Unanswered Questions
381 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
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Why do the Sages often believe that the word רוב mean "majority," when it clearly means "a lot"?
It seems clear that the word רוב in biblical Hebrew means "a large amount." For example, Bereshit 48:16
וְיִדְגּוּ לָרֹב בְּקֶרֶב הָאָרֶץ may they teem into multitudes in the midst of the ...
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Origin of the Conservation of Biblical Personalities principle
There is a discussion on this site which is defined by a principle of Conservation of Biblical Personalities, when the midrash or aggadeta would quote various persons under the same name. Rabbi Tzvi-...
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Is it Parashat or Parshat in construct form?
In construct form, is it parashat ______ or parshat _________ in naming Torah portions? How did authoritative grammar mavens bring it down?
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The soft hey of Bemidbar 15:31
Seems it wants to assume the possessive dagesh in the hey. What do we do with this form grammatically? Ty All!
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Isn’t ״צרות לבבי הרחיבו״ an oxymoron?
In Tehillim 25:17, David says:
צָר֣וֹת לְבָבִ֣י הִרְחִ֑יבוּ מִ֝מְּצוּקוֹתַ֗י הוֹצִיאֵֽנִי׃
My deep distress increases; deliver me from my straits.
The root ״צר״ literally translates as “narrow”. Its ...
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Mispronouncing a Sh'wa
Based on the answer to the post on the nature of the Sh'wa, there is a dikduk question regarding modern reading of the Torah. Would exchanging the sh'wa na' (mobile) and sh'wa nach (quiescent) be ...
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What do Jews call the deuterocannonical books?
In theory, the Christian “Old Testament” is the same as the Jewish Bible, or at least the same texts in a different order, but in fact there are a few different versions of the Old Testament. The ...
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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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Where do we learn out that Nimrod tried to make himself into a deity?
I've always vaguely remembered the conventional story of Nimrod declaring himself a god and Avraham challenging him to change the course of the sun, etc. But after doing some active digging, it seems ...
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Origins/Information sought for the words דּוֹק and חֶלֶד, which appear in אַדִּיר וְנָאוֹר - translated as "Heaven and Earth"? (RH/YK Machzor)
I've never seen דּוֹק וָחֶלֶד before except in this prayer. Looking them up hasn't been particularly useful - I can't find a second source that defines דּוֹק as heaven (and can't find any uses in ...
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Are you allowed to make liquid nitrogen ice cream on Yom Tov
Liquid nitrogen is a liquid version of nitrogen gas and hence very cold. This ice cream involves sugar, chocolate syrup, milk --liquid nitrogen is poured in as one stirs vigorously. When all have ...
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Are there Rabbinical commentaries on the symbolism of the altar fire revived by Nehemiah?
I gather that 2 Maccabees is outside the canon, but surely Rabbinical commentators were aware of it. With the goal of parsing out some of the symbolism seen in the following verses 1:23-28 (...
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Egyptian priests as closet monotheists, and Joseph’s Pharaoh as a Canaanite?
An exceptionally rare 1936 book by Rev Dr Izak Goller, called First Chapter, includes the following:
A powerful shepherd king of Canaan had invaded and conquered Egypt,
and one of his descendants ...
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Was the concept "Arich Anpin" was influenced by Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 3:12 and Midrash Tanchuma Pekudei 3:16?
Was the concept "Arich Anpin" (Keter,Hokhmah,Binah) was influenced by Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 3:12 and Midrash Tanchuma Pekudei 3:16?
Pirke DeRabbi Eliezer 3:12 - There (in the north) is the ...
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The term "divine presence" and "divine spirit" were used interchangeably?
Babylonian Talmud Sotah 11a:5 and Shemot Rabbah 1:28 depicts same scenery where divine wisdom in mishley is identified with Divine Presence. But in Babylonian Talmud Sotah 11a:5, it is written: "...
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