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Unanswered Questions

382 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
10 votes
0 answers
329 views

Was the Chasam Sofer known for having an interesting way of learning?

I have a lot of experience learning Gemara and find myself oft dealing with the views of the Achronim to understand the Pshat in Rishonim. Unfortunately, I have inside me a slight aversion to the ...
7 votes
0 answers
178 views

Baalei Batim and Daf Yomi versus Learning Halachah

Today, many baalei batim center their learning around gemara bavli, for example through programs like daf yomi. But the Drisha and Shach write that for those who aren't learning all day it's more ...
7 votes
0 answers
233 views

The Alter Rebbe's view of reviewing Torah - is it followed in practice?

Related: comment thread in What should a Jew learn regularly? In the end of the Shulchan Aruch Harav Yoreh Deah, chelek ה, the Alter Rebbe has a wonderful exposition on the laws of Talmud Torah. In ...
7 votes
0 answers
105 views

Is learning Sifrei Neviim a fulfillment of the mitzvah to listen to a Navi?

There's a Torah commandment to listen to a navi. As far as I know, there are no neviim around nowadays to listen to, but we do have books written by the neviim. If you learn Navi and do your best to ...
7 votes
0 answers
139 views

How did the angel in "בבואו מאדום" Zemer make three mistakes?

I have always been puzzled by "בבואו מאדום" Zemer that many sing at Seuda Shlishis (actually found in the Bentcher as part of "Boruch Hashem Yom Yom"): בְּבוֹאוֹ מֵאֱדוֹם חֲמוּץ בְּגָדִים, זֶבַח ...
6 votes
0 answers
207 views

What is the proper voweling (Nikud) for Metatron?

I have seen many variations of this and wonder if anyone could tell me which is the most correct? These variations include: מֶטָטְרוֹן‎‎ (Meṭāṭ'rōn) מְטַטְרוֹן‎ (Măṭaṭ'rōn) מֵיטַטְרוֹן‎ (Mēyṭaṭ'rōn) ...
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 ...
6 votes
0 answers
794 views

Aryeh Kaplan and Talmud memorization

Aryeh Kaplan’s Jewish Meditation, page 27: I recall that when I was in yeshivah, a few friends and I decided to have a contest to see who could memorize the most pages of Talmud. For me, it was an ...
6 votes
0 answers
72 views

For the Sake of an Argument?

In the Mishna, Miqvaos 7:1, Rabbi Akiva quotes Rabbi Ishmael as having declared that snow does not count towards the completion of a mikva, but the people of Meibeba then testify that Rabbi Ishmael ...
6 votes
0 answers
616 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 ...
6 votes
0 answers
250 views

Source for Chazon Ish on What defines a Lamdan

I recently read an article and the author wrote the following: "The Chazon Ish described the true lamdan as “someone who spends three hours preparing to deliver a five-minute shiur, and when he is ...
5 votes
0 answers
155 views

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 ...
5 votes
0 answers
66 views

How did the older Torah books look formatting wise?

I'm wondering what the sort of evolution of the Torah's syntactic / punctuation structure looks like. Were the books always divided into "books" with titles like Genesis (in Hebrew of course)? Were ...
5 votes
0 answers
204 views

Why no Kaddish DeRabbanan at Minchah?

Rambam writes in Seder HaTefillah: קדיש דרבנן כל עשרה מישראל או יתר שעוסקין בתלמוד תורה שעל פה ואפילו במדרשות או בהגדות כשהן מסיימין אומר אחד מהן קדיש Kaddish DeRabbanan: Anytime ten or more ...
5 votes
0 answers
256 views

Vilna Gaon -- mini nevuah after six hours of study?

In Aish Moharan1, Rav Berland cites the Vilna Gaon as having said that after six hours of uninterrupted Torah study, the first thoughts a person has are a form of mini nevuah (prophecy). כמו שמובא ...

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