Q & A: Relative Sanctity of Various Holy Book (Part II)
Question: Is it prohibited to place a siddur or some other sefer on top of a Chumash?
Menachem Kooper
Via email
Q & A: Relative Sanctity of Various Holy Books (Part I)
Question: Is it prohibited to place a siddur or some other sefer on top of a Chumash?
Menachem Kooper
Via email
Q & A: Three Steps Back After Chazarat HaShatz?
Question: Why do we take three steps back at the conclusion of the Amidah, and yet the chazzan is not required to do so when he concludes the Repetition of the Amidah – Chazarat HaShatz?
Sam (Shnayur) Weiss
Via email
Q & A: When Did Ruth Convert?
Question: was Ruth converted before a beth din? Did she formally convert before she married Mahlon, or did she convert only before her marriage to Boaz? In general, what is the earliest reference to a formal conversion process?
Lazar Rozenblat
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Q & A: Staying Awake Shavuot Night
Question: Many people are accustomed to staying awake on Shavuot night and learn Torah. Is this recommended even at the expense of proper kavana during tefillah the next morning? Would it not be far better to get a good night’s rest and then learn with more fervor the next day?
No name please
Via e-mail
Q & A: Pirkei Avot Between Pesach and Shavuot (Conclusion)
Question:Is there a specific reason that the last chapter of Pirkei Avot is read on the Sabbath before Shavuot, or is this just a quirk of the calendar? Zvi Kirschner
Via Email
Q & A: Pirkei Avot Between Pesach and Shavuot (Part III)
Question:Is there a specific reason that the last chapter of Pirkei Avot is read on the Sabbath before Shavuot, or is this just a quirk of the calendar?
Zvi Kirschner
Via Email
Q & A: Pirkei Avot Between Pesach and Shavuot (Part II)
Question:Is there a specific reason that the last chapter of Pirkei Avot is read on the Sabbath before Shavuot, or is this just a quirk of the calendar?
Zvi Kirschner
Via Email
Avot Between Pesach and Shavuot (Part I)
Question:Is there a specific reason that the last chapter of Pirkei Avot is read on the Sabbath before Shavuot, or is this just a quirk of the calendar?
Zvi Kirschner
Via Email
Q & A: Why Don’t We Say “Al Achilat Matzah” Throughout Pesach? (Part II)
Question: Why don’t we say “Al achilat matzah” when we eat matzah during the remainder of Passover?
Moshe Jakobowitz
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Q & A: Why Don’t We Say “Al Achilat Matzah” Throughout Pesach? (Part I)
Question: I have noticed that when we eat the matzah at the Seder, we recite the blessing of “HaMotzi lechem min ha’aretz,” followed by “Al achilat matzah.” Why don’t we say “Al achilat matzah” when we eat matzah during the remainder of Passover?
Moshe Jakobowitz
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Q & A: Fulfilling the Seder Requirements
Question: I would like to know the minimal requirements of consumption and any possible leniencies or compensation for one who finds it difficult to eat matzah. Additionally, how absolute is the requirement not to eat anything after the afikoman?
Menachem
Via email
Q & A: Riding a Bicycle on Shabbat (Conclusion)
Question: Is it permitted to ride a bicycle on the Sabbath or holidays in an area that has an eruv?
No Name Please
Via email
Q & A: Riding a Bicycle on Shabbat (Part II)
Question: Is it permitted to ride a bicycle on the Sabbath or holidays in an area that has an eruv?
No Name Please
Via email
Q & A: Riding a Bicycle on Shabbat (Part I)
Question: Is it permitted to ride a bicycle on the Sabbath or holidays in an area that has an eruv?
No Name Please
Via email
Q & A: Fulfilling Matanot La’evyonim Properly
Question: To whom should one give matanot la’evyonim on Purim? Is there a minimal amount one is to give? Also, what about boys collecting for yeshivot or other institutions – may one discharge his obligation by giving to them?
Menachem
Via email
Q & A: What Constitutes Sheimot (Conclusion)
Question: I am the gabbai in a large synagogue, where many people bring Divrei Torah handouts to distribute. As such, I am faced with disposing of the constantly growing accumulation of sheimot. How do I deal with these papers that include the names of Hashem in many substitute forms, mostly in English?
No name please
Via email
Q & A: What Constitutes Sheimot (Part II)
Question: I am the gabbai in a large synagogue, where many people bring Divrei Torah handouts to distribute. As such, I am faced with disposing of the constantly growing accumulation of sheimot. How do I deal with these papers that include the names of Hashem in many substitute forms, mostly in English?
No name please
Via email
Q & A: What Constitutes Sheimot (Part I)
Question: I am the gabbai in a large synagogue. Many people bring Divrei Torah handouts to distribute. As such, I am faced with disposing of the constantly growing accumulation of sheimot. How do I deal with these papers that include the names of Hashem in many substitute forms, mostly in English?
No name please
Via e-mail
Q & A: Halacha & the Oral Law (Part II)
Question: The Written Law is there plain to see as it’s found in the five Books of Moses. However, from whence does the Oral Law come? I’m not asking as one who doubts its veracity – rather, I would simply like to know and not just follow blindly.
Mark Grosz
Via E-mail
Daf Yomi
A Jew’s Altar
“Or If He… Did Not Salt It…”
(Menachos 18a)
Q & A: Halacha & the Oral Law (Part I)
Question: The Written Law is there plain to see as it is found in the five Books of Moses. However, from whence does the Oral Law come? I’m not asking as one who doubts its veracity – rather, I would just like to know and not simply follow blindly.
Mark Grosz
Via E-mail
Q & A: Birthday and Bar Mitzvah (Part II)
Question: Seemingly the only place in our Torah where the matter of a birthday celebration is mentioned is regarding the birthday of Pharaoh. The only birthday celebration that we as Jews celebrate is a bar mitzvah – a young man’s 13th birthday. Is there greater significance to that day more than to any other?
Yitzchak Gutman
Via E-mail
Q & A: Birthday and Bar Mitzvah (Part I)
Question: Seemingly the only place in our Torah where the matter of a birthday celebration is mentioned is regarding the birthday of Pharaoh. The only birthday celebration that we as Jews celebrate is a bar mitzvah – a young man’s 13th birthday. Is there greater significance to that day more than to any other?
Yitzchak Gutman
Via Email
Q & A: Havdalah Wine Overflow (Part II)
Question: Should the goblet used for havdalah be so filled that wine overflows? Additionally, is doing so not a violation of baal tashchit – deliberate wastefulness?
George Nevens
Via E-mail
Q & A: Wine Overflow at Havdalah (Part I)
Question: Should the goblet used for Havdalah be so filled that wine overflows? Additionally, is doing so not a violation of baal tashchit – deliberate wastefulness?
George Nevens
Via E-mail
Q & A: The Chanukah Candles and Danger
Question: If the concern is that hostile gentiles might persecute us, isn’t there the same worry if the menorah is placed indoors? After all, the candles will likely be seen through the window... How would one light in such a circumstance?
Menachem
Via E-mail
Q & A: Air Travel and Missing Chanukah Candle-Lighting (Part II)
Question: I am contemplating traveling to Israel. My flight will take place during Chanukah, which means that I may miss one night’s candle-lighting. What are my options?
Yaakov J.
Via E-mail
Q & A: Travelling and Missing Chanukah Candle-Lighting (Part I)
Question: I am contemplating traveling to Israel. My flight will take place during Chanukah, which means that I may miss one night’s candle lighting. What are my options?
Yaakov J.
Via E-mail
Q & A: The Siddur: A Historical Perspective (Part II)
Question: Did we have a siddur and a holiday machzor before Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press? Is it possible to give a historical perspective on our prayers as found in the siddur and the machzor?
Jerry Gross
(Via E-Mail)