Judaism

Netanel tried to straighten the hat as best he could since it was Shabbos, but the damage was done. The hat had a clear crease in it and would need to be either reshaped or replaced.

Delaying A Funeral To Honor A Deceased A Nazir May Defile Himself for a Mes Mitzvah (Nazir 47a)

Question: I understand that in the time of Moshiach we will return to the offering of animal sacrifices. But on the other hand, if, as we are told, those will be times without sin, then what will we sacrifice? In this modern world, some also argue that animals have rights and thus animal sacrifice is wrong. How do we answer them as well? Menachem Via Email

The Jews were doing well in Persia. Achashverosh afforded them equal rights and even invited them to his banquet. They did not need the Torah any longer to survive, and were doing just fine without it.

Why does Judaism consider counting people dangerous?

It would appear that we are hopelessly divided, especially at this time. But things are not always as they seem.

What Haman did not know was that Moshe Rabbeinu was also born in the month of Adar, and that day, the Talmud relates, helped avert the evil decree.

The mishna implies that it is important to do things, not just in this world and while we are young, but also achshav – now, right away, as soon as possible.

Following the victory over our physical enemies and the threat to our bodies, we must still overcome the spiritual obstacles placed in the physical world to dissuade us from achieving our destiny.

I believe the explanation for the front-seat positioning of Techias HaMeisim, the resurrection, is that it is the single greatest asset that a person has. Everything else is only temporal-for 120 years.

Through a heightened awareness of Israel's true inner essence, we can see past the sharp ideological divisions and appreciate the intrinsic unity beneath and beyond our surface disputes.

In a superficial society so focused on externals this is true on many levels. But perhaps it is never truer than regarding the holiday of Purim.

It is possible to teach a child a Divine crash course in metalwork or stone masonry overnight, but you cannot give a crash course in childlike innocence.

Let’s be honest. Corn on the cob has always been consumed, along with many other fruits and vegetables that Rav Vaye’s rulings have forbidden (or considerably regulated).

As human beings, we have the remarkable ability to jump to conclusions, assuming that we know the truth of a situation when we, in fact, have completely misjudged it.

We cannot see G-d’s face; we cannot understand G-d’s ways; but we can encounter G-d’s glory whenever we build a home for His presence here on earth.

The Torah is based on the spot-on premise that basic features of the human condition remain constant throughout history

Before I left, my father – who saw in which direction I was heading – told me: Yossel, you’re going to Eretz Yisrael, and we will be separated. It is possible that this will be the last time we will see each other. Please, I beg you, come with me to the Rebbe of Slonim to get his bracha.

When Maimonides (Laws of Klei HaMikdash 2:4) translates the ingredients for the ketoret into Arabic, he renders tzari as al-balasan (i.e., balsam), but the Biblical term for this ingredient is actually nataf (Exodus 30:34), literally meaning the thing that drips.

Even Queen Esther went to the king, which she was forbidden to do, in disguise. She dressed up. Yes, she was a queen and she dressed up as a queen. However she was Jewish and nobody knew that, so she was dressing up.

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Many Jewish communities have their own unique stories of salvation. When faced with calamity, either from a tyrant, war, or some other impending danger, these communities miraculously escaped. This is the story of a small-town in Galitzia

As we celebrate Purim, perhaps we should look at the Talmudic interpretation of the holiday to better understand our contemporary era.

Purim Sameach

“The joy of Purim, the merrymaking, the food, the drink, the whole carnival atmosphere, are there to allow us to live with the risks of being a Jew – in the past, and tragically in the present also – without being terrified, traumatised or intimidated.”

Wishing all a Freilichen Purim!

The International Halacha Institute offers personalized online training in French, English, Hebrew and Spanish.

From the very beginning, I felt that our kitten was a gilgul, a Jewish soul sent back to earth to rectify his past.

Shmuel the Amora rules that although most people buy oxen for work, not meat, we do not follow the majority likelihood in monetary issues.

Curling Peiyos “Hair of a Nazir” (Nazir 42a)