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If I handle food that is patently unkosher, and it gets on my hands, do my hands have a status of "treif" that might impact my handling of certain things? Assuming I rinse them with water (whcih m...
Let's say a Jew is serving on a jury that is deciding the sentence for someone (even more powerfully, a Jew) convicted (under US law) of a capital offense. The judge instructs the jury that the two...
Occasionally, I find myself using my phone as a siddur (prayer book), particularly when davening (praying) at a Sephardi shul as an Ashkenazi. (They don't always have Ashkenazi siddurim so it's mor...
Vayikra 24:10 and on tells of an episode with a blasphemer. The torah tells us that he was the son of an Israelite woman and an Egyptian man. From a Rashi comment there I found my way to Vayikra ...
In the Viduy (confessions) that we say as part of the Yom Kippur prayers, there's a section where we list a whole bunch of sins, saying "Al chet..." (for the sin...) before each one. Two of the sec...
I know that if one designates something for the temple (an offering or a donation), it can't be taken back -- it's committed. Is this a general principle of designating things, or is it specific t...
Simply put, why is Pesach in the singular while Shavu'ot and Sukkot are in the plural? Shavu'ot makes sense to me because the day celebrates the culmination of weekS. But I only made 1 Sukkah so w...
The Bracha on salt, as listed in Mishneh Torah, Blessings 8:8 is Shehakol. I have found confirmation in modern generally accepted Halachic sources. According to Mishneh Torah, Blessings 8:7 spices...
At the end of Shemot 19, Moshe has gone down from the mountain to speak to the people. Then Shemot 20 begins with the decalogue, with God speaking the commandments. We're then told (20:15) that a...
I'm trying to understand (the classical Jewish view of) the character of Yaakov. He gets the birthright by exploiting a situation -- he did nothing inherently wrong and WE see him as justified in ...
Note -- I know that this is not a fully formed question yet so I welcome any edits. There are "prophecies" and references which we understand to be about the destruction of the two temples and the...
I'm not fully finished with my hypothetical but it goes something like this: If I davened mincha at the earliest possible time, I can daven maariv before sunset. If I am called to help out with a...
I've chatted with Monica about this. She agreed with my assessment of the place I first heard about it, which I don't consider good enough to link to. It's about a jurisdiction where COVID emergen...
It's academic now that US citizens are no longer allowed to travel to North Korea, but I'm still curious. This is one of the things I've talked to Monica about, and she was sure it was "problematic...
The torah records many places where God speaks to Moshe telling him to speak to others, generally to relay instructions. The common structure is: ... וידבר יי אל ... לאמר: ךבר But sometimes ...
tl;dr in what sense did "the people" as a collective do/say anything? In the Artscroll A""Z 5b1, the commentary in note 1 points out that "The Jews referred to the manna as..." and later, that "th...
There is a conept that there is a s'char mitzvah, a reward for doing a mitzvah, and an oneish/punishment for "sinning". But there is also an idea that a child, under the age of bar/bat mitzvah who ...
Jacob and his sons, when speaking to Egyptians, consistently refer to God as (ה)אלקים, "the god", and not by his name, יקוק, that distinguishes him from other supposed gods, or other names of his....
Throughout Yom Kippur everyone says viduy (confession) numerous times. In the shuls that I have davened at (and I think most shuls), when everyone says it together during chazaras hashatz, there i...
During p'sukei d'zimra on a week day which is Rosh Chodesh, we add in, during the recitation of Korbanot, a paragraph about the sacrifices of Rosh Chodesh. On Shabbat, add in an extra paragraph wi...
Is searching for/burning chameitz a distinct obligation or just an adjunct – a way to prepare for pesach? If I kept my house striclty kosher for pesach all year round (not actually that tough as I...
The past few weeks, the phrase "halachta b'drachav" or "Lalechet B'drachav" or "Lalechet b'chol drachav" meaning "walk in His ways" (or "walk in ways that are proper before Him" according to Onkelo...
In Bereisheet 9, Canaan was cursed and this curse was taken to be a statement on not just him, but his descendants (see the Haamek Davar on pasuk 24 for an example). Why would later generations be ...
This d'var torah makes the argument that an orphan can still fulfill the obligation to honor parents, because the sages interpret it more broadly than just your two biological parents. (See the li...
After the Akeidah, Avraham returns home and then the torah tells us, in Bereishit 22:20: "Avraham was told, 'Milkah too has borne sons to your brother Nachor (etc)'". The torah does not always rec...
I had been under the impression that somebody who is not personally obligated in a mitzvah (or maybe specifically a b'racha?) cannot do it on behalf of someone else. This is one of the usual expla...
I found myself wondering about this while clearing the table after the first seder this year (which was also Shabbat). Most of the time, both in my family and in the group of friends I sometimes s...
What is the Midrash called “K’bod Huppah” in Torah Shleimah English version? Has anyone heard of it?
Each day, we recite the 8 p'sukim from Bamidbar 28 (1-8) which detail the rules of the twice daily Tamid. The Tamid is an Olah but I'm not sure of the exact purpose of the sacrifice. On weekdays, ...
https://vocaroo.com/1L5y4gbqDCvZ has a tune that I've heard many times, always in a Jewish (usually liturgical) context. What is its origin? Who wrote it, when, where, etc., and what (if any) were ...
When the English translation of Torah Shleimah references “Hakobes,” to what author or work is it referring to?
I have been taught that we count the omer at night with a b'racha. Counting at night makes sense; it's the first opportunity to fulfill the commandment each day and we should rush to fulfill a mit...
Mishna B'rura 128:22 says that if no Levi is around to wash a kohen's hands for the latter's blessing, a firstborn-to-his-mother should do so. Although Kaf Hachayim :40 notes that he hasn't seen th...
Does Chida mention Moses Mendelssohn or any of his works in Shem HaGedolim?
I'm trying to integrate things I (think I) know. Am I right that there's a general religious principle to follow most secular law? The Bible has more than one example of defying a law that contrad...
Note -- I am creating the hypothetical carefully so I can focus on an underlying halachic concept. A Baal T'shuva learns to daven in a very eclectic minyan -- people from all over and with all sor...
I believe it was Rav SZA who wrote/said that there are three "threes" (3 things that people do having to do with "3") that are made up. Does anyone know where this is written and/or what they are?
Starting with what I think I understand, my doubtless oversimplified picture of the world was that processes set in motion before the Sabbath could be allowed to continue. For example, I thought it...
A few years ago, on the fall equinox, I noticed that the day was longer than 12 hours according to the (secular) sunrise/sunset times. Curious, I did some investigation. One reason for the differ...
Genesis 18 describes "אנשים [=men]" who came to visit Abraham. Chapter 19 starts "And the two מלאכים [=messengers, or angels] arrived at Sodom…" and proceeds to call them, too, "אנשים". Rashi and ...
What is the difference in translation according to dikduk (grammar) between שנואה AND שניאה? Both are used in Devarim 21:15 to refer to the same person.
The g'mara on Yoma 73a gives the following examples of questions asked of the urim v'tummim (Exodus 28:30) and their answers: "Shall I pursue after this troop?" (I Samuel 30:8). Answer: "Thus...
On sidra vayero Why didnt avrohom himself give the water. What is the difference if hashem himself gives it or his servan in the desert Why should we save a bad city because they have 50 righteo...
The Bavli in various places (e.g. Suka 42–43) explains that the rabbis did away with blowing shofar and taking lulav on Shabas lest one "take it to an expert to learn, and carry it four cubits in p...
At the end of Ki Setze we talk about Amolek. The next sidra, Ki Savo, starts off about Bikkurim. In chumash everything has to have a connection. So what is the connection between them?
This is a possible duplicate, I thought I had posted it but I'm not seeing it. I saw a touching opinion about the meaning of the phrase at https://www.quora.com/What-does-the-phrase-May-his-memory...
When a string breaks off of one's tzitzit there are rules about its disposal. One may not treat it (according to opinions noted by the Rama) in a degrading fashion though they needn't be buried in ...
This question arose at my seder this year and nobody present knew of an answer: The haggadah designates the three matzot for specific purposes: We are to break the middle one (and save the larg...
It's been reported that the same non-Jew buys all of Israel's chametz before Pesach. Indeed, I've heard that all rabbis in the country who are authorized to sell chametz transfer that authority to ...
The Torah of course predates the development of vaccines, but someone who knows far more than I argues that it requires its followers to receive a COVID vaccine. What's quoted in the news article i...
