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18
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4 answers
Why is milk with meat not kosher?
I've recently read (again) the verse "לא תבשל גדי בחלב אמו", meaning, "Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk".
How did anyone get from that, to "Don't eat meat with milk at all"?
Madara's Ghost
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Starbucks VIA on shabbat
Someone recently mentioned in a conversation about making/ not making tea on shabbat with a tea bag, that the Starbucks VIA coffee is micro-ground vs how ever regular instant coffee is made and that making micro-ground coffee is actually like making…
MEG
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Why do Sifrei Emes use different taamim?
I know that the Sifrei Emes (Tehillim, Mishlei, Iyov) use a different system of taamim. Why is this?
What is it about these books that makes it that they cannot — or should not — use the regular system? (Or, for that matter, what is it about all…
jake
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Are there any halachic authorities which relate to the non-mechitza, pre-1967 prayers which were held at the Kotel?
There are various pictures pre-dating the 1967 Six Day War, available on the Internet and in various scholarly sources, clearly showing free mixing among the genders at the Kotel (Western Wall) in the midst of prayers without any mechitza. (It's…
ChaimKut
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What was the Arov?
The fourth plague is Arov commonly translated as wild beasts.
The word I think most literally translates to "a collection" or in this case, maybe along the lines of "a swarm" (consider the word "eiruv" from "to mix up" the reshuyot [domains] in a…
Double AA
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Would a non-Jew wearing the Star of David together with a cross be offensive?
I am not Jewish, although I come from a Jewish heritage. My great-grandmother was Jewish. I have, since childhood, found the religion fascinating, even though my belief in Jesus has firmly placed me in the Christian camp.
However; I recently…
DataGirl
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Is Shadal a mainstream commentary?
Shadal (Shmuel David Luzzatto) wrote, among many other things, a commentary to the Torah.
I do not know very much about the style and approach of his commentary, but strangely, I've actually never heard of him until fairly recently. I've never seen…
jake
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18
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5 answers
Saying "Laberiut" "God bless you" or "Gesundheit"
Is there are source for saying "Laberiut" "God bless you" "Gesundheit" or any other response to a sneeze? In other words, are there posekim who mention it in Halacha?
Hacham Gabriel
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Why do people feel that there is a NEED to wear tzitzit?
There is a law in the torah (and the meforshiim afterwards) to attach tzitzit to all four cornered garments that you will wear.
Ok. I understand that.
But where did it come to pass that some people say one is required to wear tzitzit?
If I am not…
Naftali
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18
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Why is Rosh Chodesh sometimes TWO days?
Why for certain months of the year do we celebrate the festival of Rosh Chodesh for two days while on other Roshei Chadashim we have one day of Rosh Chodesh?
simchastorah
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18
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How and when does a prophet know that it's God who's speaking to him?
When God addressed Moshe there was an accompanying miracle (and there's midrash about Avraham's case being special too), so it was pretty clear what was happening, but how did the other prophets come to know that it was God who was speaking to them…
Monica Cellio
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18
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What else could have come out of Yiftach's house?
Judges chapter 11 tells of the vow that Yiftach makes to God -- if he is successful in battle he will offer up to God the first thing that comes out of the door of his house to greet him. As we know, this ends badly for his family.
I assume that…
Monica Cellio
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Why didn't Abraham ask the single best question?
Genesis 18:24ff:
And Abraham... said: Will You [God] also cause to perish the righteous one with the wicked one? ...Will You not spare the place for the sake of [say] 50 righteous ones in its midst? ... [Or 45? 40? 30? 20? 10?]
God may even…
Maurice Mizrahi
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18
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According to Halacha, may we endanger many Jewish lives in order to definitely save one Jew?
For example, what does Halacha say about the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange?
"Save" means "free from captivity," although in many cases it's the same thing as saving his\her life (e.g. if we didn't save him\her, (s)he'd die because of the bad prison…
Shmuel
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Why are there two different forms of the mitzvah brachot ("l-" and "al")?
Some mitzvah brachot are of the form ...vitzivanu "l'X" ("to X", infinitive verb), and others are of the form "al X" ("upon X", gerundive verb). I particularly noticed this during Sukkot with two similar ones in proximity; it's "likro et hahallel"…
Monica Cellio
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