lishma) one "who does the truth because it is the truth". On the other hand, the Mesilat Yesharim defines the ...
3 votes
0 answers
155 views

Secular books for Torah study

If one is reading a secular book about electricity in order to understand how it works so that I can learn the halachos of using electricity on Shabbos, would the studying of the secular book be ...
3 votes
0 answers
463 views

Did the Rambam write in response to the Ibn Ezra?

According to some interpretations (including, it seems, the explanations of Spinoza) the Ibn Ezra's commentary makes allusion to the idea that some of the Torah (beyond the talmudic discussion of the ...
3 votes
0 answers
312 views

Rambam's relationship with the Rif: a question on the Bartenura

In the Mishna to Chullin 4:6 (s.v. וכן שניטל צומת הגידין), the Bartenura refers to the Rif as having been the Rambam's teacher: "ושיטה זו תפסו רבותי... אבל רמבם ורב אלפס רבו תפסו עיקר הפירוש אחר". In ...
3 votes
0 answers
79 views

Why is Ona'as Devarim not in Hilchos De'os?

The Rambam places most of the laws regarding social, interpersonal relationships (such as the prohibition against slander) in Hilchos De'os, but he seems to be missing an important one: ona'as devarim,...

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