Unanswered Questions
244 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
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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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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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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?
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English explanation of Sheva Brachot at a Wedding
I was a guest at a wedding recently. During the sheva brachot under the chuppah in addition to calling up someone to recite the bracha a second person was called up to read a relevant English passage ...
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Why do most Chumashim mark the end of a Sidra with 3 parsha markings?
With the exception of the end of Vayigash, every Sidrah (Shabbat weekly Torah reading) ends at a parsha (paragraph end.)
When there is a parsha end in the middle of the sidrah, Chumashim use a single ...
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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 "...
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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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Why is there no דגש in the כ״ף of הכזונה in פרשת וישלח לד:לא?
I know that the rule of ה״א התימה is that it usually takes a הֲ unless it precedes a שוא, such as here in הַכְזוֹנָה, where it then just takes a הַ and the following letter doesn't have a דגש in order ...
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Why don't we say "please" (that often)?
The week day Shmoneh Esrei prayer has a series of requests during which we ask Hashem for many of our needs. In my siddur (Tefilla Hashalem) there is a subtle change made in the texts of 1 of the ...
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Difference Between Shamayim and Rakia
In parshas Berashis, the words Shamayim and Rakia keep on coming up. someone asked me what is the difference between the 2, and I had no idea.
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Verses indicating that each person has an equal entitlement to a land-plot
In Numbers 26:53–54 (JPS), the Israelites are commanded:
Unto these the land shall be divided for an inheritance according to the number of names. To the more thou shalt give the more ...
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Seeking Ramchal's Hoker u'MeKubal in English
Is the Ramchal's Hoker u'MeKubal available in English? I have already read Derech HaShem, Daas Tevunos, Mesillas Yesharim, and Ma'amar HaGeulas, so I would be interested in other of his works in ...
CommunityBot
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Question on Rashi, Bereishis 9:12
In P. Noach (Gen. 9:12) in reference to the phenomenon of the post-deluge rainbow, following Noach's exit from the teivah, the verse states:
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֗ים זֹ֤את אֽוֹת־הַבְּרִית֙ אֲשֶׁר־אֲנִ֣י ...
CommunityBot
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"They encamped at Rissah" Bamidbar 33:21
The verse 21 of chapter 33 in Sefer Bamidbar tells us the Bnei Israel encamped at Rissah.
On this verse, the Baal Haturim comments: ויחנו ברסה: שנתרוססו שם
How does it mean and what is he referring to?...
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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 ...
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