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Activity for Monica Cellio‭

Type On... Excerpt Status Date
Comment Post #287971 Yeah, we need to attract more people who are able (and willing) to write good answers. I've been noticing this trend on the front page too. I'd rather no answer than bad (e.g. rude or dismissive) answers, but I'd *rather* have more good answers.
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7 days ago
Edit Post #287971 Initial revision 7 days ago
Answer A: How can we grow this community?
Our community is small. More than "people in general", I think we need to reach people who want to help us build this community. People who, beyond looking for answers to specific questions, want to engage in Q&A and knowledge-sharing for its own sake -- or, as we say, for the sake of heaven. I ...
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7 days ago
Comment Post #287913 @#53093 these are good points. So maybe these cases all have the same answer. I don't know, and would be happy to get answers that are broader than what I asked about.
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15 days ago
Edit Post #287951 Initial revision 16 days ago
Question Does a surrogate mother affect the Jewish status of the child?
The child of a Jewish woman is a Jew. Is this status transmitted through birth or through parentage (genetics)? Specifically, if a Jewish woman acts as a surrogate for two non-Jews, what is the status of the child? A surrogate provides a womb for a fertilized egg from another couple. Non-Jewish...
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16 days ago
Edit Post #287913 Initial revision about 1 month ago
Question Does a Jew with a non-Jewish father have a tribe?
Vayikra 24:10 and on tells of an episode with a blasphemer. The torah tells us that he was the son of an Israelite woman and an Egyptian man. From a Rashi comment there I found my way to Vayikra Rabbah 32, which gives some back-story apparently from Rabbi Chiya (quoted from Sefaria): > He had ...
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about 1 month ago
Comment Post #287881 Also, a much more oft-stated "rule" is that when Hillel and Shammai disagree Hillel is right, but there are (if I recall correctly) six counter-examples. Outside of this passage, I've never heard the claim made about Rabbi Eliezer, but if he were "always" right I would have expected to encounter tha...
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about 1 month ago
Edit Post #287686 Post edited:
3 months ago
Edit Post #287700 Initial revision 3 months ago
Answer A: Why was Rabbi Eliezer ostracized?
To my reading, the discussion that follows makes it clear that the rabbis were wrong to excommunicate Rabbi Eliezer. Rabbi Eliezer's excommunication is followed by various disasters, including the death of Rabban Gamaliel (who headed the Sanhedrin that excommunicated him) at the hands of heaven. ...
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3 months ago
Comment Post #287648 A related question/precedent might be whether there is reward for a woman doing a mitzvah she is not obligated in.
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3 months ago
Comment Post #287433 Have you already checked whether the Chofetz Chayim has anything to say on this? (I can't remember.)
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4 months ago
Comment Post #287290 Good point about the bracha. That's probably the difference here.
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5 months ago
Edit Post #287290 Initial revision 5 months ago
Question Why don't we stand for Hallel at the seder?
At services that include it, we stand for Hallel. I've never learned about it but this makes sense; we're sanctifying God, like in Kedusha for which we also stand. But at every Pesach seder I've been to, including Hillel and Chabad communal ones, we sat during the Hallel parts of the haggadah. Why...
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5 months ago
Comment Post #287176 Thanks for the pointers.
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5 months ago
Edit Post #287202 Initial revision 6 months ago
Answer A: Why is Pesach in the singular?
I don't have a source for this beyond what you already said about the text saying Chag HaPesach, but I offer this reasoning: Shavu'ot is, as you said, about the weeks (plural). For Sukkot, while you probably have at most one (and could have zero, if you use someone else's), the festival is about ...
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6 months ago
Edit Post #287176 Initial revision 6 months ago
Question How do I look up commentaries on general patterns in torah as opposed to specific verses?
This is a research-methods question with a concrete example. I'm interested in the answer to the concrete example, but what I really want to know is: how could I look this up myself? There are sometimes widespread patterns in torah. For example, I know about the reversing vav, which flips a verb...
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6 months ago
Comment Post #285033 Thanks for this feedback. I'm sorry you feel pushed away, and I'm especially sorry to hear that you perceive an "old guard" clique when some of us _are_ trying to do things differently here. Part of our problem is a small base of active community members; if we could pull more people in, then the c...
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6 months ago
Edit Post #287028 Initial revision 6 months ago
Question Did Avraham really not know about his nephews while they were children?
After the Akeidah, Avraham returns home and then the torah tells us, in Bereishit 22:20: "Avraham was told, 'Milkah too has borne sons to your brother Nachor (etc)'". The torah does not always record events in the order they occurred, but in this case it's not the torah telling us about Milkah's des...
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6 months ago
Comment Post #286929 Yes, I realize it doesn't completely line up. Did they sing hallel in the temple on RH, I wonder?
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7 months ago
Comment Post #286929 We also don't say hallel even though Rosh Hashana is Rosh Chodesh; I remember asking about this (don't remember where) and got an answer about RH superseding RCh. I wonder if there's something similar here? Pure guess and no sources, though.
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7 months ago
Edit Post #286701 Post edited:
typo (I assume this is what you meant)
9 months ago
Edit Post #286699 Initial revision 9 months ago
Question Vaydaber vs vayomer when God instructs Moshe: what's the significance of the difference?
The torah records many places where God speaks to Moshe telling him to speak to others, generally to relay instructions. The common structure is: > ... וידבר יי אל ... לאמר: ךבר But sometimes -- I noticed this case at the beginning of Parshat Emor -- the verb is not וידבר but instead ויאמר. ...
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9 months ago
Edit Post #286643 Initial revision 9 months ago
Answer A: The encampments in the midbar
There is a list in Bamidbar 33 of the places and transitions (they set out from X and camped at Y, they set out from Y and camped at Z, etc). This list doesn't say how long they stayed at each. I once asked a question about the durations somewhere else, and received a partial answer that cites Se...
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9 months ago
Edit Post #286642 Initial revision 9 months ago
Question How long did it take to set up the mishkan?
When Yisrael spent 40 years in the wilderness, they sometimes camped for longer periods of times and sometimes for shorter ones, sometimes even just two days (Bamidbar 9:21 -22): > וְיֵ֞שׁ אֲשֶׁר־יִהְיֶ֤ה הֶֽעָנָן֙ מֵעֶ֣רֶב עַד־בֹּ֔קֶר וְנַעֲלָ֧ה הֶֽעָנָ֛ן בַּבֹּ֖קֶר וְנָסָ֑עוּ א֚וֹ יוֹמָ֣ם וָלַ֔י...
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9 months ago
Comment Post #286523 Thanks. Your answer on the second one was particularly helpful to me.
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10 months ago
Edit Post #286523 Initial revision 10 months ago
Question Why must the omer be counted at night?
I have been taught that we count the omer at night with a b'racha. Counting at night makes sense; it's the first opportunity to fulfill the commandment each day and we should rush to fulfill a mitzvah. I've also been taught that if you forget until the next morning, you do still count but you don...
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10 months ago
Comment Post #286475 @#55043 are you asking about prayer books or masks? I think carrying a mask would be fine because it's a clear matter of protecting life; we don't require imminent death but just the chance. (I think an epi-pen in case of anaphylactic shock would be similar on a personal level.) There is probably ...
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10 months ago
Edit Post #286505 Post edited:
10 months ago
Comment Post #286505 Thanks for the pointers. This isn't the only second mention; the verse right before it repeats a prohibition from chapter 18 too. But I see what you mean (or what the shadal means) about warning versus punishment language. It still seems an odd placement. I wonder if there's a clear translation ...
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10 months ago
Edit Post #286505 Initial revision 10 months ago
Question What does the change from "a man shall not..." to "you shall not..." for one verse in Vayikra 20 signify?
In Vayikra chapter 20 the torah gives a long list of forbidden relations. Almost all of them are of the form "if a man (lies with, takes)..." or, in one case, "if a woman..." (third person). In Vayikra 20:19 the voice changes to second-person imperative: "you shall not...". What does the change in...
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10 months ago
Comment Post #286475 Thank you for educating me. I realize it was a bad example anyway; as you said, he *can* prepare in advance. I changed the example in my answer to a doctor in an emergency situation.
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10 months ago
Edit Post #286475 Post edited:
A comment says we don't rule like that for the mohel, so changed the example to one that's better anyway (more direct life-saving).
10 months ago
Comment Post #286475 We don't? What does a *mohel* do in that case? I'll update that part of this answer but would also appreciate a source if you can share it easily, thanks.
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10 months ago
Edit Post #286475 Initial revision 11 months ago
Answer A: Worshipping outdoors in the COVID era, issues and options
This doesn't strictly answer your question, but I think the background information and context will be helpful. The halacha (Jewish law) is that we can violate any torah law to save a human life except for three (murder, idolatry, sexual transgressions). If it were a matter of preserving life, th...
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11 months ago
Comment Post #286416 I've moved the answer I posted here to the duplicate.
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11 months ago
Edit Post #286416 Question closed 11 months ago
Edit Post #286419 Initial revision 11 months ago
Answer A: Why does the Torah mention Yosef in relation to Menashe but not Ephraim in the story of the spies?
Efrayim and Manashe both have different trope from the other ten, by the way. With Manashe there are extra words that the trope has to account for, but it's interesting that Efrayim, without that constraint, nonetheless has different trope too. I asked and answered a duplicate to this question be...
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11 months ago
Edit Post #286416 Initial revision 11 months ago
Question In the list of spies, why is Yosef added to the listing for Manashe but not to the one for Efrayim?
At the beginning of Sh'lach L'cha the torah lists the twelve scouts and their tribes. In general these names follow the pattern "from the tribe of (tribe), (somebody) ben (somebody)", with (generally) the same trope. However, the two tribes descended from Yosef are treated differently. The text for...
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11 months ago
Comment Post #286382 Interesting, thanks!
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11 months ago
Edit Post #286382 Initial revision 11 months ago
Question Ha-Yarden ha-zeh -- what does the torah mean by this Jordan as opposed to the Jordan?
In Devarim 3:27, when Moshe pleads with God to be allowed to go into the land, God says to him: > עֲלֵ֣ה ׀ רֹ֣אשׁ הַפִּסְגָּ֗ה וְשָׂ֥א עֵינֶ֛יךָ יָ֧מָּה וְצָפֹ֛נָה וְתֵימָ֥נָה וּמִזְרָ֖חָה וּרְאֵ֣ה בְעֵינֶ֑יךָ כִּי־לֹ֥א תַעֲבֹ֖ר אֶת־הַיַּרְדֵּ֥ן הַזֶּֽה׃ > > Go up to the summit of Pisgah and gaz...
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11 months ago
Comment Post #286308 Just a guess, but: for the *sukkah* case, you can inspect the result and determine if it can meet your needs. With *matzah*, though, how do you know if it was made within 18 minutes, versus 20 or 25? Without the intent to fulfill the laws of *matzah*, can the maker be presumed to be that careful? ...
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11 months ago
Comment Post #286278 Yeah, I think it's a fascinating question of underlying principles to this *halacha*. I hope we get an answer!
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11 months ago
Comment Post #286278 Seems like a similar situation could arise if you move into a new home before Pesach and don't bring any chameitz in with you. I wonder if there are sources about that.
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11 months ago
Comment Post #286253 Oh, are we? Today I learned.
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11 months ago
Edit Post #286254 Initial revision 11 months ago
Question Logistics: what do you do about dishes if you're hosting both seders?
I found myself wondering about this while clearing the table after the first seder this year (which was also Shabbat). Most of the time, both in my family and in the group of friends I sometimes share holidays with, two different people host the two sedarim. But occasionally the same people host ...
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11 months ago
Edit Post #286253 Initial revision 11 months ago
Question Why do we designate specific matzot for seder rituals?
This question arose at my seder this year and nobody present knew of an answer: The haggadah designates the three matzot for specific purposes: - We are to break the middle one (and save the larger piece for the afikoman). - We are to use the top and (remainder of the middle) ones when fulfill...
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11 months ago
Edit Post #286178 Initial revision 12 months ago
Answer A: What does "May his memory be for a blessing" mean?
Din Online, one of the many "ask a rabbi" services online, wrote in an answer that usage of this phrase is custom but there's no law that formalizes it. They add that it is usually used for someone you had some connection to -- close personal relationships for sure, but it can also be used for other...
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12 months ago
Edit Post #286177 Post edited:
Made more concrete and less of a survey.
12 months ago
Comment Post #286177 Welcome to Judaism Codidact! Questions that ask for individual opinions (survey questions) don't work as well here as ones that can be addressed more objectively. Your question body asks about the range of interpretations (good); I'm going to tweak the title to remove the "for you". Also, my con...
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12 months ago
Comment Post #285033 @#53017 I like it too! It gives people a way to share insights and knowledge directly, without having to frame it as Q&A. I'd like to see more participation there.
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about 1 year ago
Comment Post #285872 Thanks for this interesting d'var. It prompted me to ask a [followup question](https://judaism.codidact.com/posts/285874).
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about 1 year ago
Edit Post #285874 Initial revision about 1 year ago
Question Is an orphan obligated to honor parents?
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 link for a good explanation of the reasoning.) If one without living biological parents can still fulfi...
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about 1 year ago
Comment Post #285863 I never thought about it until you asked, but I've seen the same thing -- during the torah service on Shabbat, after on weekdays.
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about 1 year ago
Edit Post #285695 Post edited:
added link
about 1 year ago
Edit Post #285642 Initial revision about 1 year ago
Question If one designates a gift for another person, is it committed or can it be retracted?
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 to the temple (because designating it for the temple raises its holiness and we do not lower holiness)? ...
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about 1 year ago
Comment Post #285522 @AA thanks for the lead! Makkot led me to the Ramban with further explanation, and I've written an answer based on both.
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about 1 year ago
Edit Post #285555 Initial revision about 1 year ago
Answer A: Did the people hear the words of the revelation directly at Sinei?
AA pointed out in a comment that this is addressed in Makkot 23b-24a. There the g'mara says that of the 613 mitzvot stated to Moshe, > The word Torah, in terms of its numerical value, is 611, the number of mitzvot that were received and taught by Moses our teacher. In addition, there are two mit...
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about 1 year ago
Comment Post #285522 Now that you mention it, I've also heard that this is how we resolve *shamor v'zachor* -- they heard both simultaneously, in a muddle. But, again, I don't know where I heard that.
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about 1 year ago
Edit Post #285522 Initial revision about 1 year ago
Question Did the people hear the words of the revelation directly at Sinei?
At the end of Shemot 19, Moshe has gone down from the mountain to speak to the people. Then Shemot 20 begins with the decalogue, with God speaking the commandments. We're then told (20:15) that all the people witnessed the thunder, lightning, blare, and smoke, but it doesn't mention words. The peo...
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about 1 year ago
Comment Post #285069 Oh, good point -- I had forgotten that for specific accidental transgressions, there's guidance (I didn't know it was the agreed *halacha*, but I've heard the advice) to not say anything if you know the person will ignore you. An ongoing situation might be different, but I don't have good instincts ...
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over 1 year ago
Edit Post #285069 Initial revision over 1 year ago
Question Is it better to not tell someone she's Jewish if she won't follow it?
This is a hypothetical question; it doesn't apply to anyone I know, but I heard an anecdote and it led me to wonder. Suppose someone discovers that her maternal grandmother was in fact Jewish, but the person's mother never knew this and was raised as a Christian (and passed that on to her children...
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over 1 year ago
Edit Post #285033 Initial revision over 1 year ago
Question How can we grow this community?
Codidact's communities have a lot of great content that is helping people on the Internet. Our communities are small, though, and sustainable communities depend on having lots of active, engaged participants. The folks already here are doing good work; our challenge is to find more people like you ...
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over 1 year ago
Comment Post #285008 Thanks @#8049. We want our questions to be as accessible as practical; does this edit help?
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over 1 year ago
Edit Post #285008 Post edited:
A comment suggested that the original title was confusing for non-Jews who happen to see the title on the network (start + sunset was confusing), so trying to make more accessible.
over 1 year ago
Comment Post #285009 This is a good overview of Shabbat times. Could you be a little more explicit about the specific question? You said (unsourced) that it's based on the astronomical time of sunset, and then quoted Wikipedia which defines "astronomical" as what's *visible* -- which is the distinction I'm trying to ma...
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over 1 year ago
Edit Post #285008 Initial revision over 1 year ago
Question For starting Shabbat, is sunset astronomical or visible?
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 difference is how we measure -- the equinox is based on when the center of the sun is visible while sunrise/su...
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over 1 year ago
Edit Post #277600 Post undeleted over 1 year ago
Edit Post #284722 Initial revision over 1 year ago
Answer A: How to import content from Stack Exchange?
Sorry about the confusion! We imported a small number of questions and answers from Mi Yodeya. If any of those had been written by you, then they would have been assigned to a "holding" account on import. When you connected your accounts and claimed the content, those posts would have been changed...
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over 1 year ago
Comment Post #284627 @#53288 I don't know why it has a downvote -- maybe because it doesn't say where this happens and the author rolled back an edit that added it. It's fine to ask how a particular post can be improved, but this is not the place to discuss general downvote philosophy. Sometimes downvotes are clearly a...
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over 1 year ago
Edit Post #278321 Post edited:
over 1 year ago
Comment Post #284627 Personal attacks are not ok and those comments have been deleted. Please keep it civil; it's possible to disagree respectfully.
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over 1 year ago
Edit Post #284639 Question closed over 1 year ago
Comment Post #284639 Please break this up into individual questions or *closely-related* questions. Each of these questions could warrant a full answer by itself; asking an answer to address all of them to address any of them makes it more likely that there will be no answers at all. I'm putting this on hold; please na...
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over 1 year ago
Comment Post #284627 Hello. I edited that into the post so it would be more visible, but I see you've edited it back out. Any particular reason? Or were you editing for something else and reversing my edit was an accident?
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over 1 year ago
Edit Post #284627 Post edited:
added location info from comment
over 1 year ago
Comment Post #284627 Welcome to the community! Torah Shleimah is a large collection; could you edit to add one or two places where this reference occurs? This might make it easier to compare to the original version. Thanks.
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over 1 year ago
Comment Post #284547 I don't own a copy of Davka Writer. Looks like they do have a Mac version, for $159. Did you mean to post this as an answer (instead of as a comment)?
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over 1 year ago
Comment Post #284535 Thank you for this pointer, and also for mentioning SBL Hebrew (a font I didn't have, but have now downloaded). And yes, I'm looking for text with *niqud* and *ta'amim*, just like in your links.
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over 1 year ago
Comment Post #284313 Thanks for clearing up my misunderstanding about the requirements. That said, how did we get from the text saying "do this for seven days" to the halacha being "do this for one day"? The text seems to be clear, so obviously I'm missing something.
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over 1 year ago
Edit Post #284307 Initial revision over 1 year ago
Question Why do we dwell in booths every day during Sukkot, but we don't have to eat matzah every day during Pesach?
In the instructions for festivals, Vayikra 23:6 says, of Pesach: > You shall eat unleavened bread for seven days. Devarim 16:3 is similar, and Devarim 16:8 starts: "After eating unleavened bread six days", which sure sounds like it's been a daily occurrence. I have been taught that we are on...
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over 1 year ago
Edit Post #284003 Initial revision over 1 year ago
Question Sh'mita and the home garden: what if anything is permitted?
I live in the diaspora and this doesn't affect me personally, but in thinking about the sh'mita cycle while tending my small garden, I found myself wondering about some details. Does the law to not plant and let fields lie fallow for the year apply only to "crops" (to be defined), or to anything you ...
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over 1 year ago
Comment Post #283913 Thanks @#8062; I did not know that. So the *b'racha* might not be required for the *mitzvah* to count, but don't we still have to worry about a blessing made in vain? If you say the *b'racha* and *don't* do the *mitzvah*, either "at all" or "in time", haven't you made a *b'racha levatalah*?
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over 1 year ago
Edit Post #283959 Post edited:
The asker is probably not Jewish, so adding something about Noachide laws (thanks dsr).
over 1 year ago
Edit Post #283959 Initial revision over 1 year ago
Answer A: Does God of Judaism permit to pray in any language?
The general answer to your question is that Hebrew is preferable but you also need to understand what you're saying, so it's permitted to pray in other languages. (Ideally you are working to improve your Hebrew understanding along the way.) More specifically: the talmud on Sotah 33a (and vicinity...
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over 1 year ago
Edit Post #283913 Post edited:
motivation
over 1 year ago
Edit Post #283913 Initial revision over 1 year ago
Question How much of an interruption is permitted between a mitzvah blessing and the mitzvah?
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 making a blessing in vain if you interrupt with something else and never get back to it, and you should be...
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over 1 year ago
Comment Post #283676 Are you saying that all the letters were revealed at once and then the high priest had to assemble them in the right order? I'd been assuming, without much basis, that the letters were revealed one at a time. If it's all at once, does that mean answers couldn't repeat letters?
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over 1 year ago
Comment Post #283673 That last one is the one I linked in my question, and what led me to ask the question: they say that, but when I looked it up in Yoma, it didn't seem so clear to me.
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over 1 year ago
Edit Post #283673 Initial revision over 1 year ago
Question Did the urim v'tummim require binary questions?
The g'mara on Yoma 73a gives the following examples of questions asked of the urim v'tummim (Exodus 28:30) and their answers: - "Shall I pursue after this troop?" (I Samuel 30:8). Answer: "Thus says God: Go up and succeed." - "Will Saul come down?" Answer: "He will come down." (I Samuel 23:11)...
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over 1 year ago
Edit Post #283665 Initial revision over 1 year ago
Answer A: Alternative to Trope Trainer for printing large-print torah portions with trope and vowels?
I've learned two things since asking this question: 1. Trope Trainer still works if disconnected from the Internet at launch time (a bit of a hassle, but it's a workaround -- h/t Power Users). 2. The rendering problem I'm having with the pasted text is some problem in Pages, but Google Docs wor...
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over 1 year ago
Comment Post #283644 Thanks for the link. How do I select more verses than fit on the screen at one time? They don't seem to support multi-select, only click-and-drag, but the page also don't scroll to show more text during a drag. What am I missing?
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over 1 year ago
Edit Post #283639 Initial revision over 1 year ago
Question Alternative to Trope Trainer for printing large-print torah portions with trope and vowels?
I sometimes help other people in my synagogue learn to read torah. While I have a tikkun, I have some vision problems and find it much easier to print a portion from Trope Trainer, which offers a large-print option. (I'm usually working with one Shabbat aliyah at a time.) Well, I did. Unfortuna...
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over 1 year ago
Edit Post #283553 Initial revision over 1 year ago
Answer A: dikduk question.
According to Ibn Ezra on Devarim 21:15, שניאה is an adjective while שנואה is a noun. When the verse says: > If a man has two wives, one a loved one and the other a hated one Ibn Ezra is saying that "loved one" and "hated one" here are nouns -- that's the woman's "title", so to speak. It's a s...
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over 1 year ago
Edit Post #283552 Initial revision over 1 year ago
Answer A: Sefaria linker doesn't work on comments.
Reproduced: In the comment thread on this post, the reference to Devarim 21:15 does not show as a link when you open the thread on the post page, but if you go to the full thread page it does. I wonder if the Sefaria linker runs once at page-load time, and because the comment thread is not expan...
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over 1 year ago
Edit Post #283543 Post edited:
Sefaria linker wants a different transliteration, I think
over 1 year ago
Edit Post #283543 Post edited:
added citation
over 1 year ago
Comment Post #283543 Oh I see it now, at the end of the verse. Thanks -- I'm not sure how I missed that.
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over 1 year ago
Comment Post #283543 Where is שניאה in this parsha? I see שנואה, but not what you're comparing it to. Where should I be looking?
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over 1 year ago
Edit Post #282734 Initial revision over 1 year ago
Question If someone has fulfilled an obligation (like kiddush), can he then do it for others?
I had been under the impression that somebody who is not personally obligated in a mitzvah (or maybe specifically a b'racha?) cannot do it on behalf of someone else. This is one of the usual explanations for why a woman can't lead (most) prayer in mixed groups, for example -- she's not obligated so ...
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over 1 year ago
Edit Post #282429 Post edited:
added picture
over 1 year ago
Edit Post #282579 Initial revision over 1 year ago
Question Which haftarah when Rosh Chodesh Av is on Shabbat?
This Shabbat is Rosh Chodesh Av. During the three weeks (which we're in the midst of) we read three special haftarot. On Rosh Chodesh normally we read a special haftarah. When they coincide, do we read both or does one take precedence over the other? I suppose I can wait a few days and find out...
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over 1 year ago
Comment Post #282418 True. I asked it the way I did because the length of *this* paragraph is unusual, and in chat someone asked me why this one shouldn't be the baseline and maybe I should be asking about shorter paragraphs. Either way, this one is out of sync with, say, creation (one paragraph per day instead of one ...
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over 1 year ago
Edit Post #282429 Initial revision over 1 year ago
Question Is a loft a room for purposes of mezuzah?
Consider a cabin that has one large room with a loft extending over part of that room. A half-height wall at the front of the loft separates it from the rest of the cabin, so there is a single common ceiling over all. (Someone standing in the loft can see someone standing in the main room.) Does t...
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over 1 year ago
Edit Post #282418 Initial revision almost 2 years ago
Question Why is parshat Balak written without breaks in the torah scroll?
This past Shabbat I was reminded (while watching the torah reader rolling the scroll) that all (or nearly all?) of parshat Balak is written as one long paragraph in the scroll -- three solid columns with no short or long breaks. Why is this? I could imagine that it being about a gentile prophet b...
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almost 2 years ago
Edit Post #276876 Post edited:
almost 2 years ago
Edit Post #282274 Initial revision almost 2 years ago
Answer A: Is starting of Judaism on-topic?
Questions at all levels of background are welcome, and this community isn't only for Jews. Basic questions are fine. I'm not sure what you mean about "starting point". The torah, specifically the five books of Moses, records some history that traditional Judaism understands to be true, so if you...
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almost 2 years ago
Edit Post #282207 Initial revision almost 2 years ago
Question Sefaria's holding a contest; can our community build something that uses Codidact and Sefaria together?
Sefaria has just announced this year's Powered by Sefaria contest. The goal is to attract projects that are interesting and creative and that make use of Sefaria's library of texts and/or open APIs in some significant way. I imagine that, if it didn't already exist, the Sefaria linker that we use h...
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almost 2 years ago
Edit Post #282064 Initial revision almost 2 years ago
Article the wood-gatherer, kiruv, and congregational life
Originally given to a group of lay leaders from liberal congregations. Sh'lach L'cha records the incident with the wood-gatherer. To review, on Shabbat two men find a third outside the camp gathering wood, a clear violation of the laws of Shabbat they have been given. The men bring the wood-ga...
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almost 2 years ago
Edit Post #282062 Initial revision almost 2 years ago
Article What was the sin of Sh'lach L'cha?
This is a short d'var I gave at a weekday minyan years ago. I came across it while searching for something else and decided its message is still timely. In Sh'lach L'cha we read about the spies who were sent to scout out the land before the conquest. They came back with a bad report and the p...
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almost 2 years ago
Comment Post #281865 The fox is lying to con the fish, yes, but is it a plausible lie (they actually *did* previously hang out together somehow, so maybe the fish is more likely to believe it) or a bald-faced lie (that never happened)?
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almost 2 years ago
Comment Post #281785 @msh210 oh, one of the stones on the *choshen*? I didn't realize.
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almost 2 years ago
Edit Post #281786 Initial revision almost 2 years ago
Question how should we organize the prophets tags?
I asked a question about a passage from Ezekiel, creating the "ezekiel-book-of" tag in the process. (I followed the pattern I saw with other book tags.) I saw that we also have a "prophets" tag, so I was going to make this new tag a child of it, but then I noticed that "jeremiah-book-of" is a child...
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almost 2 years ago
Edit Post #281785 Post edited:
almost 2 years ago
Edit Post #281785 Post edited:
almost 2 years ago
Edit Post #281785 Initial revision almost 2 years ago
Question What is the connection between the "tarshish" in Ezekiel's vision and the city Jonah fled toward?
I noticed that Ezekiel 1:16, in describing his vision of something like a heavenly chariot (merkavah), says the words gleaned like tarshish, translated "beryl" by Sefaria and some others: > מַרְאֵ֨ה הָאוֹפַנִּ֤ים וּמַעֲשֵׂיהֶם֙ כְּעֵ֣ין תַּרְשִׁ֔ישׁ > As for the appearance and structure of the...
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almost 2 years ago
Comment Post #281336 If a list is too long to manage or isn't getting traction, what about compiling a post with an organized list of useful links (it could be a wiki post) and then adding a link to *that* post in the sidebar?
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almost 2 years ago
Edit Post #281538 Post edited:
clarification
almost 2 years ago
Edit Post #281538 Initial revision almost 2 years ago
Question Handedness for t'fillin: nature or nurture?
I know that t'fillin are placed on the weaker arm, which for most people is the left, so that the stronger hand is the one doing the binding. I have heard, but don't remember where, that someone who is ambidextrous uses the left as well, since the right isn't weaker and the left is more common. W...
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almost 2 years ago
Edit Post #281499 Initial revision almost 2 years ago
Answer A: Why ones needs a chat.
Eventually we want to have integrated chat. We aren't there yet. In the nearer term, we're overhauling the commenting system in a way that will make it easier to have discussion threads on questions without them overwhelming the page. Instead of seeing all the comments on the post, you'll see th...
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almost 2 years ago
Edit Post #281451 Initial revision almost 2 years ago
Answer A: Why do we stop saying Mashiv Haruach?
The placement of this text suggests "praise, not request" to me too. In fact, we ask for rain separately in the ninth blessing, which makes it seem even clearer that this mention is not a request (would we make the same request twice?). Ta'anit 3:a cites a baraita that says that both dew and rain...
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almost 2 years ago
Comment Post #281340 @rosends I haven't read the linked sources, but I would have thought the consultation would be "is this too leavened" -- like, I baked it within 18 minutes but it looks puffy anyway; is this ok (hands over piece of matzah).
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almost 2 years ago
Comment Post #281324 And it's Shabbat *Ha*Chodesh, too.
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almost 2 years ago
Comment Post #281292 @robev the chronology suggested by the text is: Paro summoned Moshe and Aharon "in the night" and told them to get out, the Egyptians urged the Israelites to go, and the Israelites took their dough. It doesn't sound like they set out to *make* dough after the order to leave; they must have already h...
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almost 2 years ago
Comment Post #281292 @manassehkatz weren't they gone by morning? And even if not, we would expect it to take at least a few hours to leave Egypt and get to a place where they could start baking that day's bread, no?
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almost 2 years ago
Edit Post #281292 Initial revision almost 2 years ago
Question Why didn't the dough rise during the night of the Exodus?
When it comes to the bread, my plain understanding of the Exodus is that the Israelites left Egypt with dough (Exodus 12:34) and later baked it into unleavened bread because it had not risen (Exodus 12:39). That's what I've always understood, from the torah and from the haggadah: the dough did not r...
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almost 2 years ago
Comment Post #281266 Fixed now. Thanks Mith and luap!
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almost 2 years ago
Comment Post #281266 I'm seeing the same thing -- 20 Nisan (so it's rolled over), but Wednesday night (Thursday). Mac, Chrome. (Also, yes: timezones are a pain, DST makes it worse, and approximating the time is *just fine* for our purposes.)
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almost 2 years ago
Comment Post #281266 Nice -- thanks luap42! (I'm guessing the API doesn't know about daylight saving time, as it hasn't rolled over for me yet at about 8:30PM. Not a complaint; I'll check back in half an hour. I'm mentioning it in case anyone else is seeing this and is confused like I was.)
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almost 2 years ago
Edit Post #281230 Post edited:
almost 2 years ago
Edit Post #281230 Post edited:
almost 2 years ago
Comment Post #281230 @msh210 oh, thanks -- let me check more *haggadot*; maybe this is a local quirk.
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almost 2 years ago
Edit Post #281230 Initial revision almost 2 years ago
Question Are we expecting Eliyahu to drink the fifth cup of wine?
Many kids I know (including past-me) think that Eliyahu drinks from the fifth cup at each seder. I've been to several where parents encouraged this belief, perhaps as a way of keeping the kids awake and attentive. (By "encouraged", I mean things like visibly checking the glass to see if the level h...
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almost 2 years ago
Comment Post #281213 Thanks for the source and explanation. (I eat *matzah* every day, as it seems in keeping with the commandment and isn't forbidden.)
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almost 2 years ago
Edit Post #281205 Initial revision almost 2 years ago
Question Why aren't we required to eat matzah every day during Pesach?
Shemot 12:15 tells us: "Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread". But our tradition (I don't know the source, sorry) is that we are required to eat matzah only at the seder(s). Otherwise, the command is understood as "if you eat bread, it must be unleavened bread". Why aren't we required to ea...
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almost 2 years ago
Edit Post #281162 Initial revision about 2 years ago
Question How does agency work for selling chameitz?
Each year my rabbi arranges the sale of chameitz for me (and anybody else who asks), and I know that I could also do this online. Either way, I provide some basic information, like the location of the chameitz, and that's it -- I don't sign anything, I don't make a public declaration, I don't pay hi...
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about 2 years ago
Edit Post #281143 Initial revision about 2 years ago
Question Omer weekly/daily themes, online-style?
I know that there are some customary "categories" of daily contemplation during the Omer -- combinations of Chesed, Hod, etc. I know that each week has one of these as a theme, and then within that, each day has a theme, for 49 combinations of 7 basic ideas. This hasn't been part of my Omer observa...
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about 2 years ago
Edit Post #281051 Post edited:
fixed typo
about 2 years ago
Edit Post #281051 Post edited:
typo
about 2 years ago
Edit Post #281051 Initial revision about 2 years ago
Question Seudah shlishit before Pesach: what's the source for omitting bread?
When Pesach starts on a Saturday night, I understand that we are forbidden to eat matzah on that Shabbat (because we don't want to diminish the experience at the seder), but that we also aren't allowed to eat bread (chametz) past mid-morning. I also understand that on Shabbat we are required to eat ...
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about 2 years ago
Comment Post #280926 Is Mordechai *relying* on a miracle, or just arguing? How do we know when someone is relying on a miracle?
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about 2 years ago
Comment Post #280923 Thanks @rosends. I didn't realize it was optional. (It wasn't just because current conditions press for doing it as quickly as possible; it was printed in the books.) I hope somebody will answer with the *halacha* and a source.
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about 2 years ago
Edit Post #280923 Initial revision about 2 years ago
Question Blotting out Haman's name only some of the time?
At megillah readings, I'm used to people making noise to blot out every mention of Haman's name. Tonight I was at a Chabad reading and they had a different custom: they blotted out the mentions that used his full name or referred to his role (I guess the "important" ones?) but didn't blot out every ...
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about 2 years ago
Comment Post #280889 And what of finalizing? Are mere humans allowed to do that?
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about 2 years ago
Edit Post #280880 Initial revision about 2 years ago
Question After the destruction of the temple, why didn't we revert to a temporary mishkan?
I read a blog post tonight that started out by asking why we don't have a mishkan today -- we had the mishkan in the wilderness before the temple was built, after all, so if we can't have the temple today, why not revert to a mishkan, some temporary (and possibly movable) place in which the holy serv...
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about 2 years ago
Comment Post #280810 @Aliza but what does "has not taken heed" mean, practically speaking? Do we say that if it gored again he obviously didn't take heed (enough), or is there a threshold that counts as taking heed and if somebody breaks into his barn and sets it loose despite his precautions, or taunts it to agitate it...
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about 2 years ago
Comment Post #280815 @David I haven't seen it myself, but [this translation with expanded commentary](https://www.feldheim.com/midrash-shmuel) is from a reputable publisher. What I can't tell from the description is whether the separation between the translation and the commentary is clear -- can the reader distinguish ...
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about 2 years ago
Edit Post #280818 Initial revision about 2 years ago
Question Can one fulfill the obligation of megillah on Purim via Zoom?
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 scroll. (First question: is that correct?) What provisions, if any, exist for following remotely if on...
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about 2 years ago
Comment Post #280816 Alternatively, 27 Elul is when Amalek set things in motion. But 3 Tishrei is good too.
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about 2 years ago
Edit Post #280815 Initial revision about 2 years ago
Answer A: Talmudic proverb based on Job 42:10 — source?
As far as I can tell, the talmud in Bava Kamma 92a is the earliest source for the statement, though its phrasing indicates the principle was known earlier: > Rava said to Rabba bar Mari: From where is this matter derived whereby the Sages stated: Anyone who asks for compassion from Heaven on beha...
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about 2 years ago
Comment Post #280811 Thank you! I did not know this Rashi, which seems key to understanding the half-shekel.
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about 2 years ago
Comment Post #280807 This post prompted a non-PT question: https://judaism.codidact.com/posts/280810.
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about 2 years ago
Edit Post #280810 Initial revision about 2 years ago
Question What happens if the goring ox was provoked?
Exodus 21:28-29 (and onward) gives us laws concerning the ox that gores. If it happens once, they kill the ox but do not punish the owner. But if the ox has a pattern of goring and the owner has been warned, and it happens again, not only do they kill the ox but the owner is subject to death. (I t...
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about 2 years ago
Edit Post #280802 Initial revision about 2 years ago
Article On the ritual foods of the Purim seder
As we know,[^1] the evening meal for Purim starts with Wacky Mac, a dish that features four pasta shapes: wheels, shells, spirals, and tubes. What is less widely known is how we are to eat this ritual item. Like the Pesach seder a month later, the meal has specific requirements and specific meaning...
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about 2 years ago
Comment Post #280796 Oh, of course! I'm surprised that HKBH wants chewed-upon coins, but who am I to question His intent? (I, uh, might have follow-on questions. :-) )
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about 2 years ago
Edit Post #280790 Initial revision about 2 years ago
Question How am I supposed to pay *half* a coin?
This Shabbat we read Shekalim (Exodus 30:11-16), in which we're instructed to pay a half-shekel to avoid plagues. I'm not very skilled at cutting silver, so I want to know how exact the half-coin needs to be. If, after I cut my coin, I find that the two pieces aren't exactly the same, can I just pa...
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about 2 years ago
Comment Post #280783 I sometimes want to look up some specific piece of PT that I remember out of season, so I'd also prefer that it remain visible but read-only. (I agree things should be flaggable, and probably votable too.) I will talk with the team to see how feasible this would be.
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about 2 years ago
Comment Post #280591 I just tested access restrictions on a dev server to confirm: when a category is hidden to a user (for example, and this was my test case, visible only to logged-in users and you're not logged in), then in addition to the category not showing, the posts also aren't visible (if you have the URL) and t...
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about 2 years ago
Comment Post #280591 @DonielF mods can move posts between categories so long as the receiving category accepts the type of the incoming post. (For example, you couldn't move a d'var torah to Q&A because those are articles and Q&A doesn't include articles.) This should not be a problem for the case you have in mind.
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about 2 years ago
Edit Post #280693 Initial revision about 2 years ago
Question (When) can halacha with a stated reason be revisited in light of new information?
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 Pesach should be roasted. The Mishneh says only a branch from a pomegranate tree can be used for a spit an...
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about 2 years ago
Comment Post #280643 (I haven't voted.) We can't remove only downvotes. We could remove *all* votes (like on the wiki post type), but I suspect the community wants to be able to upvote. We can give people voting guidance in the category description text (the text at the top of the question list) if the community wants...
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about 2 years ago
Edit Post #280627 Initial revision about 2 years ago
Answer A: Disposing of a Christian bible written in Hebrew?
As noted in this answer, even a sefer torah, if written by a heretic, does not have holy status and needn't be buried. Further, Rambam (Laws of Tefilin, Mezuzah, and Sefer Torah 1:13) writes: > יג ספר תורה תפילין ומזוזות שכתבן מין, יישרפו. כתבן גוי, או ישראל משומד, או מוסר, או עבד, או אישה, או ...
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about 2 years ago
Comment Post #280556 @AA *oh*. You know that thing that happens sometimes where you're reading an answer, try to upvote it, and find you can't (because you can't vote on your own posts)? I had completely forgotten about that. After Shabbat, B"N, I'll try to adapt that in an answer here.
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about 2 years ago
Comment Post #280583 One more: should purim torah be only Q&A, or are PT *essays* (divrei torah, articles, etc) welcome? I sometimes feel like half the problems we had with PTIJ arose from trying to fit *posts* into *questions*.
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about 2 years ago
Comment Post #280556 @Harel13‭ thanks. If you can cite/link one of those places, that'd make a good answer.
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about 2 years ago
Comment Post #280559 I assume it was printed in Hebrew because that's the primary language of Israel, where the book was being distributed. Whether it was intended to mislead Jews, or was general proselytizing in a Jewish-dominant country, I don't know. Likewise, I don't know whether it was printed by the proselytizing g...
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about 2 years ago
Edit Post #280556 Initial revision about 2 years ago
Question Disposing of a Christian bible written in Hebrew?
While sorting through boxes of books in the attic, I came across a Christian bible written in Hebrew. (Some family member was apparently given it by a missionary when living in Israel and didn't dispose of it then.) The book is only their second volume; it doesn't include Tanakh. If the book wer...
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about 2 years ago
Comment Post #280508 I like this! And some of the things people share might lead to follow-on questions, too.
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about 2 years ago
Comment Post #280339 @msh210 I don't know what would be involved in making it per-session as opposed to per-user; all our preferences so far apply to that user in any browser (on that community, unless global). I wonder if a userscript could help in this case, since by definition you run a script in a particular browser...
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about 2 years ago
Edit Post #280339 Post edited:
about 2 years ago
Edit Post #278011 Post edited:
about 2 years ago
Edit Post #280339 Initial revision about 2 years ago
Answer A: Automatic draft-saving plus Sefaria auto-linker leads to the post taking too long to save
We weren't able to solve the problem directly (something something Javascript is single-threaded something), but there is now a preference to disable auto-saving, which is a work-around. Go to your user profile and then to the "preferences" tab. The preference is community-specific, so you can disa...
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about 2 years ago
Edit Post #280257 Initial revision about 2 years ago
Question Why do we destroy t'rumah and challah instead of giving it to a kohein?
I was thinking about t'rumah, which historically was designated for a kohein but today we destroy, and similarly taking challah, which we burn. Why isn't this a violation of bal tashchit, do not waste? If you're an active part of a Jewish community you know how to find a kohein -- one always gets...
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about 2 years ago
Edit Post #280250 Initial revision about 2 years ago
Question (How) does the home gardener tithe?
This past year I grew some vegetables for the first time. I don't live in Eretz Yisrael, so I know I don't have to tithe my produce, but it made me wonder: what if I did? How would I go about that, practically speaking? Or is there a minimum amount below which tithing laws don't apply, and my coup...
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about 2 years ago
Comment Post #280082 @ploni synonyms are on the to-do list; we just don't have them yet. I agree they're important. (When we have synonyms, I expect we'd then allow a choice to either just merge -- useful for fixing typos -- or merge with synonym.)
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about 2 years ago
Edit Post #280082 Post edited:
about 2 years ago
Edit Post #279882 Post edited:
about 2 years ago
Comment Post #280090 I have a theory. I've seen three edit suggestions now that don't show diffs, and all of them are on articles. I'm wondering if we missed a place when doing the work on post types recently. I've asked the dev team, but they're not Jewish and so might be celebrating another holiday today, so there m...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #280090 Thanks for the link. That's very strange. I've asked someone to see what's going on in the database there. Sorry for the inconvenience!
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #280082 @IsaacMoses request received and awaiting someone with the right access to get to it. Thanks.
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #280090 Ouch, that sounds wrong. Can you link to the edit suggestion so we can take a look?
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #280082 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Answer A: ban the dvar-torah tag in the Divrei Torah category
The tag can be removed server-side. I agree it's a pointless tag in that category. The Divrei Torah category shares tags with the Q&A and Challenges categories, so removing the tag would affect all categories that use it. It doesn't look like any other category does use it, and I would expect a que...
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #279904 Post edited:
Revised per comments. The list itself is easily found, but what the other flaws are still eludes me.
over 2 years ago
Comment Post #279882 Thank you for sharing these excerpts! I appreciate reading them here (even though I can also read them in the book). This post prompted me to ask [this question](https://judaism.codidact.com/posts/279904).
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #279904 I feel like this needs better tags but I'm not sure which ones.
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #279904 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question What are the flaws in the ten kal vachomer arguments in the torah?
This d'var torah discusses kal vachomer arguments in torah: > Rashi is bothered that these two arguments have some sort of flaw. He wants us to realize that this isn’t so difficult, as there are ten instances of kal vachomers in the Torah that have a flaw. He is stressing that despite this flaw, t...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #279768 This seems to affect some people and not others, making it hard to track down. Can you add information about your environment (browser, OS, does it happen if you disable userscripts)? If you are able to check the console for error messages, that'd help too. Thanks!
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #279767 Ah, one decimal place would explain the problem!
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #279767 Tangent, but how do you get from 135 *amot* to 729 meters? Isn't an *amah* a cubit or a step, neither of which is as much as even one meter? (Obviously the number here is extreme in any case; I'm just wondering about your unit translation.)
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #279757 Interesting question! I'd never heard the distance explanation, just the *tumah meit* one, but never thought about the implications that you've pointed out. I wonder if there's an element of "can't make it worse"; the temple was already defiled, after all, and maybe their actions at least moved thi...
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #279726 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question Do you say Baruch Dayan Ha-emet immediately, regardless of where you are when you learn the news?
Upon learning of someone's passing, I have been taught, we immediately say baruch dayan ha-emet. I have also been taught that we don't say blessings (or learn torah) in inappropriate locations. My question is about which of these principles takes priority. This situation can arise if you overhear ...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #279604 Importing is a little fragile right now; I have an open request for one-question-at-a-time import (self-serve) but it's not implemented yet. It might be better to do it the old-fashioned way, copying/adapting with attribution. I'm sorry we don't have better import tools; when we did that batch of ~...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #279266 @curiousdannii‭ oh I see; you're thinking of psalm settings that are specifically used in Christian worship? (It makes sense that there would be some, just as there are some that are used in specific places in Jewish prayer. I just didn't make the connection.)
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #279266 @curiousdannii‭ that's a good (different) question -- if the text itself is clearly fine (I mean, we had the psalms first :-) ) but the *source* is Christian, is that a problem? Does it depend on how prominent the source is -- everybody recognizes that famous setting but obscure is different? Does ...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #279266 Y'know, I never thought about what "a capella" literally means. Thanks.
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #279266 Post edited:
over 2 years ago
Edit Post #279266 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question If the words come from Christian worship but aren't otherwise objectionable, can you use them for secular music?
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" consists of five key prayer texts that are frequently (always?) part of the mass. Four of them are blatan...
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #279263 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question (When) can one listen to Christian music, according to Igrot Moshe?
A post elsewhere cites Igrot Moshe (Yoreh De'ah 2:56) as saying that listening to (hearing?) Christian music is forbidden (asur). A comment there elaborates: > He states that the restriction is related only to those areas that they use as part of the Christian prayer service. However, he is lenie...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #278960 This challenge prompted me to ask a question on Languages & Linguistics: https://languages.codidact.com/questions/279052. Not the point of the challenge I know, but I thought you might want to know. :-)
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276681 Post edited:
fixed a while ago, never tagged
over 2 years ago
Edit Post #277839 Post edited:
this got fixed as part of another cleanup of imported posts; just noticed I never tagged it
over 2 years ago
Comment Post #278964 To your second question, isn't there a midrash (that I can't find now) that Eretz Yisrael was exempt from the flood? If so, then the ark wouldn't be able to float to a resting point there.
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #278923 @AA import is a little glitchy right now, so while I'd like to get that fixed, the last batch introduced a lot of database weirdnesses that had to be cleaned up so I'd rather not. I'd *rather* bring it over, but in the absence of better import, I'd rather have the answer here than not.
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #278923 Interesting! @Dani, please feel free to write an answer here that draws from what you found there (with proper attribution of course).
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #278167 Post edited:
over 2 years ago
Comment Post #278923 Is this a *klaf* for writing a mezuzah? (Inferring from the presence of the name.)
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #278866 @user8078 it depends on how you bind "with Lot" -- does it mean that Avram and Sarai came out of Egypt and Lot joined them as they headed to the Negev, or that Lot was with them all along?
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #278859 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question Where was Lot during the famine?
In Lech L'cha there is a famine so severe that Avram has to leave Canaan and go down to Egypt for food. He leaves Egypt with great wealth, and then in Bereishit 13:1 he continues traveling with Lot. Lot isn't mentioned in the Egypt part of the episode. Did Lot go to Egypt too? If not, how did h...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #278839 @msh210 true. How might I rephrase the last sentence to work better?
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #278839 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question Was Sigd part of historical Jewish observance?
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 of, I did some searching. The Wikipedia page has some basic information and also several "dubious sourc...
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over 2 years ago
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #278781 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question Can a sick pet eat food that would otherwise be forbidden?
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 ingredients, for example if the medicine you need has gelatin in it, and I've definitely heard this with respec...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #278011 [GitHub issue tracking this](https://github.com/codidact/qpixel/issues/213), in which I propose several approaches to what sounds like a general problem and not *just* the Sefaria linker.
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #278663 Nice. Any thoughts on what women, who can't look at their *t'filin*, should do to rise up out of those ashes of despair? (Also, did Israel lose its slave mentality at the *yam suf*, or just temporarily? Didn't they long for Egypt later too? I guess one lesson is that these things rarely happen al...
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #278618 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question After being expelled, did Adam and Chava build tents or houses for themselves or continue to live outdoors?
I've always assumed (but can't prove) that while Adam and Chava were in Gan Eden, and had they stayed, they lived out in nature -- they didn't require tents or other shelter. When they are expelled they're told that the ground will be inhospitable (they'll have to work for food), but it doesn't say ...
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #278603 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Answer A: Why does the text in B'reishit refer to God in the plural?
The two passages you cite place the plural in God's mouth (God says "let us make..." and "like one of us" etc). I realize your question is more general, but I'm going to focus here on God's use of the plural. The predominant explanation is that God is addressing other (non-godly) beings, though s...
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #278533 Post edited:
meant to focus on past actions, not imply continuing ones which are more complicated when it comes to teshuva
over 2 years ago
Edit Post #278533 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Article Shabbat Shuva: looking back and looking ahead
Adapted from a d'var torah I gave on Ha'azinu/Shabbat Shuva 5781. Ha'azinu consists primarily of Moshe's final poem, recited to the people before he ascends the mountain to see the land and die. The language is very different from what I'm used to in the torah. It is not the language of events...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #278502 While I'd learned the mishna in Yoma (for some value of "learned"), this year was my first time attending a Yom Kippur service that did the *avodah* service as written. I found it a powerful experience, and this interpretation adds more layers to that. Thank you.
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #278520 Or climbing a tree and hiding among its leaves? That would still be one tree but doesn't require a hollow trunk large enough to fit two people.
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #278521 Thank you for these insights. I look forward to the rest of them.
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #278503 Post edited:
added detail from a comment contrasting this event with another
over 2 years ago
Comment Post #278514 Oh, proving it to the heavenly host! I didn't think of that. Thank you for the info and source.
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #278510 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question What is the purpose of God asking Adam to name the animals?
In Bereishit 2:19 God brings all the animals to Adam to see what he will name them. This has long puzzled me, because: - God created them and already knows their functions (He doesn't need Adam to tell Him). - God, having made Adam and especially b'tzelem Elokim, in the divine image, knows Adam'...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #278503 Welcome to the community! We welcome questions from anybody, not just Jews. Verse 23 gives an explanation (Avram's words); are you asking why he said that, why he felt he needed to take a vow rather than just saying it, or something else?
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #278479 A Levi is also a Yisrael. Is there a rule that the Yisrael *aliyot* belong to people who are *only* Yisrael and not also Levi or Kohein?
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over 2 years ago
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over 2 years ago
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #278422 Since an answer suggests the commentaries are not extant, could you clarify which shiny new copies have it? Or do you mean that your copies of *other* tractates have it, but not this one?
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #278422 Thanks for being here! :-)
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276877 Post edited:
over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276877 Should be fixed now.
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #278379 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question What does it mean that Yisrael dwelt in sukkot in the wilderness?
The plain reading of Vayikra 23:43 says that Yisrael dwelt in sukkot while they were in the wilderness. Rashi on this verse says that the "sukkot" that Israel dwelt in were the divine clouds of glory -- by implication, not physical booths. But this Rashi in turn seems to be referring to Rashi on ...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #278321 @Harel13‭ taking as given that Yitzchak agreed and supported his father's actions, it's still a harrowing experience, especially if he was 13 rather than 37. Our patriarchs were human, with human vulnerabilities; it seems plausible that there might have been distance between them after that (especial...
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #278321 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question How much contact did Avraham and Yitzchak have after the akeidah?
The akeidah was a significant event for both Avraham and Yitzchak.[^1] Immediately after they appear to go their separate ways -- Avraham leaves without his son, and we're not told where Yitzchak went. I have heard (unsourced) that Yitzchak went to learn, but where and for how long I don't know. A...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #278298 @Kazibácsi‭ thank you for that informative link (and the links therein)!
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #278298 I am, for now at least, tagging this for the context in which the question arose. If it turns out it has nothing to do with Yom Kippur in particular, we can of course adjust the tags.
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #278298 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question Why is cholam sometimes pronounced like segol (Chabad, Yom Kippur)?
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 variations I've heard in Chabad. Having spent Yom Kippur with Chabad this year, I heard the differences enough...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #278186 @manassehkatz more like "and Rashi on this says..." and "here's the Ibn Ezra" and "Rav Hirsch says" and "see also this discussion in the g'mara over here" and such. To me, wiki pages should converge -- there should be *a* page explaining a concept -- while I'm proposing more of a distributed approac...
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over 2 years ago
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #278188 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question When does not forgiving become holding a grudge?
Yoma 87a and Rambam Hilchot Teshuvah 2 both describe requirements for doing teshuva and gaining forgiveness. According to them, the one doing teshuva must first make restitution and then, in front of witnesses, ask the wronged person for forgiveness (possibly more than once). The implication is tha...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #278187 I'd add a (short) time component before deleting -- give the author a chance to respond to criticism by fixing the post, but if not, proceed.
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #278186 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Answer A: Divrei Torah Category
I like the idea of divrei torah prompting "response" divrei torah. If we make the original d'var torah a question and use answers for the responses, though, then where would responses to those responses go? (I think we should assume that will happen.) I propose that divrei torah, with whatever r...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #278026 https://judaism.codidact.com/questions/278146
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #278146 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question What does a beginning shofar blower need to know to correctly make the sounds?
On Rosh Hashana I heard somebody say something like: if you can't get to a public shofar blowing, at least this is a commandment that is relatively easy to fulfill on your own -- most people, this person said, can get acceptable sound out of a shofar with a little practice. This person immediately q...
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #278091 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Answer A: Must one forgive those who wronged him but do not ask forgiveness?
In the previous paragraph, Rambam Hilchot Teshuvah 2:9, he writes (Sefaria translation): > [...] but sins between man and man, for instance, one injures his neighbor, or curses his neighbor or plunders him, or offends him in like matters, is ever not absolved unless he makes restitution of what he...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #277910 I feel bad that I couldn't ask a fitting question in memory of his many contributions to *klal yisrael*.
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #277842 @ploni it should. "Hidden" SE sites aren't very hidden; what you're really linking here (behind the scenes) is your SE *network* profile, and that's visible through the API even if it's not displayed on SE.
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #277951 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question What are the requirements for the body of water used for tashlich?
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 the past, but they're in public parks that are likely to be crowded, so I'd like to understand what my oth...
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #277640 Post edited:
fixed import glitches (copied whole body)
over 2 years ago
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fixed import glitches (copied whole body)
over 2 years ago
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fixed import glitches (copied whole body)
over 2 years ago
Edit Post #277631 Post edited:
fixed import glitches (copied whole body)
over 2 years ago
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #277876 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question When bringing first fruits, why do we say to the priest "your God" rather than "our God"?
When bringing first fruits we are commanded to say the following to the priest: > וּבָאתָ֙ אֶל־הַכֹּהֵ֔ן אֲשֶׁ֥ר יִהְיֶ֖ה בַּיָּמִ֣ים הָהֵ֑ם וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֵלָ֗יו הִגַּ֤דְתִּי הַיּוֹם֙ לַיהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ כִּי־בָ֙אתִי֙ אֶל־הָאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֨ר נִשְׁבַּ֧ע יְהוָ֛ה לַאֲבֹתֵ֖ינוּ לָ֥תֶת לָֽנוּ׃ > You sh...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #277849 Unrelated to the question: if you go to your profile "edit" tab and link your Stack Exchange account there, you'll be able to link your imported questions to this profile. (I'm assuming the other Harel13 is you.)
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over 2 years ago
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over 2 years ago
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over 2 years ago
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over 2 years ago
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #277867 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Answer A: Imported answers incorrectly reported
Ah, there was another one! Thanks for finding that. This question was (somehow) imported twice, at these two URLs: - https://judaism.codidact.com/questions/277598 - https://judaism.codidact.com/questions/277725 Both questions were then deleted (by the System user), presumably as part of th...
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #277847 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question Some special encodings, including Hebrew, didn't import well
We have learned by experience that the data-import process gets tripped up by some character encodings... like Hebrew. (Oops!) The mix of HTML (what we can get from SE) and Markdown and character encodings contributes to these errors, and especially with RTL thrown in, our developers are concerned ...
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over 2 years ago
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over 2 years ago
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #277639 Post edited:
fixed import glitches (copied whole body)
over 2 years ago
Edit Post #277598 Post undeleted over 2 years ago
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fixed import glitches (copied whole body)
over 2 years ago
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over 2 years ago
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fixed import glitches (copied whole body)
over 2 years ago
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fixed import glitches (copied whole body)
over 2 years ago
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fixed import glitches (copied whole body)
over 2 years ago
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fixed import glitches
over 2 years ago
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fixed import glitches
over 2 years ago
Edit Post #277591 Post edited:
copied Hebrew from original
over 2 years ago
Edit Post #277191 Question closed over 2 years ago
Edit Post #277842 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question Claiming your imported posts
We've run data import for the first time on this community, which means some of your content might be here but be attributed to a stub user created for the sake of attribution. This post is about claiming your content. If you have an account on another Codidact site where imports have happened, a...
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #277840 Post edited:
over 2 years ago
Comment Post #277077 I will clean up the comments here later. Depending on what happens with the Hebrew, we might need the original links for some post-processing.
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #277077 @DonielF imports done; see my answer below for some caveats.
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #277077 @IsaacMoses imports done; see my answer below for some caveats.
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #277077 @eliyahu imports done; see my answer below for some caveats.
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #277077 @Harel13 imports done; see my answer below for some caveats.
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #277840 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Answer A: Imported answer forbidden from viewing
That's bizarre. The question was imported and then deleted by System. I don't know why, so I've undeleted it and confirmed its visibility in an incognito window (i.e. while not signed in). Update: every answer on that question was duplicated, so it looks like something strange happened during th...
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #277621 Post undeleted over 2 years ago
Edit Post #277837 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Answer A: Please post your data-import requests here.
The first round of data imports has been done. You can distinguish an imported question from a native one by the Stack Exchange icon next to the tags: screenshot I said before that posts could be imported with scores. While what I said was literally correct, it was an error -- the script reco...
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #277512 Post edited:
over 2 years ago
Edit Post #277559 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question How should one who hears lashon hara respond?
I've read a lot about lashon hara from the perspective of (not) speaking it. My question is from the other side: what are one's obligations, both halacha and ethically (per Judaism), upon witnessing it? I understand that we're supposed to not believe it, but are we supposed to take other actions? ...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #277512 Not a how-to? Bummer... :-)
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #277471 Post edited:
typo
over 2 years ago
Edit Post #277471 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Answer A: Give reasons for downvotes.
The site is doing well. It's growing. It's young, so it doesn't have tons of people and activity yet, but it's going in the right direction. I would rather grow slowly but steadily than have a burst of activity that we can't properly engage with. A bunch of low-quality posts, for example, would ...
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over 2 years ago
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #277354 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Answer A: Seeking advice as a chazzan in training
> suppose that a new chazzan like me were to come to your regular minyan to daven: what would you like such a chazzan to know? What general advice would you give to such a chazzan? Meta-advice: participate in the congregation and observe for a while before stepping up to be a chazzan there. Every...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #277317 I think I prefer that there not be a time-based component, because it could be too limiting. We don't want *only* parsha commentary; something might arise from daf yomi, or a shiur you heard, or a new source you read, or a *different* parsha that you made a leap to from this week's, or... I'd prefer...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #277077 I'd like to import https://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/69940/shalom-aleichem-shuvchem-instead-of-tzeitchem, prompted by this week's challenge. (I was about to ask and then remembered I had already. It's unanswered there.)
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #277286 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question Does "make for yourself a rav" normally terminate with the synagogue employment contract?
I was talking with a US rabbi from a liberal movement who left a congregation after 30 years. He told me that he needed to disengage from his now-former congregants, out of deference to the new rabbi. This is strong guidance or policy from the CCAR (rabbinic body), not just him making his own evalu...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #277246 Unless he was writing it for posterity, sort of like how one might wrote a post-dated letter. (That said, there's an opinion that Joshua wrote that part because how could he describe his own death and the events after?)
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #277242 Post edited:
over 2 years ago
Comment Post #277227 Could you clarify your second bullet? Are you asking about a case where she doesn't dress modestly and yet he does not act improperly?
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #277077 Please import https://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/64742/difference-between-%D7%90%D6%B2%D7%A0%D6%B4%D7%99-and-%D7%90%D6%B8%D7%A0%D6%B9%D7%9B%D6%B4%D7%99 so we can close https://judaism.codidact.com/questions/277191#comment-3115 as a duplicate of it.
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #277191 @AA works for me; I'll add it to the request list on meta.
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #277077 @DonielF I've asked a developer to (a) do the first round of imports (at which point we'll delete those comments and (b) discuss process improvements.
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #277192 You mean post-flood only?
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #277191 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question What is the difference between אנכי and אני in the torah?
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 that case I would expect to see it a lot more in all the passages (particularly in Vayikra) where God e...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #277078 Good idea @DonielF.
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #277118 @manassehkatz ah, I didn't know that about hearing outside of davening (no personal experience with that).
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #277118 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question At what distance may one hear the shofar on Rosh Hashana?
Due to the pandemic, on Rosh Hashana[^1] some congregations will be blowing the shofar outdoors to mitigate the health risks. In an urban area, this means someone could stay safely far away and yet still hear it. How close does one have to be to fulfill the obligation to hear it? Close enough to h...
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276613 Post edited:
merging into the other RH tag
over 2 years ago
Comment Post #277077 I would like to import https://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/190, https://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/11888, https://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/27987, https://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/33405, https://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/33684. (I have no participation on the first two but think they're impor...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #277077 @DonielF does it have answers there? Here? We don't have question merging yet, but if there's been divergence we could bring over the other question and then mark one as a dupe of the other I guess? I'm open for input on the best way to handle this situation.
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276978 Once again, the act of writing a question led me to an answer and thus I did not post it. (I didn't understand how the keyring in the *heical* worked and now I think I get it.)
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #277078 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Answer A: Moving questions from MY to here
We've now created a place to request import of specific questions. Please follow the instructions there. Right now this is a manual process so it won't be immediate, but if you make requests there, our devs will get to them. (Yeah, we should build a tool for this. I'll add it to the to-do list....
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276364 Post edited:
over 2 years ago
Edit Post #277077 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question Please post your data-import requests here.
We've had some discussions about importing data from Mi Yodeya. The community hasn't yet decided what, if any, bulk imports to do, but we've had some requests to import specific questions and we'd like to support that. Importing is better than cutting and pasting -- it means you can bring over anyt...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #277068 Yeah, I copied a couple of my unanswered questions early on and that was not a good idea. I'd prefer that we set up a way to request specific imports, as I suggested in an answer on the other question I linked.
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #277068 Related: https://judaism.codidact.com/questions/276364
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #277068 One you asked, or someone else's? Do you want to bring answers too?
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #277055 I had no idea the Mikdash had a lock! (I'm a little confused from your quoted description by how the keychain worked, but I can ask a separate question about that.)
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #277049 @IsaacMoses that's what I meant, yes. I am open to the possibility that there are subject areas that should be excluded and that, for those that are permitted, we would require certain language. (I just can't think of any that should be excluded no matter how they're asked and that would otherwise ...
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #277049 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Answer A: What should be our Modesty Policy?
Allow them, but require clinical (or at least euphemistic) language. Allow them: These topics are as important as any others in halacha and rabbinic tradition, and anyway people will naturally encounter them in learning (or just hearing the weekly torah readings!) and will naturally have questio...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #277031 @robev how could he have written the torah at God's command and not known its contents? (This is why I included the possibility that God then caused him to forget some of it.)
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #277031 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question Did Moshe have free will when he struck the rock in the wilderness?
We know that God told the entire torah to Moshe (with Moshe writing it down the second time) at Har Sinai. This must include the book of D'varim, because I have learned somewhere that there is a dispute about whether Moshe also wrote the last eight verses about his death. (I've seen two opinions: e...
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276987 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Answer A: What should our policy be on Kabbalistic discussions?
I should say up front that I am not learned in kabbalah. Like, at all. I recognize some of the words and names of sources. From the text you quoted, it sounds like the danger of studying kabbalah is to the one studying it, not to other people. This is different from, say, a modesty policy, wher...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276982 (How) are these topics addressed in yeshivot when teaching teenagers? (I'm not saying that's what we should do, but it seems like that could inform what we do and I have no personal experience to draw on.)
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276899 @AA by "his" I meant the Satmar Rav. If my "nobody" neighbor Moishe appeals to a govt' official for something, that's not especially interesting. If a prominent Jewish leader, acting *as* a prominent Jewish leader, uses that influence, that seems more relevant. I agree that the question should provid...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276930 @DonielF yes, "all of us will die otherwise" versus "one of us will die and I'm willing for it to be me rather than you" seem like different cases.
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276892 @magicker72 right now it's just by most recent activity. But if we edit the outgoing challenge before creating the new one, the new one will naturally end up on top -- just a little extra work for the organizer to remember. (There I go, creating work for you DonielF. :-) )
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276930 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question Can a terminally-ill patient give up his ventilator to save another?
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 from a class on self-driving cars and how they should be programmed in the case of impending accidents. ...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276906 @AA oh, I misremembered; that first one was mine and I thought it had been closed. Maybe I'm remembering a discussion about closing it. Thanks for the links. If Mi Yodeya is as permissive as what I've described here then great; I had thought there was more resistance.
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276906 @AA I think my first three would have been closed on Mi Yodeya, and I'm unsure about the rest. I vaguely recall asking one like my first one that *was* closed. I think all my negative examples would also be off-topic on Mi Yodeya.
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276906 @msh210 I added some negative examples (could probably use more/better ones).
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276906 Post edited:
added some negative examples
over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276906 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Answer A: Are questions purely about Jews and Jewish History in-scope?
> What was life like for Jews in [region] during [time period/historical event]? These should be on-topic so long as Judaism is a core part of the question. Some examples: - Were Jews living in al-Andalus able to pray publicly and safely? (Was it legal and was it reckless?) - How did (some...
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276899 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Answer A: Are questions purely about Jews and Jewish History in-scope?
I'm going to separate out some of my thoughts into multiple answers for the sake of clarity in voting. Questions about people should be in scope if their Judaism is core to the question: - "Who was the first Chassidishe Rebbe to settle in America?" -- marginal; "...to establish a Jewish communi...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276897 The license would require it from a third-party translator. If the author decides to post it in both languages the license wouldn't require linking, but it's good practice and something we could set as a site policy. That's actually the easier issue; the harder one, I think, will be conveying that th...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276897 We'd need to make it clear that the two categories are not merely translations of the same content, as a naive browser might assume otherwise. (And should somebody be motivated to translate a question to the "other" language, we'd want them to be linked together.)
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276858 We don't have a large body of existing tags here like Mi Yodeya has, so we're going to need to create new ones. (And then when we import questions later we'll need to reconcile differences -- another reason to do imports in smaller batches.)
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276800 @magicker72 sounds like a new question to me.
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276782 @manassehkatz better to add date-range support to search, and then anybody can use it to populate this list *or for other purposes*. (On other sites I've sometimes wanted to constrain a search by time.)
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276839 @manassehkatz thanks for the data points. I hope someone will be able to bring sources for the various positions in an answer.
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276839 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question What is the status of a-capella music during the three weeks?
I've heard (but don't remember where) that the music that is prohibited during the three weeks is one or both of: music with instruments, recorded music. I've heard conflicting things about a capella music. What is the status of a capella music? Does it matter if it is live or recorded? Does it...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276800 @rosends my question is more about whether you can use the trop *in* shul in this context. I've edited to clarify, thanks.
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276800 Post edited:
clarified that the public aspect is a factor, versus chanting in private study
over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276794 Post edited:
just deleted a post and noticed it affected this too
over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276800 @manassehkatz I assume we can do this privately, but, as you said and I tried to get at (maybe not clearly enough), doing it in public as part of a service might be different.
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276429 @DonielF looks like! Please let us know if you encounter any issues with this.
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276800 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question If a Zoom minyan reads torah (without blessings, as study), should the reader still chant?
Due to the pandemic some communities are having weekday services on Zoom. (There seem to be leniencies that support this. That is not what this question is about.) We can't read from the torah scroll except in the presence of a minyan, and the communities I know about who are meeting on Zoom are h...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276422 @DonielF I think we need to address the question in @msh210's answer: are we building a glossary or a dictionary? Once we know what the goal is we can decide how best to implement it. That question might need to be raised more prominently.
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276794 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Answer A: "Last Activity"
Last activity tracks changes to (or creation of) posts -- asking a question, adding an answer, editing, or deleting. I'm not sure about closing and reopening questions, which are also events affecting posts. It doesn't track comments or votes. On SE there is a bot that also randomly bumps some...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276782 @manassekatz I don't think meta-tags like challenge-1 on main-site questions are a good idea. Q&A is for posterity; challenges are interesting for a short time. I think it's better to build an index to record the challenge.
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276779 Post edited:
suggestion from AA in a comment
over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276779 @AA that's a good idea, especially about not bumping.
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276779 @Dani I don't think we need a category or even one post per request -- a single list that everyone edits would be ideal, or, worst case, one list per requester. I want to make this easy on the developer who's going to say "give me the next 50" or whatever. I think we can do this on meta.
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276779 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Answer A: What content do we want to import from Mi Yodeya?
Regardless of what general criteria we come up with for importing data, we should accept requests for specific questions to import. I re-asked a couple of my unanswered questions here, because we didn't have data import, but that's not ideal (and will create duplicates if we ever do import the origi...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276775 This is beautiful. Thank you for your servitude, both past and future!
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276742 @Harel13 I think people are defaulting to "like Mi Yodeya" because it's a baseline many here share. But that doesn't mean that's static; it means things haven't been worked out yet. There are several meta threads (in addition to this one) on various aspects of this question. Please help shape the o...
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276764 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Answer A: How will Judaism Codidact be better than Mi Yodeya?
As Isaac said, let's not think in terms of "better", as if there can be only one strong online community for rich knowledge-sharing and Q&A. Mi Yodeya is an important community and we should not seek to diminish it. We should assume that many people will participate on both. If this site helps to ...
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276761 Post edited:
over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276761 Post edited:
over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276761 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question Welcome to our new pro-tem moderators!
Welcome to our pro-tem moderators, Isaac Moses and DonielF. Isaac joined the team two weeks ago and I was negligent in not announcing it at the time, and DonielF has joined today. Thank you both for taking on these extra caretaking duties alongside the work you are already doing to help this new co...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276718 When I saw "female kohen" in the title I thought you meant a *bat kohen*, but it looks like you're asking about wives. Or are you asking about both? (I don't know if Mrs. Kohen is "a (female) kohen".)
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276699 Post edited:
over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276699 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Answer A: Proposal: Weekly Topic Challenge
I like the idea of returning to our weekly topic challenges! Instead of collecting new suggestions each week, which would mean either lots of repetition or suggestions getting dropped, I suggest reusing a single post to collect suggestions for a while, and each week the person running the challeng...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276651 @robev thanks, edited.
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276651 Post edited:
explained "kallah" (requested in comment)
over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276655 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Answer A: Custom Community Name?
To answer the technical questions, a site's name is reflected in: - the logo - the URL(s) - the short description in the list of communities Changing the logo is a matter of replacing one graphic with another; it'll take longer for someone to make it than to deploy it. For URLs, I would sugg...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276652 There was also some [discussion of names](https://meta.codidact.com/questions/276280#answer-276301) on the proposal that led to the creation of this community. (Other answers there address it too; I'm linking to the one with actual suggestions.)
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276651 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question When (if ever) can you read a non-standard haftarah, and how far afield can it go?
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. During the torah service on that Shabbat, the people leading the service said that in honor of "yom tov...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276622 Isaac no, and we really ought to talk about that (I guess on main Meta). Now that you mention it, I'm a little surprised it hasn't come up yet. I think everyone's just winging it. :-)
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276622 This is the flip side of the branding discussion we were having on the proposal when naming the site, yeah. We're not the only site that could use better wording here.
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276615 Or set the threshold higher for answers. Some questions collect several answers that are all quality answers (I know I've asked questions that have produced this effect); I'd rather have absolute criteria than grade on a curve where an answer's results depend not on that answer but on what else is t...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276613 That sounds helpful. I would benefit from some extra learning time; we're not all so fluent that we can look at a *luach* and say "ok, got it". :-)
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276613 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question How does one pray Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur alone?
I'm somewhat competent in praying alone on weekdays and Shabbat, with the current pandemic providing a forcing function. I prefer to be part of a community and be able to rely on the sh'liach tzibbur for certain things, but I don't have to. I've always been slow, so I don't mind skipping things tha...
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276612 Post edited:
suggested in a comment
over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276605 This is an important distinction to make, thank you. As for the help, I only mentioned that because the question raised it; I don't think the help is the right place for either type of content.
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276425 I spun off "what to do with votes" as a [separate question](https://judaism.codidact.com/questions/276612) because of the ambiguity of voting as expressed in @msh210's comment.
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276612 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question Should imported posts retain their original votes?
It seems likely that we will import at least some content from Mi Yodeya. There's a separate question for that; in this question I want to focus on a suggestion brought up in an answer there: keep the original votes for the imported posts instead of resetting to zero. I'm separating this out becaus...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276607 Oh, thank you! I hadn't seen how the mighty warriors might be a special group, but comparing with the census makes sense.
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276450 Apparently our site has to be added to an allow list there before links show up. (Makes sense; they wouldn't want to provide links to trolls, bigots, and spammers.) I've asked somebody who can ask somebody.
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276580 Interesting. I tried to research an answer to this question and this [page at halachipedia](https://www.halachipedia.com/index.php?title=Tzitzit#Material_Requirements) covers leather (no) and synthetics whether woven or not (dispute), but doesn't cover *natural* fiber (or wool specifically) but not ...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276597 And the torah gives us laws of *avadim*, including those with debts to pay off, with no indication that those laws are only for later. (This is a weak argument not worthy of an answer by itself, but might be something you want to add in?)
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276598 Post edited:
Sefaria's spelling
over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276598 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question Who protected the women and children of Reuven, Gad, and 1/2 Menashe during the conquest?
The conquest of the land described in the book of Yehoshua took seven years (Arakhin 13a).[^1] It is only at the end of the conquest that Yehoshua dismisses the "shock troops". We know from Yehoshua 1:14 that "all the mighty men of valor" from the tribes of Reuven, Gad, and 1/2 of Menashe led the ...
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276596 Post edited:
changed spelling to trigger Sefaria linker
over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276591 When citing sources please do it in an appropriate fashion, yes. Another part of the question is whether (and if so when) we require people to source answers.
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276532 Post edited:
slightly earlier date suggested in comment, so we have time to discuss rule changes
over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276533 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Answer A: Categories - Divrei Torah, Purim Torah
Divrei Torah One of the things I've picked up in my time with various online communities is that giving people multiple modes of engagement strengthens community connections. It's why SE chat helps communities connect even though SE treats chat as "other space" that isn't well-integrated. It's w...
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276532 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Answer A: Categories - Divrei Torah, Purim Torah
Defer Purim Torah This community is just getting started, its scope boundaries are not entirely set, and people are still gathering. Opinions on Purim Torah are mixed, but I don't think we need to decide now. If we have Purim Torah, we should kick it off in season, even if we decide to allow it ...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276450 I haven't read the code, but since it's JS on our side, I imagine that when the script is invoked -- i.e. when somebody views a page with a link -- they could update references at their end. It's not immediate, apparently; the link from this question doesn't show us yet.
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276377 Wow, thanks! That was much faster than I expected.
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276446 Oh, interesting! Since the starter is much smaller than the dough for even a single loaf, it wouldn't have occurred to me that it, too, might require taking *challah*.
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276444 Post edited:
This is an issue for a particular type of bread, which I meant to call out in the title.
over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276444 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question For taking challah, (how) do you account for the flour in sourdough starter?
I understand that one should take challah when baking bread made with at least 10 cups of flour. (That article says 14 for saying the b'racha but down to 10 for taking at all.) How does this requirement interact with sourdough starter? A sourdough starter is a fermented mixture of flour and wate...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276424 @AA understood. I just wanted to clarify what we *intended* for categories, for context. That doesn't limit how communities use them, of course.
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276424 We envisioned categories (for Q&A) for where the scope and/or expectations of posts are different somehow. Meta isn't about the topic of the site but about the site itself; that's a scope difference. On [Scientific Speculation](https://scientific-speculation.codidact.com/) Rigorous Science category, ...
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276440 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Answer A: What is the purpose of comments?
Comments are meant for requesting more information or clarification, pointing out issues to be addressed in an edit, and other things that lead to improving the post they're attached to. As we've seen on pretty much any web site that enables comments, though, what designers intend and what users act...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276422 @msh210 that's a good point. Would you be willing to write up a feature request on [Meta](https://meta.codidact.com/) for better tracking (and increased visibility)? Thanks.
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276429 Post edited:
over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276429 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Answer A: What types of pages are available?
Currently there are two top-level post types, Question and Article. Questions can have answers; articles cannot. Questions, articles, and answers all accept comments and can be voted on. You can see examples of articles on Cooking's Recipes category and on the Meta Blog. No live site is doing...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276425 This makes a lot of sense to me, now that you've explained it like that.
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276385 @DonielF possible, though I worry about crossovers. On MY I once asked a question (and was shouted down until I deleted it) that I *thought* was general and turned out to be specific to Conservative. Another time I asked a question based on Conservative experience and found out everyone does that. ...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276364 @AA double voting might be more of a nuisance, but I think the other issue I raised there is more important. It feels a little odd for votes from *outside* the current community to overwhelm ones from *within* it. (This was a problem on SE with migrations, too.) We do preserve the imported votes i...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276407 I'd say go ahead and ship that and if the community comes up with a revised version, we can add it in. (Heck, I'll even do it if you like to save you the extra work. :-) )
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276422 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Answer A: Dictionary/Encyclopedia of Terms
A wiki with a dictionary of terms sounds like a great idea. Here are some thoughts on how we could implement it. It partly depends on being able to use in-page anchors (so you could link to a specific part of a page); that appears to be possible if one uses HTML for those links (and anchors) instea...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276364 @DonielF Jin's beautiful logo is owned by Stack Exchange. The status of tag wikis is unclear to me. We can definitely import questions and answers (from main and meta), and people can copy their own work without anybody's special permission.
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276412 I would like to bring my existing non-bad content too. I re-asked a couple questions that were unanswered there, just to test the waters here a bit, but I wouldn't want to do a lot of that. And that only covers a small portion of my questions and none of my answers.
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276364 @IsaacMoses we're using CommonMark, one of the many dialects of Markdown. We have some [formatting help](https://judaism.codidact.com/help/formatting).
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276364 Post edited:
added info about legality and implementation of imports
over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276364 @dfilreis under the terms of the Creative Commons license we can import any questions and answers we like, so long as we attribute and link them. I'll edit the question to explain.
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276364 @rosends I don't think we want link-only answers here, so we should either import it or quote and cite it the same way we would for any other source that an answer uses.
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276409 I'm not familiar with this practice. Is the first in place of opening the hand at פּותֵחַ אֶת יָדֶךָ, or in addition?
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276362 @Aliza the plan for search is that you search in the current category by default and can check off a "search all categories" box. We don't have that yet. Currently search is global and each result shows which category it's from.
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276362 @msh210 categories and post types are orthogonal. We can create a Purim Torah category that supports both Q&A and articles. (The "create post" page has a selector for post type in that case.)
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276392 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question Can a woman blow the shofar during Elul for herself? Can anyone?
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? For that matter, can anyone fulfill the obligation by personally blowing, or do you need to hear someone e...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276385 [This answer on the proposal that led to this site](https://meta.codidact.com/questions/276280#answer-276291) proposes a broader scope and has strong support. We'll need to work this out on our meta now that we have one.
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276353 Post edited over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276353 Post edited over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276383 This is a question not a proposal, so I interpret upvotes to mean "this is a good question" and not "we should include this in our scope" (and I would not interpret downvotes as "we should not include"). To express opinions on the scope question, please write answers. :-)
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276379 I agree with Isaac. I'm imagining search rewriting the search query to expand children, so if you search on [a] [b] and [b] has children [c] and [d], the actual search would be [a] [b] [c] [d]. When considering adding a tag to the list via hierarchy expansion, if it's already there we stop process...
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276375 Post edited:
clarified "interaction" per request in comment
over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276379 Oh good point; loops could happen and we'd want to handle or prevent that.
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276379 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Answer A: ISO: hierarchical tags
Let's check some functional requirements. :-) I'm envisioning tag hierarchies as an overlay, thus: - All tags would remain in the tag set and could be individually chosen (i.e. both leaf and non-leaf nodes are available as tags on posts). - Tags could be designated as children of other tag...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276371 @Dani hmm, looks like it should have. Did this one ping you?
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276375 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question What are the issues in talking into a mic that was accidentally turned on on Shabbat?
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 permitting this for this specific situation (because of its wide-ranging impact) and on the condition t...
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276368 Post edited:
jargon
over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276373 I asked this on Mi Yodeya and didn't get an answer, though I got a comment that led to a partial answer, which I've added here. I would still welcome a fuller answer.
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276374 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Answer A: Does a husband have to maintain his wife's bondwomen?
I previously asked this question on Mi Yodeya and while I didn't get a full answer, I received a hint in a comment and will expand it here. The Rambam in Hilchot Avadim 9:7 writes: > A master may tell his Canaanite slave: "Work for me, but I will not provide you with sustenance," and the slave ...
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276373 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question Does a husband have to maintain his wife's bondwomen?
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 (into the marriage?) that exempts her from certain of the chores, and if she brings a second then she's e...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276372 Reposting my unanswered question from Mi Yodeya.
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276372 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question How did accidental killers sustain themselves while living in the cities of refuge?
An accidental killer flees to one of the cities of refuge for an indeterminate time (until the death of the kohein gadol, or even longer if the timing is unfortunate). The cities of refuge are cities given to the Levites in place of the land that other tribes get. There's a dispute in Makkot 2:8 ab...
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over 2 years ago
Comment Post #276371 To create the tag for the question I just asked I went to the post where I could use the Hebrew keyboard, constructed the tag name I wanted, and then cut/pasted it into the tags field. That's a little hacky, and it means I didn't get benefit of matching on tag names, so it might lead to tag clutter ...
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276369 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question What language(s) should we use for tags?
Here on Codidact tag names can include Hebrew. In the interest of inclusivity I created a bilingual tag for a question I just asked (and asked someone else to do the same). Questions we import from Mi Yodeya will of course come with only English tag names. And not everybody who asks a question is ...
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276368 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question What specific action fulfills the commandment to write a sefer torah?
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 writing of one fulfills the obligation -- we don't each have to write our own complete scroll. I understand...
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276366 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question What should our short description and Q&A description say?
On the list of Codidact sites, each community has a short description, such as: > Cooking: > Our community for people interested in cooking and questions about it - methods, processes, recipes, tips, and recommendations. > > Electrical Engineering: > Our community for professionals, hobbyi...
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276364 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question What content do we want to import from Mi Yodeya?
We can import questions and answers from Mi Yodeya.[^1] You might have noticed that we imported two already, the ones needed by our "not professional advice" notice. What else to import is up to the community. The earliest Codidact communities (Writing and Outdoors) did bulk imports, excluding o...
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over 2 years ago
Edit Post #276363 Initial revision over 2 years ago
Question Welcome to Judaism!
Welcome to the Codidact site for Judaism! We're glad you're here and we're excited to see what you will build. This community is initially starting "from scratch", without importing Q&A from other sites; we can import posts from Mi Yodeya pending the outcome of community discussion here on Meta. P...
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over 2 years ago
Question Shalom Aleichem -- "shuvchem" instead of "tzeitchem"?
I've heard a setting (by Debbie Friedman) of the song "Shalom Aleichem" that, in the last verse, says "shuvchem" instead of "tzeitchem" (recording, mixed group of singers). A rabbi who knew her told me that the change is so, instead of asking the malachim to leave as soon as they show up, we instead...
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almost 7 years ago
Answer A: I am not Jewish but would like to visit a MO synagogue to pray occasionally on Shabbat. What is the best course?
I'm not widely traveled, but I've been to a bunch of different synagogues of all the major flavors, often as one-offs, including C and MO, so I'm answering on the basis of that experience. First visit You can just show up. Many of the factors that affect you are the same between Conservative and M...
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over 9 years ago
Answer A: Plants before the Sun in the Order of Creation
First, it may not be valid to assume that creation was bound by the laws of science as we now understand them. Why should we assume that the very first plants grew by photosynthesis in the same way that plants do now? Or if we do, why not assume that the primordial light created on the first day wa...
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over 9 years ago
Answer A: Is the observance of Jewish law/tradition "all or nothing"?
It's not either/or but "both, and". Judaism has a system of rules, halacha, by which we are to live our lives. Halacha is not negotiable, so that might sound like "all or nothing". Instead, think of it as what you aspire to, even if it's not what you currently do. Halacha calls on you to do all t...
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almost 10 years ago
Answer A: Is the observance of Jewish law/tradition "all or nothing"?
It's not either/or but "both, and". Judaism has a system of rules, halacha, by which we are to live our lives. Halacha is not negotiable, so that might sound like "all or nothing". Instead, think of it as what you aspire to, even if it's not what you currently do. Halacha calls on you to do all t...
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almost 10 years ago