Q & A: Coins, Sculptures, And Graven Images (Part III)
Question: Is one allowed to go to Madam Tassaud’s Wax Museum? Is this not a violation of the Torah’s prohibition of graven images?
Ben Moseson
Via email
Q & A: Coins, Sculptures, And Graven Images (Part II)
Question: Is one allowed to go to Madam Tassaud’s Wax Museum? Is this not a violation of the Torah’s prohibition of graven images?
Ben Moseson
Via email
Q & A: Coins, Sculptures, And Graven Images (Part I)
Question: Is one allowed to go to Madam Tassaud’s Wax Museum? is this not a violation of the Torah’s prohibition of graven images?
Ben Moseson
Via email
Q & A: Treating A Parent Medically And Causing Blood To Flow
Question: My mother-in-law, who was visiting her son (my brother-in-law), a medical doctor, had an accident. When she requested her son to remove the shard, he refused to do so...
Q & A: Sefirat HaOmer Questions (Part II)
Question: What if one counted the omer but forgot to utter the blessing – has the obligation been fulfilled? Why do we recite a blessing for this counting, when we find that for the zayin nekiyim – the seven clean days – there is no such blessing? Is the counting not similar?
M. Goldman
Miami Beach, Fla
Q & A: Sefirat HaOmer Questions (Part I)
Question: What if one counted the omer but forgot to utter the blessing – has the obligation been fulfilled? Why do we recite a blessing for this counting, when we find that for the zayin nekiyim – the seven clean days — there is no such blessing? Is the counting not similar?
M. Goldman
Miami Beach, Fla.
Q & A: Sefirat Ha’omer Which Day? (Part III)
Question: We celebrate two days of Passover in chutz la’aretz, the Diaspora, because we are unsure as to which is the first day of Passover. If such is the case, what is the basis for beginning the count of sefirat ha’omer in chutz la’aretz on the second night of Passover?
M. Goldman
Via email
Q & A: Sefirat HaOmer: Which Day? (Part II)
Question: We celebrate two days of Passover in chutz la’aretz [the Diaspora – outside the land of Israel] because we are unsure which one is the first day of the holiday. If so, what is the basis for beginning the count of sefirat ha’omer in chutz la’aretz on the second night of Passover?
M. Goldman
Via email
Q & A: Sefirat HaOmer: Which Day?
Question: We celebrate two days of Passover in chutz la’aretz [the Diaspora – outside the land of Israel] because we are unsure which one is the first day of the holiday. If so, what is the basis for beginning the count of sefirat ha’omer in chutz la’aretz on the second night of Passover?
M.Goldman
Via email
Q & A: The Custom Not To Eat Gebrockts On Pesach (Part II)
Question: Now that we are doing our pre-Passover shopping, I notice in many of the kosher sections of the supermarket packaged products that are marked “non-gebrockts.” Perusing the travel pages of The Jewish Press, I also noticed that many of the caterers at the Passover hotels advertise that they are “Non-Gebrockts.” Could you please throw some light on this current trend?
M. Schwartz
Via e-mail
Q & A: The Custom Not To Eat Gebrockts On Pesach (Part I)
Question: Now that we are doing our pre-Passover shopping, I notice that in many of the Kosher sections of the supermarket, there are packaged products marked “non-gebrockts.”... Could you please throw some light on this current trend?
M. Schwartz
Via Email
Q & A: Loving Others As You Love Yourself
Question: What is the meaning of "Ve'ahavta lere'acha kamocha," mandating us to "love your fellow as yourself?" Where does this concept originate?
G. Adler
Via email
Q & A: Animal ‘Rights’ And Sacrifices Without Sin (Part II)
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
Q & A: Animal ‘Rights’ And Sacrifices Without Sin (Part I)
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
Q & A: Leaving Shul After Shacharit Shemoneh Esreh (Part II)
Question: On occasion we have missed the Torah reading and Ashrei U’va Letziyyon, Aleinu, the Yom and the Kaddeshim, even though we started out with a quorum, as some members leave for work. What are we to do in such an instance? Are there any options?
Name Withheld on Request
Q & A: What If People Leave Shul After Shemoneh Esreh And No Minyan...
Question: Even though we started out with a quorum, as some members leave for work. What are we to do in such an instance? Are there any options? Name Withheld on Request
Q & A: Of Windows, Places, And Weather (Part III)
Those of us who sit closest to the windows have to suffer the windows being open because those sitting away from the windows, more to the center of the sanctuary, claim they are too hot from the heat of heating system. Do they have the right to impose their comfort at the expense of our health?
Name withheld
Via email
Q & A: Of Windows, Places, And Weather (Part II)
Question: Every winter, we run into the same problem: those of us who sit closest to the windows have to suffer the windows being open because those sitting away from the windows, more to the center of the sanctuary, claim they are too hot from the heat of heating system. Do they have the right to impose their comfort at the expense of our health?
Name withheld
Via email
Q & A: Of Windows, Places, And Weather (Part I)
Question:. Every winter, we run into the same problem: those of us who sit closest to the windows have to suffer the windows being open because those sitting away from the windows... claim they are too hot from the heat of the heating system. Do they have the right to impose their comfort at the expense of our health?
Anonymous
Via email
Q & A: Should An Unmarried Man Be Barred From Leading Services? (Part II)
Question: A number of years back, when I was still unmarried, I had yahrzeit, but in the shul where I davened they wouldn’t let me serve as shaliach tzibbur as they had a rule that no one unmarried was allowed to daven from the amud. Obviously, I could still say Kaddish, but I wanted to lead the services for the sake of the neshama. My question is: Did they have the right to deny me what I felt was my yahrzeit obligation to my departed parent?
Mark Halberstam Esq.
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Via email
Q & A: Should An Unmarried Man Be Barred From Leading Services? (Part I)
Question: A number of years back, when I was still unmarried, I had yahrzeit, but in the shul where I davened they wouldn’t let me serve as shaliach tzibbur as they had a rule that no one unmarried was allowed to daven from the amud. Obviously, I could still say Kaddish, but I wanted to lead the services for the sake of the neshama. My question is: Did they have the right to deny me what I felt was my yahrzeit obligation to my departed parent?
Mark Halberstam Esq.
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Via email
Q & A: The Connection Between Hallel And The Shacharit Amida
Question: Why, if on Rosh Hashana the shofar is blown during Musaf, is Hallel on the festivals and Rosh Chodesh read during Shacharit?
L. Freund
Via Email
Q & A: The Tenth Of Tevet Among Other Fast Days
Question: Is there any significance to the fact that the fast of the Tenth of Tevet (Asara B’Tevet) almost immediately follows Chanukah and that it is the shortest of all the fast days? Does this allow us to be more lenient in its observance? I hope you will address this in your column, which I eagerly read every week.
M. Goldman
Miami Beach, Fla.
Q & A: Of Gelt And Dreidels
Question: Non-Jews distribute gifts at Christmas to their friends and family. What is the halacha about and reasoning for Jews to distribute gifts at Chanukah to friends and family? Growing up, we used to get Chanukah gelt rather than gifts from my parents.
Larry Marks
Via E-Mail
Q & A: What’s In A Name? Name Changes Among The Patriarchs (Part II)
Question: We see numerous instances in Scripture where a person’s name was changed. Some people are then always referred to by their new name, while others are not. A case in point is the way we refer to our Patriarchs in the daily Shemoneh Esreh. Why is that so?
Abraham Goldman
Jerusalem
Q & A: Lenient And Stringent Rulings (Part II)
Question: My rabbi recently ruled leniently in a certain matter relating to the laws of mourning. Am I disrespecting my late mother if I follow this advice?
No Name Please
Via Email
Q & A: Lenient Or Stringent Ruling From The Rabbi (Part I)
Question: My rabbi recently ruled leniently in a certain matter relating to the laws of mourning. Am I disrespecting my late mother if I follow this advice?
Name withheld on request
Via email
Q & A: The Difference Between Mention And Request (Part II)
Question: Can you explain the different starting times of Mashiv haruach u'morid hagashem and Ve'ten tal u'matar livracha as opposed to Morid hatal and Ve'ten beracha, and why they are said as part of particular berachot in the Amida, as found in the siddur?
S. Dorman
Via email
Q & A: The Difference Between Mention And Request (Part I)
Question: Can you explain the different starting times of Mashiv haruach u’morid hagashem and Ve’ten tal u’matar livracha as opposed to Morid hatal and Ve’ten beracha, and why they are said as part of particular berachot in the Amida, as found in the siddur?
S. Dorman
Via email
Q & A: Yom Tov Gleanings – An Unusual Practice (Part II)
Question: Looking back at the past Yomim Tovim, I am left with the following question: What is the reason for the unusual practice of the chazzan reciting shehecheyanu on Yom Kippur night?
Elimelech Feldman
Via email
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