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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 Mithical‭

Type On... Excerpt Status Date
Answer A: Halachically, what is bread?
This is directly addressed in the Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 168:6: > פת הבאה בכיסנין מברך עליו בורא מיני מזונות ולאחריו ברכה מעין שלש ואם אכל ממנו שיעור שאחרים רגילים לקבוע עליו אע"פ שהוא לא שבע ממנו מברך עליו המוציא וברכת המזון ואם מתחלה היה בדעתו לאכול ממנו מעט וברך בורא מיני מזונות ואחר כך א...
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7 months ago
Question Why do we skip certain words and pronounce words differently in Ruth?
While reading Megillat Ruth on Shavuot, I noticed that there were an unusually large number of words that were read differently than how they're written in the text. This includes outright omitting certain words, such as "אם" here: > וְעַתָּה כִּי אׇמְנָם כִּי (אם) גֹאֵל אָנֹכִי וְגַם יֵשׁ גֹּאֵל ...
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11 months ago
Question Whose minhag is S. Y. Agnon describing in the Shabbat lunch scene in "The Kerchief"?
In S. Y. Agnon's short story "The Kerchief", we're treated to this snippet of the narrator's Shabbat lunch traditions: > Father entered, said, "A Sabbath of peace and blessing," put his tallit on the bed, sat down at the head of the table, said "The Lord is my shepard, I shall not want," blessed t...
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11 months ago
Answer A: Why two types of maror?
This "extra maror" is known as "chazeret", and it's not always a different food than the maror; I've definitely seen instances where both the chazeret and the maror on the seder plate were lettuce. One reason for having two types of bitter herb is because the passuk (verse) about maror uses the pl...
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about 1 year ago
Question Why is the verse about old age specifically read aloud in Selichot?
During the Slichot that are said leading up the Yamim Noraim, there's a section where the Aron is opened and some verses are said, the first few responsively. These are said responsively: > שמע קולנו ה' אלוקינו חוס ורחם עלינו וקבל ברחמים וברצון את תפילתנו: > השיבנו ה' אליך ונשובה חדש ימינו כקדם...
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about 1 year ago
Question What is the status of my phone when using it as a siddur?
Occasionally, I find myself using my phone as a siddur (prayer book), particularly when davening (praying) at a Sephardi shul as an Ashkenazi. (They don't always have Ashkenazi siddurim so it's more convenient to just use an app on my phone.) Last week, when doing just that, I noticed that my shoe...
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about 1 year ago
Question What are the rules for mentioning my father when calling a family member up for an aliyah?
Occasionally, I have to act as gabbai for a small minyan, where other members of my family also daven. When calling up my father for an aliyah, I use the formulation "יעמוד, אבי מורי הרב..." (Rise, my father my teacher, the Rabbi...), as an honorific. However, I'm not currently aware of any specia...
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over 1 year ago
Answer A: Source of a tune
This is Lev Tahor's "Im Eshkayach", released in 2002 on their album Lev Tahor 2. You can listen to it on YouTube. The lyrics are the words to Im Eshkayach Yerushalayim,and it was composed by Rav Mordechai Twerski.
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over 1 year ago
Question What is the difference between "an utterance of our lips" and "speech"?
In the Viduy (confessions) that we say as part of the Yom Kippur prayers, there's a section where we list a whole bunch of sins, saying "Al chet..." (for the sin...) before each one. Two of the sections in the first third go like this: > על חטא שחטאנו לפניך בבלי דעת ועל חטא שחטאנו לפניך בבטוי ש...
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over 1 year ago
Answer A: Sentencing a defendant to death
Rabbi Chaim Jachter in his book Gray Matter 2 (available on Sefaria) brings several different authorities, presenting several different opinions: > Serving as a Lawyer or Juror > > Rav Ovadia Yosef (Teshuvot Yechaveh Daat 4:65) distinguishes between representing the plaintiff in Israeli civil ...
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over 1 year ago
Question When was "Melech Elyon" first truncated, and why?
During Rosh Hashana davening, there's a piyut (liturgical poem) that appears before Untaneh Tokef, that begins "מלך עליון" (Melech Elyon). The commentary by Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, in the Koren Rohr Family Rosh Hashana Machzor, says this: > מלך עליון The Supreme King. A glance at the first lett...
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over 1 year ago
Answer A: What does law say about vaccination?
While I am not Rabbi David Lau, and I can't speak exactly to the sources that he used to come to this conclusion, we do have some precedence for the halacha (Jewish law) being established according to what the current medical recommendations are. The G'mara (Kritot 13a) teaches us that if a pregna...
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about 2 years ago
Question Why does the Torah mention Yosef in relation to Menashe but not Ephraim in the story of the spies?
In the beginning of Parshat Sh'lach, when listing the spies from each tribe, the Torah gives Ephraim like every other tribe (Bamidbar 13:8): > למטה אפרים הושע בן-נון > > From the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun However, a few verses later (Bamidbar 13:11), when discussing Menashe, i...
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almost 3 years ago
Question Why do we remove wine from our cups at "דם ואש ותימרות עשן"?
During Maggid during the Pesach Seder, there is one point where we say > דם ואש ותימרות עשן > > Blood, fire, and columns of smoke (ArtScroll Machzor translation) This is a quote from Yoel 3:3. At this point, we remove some wine / grape juice from our cups, one for each phrase (at least...
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about 3 years ago
Question Omer counter now live on Judaism Codidact!
As of a few hours ago, an Omer counter is now live on Judaism Codidact! The counter appears on the right side of the site, and shows the Hebrew date, the day of the Omer, and the day of the week. It looks like this: Today is: 20th of Nisan, 5781 5th day of the Omer Thursday night (Friday) ...
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about 3 years ago
Question Are there any sources for counting Druze men as part of a Jewish minyan?
I was talking to a Druze friend of mine a couple weeks ago, and the topic turned to religion. My friend is fairly knowledgeable about a lot of religion-related things (including for the Druze religion, Judaism, and Islam), and to my surprise he told me that technically Druze men can count in a Jewish...
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over 3 years ago
Answer A: (How) does the home gardener tithe?
Any produce that hasn't had trumot and maasrot taken from it needs to have it taken before it can be eaten, once it's been brought inside. (If you're eating them straight from the plant as a snack, it's considered "achilat aray" and doesn't require tithing.) When taking trumot and maasrot, there a...
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over 3 years ago
Question What does אלוף mean in the context of Eisav's family tree?
When the Torah lists Eisav's family tree, it calls a lot of people "aluf" (often translated champion): > טו אלה אלופי בני עשו בני אליפז בכור עשו אלוף תימן אלוף אומר אלוף צפו אלוף קנז: טז אלוף קרח אלוף געתם אלוף עמלק אלה אלופי אליפז בארץ אדום אלה בני עדה: יז ואלה בני רעואל בן עשו אלוף נחת ...
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over 3 years ago
Question Why does the text in B'reishit refer to God in the plural?
Throughout Parshat B'reishit, Hashem (God) is referred to in the plural multiple times. This includes in B'reishit 1:26: > ויאמר אל-קים נעשה אדם בצלמנו כדמותנו... > > And God said: We will make a man in our form and our likeness... Or in 3:22: > ויאמר ה' אל-קים הן האדם היה כאחד ממנו ל...
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over 3 years ago
Answer A: Keyboard shortcuts
Update (luap42, 2021-08-16) This has been completed, see PR #508. I like this idea, so I've gone ahead and added it into the to-do list for the development team. (I've also added a [status-planned] tag.) Just to flesh this out a bit more, here are some shortcuts that I believe would be a go...
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over 3 years ago
Question What role does the Satan play in Jewish theology?
There are multiple references to the "Satan" in Jewish texts, most notably in the book of Eyov (Job), where God allows the Satan to devastate Eyov's life, including killing his family. We also have mentions in the G'mara, such as in Rosh Hashanah 16b, where one of the reasons for blowing the Shofa...
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over 3 years ago
Answer A: Give reasons for downvotes.
I'm sorry that you had a poor first experience here. Receiving downvotes is never pleasant. However, there are a few things in your post I'd like to address. Fundamentally, upvotes and downvotes are a way of determining a post's quality. It has nothing to do with the author. Of course, q...
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over 3 years ago
Answer A: Is there any davening unique to being said when alone?
The only thing that comes to mind is in K'riat Sh'ma - if an individual is praying alone, they add the three words "ק-ל מלך נאמן" beforehand. The reasoning for this is that when praying with a minyan, the last two words and the first word of the continuing - Hashem Elokeichem Emet - are repeated o...
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almost 4 years ago
Question Is it preferable to not say Mincha early on a fast day?
On a fast day during Shacharit (the morning prayer), individuals do not say עננו / Aneinu (a special fast-day prayer), in case they don't complete the fast, and instead say it during Mincha (the afternoon prayer).[^1] Personally, I tend to say Mincha rather early - opting for Mincha G'dolah (aroun...
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almost 4 years ago
Answer A: Points question
There was a bit of a troll incident last night who downvoted a lot of posts, causing some temporary reputation loss. While it was handled (thanks mostly to @ArtOfCode), it'll take some recalculating to get all of the scores back to normal and the team simply hasn't had a chance to do that yet. For...
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almost 4 years ago
Answer A: When is a source required? How should sources be quoted or linked?
How to reference I'm going to start off by quoting /help/referencing (disclaimer: I wrote it). > When you're referencing or quoting material that can be found online (such as Wikipedia or similar), please make sure to include a link. > [...] > When quoting from offline material, such as a...
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almost 4 years ago
Question I've already made a siyum on a work. Can I make a full siyum a second time?
As a personal example, I completed learning all of Shas Mishnayot (with the Kehati commentary) for my thirteenth birthday. At the time, I made a siyum; with the Hadran Alach, the special Kaddish, the works. I've been considering learning the whole thing again - to brush up on it and refresh my kno...
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almost 4 years ago