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Are there any printed or audio/visual collections of Shabbos Zemiros which didn't make it into the standard repertoire?
I recently saw a piece of קלף that had these words on the back: Note: I'm talking about the words towards the bottom of the parchment, not Hashem's name. Notice how the words are written facing...
What does this mean? (written about a rabbi of renown, often the author of a book, or the person buried, listed on a headstone) הבחור כמ“ר I have my guesses but I'd like a real answer, not my gut...
In the instructions for festivals, Vayikra 23:6 says, of Pesach: You shall eat unleavened bread for seven days. Devarim 16:3 is similar, and Devarim 16:8 starts: "After eating unleavened brea...
Each year my rabbi arranges the sale of chameitz for me (and anybody else who asks), and I know that I could also do this online. Either way, I provide some basic information, like the location of...
Suppose someone started reading a haftara for a different week, or according to a different custom for the same week, or a piece of navi that's not a haftara at all. What should the community do? ...
This d'var torah discusses kal vachomer arguments in torah: Rashi is bothered that these two arguments have some sort of flaw. He wants us to realize that this isn’t so difficult, as there are t...
I'm having trouble putting this question into words so hear me out, while I struggle: What is cooking halachically? I don't mean "at what temperature does cooking happen?" but more like "what is ...
It seems that there is a similarity between the "Drakkon" figure , as the Gemmara describes it, and the Chinese worshiped, mythical beast Loong. Avoda Zara 43a.6: תנו רבנן איזהו צורת דרקון פירש רש...
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 ...
I'm trying to locate the source for a rabbinic saying quoted in a Christian commentary on the book of Job by the Hebraist Franz Delitzsch. Here's the relevant bit of the passage: The Talmud has ...
The theme of the "Adama mei-arer" Hoshana-prayer that we say on Hoshana Rabba appears to be asking God to protect our agriculture. With one possible exception, every element appears to be about the...
According to the work Perek Shirah, Yirmiyahu 22:13 is the verse associated with the fox (shual). What is the explanation for the link between the contents of that pasuk and the fox?
I noticed that Ezekiel 1:16, in describing his vision of something like a heavenly chariot (merkavah), says the words gleaned like tarshish, translated "beryl" by Sefaria and some others: מַרְאֵ...
The Gemara states (Sukkah 26a.9 et. al.): מצטער פטור מן הסוכה One who is in pain is exempt from Sukkah This is codified as halacha in Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 640:4. Suppose it's going to pour...
Although I can't seem to find it now, I recall a rule that says that no one under the age of twenty can sell real property that he's inherited. Why? Because people under the age of twenty are not t...
One understanding of the Channukah miracle is that oil that should have lasted for 1 day lasted for eight and the famous question is "if it should have lasted for 1 day, then why is the miracle an ...
During the COVID pandemic many synagogues have moved activities online, including communal prayer. Some have even done this on Shabbat, and the Conservative movement recently published a responsum...
This past year I grew some vegetables for the first time. I don't live in Eretz Yisrael, so I know I don't have to tithe my produce, but it made me wonder: what if I did? How would I go about tha...
I have little bit knowledge of Abrahamic Religion (Christianity, Islam). When I had seen the community first some questions came to my mind. I know that Hazrat Musa (a:) (prophet of Muslim) is God...
As a personal example, I completed learning all of Shas Mishnayot (with the Kehati commentary) for my thirteenth birthday. At the time, I made a siyum; with the Hadran Alach, the special Kaddish, t...
Does a woman fulfill the obligation to hear the shofar during Elul if she blows it for herself, or is this one of the mitzvot where a man (must? should?) perform the action on behalf of others? Fo...
Targum onkelos renders “Yehoshua bin Nun” “Yehoshua bar Nun.” This sounds like “Yehoshua bar none.” Has anyone ever made a joke about this, and if not, why not?
Are there any sources that discuss how one can internalize the belief that their prayers have a real effect on the world?
For "בִּשַּׂרְתִּי צֶדֶק בְּקָהָל רָב" (Psalms 40:10), a copy I have has instead "דִבַּרְתִּי צֶדֶק בְּקָהָל רָב". I assume this is just a transcription error, but wonder whether perhaps it is, rat...
In Devarim 32:48 the pasuk says: וַיְדַבֵּ֤ר יְהוָה֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה בְּעֶ֛צֶם הַיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּ֖ה לֵאמֹֽר That very day the LORD spoke to Moses Rashi on Devarim 32:48 writes: וידבר ה' אל משה בעצם היום...
I was recently asked what the difference was between the words fleishik and fleishike, and was unable to come up with an answer. If it were just a matter of masculine/feminine case coming over from...
On Tish'ah b'Av, it's a universal (I think) tradition to read megillat Eicha at night (and some also read during the day); see Shulchan Aruch 559:2. Generally, this is read in a communal setting, b...
Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 587:3, cites a view that if someone heard half of a double-long t'ki'a (long shofar blast) in a way that was effective but the other half in an invalid way, then he's n...
Based on the gemara, the Shulḥan Aruch states (YD 344:16): אין אומרים בפני המת אלא דברים של מת כגון צרכי קבורתו והספד אבל שאר כל דבר אסור והני מילי בדברי תורה אבל במילי דעלמא לית לן בה Before a de...
While sorting through boxes of books in the attic, I came across a Christian bible written in Hebrew. (Some family member was apparently given it by a missionary when living in Israel and didn't d...
Some books in Tanach have a different kind of trop for the words. (see Psalms, e.g. under בַּעֲצַ֢ת and above רְשָׁ֫עִ֥ים) Why does this book and others have a different kind of trup? How is th...
The Septuagint's version of Jeremiah is one eighth shorter than the Masoretic Text's version. In the Dead Sea Scrolls is evidence of both versions. Did any ancient Jewish writers (such as in the M...
I ask for the sake of discussion, and by no means a practical advice What would be the halactic viewpoint of natural organic reduction as a burial solution? from the site's FAQ: Natural organic re...
Exodus 21:28-29 (and onward) gives us laws concerning the ox that gores. If it happens once, they kill the ox but do not punish the owner. But if the ox has a pattern of goring and the owner has ...
I was thinking about t'rumah, which historically was designated for a kohein but today we destroy, and similarly taking challah, which we burn. Why isn't this a violation of bal tashchit, do not w...
On a fast day during Shacharit (the morning prayer), individuals do not say עננו / Aneinu (a special fast-day prayer), in case they don't complete the fast, and instead say it during Mincha (the af...
Generally speaking, whenever the Torah tells us "do not do X," the context is "do not do a specific action" (don't eat non-Kosher, don't do work on Shabbos, etc.). In a select few prohibitions, how...
Due to the pandemic some communities are having weekday services on Zoom. (There seem to be leniencies that support this. That is not what this question is about.) We can't read from the torah s...
If a street has 600,000 people travelling on it during the week, but on weekends it does not since people aren't working, is it considered a Reshus Harabbim? Do we say that just because there are 6...
I recently heard that the Chasam Sofer wrote, that the year 5780 would be a very bad year, but the year 5781 would be a very good year. Does anyone know if this is true or where he wrote this?
I've heard from multiple people, that when wearing the tzitzis strings out, leaving the knots visible is a sign of haughtiness. Does anyone know of a source for this? How does doing this show haug...
The weekday amida has thirteen request benedictions in the middle, according to the usual count. Some of these end, after their respective requests, with "כי אתה…", "for you are…". Here's the rund...
One of the songs commonly sung on Friday night, which begins Kol Mekadesh Shevi'i, follows an alphabetic acrostic. After the introductory stanza, each stanza contains four phrases: the first three ...
In Eruvin 74b.2, the Gemara rejects a proof by saying: לְעוֹלָם אֵימָא לָךְ קַיבְּלַהּ מִינֵּהּ, וְהָכָא חַזָּנָא הוּא דַּהֲוָה אָכֵיל נַהֲמָא בְּבֵיתֵיהּ וְאָתֵי בָּיֵית בְּבֵי כְנִישְׁתָּא The G...
When bringing first fruits we are commanded to say the following to the priest: וּבָאתָ֙ אֶל־הַכֹּהֵ֔ן אֲשֶׁ֥ר יִהְיֶ֖ה בַּיָּמִ֣ים הָהֵ֑ם וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֵלָ֗יו הִגַּ֤דְתִּי הַיּוֹם֙ לַיהוָ֣ה אֱלֹה...
At megillah readings, I'm used to people making noise to blot out every mention of Haman's name. Tonight I was at a Chabad reading and they had a different custom: they blotted out the mentions th...
Asking this question reminded me of another. As part of my (past) musical studies, I've studied historical compositions that set the "ordinary" of the Christian mass to music. The "ordinary" cons...
A mishna on Ketubot 59b lists the household tasks a husband may demand of his wife (grinding corn, baking bread, washing his clothes, etc). It then goes on to say that if she brought a bondwoman (...
Throughout Parshat B'reishit, Hashem (God) is referred to in the plural multiple times. This includes in B'reishit 1:26: ויאמר אל-קים נעשה אדם בצלמנו כדמותנו... And God said: We will make a man in...
