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The 4 letter name for Hashem is replaced with the word a/d-/nai (3 syllables). But my siddur doesn't put vowels under each instance, so I'm not sure how to say the word when it is preceded b a pref...
What are the rules regarding a mamzer who is the child of a kohen (and a woman with whom the kohen could not enter into a proper marriage)? Could the child eat trumah? What aspects of the status of...
When giving matanot l'evyonim on Purim, I know that the mitzvah is fulfilled by giving money out on THAT day -- but must it be money that was set aside to be given on that day? If I have a box and...
The mishna (4:8) in Taanit reads אָמַר רַבָּן שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן גַּמְלִיאֵל, לֹא הָיוּ יָמִים טוֹבִים לְיִשְׂרָאֵל כַּחֲמִשָּׁה עָשָׂר בְּאָב וּכְיוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים, שֶׁבָּהֶן בְּנוֹת יְרוּשָׁלַיִם...
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 ...
Are there any ethical teachings found in the corpus of the written Torah which are unique to Judaism and are not found in other world religions current or past? If so, what are they?
If someone b'mezid, intentionally, prayed shacharis without tefillin, would he have fulfilled his obligation? Or would he have to pray again with tefillin.
Must a Nazir explicitly break the terms of his Nezirut on the day that his term of Nezirut ends (or the day after the last day)? If he doesn't is there any notion of his implicitly accepting anothe...
Usually, if someone accidentally misses a davening, he makes the shemoneh esrei up by saying it twice the next time (called tashlumin) [source needed]. If someone misses davening accidentally, but ...
In my shul (and i'm sure in others as well), they turn half of the lights off on Tisha B'av night as a way of mourning. Am I allowed to intentionally sit under the lights that are on to help me see...
There are 54 weekly sections ("parashiyos" or "sedras") in the Torah.1 Which of these is your favorite, and why? Answers I seek: Please don't answer with a section name with no explanation as to wh...
We know that God told the entire torah to Moshe (with Moshe writing it down the second time) at Har Sinai. This must include the book of D'varim, because I have learned somewhere that there is a d...
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...
Are there any vegans/vegetarians that we know of anywhere in Tanach? (Not someone that just took a neder)
Growing up I was taught that the reason for the various restrictions on how a woman is supposed to dress according to orthodox standards, dubbed 'tzniut' was because lack of doing so was 'lifnei ee...
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 secula...
I've heard a setting (by Debbie Friedman) of the song "Shalom Aleichem" that, in the last verse, says "shuvchem" instead of "tzeitchem" (recording, mixed group of singers). A rabbi who knew her to...
R' Yochanan ben Zakai, in leading the Jewish people during and immediately after the Destruction of the Second Temple, issued many decrees aimed at responding to the new post-Temple reality and pre...
The Shulchan Aruch in Orach Chaim 173:2 writes: בין בשר ×œ×“×’×™× ×—×•×‘×” ליטול ×ž×©×•× ×“×§×©×” לדבר ×חר ×•×—×ž×™×¨× ×¡×›× ×ª× ×ž××™×¡×•×¨× There is an obligation to wash...
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?
The Mishna, in Ta'anit 4:1-4, describes an institution called ma'amadot: Just as the Kohens and Levites were divided into 24 clans, which each handled the Temple service for two non-holiday weeks o...
The Mishna reports in Menachot 10:4 that, after the required amount of premium flour had been extracted from the barley set aside for the Omer, the considerable amount tof leftover, mixed-quality f...
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...
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...
The Gemara in Ketubot 54b.10-55a.2 gives a list of 14 practical differences.1 Are there any other places in Shas that list more than 14 practical differences? The context/background has nothing ...
I was reading about driving a car on Chol Hamo'ed and the article stated that many see the melacha of driving as tied to havarah (which I assume to refer to the burning of gas via combustion). The ...
There is a somewhat famous minhag for a child to fast the three fasts preceding His/Her Bar/Bas Mitzvah. Is there any halachic source for doing this, or is it an unnecessary adopted custom?
Is there a list of all the stops that Bnei Yisrael made after leaving Egypt (in chronological order), and how long they stayed in each place, especially one which lists different opinions about the...
In the original printing of Sdei Chemed (about 18 volumes, some posthumous) there was a kuntrus adjoined at the end of the fifth volume (I saw this on the oztar hachochma). This kuntrus entitled ב...
Why did the Ark rest on Ararat? It seems random. Why not have it rest in Eretz Yisrael, for example?
What is the shecheyanu for on Purim night? The one before the morning megillah reading is (according to the announcement in shul) for the mitzvos done in the daytime. But in the preceding night, w...
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...
This past Shabbat I was reminded (while watching the torah reader rolling the scroll) that all (or nearly all?) of parshat Balak is written as one long paragraph in the scroll -- three solid column...
We have in Ki Setze the laws of 'yefas toar' meaning a non-Jewish woman captured in war whom a Jewish man now wants as his wife. The meforshim (commentators) say that the only reason this was allow...
In the Yalkut Shimoni on Nach 499.2, he writes: שנו רבותינו בשעה שמלך המשיח בא עומד על גג בית המקדש והוא משמיע להם לישראל ואומר ענוים הגיע זמן גאולתכם Our Rabbi's taught, at the time that the k...
I live in the diaspora and this doesn't affect me personally, but in thinking about the sh'mita cycle while tending my small garden, I found myself wondering about some details. Does the law to not...
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...
Does Chida mention Moses Mendelssohn or any of his works in Shem HaGedolim?
In Devarim 3:27, when Moshe pleads with God to be allowed to go into the land, God says to him: עֲלֵ֣ה ׀ רֹ֣אשׁ הַפִּסְגָּ֗ה וְשָׂ֥א עֵינֶ֛יךָ יָ֧מָּה וְצָפֹ֛נָה וְתֵימָ֥נָה וּמִזְרָ֖חָה וּרְאֵ֣...
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...
When Yisrael spent 40 years in the wilderness, they sometimes camped for longer periods of times and sometimes for shorter ones, sometimes even just two days (Bamidbar 9:21 -22): וְיֵ֞שׁ אֲשֶׁר־...
If one is in shul on a Shabbos afternoon and a mourner (who is in his 7 days) is davening there, does the minyan say Tzidkat'cha? My logic -- during the week,one does not say tachanun in the house...
While reading Megillat Ruth on Shavuot, I noticed that there were an unusually large number of words that were read differently than how they're written in the text. This includes outright omitting...
Someone at my seder asked about the ordering in Dayeinu, specifically that "had God not given us Shabbat..." comes before "had God not give us the Torah..." -- but wasn't Shabbat given at Sinai, as...
Is there consensus with in any major Judaic religious sect (Karaite/Rabbanite) if Muslims are Noahides (שומרי מצוות בני נח) or not?
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...
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.
When the English translation of Torah Shleimah references “Hakobes,” to what author or work is it referring to?
What is the Midrash called “K’bod Huppah” in Torah Shleimah English version? Has anyone heard of it?
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 ...
