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General Q&A about Judaism, Jewish texts, and Jewish life. This site does not give personal advice.
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How does the concept of Tza’ar Ba’alei Chaim deal with putting an animal out of its misery by killing it in order to prevent unnecessary pain (of the animal)? For instance, when one sees an animal...
On the one side of the family, we have the union between Tamar and Yehudah, which, while technically a fulfillment of Yibum, Yehudah thought she was a harlot. From this union came Peretz (Bereishis...
I’m stunned that this question wasn’t previously asked. The Gemara (Gittin 33a) discusses the concept of כל דמקדש אדעתא דרבנן מקדש - anyone who marries does so with the consent of the Rabbis. As di...
Many times throughout Shas, it seems as if the Perakim are sliced in completely arbitrary places. To name a few examples: In Maseches Shabbos, the halachos of Tzad, trapping, are discussed in 13:5-...
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...
All translations below are my own. Lev Melech B'Yad Hashem Shlomo HaMelech tells us (Mishlei 21:1): פלגי מים לב מלך ביד יהוה על כל אשר יחפץ יטנו [Like] streams of water is the heart of a king in t...
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...
Throughout the Tanakh, I have come across אֲנִי (ʾani) and אָנֹכִי (ʾanokhi) many times, which both mean "I". What is the difference between the two words in Tanakh?
Why does plant life precede the Sun in the order of creation given that plants need the Sun to do photosynthesis?
I have studied Judaism for five years privately but also with the assistance of friends. There isn't a shul in the city where I live so most Shabbats I pray at home. Occasionally I have driven in...
I've heard an idea that a year (like 5772) in which parashas Sh'mini is read eight times1 is a particularly auspicious one: the wording of the maxim is something like "sh'mona Sh'mini sh'mena" ([a ...
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 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...
