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1500 questions
23
votes
1 answer
Who is Moshiach?
How do I know that someone is Moshiach? Will I just know? Are there requirements? If someone tells me that he is the Moshiach, is he to be believed. It would seem seem strange to say so.
Yosef Cohen
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Why do we bow down in the direction of the ark?
This is a question I've had for many years, to which I've never received a satisfactory answer:
In Hebrew school, we were taught that idolaters bowed to a idol of their god. They would claim that the idol itself wasn't thought to be physically…
Goodbye Stack Exchange
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votes
2 answers
Why does the Hebrew alphabet not have letters representing vowels?
The Hebrew alphabet is actually an abjad rather than a "true" Western-style alphabet, in that every letter represents a consonant, and vowels, if they're indicated at all, require diacritics.
This leads to uncertainties in how to pronounce words.…
Alex
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23
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7 answers
Have Jews believed that Ezra was the son of God?
In reading the Qur'an, I noticed this passage:
Qur'an 9:30 The Jews say, "Ezra is the son of Allah "; and the Christians say, "The Messiah is the son of Allah ." That is their statement from their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who…
StackExchange saddens dancek
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22
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4 answers
Does a Food Mashgiach have to Sacrifice his Life?
Suppose a Mashgiach of a food establishment is threatened to "keep quiet" about some of the questionable behaviors [for purposes of the question, consider both actual non-kosher, and possibly non-kosher practices] going on in the establishment he's…
yydl
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22
votes
4 answers
Going from an nonreligious reform Jew to a religious one?
I turned sixteen a couple of weeks ago and the real world is starting to open up to me. My father is a Christian, but my mother is Jewish which makes myself and my siblings Jewish. We went to synagogue sometimes when I was a lot younger and we…
user17565
22
votes
11 answers
How does "eilu v'eilu" work out with an absolute truth?
I'm under the impression that religious Judaism believes in absolute truths. That being the case, how does the concept of "eilu v'eilu divrei elokim chaim" (Eruvin 13b) work out? When two scholars argue, how can they both be right?
Moshe
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22
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5 answers
Is using a (non-touch-screen) Kindle on Shabbat permitted?
A Kindle is an e-book reader that uses "e-ink" rather than an LCD screen. It has physical controls to turn pages. (This question is not about the newer ones with touch screens.) If left unused it enters a sleep mode, and you can return to reading…
Monica Cellio
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22
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Answering Atheist about Torah miracles
How do we explain our belief in the story of Yonah living in a Fish, the Splitting of a sea, and all the other fantastic Miracles described in the Torah to a person who was not brought up religious; and maybe in fact does not believe in religion…
simchashatorah
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22
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5 answers
Did courts ever execute?
The laws of capital crimes elucidated in Sanhedrin and elsewhere make conviction very unlikely. Makkot 1:10 famously tells us that a court that executes once in seven years is considered "destructive", R. Eliezer b. Azariah ups this to once in…
Monica Cellio
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22
votes
7 answers
Is there "Torah Inerrancy"?
Is there Torah inerrancy?
In other words, does the Torah contain no factual errors: the Noah flood did occur, Garden of Eden did exist, Adam and Eve did live there and were subsequently expelled, etc etc?
Graviton
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22
votes
6 answers
Why do fish die?
In Parshas Bereishis (Genesis 3:6), there's an interesting comment by Rashi.
The Torah says:
וַתֵּ֣רֶא הָֽאִשָּׁ֡ה
כִּ֣י טוֹב֩ הָעֵ֨ץ לְמַאֲכָ֜ל וְכִ֧י תַֽאֲוָה־ה֣וּא לָעֵינַ֗יִם
וְנֶחְמָ֤ד הָעֵץ֙ לְהַשְׂכִּ֔יל וַתִּקַּ֥ח מִפִּרְי֖וֹ…
robev
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22
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4 answers
heresy on Purim
On Purim we're supposed to engage in מִשְׁלוֹחַ מִנוּת, the sending of heresy to our fellow Jews. What are some pieces of heretical literature that are appropriate for sending on Purim? Or ones you'd like to receive?
This question is Purim Torah…
msh210
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1 answer
Which sections of Igros Moshe are in which volumes?
In Igros Moshe, the classic compilation of responsa by R' Moshe Feinstein, each of the published volumes contains one or more collections of numbered responsa, each concerning a specific area of Jewish law (generally, one of the four turim of…
Isaac Moses
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Downvoting someone you don't know
Onaat devarim is a biblical prohibition to commit verbal abuse (Bava Metzia 58b based on Vayikra 25:17 "וְלֹא תוֹנוּ אִישׁ אֶת עֲמִיתוֹ וְיָרֵאתָ מֵאֱלֹקיךָ כִּי אֲנִי ה' אֱלֹקיכֶם", "one shall not aggrieve his fellow, and you shall fear your G-d,…
Loewian
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