Posts tagged halacha
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...
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...
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...
I was taught that we shouldn't make an interruption between saying a mitzvah b'racha and taking the action. I don't have a source for this other than that it makes sense; you don't want to risk ma...
According to Shemirat Shabbat Kehilchatah (12:19) it is allowed to use a water tap on Shabbat, even though the water will be precisely measured by a meter. This seems to be a psik reisha (an inevi...
From Pesach until Succos, we stop saying mashiv haruach umorid hageshem in shemoneh esrei. However, we would normally say it in the second blessing of the amidah, which is where we are only praisi...
Should rabbis have a new look at niddah today since doctors have come up with new ideas about it unknown to previous doctors.
In the creation account of Genesis 1 we see an initial situation described as "void", and every step away from this situation is described as good. It seems, therefore, that void is to be avoided. ...
TL;DR: Given that the commandment לֹֽא־תְבַשֵּׁ֥ל גְּדִ֖י בַּחֲלֵ֥ב אִמּֽוֹ You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk. appears to prohibit cooking that which sustains life with that which i...
I have heard (but have no source) that, to fulfill the obligation of reading the megillah, one must either be physically present for a reading or, if listening by phone, follow along in a kosher sc...
I saw the following question, asked by David Ziants, on mail-jewish today: In Daf Yomi, have just started chapter 7 of Mesechet Pesachim, and the first Mishneh talks about on how the Korban Pesa...
If a man is required to father a boy and a girl (according to B"Hillel in Yevamos 61b), but is married to his late brother's wife (the brother died, childless) then do (all) the children who are bo...
If one had placed a bouquet of flowers in a vase prior to Shabbat, is it considered muktzah? In what scenario would it be permissible to move it on Shabbat?
In Shmuel 1:31:4 it says that Shaul committed suicide rather than be captured alive by the Plishtim. Later, in Shmuel 2:1:2-15 it says that the son of an Amalekite ger who was in the ranks of Shau...
Rambam paskens (Mishneh Torah, Kings and Wars 10:7-8): הַמִּילָה נִצְטַוָּה בָּהּ אַבְרָהָם וְזַרְעוֹ בִּלְבַד. שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (בראשית יז, ט) "אַתָּה וְזַרְעֲךָ אַחֲרֶיךָ". יָצָא זַרְעוֹ שֶׁל יִשְׁ...
I have heard that when dietary laws and serious medical conditions interact, there are grounds to be lenient on the basis of pikuach nefesh. I'm pretty sure I've heard this with respect to ingredi...
In a number of sources we find learning Aleph Beis associated with learning Torah: notably Shabbos 31a, with the convert who Hillel persuaded with reversing the Aleph Beis; Shabbos 103b-104a, with ...
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...
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...
Like many Jews, I have been taught that Jews don't bow; many people trace this prohibition to Mordechai not bowing to Haman. This custom can be further traced to Exodus 20:5 - "You shall not bow do...
At my synagogue we're currently writing a sefer torah in honor of our retiring rabbi. I know that the 613th mitzvah is to write a sefer torah, and have been taught that participating in the writin...
When a family goes on vacation, does the wife have to bring her Ketubah with her, since she should have it available at all times?
For tashlich I'm used to joining a group, and thus somebody else figures out where to do it. But there won't be groups this year. I could of course return to any of the locations we've used in th...
Some members of my family are required to take a "smell test" in order to attend school each day. Are they required to make a bracha בורא מיני בשמים like when usually smelling nice things, or is th...
Once upon a time, I was on a trip up in north Georgia and stumbled across this gem: a security service branding itself as "Adonai Security, LLC." The tagline proceeds to make a pun in the same vei...
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...
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...
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...
We know that Lashon Hara L'toelet, for a positive purpose is allowed (under certain guidelines). For example, if I am helping someone not lose money by telling them that a person is a swindler, tha...
Suppose Reuven is ordained as a Rabbi (receives semicha). His teacher, Rabbi Yaakov, decides that he is learned enough and of the right character to serve as a Rabbinic authority and proclaims that...
In Ki Tetzeh it says (Devarim 23:8-9): "You shall not abhor an Egyptian, for you were a stranger in his land. Children born to them may be admitted into the congregation of the LORD in the third g...
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...
Last night, as part of his weekly livestream COVID update, Rabbi Dr. Glatt quoted Rav Mordechai Willig that one should put a mask over the wide end of the Shofar while blowing to prevent spreading ...
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...
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...
On Motzei Shabbos Chazon (the Shabbos before Tisha Ba'av which always falls out during the nine days), what should be done about drinking the wine/grape juice for Havdallah? If a child is available...
There are many medicines which are permitted to be used on Shabbos in various situations. However, some of them have letters written or engraved on them. Is it permitted to take these pills on Shab...
Last week I took a class on priorities in triage -- one ventilator, two people who will die without it, who gets it? We reviewed sources in talmud and later commentaries, some of which I remember ...
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...
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...
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. ...
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...
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...
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, ...
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...
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...
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