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Why did the ignorant rabbis have to convert to Judaism?
Esther 9:17 says:
ורבים מעמי הארץ מתיהדים
"The ignorant rabbis became Jewish"
I thought rabbis are already Jewish, even if they are ignorant! Why did they have to convert?
This question is Purim Torah and is not intended to be taken completely…
DanF
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PTIJ: Perl Programming in the Torah
According to Rav xkcd (an oft quoted authority in Bam), the universe was written in perl. Since the Torah is the blueprint of creation, it follows that it must contain a Perl Programming manual. Where is it?
This question is Purim Torah and is not…
Yishai
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"Siri, sing to me" - Kol Isha?
As i say in this Purim Torah answer, we can't use smartphones because "The vaad found out that Siri's not a guy". (From the song Hang Up the Payphone by A.K.A Pella.)
However, that inspired a Siri-ous (groan) question.
According to answers to Are…
Scimonster
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5 answers
What is the source that forbids indecent dress by women?
I have been hardpressed finding a source for something that would seem to be such a well known Halacha. I (and most other too probably) have been brought up with the belief that it is forbidden for a girl to walk around indecently. What that exactly…
Yehuda
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How do we know what the Chazzan should say aloud?
In many siddurim, the text indicates a position, toward the end of each normal paragraph of prayer, where the Chazzan is supposed to start reading aloud, so that everyone knows when it's time to go on to the next paragraph. Does anyone know where…
Isaac Moses
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15
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Why kiss the tefillin by "poseach es yadecha"?
As mentioned in this question, there is a fairly widespread custom to kiss the tefillin at certain times during Shacharis, among them the parts of קריאת שמע that mention tefillin.
One of these times (recorded in this answer to the above question) is…
MTL
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15
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What is the source not to eat the endpiece of the challah?
At the shabbos meal, why do some people (such as Yodeyan NBZ) not eat the end piece of the challah? Some people don't even just start at the middle, they avoid the end-piece altogether.
Eliyahu
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Why is every 3rd plague (of the 10 brought on Pharoah) unannounced?
It seems like Moshe warned Pharoah of every plague except the 3rd (lice), 6th (boils) and 9th (darkness). Why is that? Is there something special about these plagues?
DanF
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Why didn't the Israelites build Yechezkel's temple when they returned from exile?
G-d gave Yechezkel the blueprints for what is now known as the third temple. Later the Israelites returned from exile and built the second temple... according to the blueprints of the first one? Why?
Rashi says (commenting on Yechezkel 43:11):
They…
Mr. Bultitude
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How did Moshe know he was Jewish?
Shemot 2:11 says how Moshe went out to see the suffering of his people:
וַיְהִ֣י ׀ בַּיָּמִ֣ים הָהֵ֗ם וַיִּגְדַּ֤ל מֹשֶׁה֙ וַיֵּצֵ֣א אֶל־אֶחָ֔יו וַיַּ֖רְא בְּסִבְלֹתָ֑ם וַיַּרְא֙ אִ֣ישׁ מִצְרִ֔י מַכֶּ֥ה אִישׁ־עִבְרִ֖י מֵאֶחָֽיו׃
And it came to pass…
Scimonster
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15
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4 answers
Why did the Lubavitcher Rebbe give out dollars?
Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the late Rebbe of Lubavitch used to give out dollars to people who came to meet him. Why did he do this?
user6641
15
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1 answer
Is there a problem with saying "for Pete's sake"?
Is there a halachic issue with invoking the name "Peter," or, as is more commonly used, "oh, for Pete's sake!," which I assume is a reference to Saint Peter. Wikipedia agrees with this conjecture, albeit without a source; see also "Oh, for Pete's…
MTL
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3 answers
Why can men wear pants if pants are immodest?
I have a question from another post here.
If pants are considered to be immodest garments in general, aside from the issue of them being a male garment, why are they permissible for men to wear? Are they considered immodest just for women? Why?…
יוחנן-John
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6 answers
Just how overpriced was Efron's burial cave anyway?
In B'reishit 23 Avraham pays 400 shekels to Efron for the cave of Machpelah. This seems to be an enormous amount of money and Rashi suggests it's even worse than it appears (referring to larger versus smaller shekels, whatever that means).
For…
Monica Cellio
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Why is Hebrew Called "Jewish" in the Bible?
We see that in most of the Bible, the Jews are called "בני ישראל/Israelites"; only in later books are they called "יהודים/Jews" (e.g. Esther 2:5, Zechariah 8:23), after the loss of the 10 tribes. However, the only word appearing for the language of…
Yosef
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