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Activity for Monica Cellio
Type | On... | Excerpt | Status | Date |
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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... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
Edit | Post #282418 | Initial revision | — | over 3 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... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
Edit | Post #276876 |
Post edited: |
— | over 3 years ago |
Edit | Post #282274 | Initial revision | — | over 3 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... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
Edit | Post #282207 | Initial revision | — | over 3 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... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
Edit | Post #282064 | Initial revision | — | over 3 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... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
Edit | Post #282062 | Initial revision | — | over 3 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... (more) |
— | over 3 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)? (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
Comment | Post #281785 |
@msh210 oh, one of the stones on the *choshen*? I didn't realize. (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
Edit | Post #281786 | Initial revision | — | over 3 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... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
Edit | Post #281785 |
Post edited: |
— | over 3 years ago |
Edit | Post #281785 |
Post edited: |
— | over 3 years ago |
Edit | Post #281785 | Initial revision | — | over 3 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... (more) |
— | over 3 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? (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
Edit | Post #281538 |
Post edited: clarification |
— | over 3 years ago |
Edit | Post #281538 | Initial revision | — | over 3 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... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
Edit | Post #281499 | Initial revision | — | over 3 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... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
Edit | Post #281451 | Initial revision | — | over 3 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... (more) |
— | over 3 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). (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
Comment | Post #281324 |
And it's Shabbat *Ha*Chodesh, too. (more) |
— | over 3 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... (more) |
— | over 3 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? (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
Edit | Post #281292 | Initial revision | — | over 3 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... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
Comment | Post #281266 |
Fixed now. Thanks Mith and luap! (more) |
— | over 3 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.) (more) |
— | over 3 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.) (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
Edit | Post #281230 |
Post edited: |
— | over 3 years ago |
Edit | Post #281230 |
Post edited: |
— | over 3 years ago |
Comment | Post #281230 |
@msh210 oh, thanks -- let me check more *haggadot*; maybe this is a local quirk. (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
Edit | Post #281230 | Initial revision | — | over 3 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... (more) |
— | over 3 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.) (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
Edit | Post #281205 | Initial revision | — | over 3 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... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
Edit | Post #281162 | Initial revision | — | over 3 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... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
Edit | Post #281143 | Initial revision | — | over 3 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... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
Edit | Post #281051 |
Post edited: fixed typo |
— | almost 4 years ago |