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Malbim on Beresheet 6:4 writes: "הנפלים. עתה יפרש מ"ש ויראו בני האלהים את בנות האדם, מי היו בני האלהים, הם אלה שאמרו שהם בני אלהים ונפלו משמים, והגדות כאלה היו בימים האלה וגם אחרי כן. כי נודע שבכל...
Can one bless Hatov Ve'Hametiv on wine that is not made of grapes (like pomegranates, figs etc) like he would on a grape wine?
In his commentary on Beresheet 36:31, Ibn Ezra writes: "ואלה המלכים. יש אומרים כי בדרך נבואה נכתבה זאת הפרשה. ויצחקי אמר בספרו כי בימי יהושפט נכתבה זאת הפרשה. ופי' הדורות כרצונו הכי קרא שמו יצחק כ...
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...
Frequently attributed (e.g. by Aish and Chabad) to R. M'nachem Mendl of Kock is: If I am I because I am I, and you are you because you are you, then I am I and you are you. But if I am I because y...
In Berachos 4b (11 paragraphs up in pop-up), The gemara gives a potential reson what makes the teffilah "Ashrei" אִילֵּימָא מִשּׁוּם דְּאָתְיָא בְּאָלֶף בֵּית, נֵימָא ״אַשְׁרֵי תְמִימֵי דָרֶךְ״ דּ...
ותשא כל העדה ויתנו את קולם ויבכו העם בלילה ההוא (במדבר יד, א) אמר רבה א"ר יוחנן אותו ליל ט' באב היה אמר להן הקב"ה לישראל אתם בכיתם בכיה של חנם ואני אקבע לכם בכיה לדורות (סנהדרין קד:, תענית כט.) "...
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...
Background: There is a requirement to honor Kohanim (Vayikra 21:8; Mishneh Torah, Positive Mitzvot, 32; Moed Katan 28b.27). Among the ways this commandment is fulfilled are allowing a Kohen to make...
Rabbi Miller contradicted himself very badly. In one of his talks he says about Nixon, "And the ads that you see in the newspapers blaming Nixon for his appointment of conservative judges - it's j...
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?
Why does no one, not even the daveners at the most chareidi kollel, follow the halacha of not talking during pesukei d’zimra?
An accidental killer flees to one of the cities of refuge for an indeterminate time (until the death of the kohein gadol, or even longer if the timing is unfortunate). The cities of refuge are cit...
If Yirmiyahu wrote Sefer Melachim (Bava Batra 15a), and "two prophets do not prophesy employing one and the same style of expression" (Sanhedrin 89a), does that mean that the prophecies of prophets...
It is often clear when a portion of the gemarah is written as an aggadah (ie, non-legal), however there are times where it may be unclear if a statement is aggadic, halachic, or none of the above. ...
The final chapters of Yirmiyahu are dedicated to Yirmiyahu foreseeing the fall of several nations in and around the Land of Israel, nations such as Egypt, Kedar, Babylon, Edom, Moav and Ammon. For ...
If semen was extracted from a dead man, and then used to impregnate a woman, is the offspring a legal son (let's limit it to male) of the dead man? Or, more simply put, is a child born of ones seme...
Asking for a friend: If I learn with a Chavrusa and we both finish a Masechta together, assuming that we wait until different days to make the Siyum (whether permitted or not), if we each attend th...
In Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 2:4 it says: ואח"כ ינעול של שמאל ויקשרנו ויחזור ויקשור של ימין Then after that put on the left one and fasten it, and return and fasten the right one First you shoul...
The kal verb רדף, "chase", appears many times in Tanach. But the preposition that follows it, to mark the object of the verb, varies: Sometimes it's a direct object: it's marked either with no pre...
Years ago, in a year when US Independence Day fell on Shabbat, I was away at a kallah, a week-long retreat for people from many communities with study, social activities, and, of course, davening. ...
The conquest of the land described in the book of Yehoshua took seven years (Arakhin 13a).1 It is only at the end of the conquest that Yehoshua dismisses the "shock troops". We know from Yehoshua 1...
Various halachic authorities (see e.g. Rabbi Tzvi Pesach Frank in Responsa Har Tzvi 1:9, and discussion here) exempt garments produced from sheets of synthetic materials (e.g. nylon) from Tzitzit, ...
In several locations (example: Yoma 75a.14 ), Chazal mention that Bnei Yisroel had slaves even while they were in the midbar. Where did they get them from? Did they take them from Egypt? Did they t...
Bechorot 8a discusses a species called dolfinim, which, in Rashi's understanding, are merpeople and can bear viable offspring with humans. Let's suppose that merpeople actually exist as Rashi descr...
In the Seder Oneg Shabbos Bentcher the translation for ״זעיר אנפין״ is "The Impatient One". What's the basis of this translation? Sources that support the reading would be appreciated.
The Shlah says that when someone feels himself getting angry, he should hold the corner of his tzitzis and that will calm him down. Is there any similar advice for [most] women (as they don't wear ...
I understand that one should take challah when baking bread made with at least 10 cups of flour. (That article says 14 for saying the b'racha but down to 10 for taking at all.) How does this requ...
Mishneh Torah, Talmud Torah, 6:14 lists 24 reasons for excommunication. # 20 is: טַבָּח שֶׁלֹּא בָּדַק סַכִּינוֹ לִפְנֵי חָכָם A Shochet who does not have his knife checked by a wise man. (general...
In most siddurim by Ashrei, it says to touch the arm Teffilin at פּותֵחַ אֶת יָדֶךָ,and the head Teffilin at וּמַשבִּיעַ לְכָל חַי רָצון. What is the connection between Hashem sustaining us and the...
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 (...
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...
In most siddurim, in the paragraph before Shema of Ahavah Rabah, before the words וַהֲבִיאֵנוּ לְשָׁלוֹם it says to gather the Tzitzis and put them in your left hand. Does that mean to: A. Pause da...
If there is someone who does not yet own a Tallis (prayer shawl), and he is davening for the amud (so he wears a shul tallis), when he gets to the places in davening where you are supposed to kiss ...
In various places on this site, including the FAQ, we have the following disclaimer: Like Wikipedia, this site makes no guarantee of validity, and does not offer professional (particularly rabbini...
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...
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 Bracha of Shehechiyanu reads as follows: ברוך...×©×”×—×™×™× ×• ×•×§×™×™×ž× ×• ×•×”×’×™×¢× ×• לזמן ×”×–×” ...that He kept us alive and sustained us and brought us to this time. ...
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 tend to daven (pray) without sufficient focus and very quickly. In particular, I find that most of the time that I'm praying, my mind is on things other than the words that I'm saying. And, not t...
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...
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...
