Unanswered Questions
690 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
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Maharam Shiff’s Mnemonic indexes
The Wikipedia page (from Jewish encyclopedia) for Rabbi Meir Shiff states:
A mnemonic index to the Bible and the Talmud by him is also extant.
Where can I find such an index?
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2
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Whence "בחזקת בשרי"?
Besides the main categories of meat, dairy, and pareve (non-meat, non-dairy) foods, two special subcategories of pareve foods are relevant to halacha (e.g. Yore Dea 93): pareve food cooked using clean ...
CommunityBot
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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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8
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Success of the Younger Brother
While the Torah appears to exemplify the status of a Bechor (first born) - there appears to be a pattern throughout the Tanach of the younger brother carrying on the legacy and success of their ...
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Why do books say "ספר" on them?
Why do Jewish books often say "ספר" on the spine, cover, or cover page?
The word is synonymous with "book" in modern Hebrew, and some closely related concept like "document" or "scroll" in Tana"ch. ...
CommunityBot
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R' Akiva visiting Syracuse
I have read a claim on various sites, including Wikipedia, that R' Akiva visited the city of Syracuse in current Sicily. However, I have failed to find its source in the Talmud. I have seen the ...
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Korach, Chukas, Balak - The mouth of the earth, well & donkey
I noticed something this week when reciting Pirkei Avos...
In Perek 5, Mishna 6 - the mishna famously says:
עֲשָׂרָה דְבָרִים נִבְרְאוּ בְּעֶרֶב שַׁבָּת בֵּין הַשְּׁמָשׁוֹת, וְאֵלּוּ הֵן, פִּי ...
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Finding a chiddush of the Brisker Rov
This question has a bit of an introduction to it.
Rav Shlomo Lorincz wrote a biography of the Chazon Ish, the Brisker Rov and Rav Shach, called במחיצתם (translated by Yonason Rosenblum as “In Their ...
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7
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1
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How to determine a trespasser's intent from a Halachic Perspective?
How do we determine a trespasser's intent from a Halachic Perspective?
The Rambam writes:
If it is clear to the house-owner that the thief who breaks in will not kill him and instead is only ...
CommunityBot
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Who came up with this story?
It says in Mekor Baruch (of Rabbi Baruch Epstein)
The Rosh Yeshiva of Volozhin, the Netziv, was once sitting down surrounded by several high-caliber students – avrechim versed in Torah, wise, and ...
CommunityBot
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Saying "Elokim" when not referring to Hashem
People often say "Elokim" instead of "Elohim" when speaking in order to avoid taking God's name in vain. I have observed, however, that some people always substitute the word "...
7
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Source for not referring to Chanuka lights as a "menora"
Following up on this question about the use of the words "menora" or "chanukiya" to refer to Chanuka lights:
I find it interesting that the use of "chanukiya," popularized in 1897 through a secular ...
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Source that Og told Sarah about the Akeidah, and thus she died
Someone recently told me that they were taught as a child that Og was the one who told Sarah about the Akeidah, causing her death. I always understood it as the Satan. Indeed, that's what Midrash ...
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How do I know my unanswered questions will be revealed [to me] when I die?
Many times as a Jew I think in the back of my head that certain question’s answers I greatly ponder will be revealed to me when I die.
I’ll give an example. A few distant relatives of mine were ...
CommunityBot
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An ancient text arguing that an assembly with no opposition should be dissolved
In Benjamin Aryeh Hakohen Weiss's "Even Yekarah” (Choshen Mishpat, sec. 20) it refers to an ancient gentile text which specifies that when the state government has no minority/opposition members, ...
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