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Unanswered Questions

220 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
7 votes
0 answers
60 views

Why does the Torah add ger sometimes

For some commandments in the chumash the Torah adds "and also the ger with you", and sometimes it does not. What's the reason for this? Is there a specific reason every time?
7 votes
0 answers
152 views

Is there a halachic preference for milah over hatafas dam bris?

While hatafas dam bris is clearly valid for a convert who is already circumcised, is this considered bedieved? Suppose a man who is not already circumcised intends to convert. Suppose he is also ...
7 votes
0 answers
114 views

Field owned by nobody?

I feel like I should have seen this discussed somewhere, but I have no memory of it. If someone dies with no sons and his daughters inherit his fields, one of the daughters marries a convert, and ...
6 votes
0 answers
331 views

Is a pre-convert considered a Noahide?

If a non-Jew [ex-Muslim] is working with the Beit Din for an Orthodox Conversion to Judaism, is he still considered to be a Noahide as he does not yet have a status of being Jewish?
6 votes
0 answers
177 views

Halacha to discourage a convert once every 6 months?

A friend of mine told me that the halacha of discouraging a convert three times has a little nuance - the convert has to make the second and third attempt (to persuade the rabbi to let him convert) at ...
6 votes
0 answers
114 views

Does a Ger have a Chiyuv to get an Aliya?

Inspired by the comments to my answer about (pseudo) 2nd Bar Mitzvahs. Both the Magen Avraham in 282:18 and the Biur Halocho in 136:1:1 mention that the reason a Bar Mitzva boy has a high priority to ...
6 votes
0 answers
615 views

Who were the Nistarim?

It has been documented that there is a group of righteous people called "The Nistarim". I am not referring to the lammed vav tzaddikim of the Gemara (Sanhedrin 97b, Sukkah 45b). Rather, a mystical ...
5 votes
0 answers
1k views

Smoking and psychedelics in kabbalah?

Many are familiar with stories of great tzaddikim smoking pipes and the like in some sort of kabbalastic rite. I've even heard some chassidic Rebbes having a so called "Kabbalah pipe". Im curious to ...
5 votes
1 answer
213 views

When did Rus bring a korban?

(Inspired by this answer.) The gemarah in krisus [8b-9a] discusses the requirement for a convert to bring a korban (sacrifice) to enter into the community. If this is the case, how could Rus have ...
4 votes
1 answer
606 views

The origins of Rabbi Akiva

In this lecture, historian Gershon Bar-Kochva recounts the story of how Rabbi Akiva's parents met. In short, his mother, Sarah, was an orphan living in Lod. Her neighbor was a non-Jew who was ...
4 votes
0 answers
194 views

What if a convert later finds out he was already Jewish?

If someone converts to Judaism, but later credible evidence is found that he was already Jewish (say, due to a distant matrilineal ancestress), is he still treated as a convert for halachic purposes? ...
4 votes
0 answers
126 views

Source for Arizal’s teaching

I’m reading a book by Rabbi Shlomo Arush and he says the following: "According to our master, the Arizal, whoever wants to receive the light of Ein Sof in its entirety has to change its own nature ...
4 votes
0 answers
464 views

Are all conversions to Orthodox Judaism (Haredi, Hasidic and Modern) recognized in Israel?

I am ready to convert to Judaism, but I am curious about how conversions performed under Orthodox auspices are perceived in Israel. For example, I understand that the current Israeli government is run ...
4 votes
0 answers
241 views

Parent/child relationship : how does adoption compare to geirus?

Take a father and daughter who both underwent geirus. Now take a Jewish man who adopted a baby girl of unknown (Jewish) parents. In both situations, the father raises the child since birth. Are the ...
4 votes
0 answers
165 views

Convert without accepting mitzvos?

Conversion is always a hot topic, especially here in Israel. Many times conversions take place where the Ger (convert) didn't have the intention to be m'kabel (accept) the mitzvos. People scream and ...

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