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The last story in Maseches Shabbos 157b:2 brings the following story: עוּלָּא אִיקְּלַע לְבֵי רֵישׁ גָּלוּתָא. חַזְיֵיהּ לְרַבָּה בַּר רַב הוּנָא דְּיָתֵיב בְּאַוּוֹנָא דְמַיָּא וְקָא מָשַׁח לֵיהּ...
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...
I have heard there are some who refrain from referring to their children by nicknames. This was a very long time ago, and I cannot recall the reason nor the source. What could be the reason for th...
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...
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...
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...
A dead body causes the room in which he lies to become ritually impure (Numbers 19:14). Additionally, Kohanim are forbidden to become ritually impure from those who are not immediate relatives (Lev...
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...
I understand there was a little fence in Bayit Sheni called "HaSoreg"/"The Grille" which was meant to warn away gentiles and tme'im from entering the Chayil part of Har Habayit (according to the mi...
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...
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...
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...
Today I saw this question: History of Birkas haMinim, which got me thinking: Nowadays, that we don't have Tzdokim or little Judaic Temple-cults like the Essenes, whom is the Birkat Haminim directed...
I bought a package of frozen salmon filet pieces in Israel; they'd been imported from Poland. The package reads, in part: מטעמי הכשרות חובה לשטוף את העור או להסירו לפני השימוש. In my own tra...
I noticed that my (paper) calendar reports that 29 Cheshvan is "Sigd". Curious about this day (on the Jewish calendar; they style secular stuff like Election Day differently) that I'd never heard ...
Nun, the father of Yehoshua, is apparently named after a word for fish in Aramaic (for example, Beresheet Rabbah 97:3; Divrei Emet, Matot). His father Elishama (according to Divrei Hayamim 1:7:26-2...
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?
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...
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...
I know the following: The word "considered" will surely invoke the response "by whom." I have no answer but want to know the breadth of opinions. The question begs "what does it matter?" I have...
At the end of Rashb"i story of being in the cave (Shabbat 34:a), Rabbi Shimon causes the death of an elder that "misbehaved". I always read it like this: words in [] are added to the Gemara text A ...
In the book of D'varim I've been noticing a lot more uses of אנכי instead of אני. Both words mean "I". I've heard that אנכי is more formal, and I know it begins the revelation at Sinai, though in...
The Talmud (Berachos 61b.9) relates the holy incident regarding Rebbi Akiva's martyrdom. He proclaimed "all my days I have been pained, waiting for this moment of fulfillment". Seeing as his commen...
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...
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?
In Nitzavim, Devarim 29:23-27 it says: "all nations will ask, “Why did the LORD do thus to this land? Wherefore that awful wrath?” They will be told, “Because they forsook the covenant that the LO...
Are there any vegans/vegetarians that we know of anywhere in Tanach? (Not someone that just took a neder)
Are there any sources that discuss how one can internalize the belief that their prayers have a real effect on the world?
I learned what I understand to be a S'fardi or maybe Israeli pronunciation of Hebrew. I'm aware of the differences between this and the usual Ashkenazi pronunciation. My question is about variati...
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...
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...
In exactly three contexts, the Mishnah notes that there was an amah square marble slab with a ring, using exactly the same language each time. The first is in Sotah 2:2, regarding the Sotah procedu...
In Bereishis 4:1, the Pasuk describes the birth of Kayin: וְהָאָדָם יָדַע אֶת־חַוָּה אִשְׁתּוֹ וַתַּהַר וַתֵּלֶד אֶת־קַיִן וַתֹּאמֶר קָנִיתִי אִישׁ אֶת־יְהוָה Now the man knew his wife Chava, and ...
Avodah Zarah 6a.16-6b.1: והתניא: אמר רבי נתן, ״מנין שלא יושיט אדם כוס של יין לנזיר ואבר מן החי לבני נח? ת"ל (ויקרא יט, יד) ולפני עור לא תתן מכשול.״ It was taught in a Braisa: R' Nassan said, "Fro...
The Gemara in Brachot says: It was also taught in a baraita: Nine hundred and three types of death were created in the world, as it is stated: “Issues [totzaot] of death,” and that, 903, is 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 (...
In Mishnah Ketubot 1:1, it says: בְּתוּלָה נִשֵּׂאת לַיּוֹם הָרְבִיעִי, וְאַלְמָנָה לַיּוֹם הַחֲמִישִׁי. A virgin is married on the fourth day [of the week] and a widow on the fifth day Why don't...
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?
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. ...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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 ...
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...
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...
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...
