Question: What does the Shir Hashirim Rabbah 4:11 mean when it says that Har Hamoeiyah is called that because from there arirah and dever to the umos haolam? Answer: The… Read more »
Category: Ask
No minian during pesuke dezimra
Question: In the morning, during the zemirot, in case there is no minian before the kaddish of odu or before the baruch sheamar, should we wait for the arrival of… Read more »
Shared costs of appliances/roommate
Question: My roommate is getting married bh. We moved in together 2 years ago (minus 3 months). We split the cost of new appliances and furniture 50/50 and we vaguely… Read more »
Preparing for Mikvah on Fast day
Question: Hi, I am scheduled to go to the Mikvah, be”H, this coming Wednesday night – right after taanis esther. The way I usually go about preparing is to take… Read more »
Guarding your eyes
Question: Dear Rabbi, When a man observes a woman in pants, should he mind the aggression? The fear of G-d is clearly marked off. How does Jacob exist when women… Read more »
Can used glasses be used that were purchased in 2nd hand store..and if so do they need to be toveled?
Question: Can used glasses be used that were purchased in 2nd hand store..and if so do they need to be toveled? Answer: You can use drinking glasses that were bought… Read more »
Moisturizers & Sanitizers – Kashrus/Touching Food
Question: If someone applies hand moisturizer/sanitizer containing non-kosher ingredients like glycerin to their hands, would one need to be concerned about touching food/washing dishes afterwards? Or is the amount of… Read more »
Seminary Tuition
Question: Can seminary tuition be paid from maaser? Answer: Yes it can. The reason is that although we may not use maaser money to pay for things that are a… Read more »
Taking out Shabbat earlier with less Todefet Shabbat
Question: I will be staying in a hotel in Miami on Shabbat. Shabbat goes out at 6.45 pm. I have an El Al flight from Miami at 8.45 pm, two… Read more »
Breaking glass during marriage ceremony
Question: Dear Rabbi, Our son is getting married this summer. One of the important details in the planning has to do with the kind of glass that is used when… Read more »
Clarification of some phrases
Question: Kindly would you be so good as to clarify for me what the phrases noted at the bottom of this message mean. These are out of this webpage: Rabbi… Read more »
Lying for Shalom
Question: if somebody lies for shalom bayis, does that mean that they have to keep that loe? for “i am not going etc” can he actually go afterward? Answer: The… Read more »
Status of Pareve Oven
Question: Someone transferred frozen pareve french fries that was already warming in a milchige oven (not sure how hot it got but the child claims it was still cold) into… Read more »
Repair of shared water pipe
Question: Shalom u’vracha, The description of the water pipe in question is as follows: 6 attached houses (each having three apartments) receive water from one main meter of Gihon in… Read more »
Yichud
Question: With the severe prohibition of Mishkav Zachar, why didn’t Chazal institute a concept of Yichud between men, similar to the prohibition of Yichud between man and a woman? Answer:… Read more »
After Brocho on a Cholent
Question: If I ate a cholent, which consisted of vegetables and barley, but did not eat a כזית of barley כדי אכילת פרס, although I did eat a כזית of… Read more »
permanent make up
Question: Is a woman permitted to have permanent eye liner done? important to say, chaztizta is not a problem because no longer using the mikvah? I ask because tattoos are… Read more »
Kesubah 2 Clairification
Question: Thank you for the response. In the response you wrote “It is preferable that the chosson know what it says in the kesubah, but even if he does know,… Read more »
Shabbat Observance
Question: In Exodus 16:29 G-d asks us to stay in our homes. Whyu is it, then, that we go out to be seen at Synagogue with all its pomp and… Read more »
Daniel
Question: Dear Rabbi, I have been davening for past years about the book of Daniel and a curiosity. It appears from traditionally yet may I be wrong that Daniel is… Read more »
How should we respond to the shooting in Florida?
Question: How should we respond (physically, monetarily and emotionally) to the shooting in Florida? Answer: You are asking a very important question. As Jews we certainly have to respond to… Read more »
Matanos laevyonim
Question: Thank you for your very interesting site. In our town we have an organisation that collects and distributes thousands of euros as matanos laevyonim on Purim. However they don’t… Read more »
Purim Yarzheit
Question: My mother died last Purim morning. We were planning on getting a minyan together to say kaddish on Purim morning. Is this allowed because it is Purim day? If… Read more »
Tachunum during hazaras ha shas
Question: Can one say tachumun during haazaras ha shas if it will finish after Shkia and his custom is not to say tachumun after Shkia? Answer: You are allowed to… Read more »
Kesubah 2
Question: If a chosson did not fully understand all the details of the kesubah (spaced out/misunderstood what it says), but knows that if he would’ve understood what it said in… Read more »
kohanim and corpses
Question: Are medical students who are Jewish kohamim allowed to dissect cadavers for the medical training purposes under Halachic law? Answer: A kohen has to be careful not to become… Read more »
taking Terumos and Maasros retroactively.
Question: I just found out that the peppers i have been eating are from Israel and need Terumos and Maasros taken from them. I have already completely consumed previous purchases,… Read more »
Dental floss pulled out a piece of meat — am I fleishik?
Question: We had fleishik for dinner. Upon flossing in the morning, some meat was dislodged from between the teeth and it was swallowed. Does meat which remains in the mouth… Read more »
herbal tea concentrate without hashgachah added to cup of hot (but not boiling) water
Question: I added a spoon of liquid herbal tea concentrate that I subsequently discovered was not under hashgachah to a porcelain cup of hot water shortly after boiling the latter… Read more »
Rosh chodesh laws
Question: what Am I permitted to do on Rosh Chodesh? Arts crafts sports hobbies??? Answer: All of these are permitted on Rosh Chodesh. Women have a custom to abstain from… Read more »
Amira l’yisroel on Shabbos- soda bottles
Question: Thank you for this great website. I have a question regarding amira l’yisroel on Shabbos. What is the guideline of when one could ask another jew to do something… Read more »
Does the oven need to be kashered
Question: A very hot cover from a milchig soup was put onto a fleishig stovetop, but the area that it was put on didnt have any residue come off the… Read more »
Which is the correct Hebrew name
Question: If someone’s given Hebrew name is for example Avraham but everybody calls/called him Avrum – which name should be used for mishaberach lecholim it for yehrtzeit, or for that… Read more »
Shomer negiah
Question: If a female falls in front of a male and can get up herself but will be embarrassed that no one helped may the male assist her up. Can… Read more »
Generation
Question: Dear Rabbi, I am seeing new things with new generations. Todays young chassidic student for instance shaves the top of head and applies of course still side curls. What… Read more »
“Yiush”
Question: The scenario is if I asked someone if I can keep something, and the owner told me that it was fine that I keep it and that he was… Read more »
What is my knife and how do I fix it
Question: I was cutting some frozen butter with my milk knife. I slipped and cut into my finger. Some of the blood got on the butter. I threw the butter… Read more »
Getting into situations where I probably will be hearing Lashon Hara
Question: If I know I’ll probably be hearing Lashon Hara while doing an act of chessed and I know that it’s very possible that I won’t have the courage to… Read more »
Using a milchig Kli ben yomo for meat
Question: Dear Rabbi, I read that a test has been performed onto a metal pot to see if it actually absorbs food. It appears that if any food at all… Read more »
Cooking a steak
Question: Dear Rabbi, There are of course prohibitions of never eating blood of an animal and in all best the blood to my kosher knowledge is drained from the animal… Read more »
Do you have to have a separate Rubbish bin for Milk and Meat?
Question: Do you have to have a separate Rubbish bin for Milk and Meat? Answer: There is no need to have separate rubbish bins for milk and meat. The reason… Read more »
Status of pots used for kitniyos put away for a whole year
Question: Can an Ashkenazi use pots used for kitniyos that were put away for a whole year for Pesach? Answer: Yes he can, and there is no need to do… Read more »
Employee
Question: An employee of a jewish-owned store undercharged me a small amount (a quarter, etc.). When I brought it to his attention he told me not to worry about paying… Read more »
May I go to the gym during the year of availus?
Question: May I go to the gym to exercise during the year of availus for my mother? There is music there, but I’m not going for the music. Thank you…. Read more »
Drying hands on the morning
Question: If one washes their hands in the bathroom in the morning should they step out of the bathroom before drying their hands? Answer: It is better not to wash… Read more »
Jackfruit
Question: Are there any known infestations with jackfruit Answer: It seems that there is known infestation in jackfruit, in fact there are times when the price of jackfruit can drop… Read more »
chillul hashem if davening in public
Question: Today, I missed the Mincha minyan that is near my college, so I was davening Mincha in the stairwell, which is a relatively quite place. However, there was a… Read more »
gentile lighting fire for cooking
Question: Can a gentile boil water,remove it from the fire and the jew will put a raw egg(or a Ramen noodle cup) inside to turn hard boiled. The pot will… Read more »
Christian gospel music, ok?
Question: Christian gospel music: Assur? Discouraged? Would there be a difference in how clearly the lyrics are associated with Yashka? Answer: The Shulchan Aruch 142-15 writes that it is forbidden… Read more »
Aveilus Questions
Question: In the harachamans in betnching, I usually add in es avi v’es aimi. My father has just passed away, can I still include him in the harachaman? Also, someone… Read more »