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Welcome to the Judaism community on Codidact!

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

Activity for manassehkatz‭

Type On... Excerpt Status Date
Answer A: Can one fulfill the obligation of megillah on Purim via Zoom?
The first statement matches what I have heard this year from numerous sources, both Ashkenazi and Sephardi. I have heard a number of the items below from Rabbi Dovid Rosenbaum of Young Israel Shomrai Emunah. Any discrepancies from his actual Psak are my own fault. And of course, CYLOR. In my Ra...
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almost 4 years ago
Comment Post #280816 (2) sorry, I couldn't think of any liturgy - probably some appropriate Tehillim, but no time to figure that out right now, so this was just in the nature of "or other important ones that I inadvertently missed"; (3) that was just a deliberate pun (I thought rather obviously) on the times we live in ...
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almost 4 years ago
Comment Post #280816 @msh210 (1) I deliberately avoided getting into all the gory details of what exactly happened around those days. Those who know the backstory with StackExchange already know. Those who don't can easily enough figure it out, but I didn't think it was really so nice to revisit all of that here & now;
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almost 4 years ago
Comment Post #280691 A wild guess, so just a comment: Perhaps the issue has to do with ברכות הנהנין‎ birkhot ha'nehenin vs. ברכות המצוות‎ birkhot hamitzvot and ברכות שבח והודאה‎ birkhot ha'shevach v'ha'hodaya. Perhaps for ברכות הנהנין which מוציא לחם is the only example here - that is *must* be "past tense" where with t...
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almost 4 years ago
Comment Post #280816 Downvoter care to explain? I thought everything here was in the spirit of Purim.
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almost 4 years ago
Edit Post #280816 Post edited:
almost 4 years ago
Edit Post #280816 Post edited:
almost 4 years ago
Edit Post #280816 Post edited:
almost 4 years ago
Edit Post #280816 Initial revision almost 4 years ago
Answer A: Codidact Holidays and Liturgy
Based on the statements of Ben Zoom-a, who received much כבוד Covid for teaching during the world-wide plague: As with Purim, a fast is required first. In this case, 3 Tishrei, as one of the key trigger events occurred right before Rosh Hashanah and was revealed to the world right after Rosh Hasha...
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almost 4 years ago
Comment Post #280786 @robev - Sorry, I should have clarified (not time to do big edits right now). There was huge debate in **non-Jewish** religious circles - i.e., different sects of Christianity debated when/where to make this change, as well as different nations, etc. The point is that it was a big controversy *elsewh...
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almost 4 years ago
Edit Post #280786 Initial revision almost 4 years ago
Answer A: (When) can halacha with a stated reason be revisited in light of new information?
Note: I have references for many of these things, but Friday morning stream-of-consciousness at the moment. References later if I get a chance. There are a lot of different issues here, though all generally related in the "How should/could/does Halachah change over time?" sense. Yom Tov Sheni ...
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almost 4 years ago
Comment Post #280575 I thought that playing music in Shul was forbidden because that was limited to the Beis Hamikdash, or to the time when there is a Beis Hamikdash - similar to other limitations on music (which vary quite a bit depending on who you ask...)
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almost 4 years ago
Comment Post #280559 I highly suspect that the item you described is for proselytizing to Jews. Is it *definite*? No. But between your statement that it came from a missionary and my general experience, and the majority of people who would read such a thing (i.e., fluent Hebrew speakers in Israel) are Jewish, it looks cl...
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almost 4 years ago
Edit Post #280559 Post edited:
almost 4 years ago
Edit Post #280559 Post edited:
almost 4 years ago
Edit Post #280559 Initial revision almost 4 years ago
Answer A: Disposing of a Christian bible written in Hebrew?
My understanding is that even an actual Sefer Torah - i.e., full text, written on parchment, etc. - written by an apostate (Jew or non-Jew with the "wrong" intentions) is not Sheimos. This would certainly include any printed Hebrew text that was printed by or on behalf of missionaries, so "given it b...
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almost 4 years ago
Comment Post #280509 A related question is: Do their normal practices put them in the category of Bnei Noach? That could have Halachic ramifications for permanent residence in Israel, though not in the current (and foreseeable future until Moshiach) State of Israel.
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almost 4 years ago
Comment Post #280480 On the other hand, within the scope of Torah, free speech - stating your opinion - seems to be a very valid thing. I can't remember the specifics at the moment, but there is at least one famous incident of an argument over Halachah that ends with a Bas Kol siding with the outvoted Rabbi (essentially)...
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almost 4 years ago
Comment Post #280448 acrostic meanings, explanation of themes, etc.), links to online resources (lyrics, translations, Divrei Torah, music, video), etc.
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almost 4 years ago
Comment Post #280448 One person's "standard" may be unknown to someone else, depending on what Bentcher they use, where their family is from, etc. A twist on this which might make it really helpful to people would be to start a **List of Zemiros** and (with help from everyone else) expand to include things like: Name, au...
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almost 4 years ago
Comment Post #280261 and then you have a real issue (on Shabbos). On the other hand, a hot plate or blech at 180 F is not a problem if the food is already cooked (or liquid already heated) - maintaining heat is different from cooking.
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almost 4 years ago
Comment Post #280261 Generally speaking, the key level of heat is "Yad Soledes Bo". A quick search (not definitive) shows a range of 110 F to 160 F. Meaning that if a temperature is below 110 F then there is no issue of cooking, at all. And if a food is fully cooked and warmed to > 160 F before Shabbos then there is no i...
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almost 4 years ago
Comment Post #280252 I wrote up some basics. If someone comes up with a better referenced answer, that's fine with me - no time to finish it right now.
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almost 4 years ago
Edit Post #280261 Initial revision almost 4 years ago
Answer A: What exactly is "cooking"?
Generally speaking, cooking - including Bishul but also Afiah (baking) and other variants - is about "improving food through the application of heat". The key words include: Improving - e.g., if a food is fully cooked and then gets burnt/overcooked, that is not intrinsically Bishul Food - it ge...
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almost 4 years ago
Edit Post #276922 Post edited:
almost 4 years ago
Edit Post #276921 Post edited:
Change Rambam reference to (hopefully) hit the Sefaria linker
almost 4 years ago
Comment Post #279781 "it remained lit the entire evening"? I thought the Nes was "the entire day" - i.e., the Menorah was normally lit with enough oil to burn 24 hours. We think of "all night" in normal candle usage, but in the Beis Hamikdash the Menorah was 24/7, except for cleaning time (and even then, I think one flam...
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about 4 years ago
Comment Post #279781 Just to clarify for anyone out there who is new to this and might be confused: This question **only** applies in the Beis Hamikdash (Temple). In the celebration of Chanukah, the requirement is for 30 minutes past Tzais Hacochavim (same time as end of Shabbos). No bonus points for lights that burn for...
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about 4 years ago
Comment Post #279757 As far as finding ashes of red heifer (not making a new one - that was extremely rare), presumably those were kept in a special place *outside* the Temple and retrieved as needed. As opposed to oil which was a commodity used daily and logically kept inside the Temple where needed (and therefore taken...
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about 4 years ago
Comment Post #279757 I remember the same story: 7 days to travel and get new oil. No sources, so just comment and not an answer: If *everyone* (or majority) is Tamei then there are exemptions - which would apply to making oil as much as lighting the Menorah, but since there was at least one Tahor Cohen to light the Meno...
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about 4 years ago
Edit Post #279752 Post edited:
about 4 years ago
Edit Post #279752 Initial revision about 4 years ago
Answer A: Why did Yaakov propose his payment scheme?
Yaakov didn't come up with the scheme on his own. If he had done so, it would have required relying on a miracle without any expectation of one - he would have been better off working for "normal" wages. Rather, he had a prophetic dream first, as recounted in Genesis 31:10. He only tells the story...
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about 4 years ago
Comment Post #278662 It is useful. It fits "Judaism Codidact". It just doesn't fit "Divrei Torah".
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about 4 years ago
Comment Post #278662 This is a useful piece of information, but I don't think it qualifies as a full-fledged Dvar Torah. If you flesh this out with the derivations of the various dates, a discussion of different opinions regarding the dates, etc., that would be different.
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about 4 years ago
Comment Post #278521 On the Sukkos/Water/Chanukah/Oil: Any way to connect that to the count-down for Sukkos (Korbanos) vs. count-up for Chanukah (days of miracle of the Menorah/Oil)?
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about 4 years ago
Comment Post #278479 also without the normal "Bimkom Cohen" because this is *not* a substitution in the normal sense. Strange times.
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about 4 years ago
Comment Post #278479 exception, though even then in normal times my Shul makes an effort to distribute Cohanim & Leviim so that the usual rules are followed until they can't be. This year - Baal Koreh gets *everything*. I was thrilled to actually call up a Cohen last week (the other Menashe Katz - he is a Cohen, I am not...
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about 4 years ago
Comment Post #278479 In *normal* times, it is pretty strict: 1 = Cohen, if no Cohen then Gabbai's choice (really!) Levi or Yisrael; 2 = Levi unless (a) no Cohen - then Yisrael, (b) Cohen but no Levi - then the *same* Cohen (because a Cohen is a subset of Levi; but can't do a different Cohen because that would imply the f...
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about 4 years ago
Comment Post #278186 The style may be a bit different, but the technical structure is, I think, essentially the same: A bunch of posts with links between them. The difference with a Wiki that comes to mind is having an overall index that is more than "just a list of posts". But otherwise much the same.
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about 4 years ago
Comment Post #278186 These bidirectional links sound like the beginnings of a Wiki.
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about 4 years ago
Comment Post #278167 New requirement. You can only use a Hebrew username if it is a palindrome like דוד גוֹג ישי‎ and doesn't end in ךףץןם. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Hebrew_palindromes
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about 4 years ago
Comment Post #278148 @DonielF I know there are probably different opinions on every piece of this. But it is a starting point until someone is able to write a more comprehensive answer.
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about 4 years ago
Edit Post #278148 Post edited:
about 4 years ago
Edit Post #278148 Initial revision about 4 years ago
Answer A: What does a beginning shofar blower need to know to correctly make the sounds?
My Rabbi approved the following post: https://wp.yise.org/shofar/ which includes some basic Halachos and a short video by Craig Simon. Craig blew all over the neighborhood today (as did others - there were more than 40 "not during Davening" shofar blowings in the neighborhood!), including aroun...
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about 4 years ago