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1500 questions
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How can someone, halachically, do teshuva when s/he has offended an anonymous person on the internet?
Ramba"m among others, state that Yom Kippur does not atone for sins committed between a person and his neighbor until a person personally asks the other for forgiveness.
Mi Yodeya is an example of meeting people anonymously. With, perhaps, a few…
DanF
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status of owned land after Moshiach comes
what will be the status of owned property in Israel when Moshiach comes.
Will a person's apartment remain his? or perhaps the land will be redivided.
ray
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17
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Esav was coming with 400 men: why then
Why was Esav going toward Yaakov (Gen. 33:1, 32:7) if he had (27:41) planned to wait to kill him until Yitzchak was dead?
(Please cite your source, if any.)
msh210
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Having fun with telemarketers
Growing up, we had a separate home phone line that was listed in the phonebook and had a distinctive ring. So we knew when someone was calling us who had gotten our number out of the phonebook. This was most often telemarketers. So we would…
Y e z
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17
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4 answers
The practice of (not) printing pictures of women in magazines and newspapers under religious auspices
I was reading a My Encounter the other week (not available online) which had an interview with the editor of The Moshiach Times. In it he described how the practice of other religious magazines at the time (1980's) was to not include pictures of…
Yishai
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17
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2 answers
Why are challenges to respected rabbis not treated seriously?
Say someone disagrees with the Chazon Ish or has a problem with the Aruch HaShulchan in a particular halachic area. Sure, they're no gadol, and they might have not even learned an extensive volume of halacha, but the way their challenge is treated…
rosenjcb
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Angel in the womb for women?
The Talmud (Niddah 30b) teaches us that when a child is in the womb, an angel comes and teaches it the entire Torah, which he subsequently forgets.
The simple reading of the Gemara gives no reason to draw a distinction between male and female. …
Y e z
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17
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6 answers
Why don't we thank God for making us men/women?
In the brachos we say every morning, men thank God for "not making them a woman" (and women thank God for "creating them according to their needs").
Why don't both men and women just thank God for making them the gender that they are? Why do men…
WhoKnows
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Is flipping a coin following an omen?
If a person is deciding whether to do something and says "I'll flip a coin, heads I do it, tails I don't" does that fall under the prohibition of "don't divine with signs" in Vayikra 19?
please remove my account
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Voting for a person that will not uphold Torah values
It is well known that Rabbi Avigdor Miller Zatzal strongly condemned those that voted for candidates that would not uphold Torah values. Yet there were many Gedolim that had no problem voting for such candidates or endorsing them if they felt there…
Gershon Gold
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I am not Jewish but would like to visit a MO synagogue to pray occasionally on Shabbat. What is the best course?
I have studied Judaism for five years privately but also with the assistance of friends. There isn't a shul in the city where I live so most Shabbats I pray at home. Occasionally I have driven into a near by city about 35 minutes away to pray at a…
Hashamyim
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How does the kohein gadol's substitute wife work?
The first mishna of Yoma1 explains that before Yom Kippur, a substitute wife is prepared for the kohein gadol lest his wife die -- because the torah says he makes atonement for himself and "his house", and "his house" means his wife. But he has to…
Monica Cellio
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17
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4 answers
Minhag of married women shaving during marriage
The custom for married women to shave their heads is, evidently, a fairly widespread custom that exists at least amongst (certain) Hasidim. I have heard a variety of supposed, non-authoritative explanations for this practice, but, hitherto, I have…
The Lone Scribe of Volozhyn
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Why was the parah aduma found in 2002 disqualified?
In 2002, various news sources reported that a red heifer was found and the Temple Institute in Israel declared it kosher. Many of these sources later reported that the parah aduma was disqualified later that year, but I cannot find any information…
Daniel
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What's a good technique for a not-so-strong person to do [Ashkenazi] Hagbaha?
I've seen many people shy away when asked to do Hagbaha (הגבהה), thinking themselves too weak. I know for a fact that it doesn't take that much strength to do it correctly, so I'd love to see a writeup of proper technique.
See also the Sefaradi…
Isaac Moses
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