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Welcome to the Judaism community on Codidact!

Will you help us build our community of learners? Drop into our study hall, ask questions, help others with answers to their questions, share a d'var torah if you're so inclined, invite your friends, and join us in building this community together. Not an ask-the-rabbi service, just people at all levels learning together.

Activity for rosends‭

Type On... Excerpt Status Date
Question How is Mitoch Shelo lishma ba lishma allowed?
I'm not fully finished with this question as I haven't researched all of my premises, and if someone can point me in the direction of a resource which would stop my question before it starts, that would be great. One important tenet which I have learned is מתוך שלא לשמה בא לשמה, that we are direct...
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about 1 month ago
Question Can suicide be halachically acceptable?
This is a strange fact pattern that I thought of and I will explain my premises as I move through it, but the bottom line is whether a person can use suicide as a halachically acceptable behavior: A person commits murder during first temple times -- cold blooded, premeditated murder on someone who...
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about 2 months ago
Question Taking goods from Egyptians
During the plague of darkness, the Jews went around to scout out what the Egyptians had in their houses and then they "asked" for things before they left and the Egyptians gave them lots. No doubt, though, that some of the things given were related to the Avodah Zara that the Egyptians practiced. ...
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2 months ago
Question Shimon in Egyptian jail
After Yosef gave the brothers provisions, he kept Shimon (Bereisheet 42:24) there to guarantee that the brothers would return with Binyomin. They went home and didn't come back until they ran out of food (43:2) and at that point Yaakov says to them to go back down and buy some more food. Questions...
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3 months ago
Question How is the latest time for Channukah candles determined?
One may light Channukah candles ad shetichle regel min hashuk, until people stop walking through the market, because after that there would be no pirsumei nisa, advertisement of the miracle, outside of the household (since there are no people who would see the candles). If so, is this a subjective...
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4 months ago
Question Different Trop when laining
Ignoring the question of why, there is a practice of using different musical trop when laining the 10 commandments from when studying it. Are there other examples of different trop or pronunciation when using text in different contexts for other parts of chumash?
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4 months ago
Question Halacha applied differently dependent on the situation
I recall asking someone about whether a Jew could work in a non-kosher restaurant. One of the opinions I heard was that a Jew shouldn't because "odds are" that the person, as a waiter, will end up serving treif food to a Jewish customer. I don't know, then, if this would only apply in areas of the co...
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4 months ago
Question Tevillas Keilim on Used things
I was reading up on tevillas keilim and saw the following statements on this site: > Utensils require tevila if they were given by a Jew to a Yehudi as a gift or if they were bought from a aino Yehudi . this would lead me to think that if one BOUGHT from a Jew, one would not be required to...
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4 months ago
Answer A: The Essence of Judaism
Judaism doesn't distinguish itself -- the other religions, as offshoots, differentiate themselves, Christianity by the abandoning of the laws and adopting Jesus, and Islam, by adopting Muhammed and following the Koranic text. Judaism is an exhaustive way of life with many rules and texts which oth...
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6 months ago
Question Why is the system of listing unkosher animals inconsistent?
I am looking for resources that go through the section (Vayikra 11:1-30) with a fine toothed comb and discuss and explain the inconsistencies in how animals are described/listed. I have assembled a chart which helped me see that some categories are spoken of via the signs of being edible while others...
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8 months ago
Question Tallow candles and Kashrut
There are candles that are made from beef tallow (https://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2014/01/tallow-emergency-candles.html). If one were to burn one, residue and soot from incomplete combustion could end up on the walls, and, I assume, if one burned the candle near dishes, on those dishes. Does r...
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8 months ago
Question Nemuel vs Yemuel
I am looking at the geneology of the 12 tribes and I found that Reuvein had son named Palu. Palu had a son named Eli'av and Eli'av had 3 sons, Datan, Aviram and Nemuel (Bamidbar 26:9) וּבְנֵ֣י אֱלִיאָ֔ב נְמוּאֵ֖ל וְדָתָ֣ן וַאֲבִירָ֑ם Shim'on also had a son named Nemuel (26:12) בְּנֵ֣י שִׁמְעוֹ...
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9 months ago
Question Tzidkat'cha in the presence of a mourner
If one is in shul on a Shabbos afternoon and a mourner (who is in his 7 days) is davening there, does the minyan say Tzidkat'cha? My logic -- during the week,one does not say tachanun in the house of a mourner (or, if the mourner must daven in shul, in the shul). My siddur says that we don't say T...
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9 months ago
Question Was Mordechai Consoled?
When Haman came home after leading Mordechai around, he complained to his wife, Zeresh. Her reaction was (from Sefaria) > וַיְסַפֵּ֨ר הָמָ֜ן לְזֶ֤רֶשׁ אִשְׁתּוֹ֙ וּלְכׇל־אֹ֣הֲבָ֔יו אֵ֖ת כׇּל־אֲשֶׁ֣ר קָרָ֑הוּ וַיֹּ֩אמְרוּ֩ ל֨וֹ חֲכָמָ֜יו וְזֶ֣רֶשׁ אִשְׁתּ֗וֹ אִ֣ם מִזֶּ֣רַע הַיְּהוּדִ֡ים מׇרְדֳּכַ֞י א...
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9 months ago
Answer A: Why is kosher wine sometimes boiled?
Kosher wine must never have been used for anything that he talmud sees as idolatry and the suspicion, dating back to talmudic times, is that an idolater's even slightly moving an open bottle, could have had in mind idolatrous service thus changing the status of the wine to "forbidden" for Jews. As su...
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9 months ago
Question Wine Making things treif
Non kosher food creates a status in dishes that requires that they go through a kashering process. I recall learning that this is at least partially to remove any residual taste or particulates from the non kosher food. Let's say that I have a non Jewish friend over at my house for a meal. I serve...
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10 months ago
Question Inference of Opposites as Halachic process
In the Talmudic discussion of the Sotah ritual, the halacha is derived that, because part of the ritual requires uncovering the woman's hair, the obligation would otherwise be to keep the hair covered. As explained in Ketuvot 72a (via dafyomi.co.il) > Question: Uncovered hair is mid'Oraisa! ...
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10 months ago
Question Why isn't Iyar 16 a fast day?
There are fast days through the year which commemorate the process leading to the destruction of the temple. The way I learned them, there was a date marking the beginning of the siege, one for the breaching of the walls and one for the ultimate burning of the Beit Hamikdash. I just read on chabad...
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11 months ago
Answer A: Why is the verse about old age specifically read aloud in Selichot?
Rashi there (Tehillim 71:9) understands "eit ziknah" not as a chronological age but "If I have aged with sins, meaning, I have sinned exceedingly." So the speaker is asking for Hashem not to abandon him even if he is mired so deeply in sin (at any age) that he feels he has a lack of strength to re...
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about 1 year ago
Question Why does the Written Torah include construction details?
The understanding I have is that every word in the Torah (5 books) is important and what is related there is essential to building a Jewish world-view. Therefore, the stories and laws are to be pored over to glean every lesson available. Though the text spells out certain things, much is also left to...
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about 1 year ago
Question Treif status of hands
If I handle food that is patently unkosher, and it gets on my hands, do my hands have a status of "treif" that might impact my handling of certain things? Assuming I rinse them with water (whcih might not remove all the residue -- trief cutlery needs much more than a rinsing to allow it to be in u...
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about 1 year ago
Question What exactly changed when Adam and Chava ate the fruit?
In Gan Eden, Adam and Chava were unclothed. I recall reading that, had they not eaten of the Eitz HaDa'at, moshiach would have come and ushered in the messianic era (I'm not sure of a source for that, and it raises all sorts of questions about the necessary elements of tribulations preceding moshiach...
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about 1 year ago
Article Preparing for preparing for Pesach
There is an idea in Jewish law that it is incumbent upon each of us to begin to study the laws of a holiday 30 days before the holiday so as to prepare ourselves and help us become comfortable with that holiday. Much discussion has ensued about the scope and specific intent of this practice. Some ...
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about 1 year ago
Question Why is Yemei singular?
The first 2 verses of Parshat Vay'chi present me with a question, so I'm soliciting any help on this. Here they are, for convenience's sake (from Sefaria): וַיְחִ֤י יַעֲקֹב֙ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם שְׁבַ֥ע עֶשְׂרֵ֖ה שָׁנָ֑ה וַיְהִ֤י יְמֵֽי־יַעֲקֹב֙ שְׁנֵ֣י חַיָּ֔יו שֶׁ֣בַע שָׁנִ֔ים וְאַרְבָּעִ֥ים...
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about 1 year ago
Question Reward for mitzvot pre-adulthood
There is a conept that there is a s'char mitzvah, a reward for doing a mitzvah, and an oneish/punishment for "sinning". But there is also an idea that a child, under the age of bar/bat mitzvah who sins is not held accountable for the sin -- instead the father is held accountable. This is why the fath...
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about 1 year ago
Question Who says Rebbi said Kiddush?
I read the following statement on the Chabad.org website https://www.chabad.org/calendar/view/day.asp?tdate=12/9/2022 "The Talmud (Ketubot 103a) relates that even after his passing, for a time, Rabbi Judah would still visit his home every Friday evening at dusk. Wearing Shabbat clothes, he would r...
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over 1 year ago
Question counting for more than one minyan
If one is in an open area in which more than one minyan is meeting, can he be counted for both minyanim simultaneously? If, at the kotel, one minyan has started and then someone leaves, and I am there davening with another minyan but I can hear the first, can I count for both? Or if I have finishe...
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over 1 year ago
Question Embarrassing someone in private
The gemara in Bava Metzia 59a make the statement that one should not "whiten his friend's face" (embarrass him). The section states > ואל ילבין פני חבירו ברבים מנ"ל מדדרש רבא דדרש רבא מאי דכתיב (תהילים לה) ובצלעי שמחו ונאספו קרעו ולא דמו אמר דוד לפני הקב"ה רבש"ע גלוי וידוע לפניך שאם היו מקרעים...
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over 1 year ago
Question Why is Pesach in the singular?
Simply put, why is Pesach in the singular while Shavu'ot and Sukkot are in the plural? Shavu'ot makes sense to me because the day celebrates the culmination of weekS. But I only made 1 Sukkah so why is it in the plural? Maybe because the pasuk says "Basukkot teshvu...". But what about Pesach? E...
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over 1 year ago
Question Korbanot of Rosh Chodesh on R"H
During p'sukei d'zimra on a week day which is Rosh Chodesh, we add in, during the recitation of Korbanot, a paragraph about the sacrifices of Rosh Chodesh. On Shabbat, add in an extra paragraph with the korbanot of Shabbat. But on Rosh Hashana, we don't add in the korbanot of Rosh Chodesh even ...
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over 1 year ago
Article When did the people learn of Shabbat and what did they learn (questions)
Not really a dvar Torah but a longer set of questions trying to understand what the people knew about sh'mirat shabbat between (let's say) the 23rd of Nisan and the 6th of Sivan right after Yetziyat Mitzrayim (or possibly until they were commanded to build the Mishkan). I can't pose this as a questio...
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over 1 year ago
Question Was Avraham not modest?
The Mah Tovu statement of Bil'am's, though intended as a curse was actually praise, and attested to (via Bava Batra 60a) the modesty of the children of Israel. They did not construct their tents in a way that others could see in to their private places. This sense of tzniyut was admirable. But one...
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over 1 year ago
Question Sentencing a defendant to death
Let's say a Jew is serving on a jury that is deciding the sentence for someone (even more powerfully, a Jew) convicted (under US law) of a capital offense. The judge instructs the jury that the two possible sentences are death or a protracted incarceration. Can a Jew serve on such a jury? If the J...
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over 1 year ago
Question How did people understand references to 2 destructions before the first destruction?
Note -- I know that this is not a fully formed question yet so I welcome any edits. There are "prophecies" and references which we understand to be about the destruction of the two temples and the building of a third beit hamikdash. How were references like this understood during the time of the f...
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over 1 year ago
Question Tamid as Kaparah?
Each day, we recite the 8 p'sukim from Bamidbar 28 (1-8) which detail the rules of the twice daily Tamid. The Tamid is an Olah but I'm not sure of the exact purpose of the sacrifice. On weekdays, the text is preceded by a yehi ratzon which includes the following statement about our fervent wish fo...
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almost 2 years ago
Question Is being a book mark a mitzvah?
When a string breaks off of one's tzitzit there are rules about its disposal. One may not treat it (according to opinions noted by the Rama) in a degrading fashion though they needn't be buried in a geniza. He writes (Shulach Aruch 21) וי"א דאף לאחר שנפסקו אין לנהוג בהם מנהג בזיון לזורקן במקום מגונה...
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almost 2 years ago
Question Can one change the wording of davening?
Note -- I am creating the hypothetical carefully so I can focus on an underlying halachic concept. A Baal T'shuva learns to daven in a very eclectic minyan -- people from all over and with all sorts of particular nuscha'ot join this minyan. This person picks up a siddur and does what it says. As i...
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almost 2 years ago
Question Why are Matzah and Sukkah different in terms of intent?
Bottom line question is why is a Sukkah different from a Matzah in terms of (not) requiring (expressed) kavannah in its creation? A Sukkah (according to the ruling of Beit Hillel on Mas Sukkah 9a) need not be made specifically to be a sukkah. Even the schach, strictly speaking, does not need to be...
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almost 2 years ago
Question Could I keep K for P all year round and not search the next year?
Is searching for/burning chameitz a distinct obligation or just an adjunct – a way to prepare for pesach? If I kept my house striclty kosher for pesach all year round (not actually that tough as I eat mostly chicken or fish and fresh vegetables and can have matzah for motzi until a month before Pe...
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almost 2 years ago
Question Canaan's descendants and the curse
In Bereisheet 9, Canaan was cursed and this curse was taken to be a statement on not just him, but his descendants (see the Haamek Davar on pasuk 24 for an example). Why would later generations be stained by a sin commited by Canaan, or fated by a curse placed on Canaan? If sons don't get punished...
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almost 2 years ago
Question Is there a timeline of creation, hour by hour?
I have read talmudic accounts and heard of medrashim reagrding the timeline of the 6th day of creation and the "birth" of Adam and Chava (especially as it relates to Erev Shabbat) but I'm wondering if there is a source which provides a chronology of the entire week of creation, using a 24 hour clock....
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about 2 years ago
Article Honoring parents under the law
From this morning's blog post I used to feel bad for orphans. OK, that came out wrong. Please allow me to explain. As a religious Jew, I try to view my responsibility to abide by and fulfill the commandments as an opportunity, not just as a burden. I tried to take on things that gave me the cha...
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about 2 years ago
Question Mishebeirach for cholim placement
I noticed that on Shabbos, the gabbai at shul makes the mishebeirach for cholim between the 6th and 7th aliyot. I have seen this at other shuls (though I don't know if it is a codified rule or a standardized practice). I daven at a different minyan during the week and in that minyan, the mishebeir...
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about 2 years ago
Question Animal product spoons and Kashrut
Do food service products made from non-kosher sources create a kashrut problem when they are used with food (or even without)? There are spoons made from mother of pearl (from mollusk shells), used generally for caviar, and there are spoons carved from animal bones. Would using either of these mak...
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about 2 years ago
Question Maariv with a mincha minyan
I'm not fully finished with my hypothetical but it goes something like this: If I davened mincha at the earliest possible time, I can daven maariv before sunset. If I am called to help out with a mincha minyan that is meeting a little before sunset, can I daven maariv (let's assume, without jud...
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about 2 years ago
Question What does it mean to speak of the Jews as a single entity?
tl;dr in what sense did "the people" as a collective do/say anything? In the Artscroll A""Z 5b1, the commentary in note 1 points out that "The Jews referred to the manna as..." and later, that "the people exclaimed." This figure of speech, that the people acted in a certain, singular way, or said ...
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over 2 years ago
Question At what distance does a zman change?
Simply put, how much physical distance on the globe/map effects a discernable change in time? If I compute the zman for something, I do so based on (for some websites) my zip code. But that zip code covers a large area. Is it possible within a zip code to have more than one "time" when a zman star...
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over 2 years ago
Question Ya'akov as a trickster
I'm trying to understand (the classical Jewish view of) the character of Yaakov. He gets the birthright by exploiting a situation -- he did nothing inherently wrong and WE see him as justified in getting the bracha, but he took advantage of his brother's weakness to get it. The optics are question...
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over 2 years ago
Question Dancing in the vineyards on Yom Kippur
The mishna (4:8) in Taanit reads > אָמַר רַבָּן שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן גַּמְלִיאֵל, לֹא הָיוּ יָמִים טוֹבִים לְיִשְׂרָאֵל כַּחֲמִשָּׁה עָשָׂר בְּאָב וּכְיוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים, שֶׁבָּהֶן בְּנוֹת יְרוּשָׁלַיִם יוֹצְאוֹת בִּכְלֵי לָבָן שְׁאוּלִין, שֶׁלֹּא לְבַיֵּשׁ אֶת מִי שֶׁאֵין לוֹ. which is translated (l...
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over 2 years ago
Question Giving food to a spouse for Mishlo'ach manot
I live with my wife and one of my responsibilities is to do the food shopping. Often, she gives me a list and I go. If I come home with something not on the list, can I hand it to her on Purim and have it count as my mishlo'ach manot (especially as the the mishlo'ach manot are "ish l're'eihu" and ...
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about 3 years ago