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Activity for DonielF
| Type | On... | Excerpt | Status | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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A: What is the difference between Islam and Judaism, given that the Torah is also one of Islam's holy books? Starting with your main question of what distinguishes Judaism and Islam: Judaism holds the Torah as part of its Biblical canon, also accepting the books of the Prophets and Writings (that’s the books of Joshua, Judges, I and II Samuel, I and II Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the twelve pro... (more) |
— | almost 3 years ago |
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A: Metered water tap on Shabbat I don’t know about you, but I don’t usually think or care about my water meter. It’s more for the utilities than it is for me, anyway. So I’d imagine it’s not merely a פסיק רישא, a direct causation, but rather a פסיק רישא דלא ניחא ליה, direct causation which one does not care. In such a situation, if... (more) |
— | almost 3 years ago |
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A: Sidebar widget with "useful links"? I recommend the following links, at a minimum: - Sefaria - Hebrew Books - Friedberg Jewish Manuscript Society (more) |
— | about 3 years ago |
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Sidebar widget with "useful links"? Is it worthwhile to include a sidebar widget with some useful links for learning about Judaism and Jewish practice and law, such as Sefaria, Hebrew Books, etc.? If yes, what links, specifically, would you like to see? (more) |
— | about 3 years ago |
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A: Groundbreaking disagreement in the Gemara? The main discussion regarding when to begin counting occurs in Menachot 65a.12-66a.15. The discussion is prompted by the Boethusian practice of interpreting the charge of Leviticus 23:15 to begin counting ממחרת השבת, lit. "from the morrow of the Sabbath," as referring to the literal weekly Sabbath, a... (more) |
— | about 3 years ago |
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Codidact Holidays and Liturgy In light of our new community, I'd like to propose a series of holidays for us to celebrate. I'd like to hear everyone's feedback and if anyone has input on any specific liturgy for these occasions (or other important ones that I inadvertently missed!) - 6 Tammuz: On the founding of this communit... (more) |
— | about 3 years ago |
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A: How am I supposed to pay *half* a coin? Exodus 24:6 states: > ויקח משה חצי הדם וישם באגנת, וחצי הדם זרק על המזבח.‏ > >And Moses took half of the blood and placed it in buckets, and half of the blood he threw on the altar. Rashi on Exodus 24:6:1 explains: > מי חלקו? מלאך בא וחלקו.‏ > >Who divided it? An angel came and d... (more) |
— | about 3 years ago |
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What are the responsibilities involved with inciting the Codidactyl with chocolate? As is well-known here, if one merely tempts the legendary Codidactyl with some sugar — especially chocolate! — the dinosaur mascot will begin to run amok. The moderators and admins here have spent far too many times having to clean up messes left behind by the bookworm. So far, nobody has been injure... (more) |
— | about 3 years ago |
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Why is מוציא לחם more of a problem than מתיר אסורים or מלביש ערמים? The Gemara (Berachot 38a) cites a dispute whether the blessing on bread is המוציא or מוציא. The issue is that the blessing must reflect the past tense; while everyone agrees that מוציא is past tense, the parties dispute whether המוציא is past or present tense. The Gemara concludes that one should rec... (more) |
— | about 3 years ago |
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Purim Torah Discussion It's almost that time of year! Who's ready for some Purim Torah? Before we begin the season, we need to set some ground rules. In this thread, I'd like to discuss how exactly this will run. Below I've plotted out some questions to discuss, but feel free to pose more of your own. 1. When sho... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
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Why is Shlissel Challah permissible? In ancient times, the Roman pagan holiday of Saturnalia included a practice of baking some type of cake with a fava bean hidden inside, with a prize for whoever got the piece containing the bean. In medieval times, the prize often included being the ruler of the region for the year, hence why this pr... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
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Does the Torah guarantee free speech? There are certain categories of speech which are outright forbidden by the Torah (various forms of gossip, profanity, blasphemy, curse, etc.). Theoretically speaking, could the Sanhedrin legislate further restrictions on speech, or does the Torah guarantee free speech to Jews? (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
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Topic Submission Thread (Q2 5781) Finals are finally over! I apologize for the long delay in which we missed the first month of this quarter, but hopefully we should be back in business. Obligatory topic submission thread. On Sunday, January 17, I'll post the next challenge. (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
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Weekly Topic Challenge #15: Music This week's challenge is about music. There's plenty of discussions of music in halacha — the prohibition against a male listening to a female singing, the prohibition against listening to music nowadays, the prohibition against listening to music during periods of mourning — as well as in hashkafa. ... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
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Do Bnei Keturah need a Bris upon conversion according to Rambam? 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 יִשְׁמָעֵאל שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (בראשית כא, יב) "כִּי בְיִצְחָק יִקָּרֵא לְךָ זָרַע". [...] אָמְרוּ חֲכָמִים שֶׁבְּנ... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
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Is learning Aleph Beis considered learning Torah? 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 its lengthy expositions on the shape and order of the Aleph Beis, as well as permutations and pairings t... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
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Hagar vs. Yishmael: How do one's actions affect others? In Parshas Lech Lecha, we find that Sarah came to Avraham with a simple demand (Genesis 16:5): >וַתֹּ֨אמֶר שָׂרַ֣י אֶל־אַבְרָם֮ חֲמָסִ֣י עָלֶיךָ֒ אָנֹכִ֗י נָתַ֤תִּי שִׁפְחָתִי֙ בְּחֵיקֶ֔ךָ וַתֵּ֙רֶא֙ כִּ֣י הָרָ֔תָה וָאֵקַ֖ל בְּעֵינֶ֑יהָ יִשְׁפֹּ֥ט יְהוָ֖ה בֵּינִ֥י וּבֵינֶֽיׄךָ׃ > >And Sarai sai... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
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Weekly Topic Challenge #14: The Hebrew Alphabet This week's challenge, if you choose to accept it, is about the Hebrew alphabet. Questions about the meaning of words would not be accepted for the challenge, but questions about the interplay between related roots or about the Kabbalistic meaning of letters, and certainly about halachos related to t... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
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Understanding the dispute between Rashi and Kallah Rabbasi on singing Song of Songs? Sanhedrin 101a.2 teaches: >תנו רבנן הקורא פסוק של שיר השירים ועושה אותו כמין זמר והקורא פסוק בבית משתאות בלא זמנו מביא רעה לעולם מפני שהתורה חוגרת שק ועומדת לפני הקב"ה ואומרת לפניו רבונו של עולם עשאוני בניך ככנור שמנגנין בו לצים > > The Rabbis taught [in a Braisa]: One who reads a verse of Song... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
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Weekly Topic Challenge #13: Pets and Animals In honor of Parshas Noach's emphasis on Noach's care of the world's animals, belated though it may be, this week's challenge will be on animals and pets. If you want to participate, all you have to do is tag your post [[animals]](https://judaism.codidact.com/categories/32/tags/3044) and add a link to... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
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How the Supernal Light (Mostly) Reconciles Bereishis with Archaeology Previously I've discussed on here an understanding by my Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Yochanan Zweig, Shlit"a, on the concept of עצם היום in conjunction with the Supernal Light of the first day of creation, the general theory of which I've reproduced below from my previous discussion. In a different Shiur,... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
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Weekly Topic Challenge #12: Adam and Chavah Topic #12 will be Adam and Chavah. That means any questions about these Biblical personalities, whether of their creation, their time in Gan Eden, or their time after being expelled, are fair game. Make sure to tag your post with [[parshat-bereishit]](https://judaism.codidact.com/categories/32/tags/3... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
| Answer | — |
A: Which of the Asseres Hadibros is most important? Makkot 24a: > בא חבקוק והעמידן על אחת שנאמר (חבקוק ב, ד) וצדיק באמונתו יחיה > > Habakuk came and established [the 613 mitzvot] on one, as it says (Habakuk 2:4), “And a righteous one will live with his faith.” In no unclear terms, the prophet explicitly states that the Mitzvah of faith, Emunah... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
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Divrei Torah Category: LAUNCHED! An oft-requested feature for this community is a forum in which people can post their own Chiddushei Torah, their own Torah novelties — their own Divrei Torah. We are excited to announce that the Divrei Torah category has officially launched! With cautious optimism we are attempting, as with every... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
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Why must there be a contradiction between the seventh day of Passover and the eighth day of Sukkot? Pesachim 68b teaches: >רבי אליעזר אומר אין לו לאדם ביום טוב אלא או אוכל ושותה או יושב ושונה רבי יהושע אומר חלקהו חציו לאכילה ושתיה וחציו לבית המדרש > >R' Eliezer says, "A person on Yom Tov can either eat and drink or sit and learn." R' Yehoshua says, "Split it: half of it for eating and drinking... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
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Can a Levi be called up in place of a Yisrael? In my Simchas Torah experience, there's at least as many cycles of aliyos as there are Kohanim and Leviim, such that if anything a given Kohen or Levi may end up with multiple aliyos on a given Simchas Torah morning. This year was quite different; there were proportionally many Leviim for the amou... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
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Can one intentionally wait for a "painful" situation to be exempt from Sukkah? 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 later, and as such one would be exempt from Sukkah. Can one intentionally delay his meal,... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
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Weekly Topic Challenge #11: Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret Yes, I know I'm breaking protocol here. Please forgive me. The topic will be Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret. That means any question about the holidays or any of their current or historical practices are fair game. Make sure to tag your post appropriately and link it in the comments here, as per usual... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
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A: Divrei Torah Category Summary of Proposals The consensus seems to be strongly in favor of pursuing this idea, so long as there's strong quality control in place as well. To summarize the idea thus far, and putting some placeholder numbers in for some values (denoted with italics): - All Divrei Torah will be origina... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
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A: Why does Rashi leave out an example? Based on several Shiurim I've heard personally from Rabbi Yochanan Zweig. What is עצם היום? The Torah opens up with the beginning of Creation. In Bereishis 1:5, the Torah writes: >וַיִּקְרָא אֱלֹהִים לָאוֹר יוֹם וְלַחֹשֶׁךְ קָרָא לָיְלָה‏ > >G-d called the light "Day," and the darkne... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
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A: Divrei Torah Category On the question of quality control, I'm much more in favor of a passive approach over an active one. You might consider it l'havdil some form of "turn from evil" given priority over "do good," where rather than expecting high quality posts of users, we instead expect that they just not be spam. Co... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
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Weekly Topic Challenge #10: Ten Days of Repentance Who knows Ten? For our first challenge of the 5781 year, we will be looking at the Ten Days of Repentance and Yom Kippur, including the unique customs, halachos, and davening changes unique to this time period. The tags of the week are [[teshuvah-repentance]](https://judaism.codidact.com/categorie... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
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A: Fasting 3 fasts. Chabad labels this a “persistent myth.” (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
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Must one forgive those who wronged him but do not ask forgiveness? The Rambam writes (Hilchot Teshuvah 2:10, Sefaria's translation): >אָסוּר לָאָדָם לִהְיוֹת אַכְזָרִי וְלֹא יִתְפַּיֵּס אֶלָּא יְהֵא נוֹחַ לִרְצוֹת וְקָשֶׁה לִכְעֹס וּבְשָׁעָה שֶׁמְּבַקֵּשׁ מִמֶּנּוּ הַחוֹטֵא לִמְחל מוֹחֵל בְּלֵב שָׁלֵם וּבְנֶפֶשׁ חֲפֵצָה. וַאֲפִלּוּ הֵצֵר לוֹ וְחָטָא לוֹ הַרְבֵּה ... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
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A: Topic Submission Thread (Q1 5781) The coming of Mashiach/the Messiah (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
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A: Source of Chasam Sofer's prediction. Original source is Chasam Sofer Al HaTorah (distinct from Toras Moshe), on page 86 of the volume on Vayikra. This post here contains the original page and discusses the comment further, including whether this is a misinterpretation of the text. (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
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Topic Submission Thread (Q1 5781) It feels like it's only been a week or two since I started this; it's hard to believe that it's been two months. With the success of the challenge thus far, it's time for a new quarterly submission post. This thread is for submitting your suggestions for a challenge; suggest your topic as an answe... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
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Weekly Topic Challenge #9: Shofar With Rosh Hashanah approaching, this week's challenge (final challenge for 5780!) will be about the shofar. To participate in the challenge, all you have to do is make your way over to the main questions tab and ask a question on this topic. Make sure to tag it with [[shofar]](https://judaism.cod... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
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Seeking list of prohibitions which force one to do an action Generally speaking, whenever the Torah tells us "do not do X," the context is "do not do a specific action" (don't eat non-Kosher, don't do work on Shabbos, etc.). In a select few prohibitions, however, one is forced to do an action in order to avoid being in violation of the prohibition, or at least... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
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Automatic draft-saving plus Sefaria auto-linker leads to the post taking too long to save If I write up a post on any other Codidact site, the auto-save feature isn't too bad; every time I click around in the text box, or pause for a moment, it briefly autosaves. If I write up a post on Judaism Codidact that is strictly HTML-based, the same easy-to-use functionality holds. If I writ... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
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Do any scholars identify Tarshish with Tartessos, before the Malbim? Among the classic Jewish works I've seen, Tarshish is nearly unanimously identified with modern-day Tunisia (Ibn Ezra, Targum Yonasan[^1], Rashi[^1]); the two early dissenters I've seen quoted are modern-day Turkey (in the name of Antiquities) and modern-day Italy (in the name of the Abarbanel[^2]). ... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
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Why does the verse state that one should "destroy" Maaser Sheni and Neta Reva'i? Devarim 26:13: >וְאָמַרְתָּ֡ לִפְנֵי֩ יְהוָ֨ה אֱלֹהֶ֜יךָ בִּעַ֧רְתִּי הַקֹּ֣דֶשׁ מִן־הַבַּ֗יִת וְגַ֨ם נְתַתִּ֤יו לַלֵּוִי֙ וְלַגֵּר֙ לַיָּת֣וֹם וְלָאַלְמָנָ֔ה כְּכָל־מִצְוָתְךָ֖ אֲשֶׁ֣ר צִוִּיתָ֑נִי לֹֽא־עָבַ֥רְתִּי מִמִּצְוֺתֶ֖יךָ וְלֹ֥א שָׁכָֽחְתִּי > >And you will say before Hashem, your G-d,... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
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Weekly Topic Challenge #8: Rav Steinsaltz z"l In commemoration of the coming Shloshim for Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, this week's challenge will be questions related to Rabbi Steinsaltz, his work, and his life. To participate in the challenge, all you have to do is make your way over to the main questions tab and ask a question on this topic. Make... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
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May one name a secular object using a Divine Name? 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." "Know that you are secure" The tagline proceeds to make a pun in the same vein: "Know that you are secure in the hands of Adonai."[^1] In a simila... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
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Can a Rabbi lose his ordination? 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 he may do so. - May Rabbi Yaakov revoke now-Rabbi Reuven's ordination at a later point, if he sees ... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
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Why was King Hezekiah allowed to hide the Book of Healing, thereby causing otherwise preventable deaths? Berachot 10b.5-7 teaches:[^1] > מַאי ״וְהַטּוֹב בְּעֵינֶיךָ עָשִׂיתִי״? ... רַבִּי לֵוִי אָמַר: שֶׁגָּנַז סֵפֶר רְפוּאוֹת. תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: שִׁשָּׁה דְבָרִים עָשָׂה חִזְקִיָּהוּ הַמֶּלֶךְ, עַל שְׁלֹשָׁה הוֹדוּ לוֹ, וְעַל שְׁלֹשָׁה לֹא הוֹדוּ לוֹ. עַל שְׁלֹשָׁה הוֹדוּ לוֹ: גָּנַז סֵפֶר רְפוּאוֹת — ... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
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Weekly Topic Challenge #7: Lashon Hara This week's challenge is Lashon Hara, gossip. To clarify for smart-alecks in the comments who shall remain nameless ahem ahem, the challenge is to discuss the various prohibitions relevant to the different forms of gossip, not to spread it yourself. To participate in the challenge, all you have to... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
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Is one in violation of Lifnei Iveir for setting himself up to sin later? 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, "From where do we know that one may not extend a cup of wine to a Nazirite nor a limb from a liv... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
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Weekly Topic Challenge #6: Shemoneh Esrei This week's challenge is Shemoneh Esrei, also called Amida, or Tefila, or whatever you'd like to call it. To participate in the challenge, all you have to do is make your way over to the main questions tab and ask a question on this topic. Make sure to tag it with [[amida]](https://judaism.codida... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
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Seeking advice as a chazzan in training As I am training to become a chazzan, a prayer leader, I'm constantly beset by critiques by the community, regarding "you should've done X differently." There's certainly many points which will vary wildly based on the physical location (ex. volume) and on the community (ex. how much singing, what... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |