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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 Fred Wamsley‭

Type On... Excerpt Status Date
Edit Post #290123 Initial revision 6 months ago
Answer A: The Essence of Judaism
Isn't this really two questions? 1. What defines Judaism? 2. How is Judaism different from other faiths?
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6 months ago
Comment Post #289791 I used one of my gift links for the NY Times article, for anyone who is curious and is willing to skip over discussions of non-Jewish dietary law. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/22/business/lab-grown-meat-kosher-halal.html?unlocked_article_code=-BQ1SFwi7k0REXoYsiURX4qBNNfRI_lbx7t-Hsg-aTFtZsnYDU6DxT...
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7 months ago
Edit Post #289791 Initial revision 7 months ago
Question Can cultivated meat be kosher?
I am wondering what the range of opinions are, and what the key legal points are, on the question of whether cultivated meat can be kosher. The New York Times (paywalled) just published an article on the subject. The Orthodox Union, I gather, has endorsed at least one process for factory-grown...
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7 months ago
Comment Post #287921 Rosends asks a question for which I don't have the qualifications for even the beginning of an answer, but may I reply with another question? If you are wearing disposable gloves, which is already a reasonable idea for handling food for others, then legally would the pill pockets for your dog be c...
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about 1 year ago
Edit Post #288019 Initial revision about 1 year ago
Answer A: How can we grow this community?
Hmm. One decision branch is whether to look for people like me, intellectually curious non-Jews. The upside is that someone intellectually curious may contribute good questions, and there may be a lot of us. The downside is that it changes the tone of a community to have a stranger in it. Howe...
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about 1 year ago
Edit Post #287881 Initial revision about 1 year ago
Question Can anyone explain the heavenly voice in the oven of Akhnai?
Starting at the beginning, since I don't read Hebrew, how accurate is the translation "Why are you differing with Rabbi Eliezer, as the halakha is in accordance with his opinion in every place that he expresses an opinion?"? There could be nuance in the Hebrew vital to understanding. A point that...
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about 1 year ago
Edit Post #287699 Initial revision over 1 year ago
Answer A: Reward for mitzvot pre-adulthood
I can't answer this, but at least I can reply with another question, which might affect the answer. What form does the reward take? Is there an idea in Judaism that humans improve their well-being by living in accordance with their maker's instructions for care and feeding? If that is the reward, ...
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over 1 year ago
Edit Post #287686 Initial revision over 1 year ago
Question Why was Rabbi Eliezer ostracized?
The context here is the aftermath of the debate about the oven of Akhnai. What did Rabbi Eliezer do that was worthy of ostracism? Dissent, by itself, must have happened many times without disciplinary action. Was he considered to have broken the rules (using reason to settle legal questions)...
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over 1 year ago
Edit Post #286909 Initial revision over 1 year ago
Question Could Jews visit North Korea before the travel ban?
It's academic now that US citizens are no longer allowed to travel to North Korea, but I'm still curious. This is one of the things I've talked to Monica about, and she was sure it was "problematic", but there may be room for more in-depth analysis. There are statues to dead dictators all over, an...
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over 1 year ago
Edit Post #286581 Initial revision almost 2 years ago
Question Why can't a shopping cart interface run on the Sabbath?
Starting with what I think I understand, my doubtless oversimplified picture of the world was that processes set in motion before the Sabbath could be allowed to continue. For example, I thought it was all right for your thermostat to close an electrical switch and start a fire in the furnace on the ...
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almost 2 years ago
Comment Post #286475 I was still thinking about the prayer books, but am interested in how masks are viewed legally as well and I'm glad you brought it up.
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almost 2 years ago
Comment Post #286475 I remain curious about one point. There is a large practical difference between a doctor carrying a set of supplies to a life-threatening emergency and an action that cuts the odds by some hard-to-measure amount of spreading a disease which can be fatal but isn't always, not even close. Does the...
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almost 2 years ago
Edit Post #286474 Initial revision almost 2 years ago
Question Worshipping outdoors in the COVID era, issues and options
I've chatted with Monica about this. She agreed with my assessment of the place I first heard about it, which I don't consider good enough to link to. It's about a jurisdiction where COVID emergency measures forbade indoor religious services. If the secular law requires holding services outdo...
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almost 2 years ago
Comment Post #286251 Thank you for the informative reply.
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about 2 years ago
Edit Post #286250 Initial revision about 2 years ago
Question What does law say about vaccination?
The Torah of course predates the development of vaccines, but someone who knows far more than I argues that it requires its followers to receive a COVID vaccine. What's quoted in the news article is far simpler than I think his actual analysis must have been. https://www.jns.org/opinion/get-vaccin...
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about 2 years ago
Edit Post #286177 Initial revision about 2 years ago
Question What does "May his memory be for a blessing" mean?
This is a possible duplicate, I thought I had posted it but I'm not seeing it. I saw a touching opinion about the meaning of the phrase at https://www.quora.com/What-does-the-phrase-May-his-memory-be-for-a-blessing-mean. The author suggests that the ongoing effects of the deceased's actions in li...
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about 2 years ago
Edit Post #286175 Initial revision about 2 years ago
Question How does civil disobedience fit into Jewish law and practice?
I'm trying to integrate things I (think I) know. Am I right that there's a general religious principle to follow most secular law? The Bible has more than one example of defying a law that contradicted the fundamentals of Judaism, but have I got it right that most things in the statute book are o...
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about 2 years ago