Most Popular
1500 questions
16
votes
1 answer
Time for morning prayer when flying over Greenland and seeing the sun rise twice
Last year I flew from Tel Aviv to Los Angeles. The flight leaves at night (1am) and, in the winter, lands when it is still night (630am). However during the flight, over Greenland, one sees the sun then it disappears somewhere over Canada and it is…
mbloch
- 51,726
- 9
- 92
- 240
16
votes
2 answers
Netilas Yadayim with automatic sinks
It seems there is precedent to allow for netilas yadayim when you don't have a cup, by turning the sink on and off for each rivi'is per hand. By employing this method you satisfy the requirement of koach gavra.
What about a situation where the…
Y. Isseroff
- 810
- 5
- 12
16
votes
7 answers
Am I a body with a soul or a soul with a body?
I've always thought that our true essence, who we actually are, our personalities are our souls. To me, bodies are just temporary "homes" for the soul. My body can perish, but my soul will continue with its path. And I've always thought this is what…
Gabriel12
- 4,636
- 1
- 16
- 41
16
votes
3 answers
Did Rambam have Rashi's works?
While the Rambam lived a century after Rashi, I cannot recall ever seeing or hearing the Rambam cite or mention Rashi or any of his works.
Is there any evidence that Rambam had access to Rashi's works? Did Rashi's works even reach the lands in which…
Y. Isseroff
- 810
- 5
- 12
16
votes
2 answers
What is Lubavitch Shechita?
I was recently told about a Lubavitch family who only eats Lubavitch shechita.
What is unique about Lubavitch shechita? Are there particular opinions which they are stringent for that no one else is? Or is it just ethnocentric?
Y e z
- 58,536
- 3
- 109
- 249
16
votes
1 answer
Are there any contemporary "Gedolim" that prohibit the use of davening from a smart phone?
It took me a long time to upgrade my technology, but I admit that lately, I have been using my smart phone during davening.
My rav doesn't object, but some of my friends told me that it's prohibited or not recommended. Though, when asked, they…
DanF
- 70,416
- 8
- 59
- 244
16
votes
3 answers
How is it that the Talmud can make historical mistakes?
A Rav told me that when it comes to science and nature, the Talmud can say incorrect things (i.e. about animals, cosmology) because they were going by the Greeks and Romans. (Where he gets permission to say what details in the Talmud we can reject…
Aaliyah
- 1,434
- 1
- 10
- 23
16
votes
2 answers
If the lulav and etrog are biblically mandated, how were people in cold climates able to obtain them before modern times?
The use of the 4 species in the lulav and etrog is biblically mandated. Therefore, when Jews left Israel and moved to cold climates such as northern and eastern Europe, they would have needed to adapt. How were they able to obtain the 4 species…
La-comadreja
- 263
- 1
- 7
16
votes
4 answers
Mi Yodeya and Teaching Non-Jews
There is an established halachic principle that we do not explicitly teach Torah to non-Jews. Though the exact parameters of this law is debated, the principle issur itself isn't.
According to some shittah's, you cannot teach them any…
Isaac Kotlicky
- 5,124
- 13
- 34
16
votes
3 answers
Why do we avoid inviting people to a b'rit milah specifically, and not other celebrations too?
I have learned, and seen in practice, that we don't invite people to a b'rit milah directly but rather just announce a date and place. The reason, according to this answer citing Rema Yoreh Deah 265:12, is that it would be bad to decline an…
Monica Cellio
- 56,645
- 10
- 113
- 348
16
votes
4 answers
maftir: an honor?
A bar mitzva or bridegroom is usually (in congregations I'm familiar with, or, at least, Ashkenazic ones) given maftir. Why is this, considering that it's the lowliest of all the aliyos (e.g.)? (The question is made even stronger by the fact that a…
msh210
- 73,729
- 12
- 120
- 359
16
votes
2 answers
Transgender erva
Men's Health magazine has been in the news lately because of a contest in which people can vote on who will be on the magazine's cover. Currently leading in the voting is a transgender person who was assumed to be of female gender at birth, but has…
Daniel
- 24,888
- 3
- 48
- 148
16
votes
4 answers
Is there a place for the documentary-hypothesis in observant Judaism?
The documentary-hypothesis implies that Moses wasn't the writer of the Torah verbatim, but he could have transmitted it before it was written down. Evidence in the text shows several sources and that is was written down after Moses (i.e. Bereshis…
Ronen
- 389
- 1
- 6
16
votes
2 answers
What happened to the Erev Rav (Mixed Multitude)?
When the people of Israel left Egypt they did not leave alone. They left with a mixed multitude of many people (Exodus 12:38). What happened to the mixed multitude in the desert and, specifically, after the giving of the Torah? We hear of all the…
Yehuda W
- 8,153
- 1
- 18
- 47
16
votes
6 answers
Who is this Lamar?
I recently wished the Bam community a happy Rosh Chodesh, and Isaac responded (or at least attempted to respond - he seemed to have begun his Purim festivities early) with:
וכן למר
Also Lamar!
I get this a lot. For some reason, this Lamar fellow…
Y e z
- 58,536
- 3
- 109
- 249