Question: Can you write a Sefer Torah in honor of a deceased nonpracticing Jewish child Answer: It is permitted to write a sefer torah in honor of a deceased non… Read more »
Category: Various matters
Permissibly of prostate biopsy
Question: Is there any Halacha issues with having a biopsy of the prostate? Answer: There might be a potential issue, of making the man a krus sufcha, which is a… Read more »
Geneivas Daas with a non-Jew
Question: I ordered something expensive from an online store. I found the item hefker in the lobby of the building I reside in. Am I allowed to tell the retailer… Read more »
Toiveling and using items from before becoming a ger.
Question: I wanted to get clarity around toiveling as I’ve been getting mixed answers. Some people are saying that I cannot toivel items that I used prior to my conversion,… Read more »
Hataras Nedarim
Question: 1) if I spaced out for a couple of words by hataras nedarim – but I knew the general inyon of what i was saying is that fine? Or… Read more »
orlah
Question: hello, if one was not careful in laws of orlah may he still eat the fruits of that tree after the fourth year? thank you Answer: The actual fruits… Read more »
Mesiros Modah
Question: If one will not have 3 people with him, can he say the moser modah privately to himself? Answer: Yes he can say it privately, although it is better… Read more »
“Birthday”
Question: Good day, So far the question was not found by me in the archive. Traditionally Birthday wasn’t celebrated. Nowadays… Isn’t partying birthday only hedonistic? sincerely Answer: You are right…. Read more »
Conversion without sincerity
Question: In many traditional but secular Jewish communities, although shabbas and kashrus are not kept, marrying a Jew is of utmost importance. Many Jewish singles I know are dating non… Read more »
Annul Vow Emergency Important
Question: How can a Noahide have a vow annulled? I do not want to sin by breaking them. In a moment if weakness, I vowed or promised I would not… Read more »
How can I annul a vow
Question: I made vows that I feel might have been due to OCD, but I want to keep them so as not to sin. I would like them annulled though…. Read more »
nedarim
Question: Shalom thank you for answering my questions so quickly. Do I need to say bli neder after I say I am going to do something or I will? If… Read more »
Vows/Promises to Hashem
Question: I have OCD/Anxiety Disorder and Hypochondria. A few years back, I got my hair dyed. I had read a story about a woman who suffered a severe allergic reaction… Read more »
The blessing beneath a new house
Question: Good day Rabbi, Does exist the Jewish tradition or requirement to bury a bottled text beneath a new house for good auspice? Does “Heaven Pina or Even Pina” ring… Read more »
Repenting for taking interest on a loan
Question: Dear Rabbi. My husband some years ago (maybe 18 years ago) took ribit on a loan for around 3 years without a heter eska from another Jew. We were… Read more »
Crass algebra
Question: Dear Rabbi, When we study the reform today, we note so many who are off the kilter of even basic jewish tenets. There is nil mikveh use and full… Read more »
Bar Mitzvah for convert
Question: My entire family had a conservative conversion. We attend a modern orthodox shul. We don’t keep kosher and we drive to shul on Shabbat, but our kids attend a… Read more »
Can I mochel somebody if they borrowed money and didnt pay it back
Question: Can I mochel somebody if they borrowed money and didn’t pay it back? Ribit and debts are not good to have but what if you don’t remember if you… Read more »
Severe OCD, disturbing thoughts of vows and oaths, accidentally saying “yeah”
Question: I keep getting disturbing, unwanted thoughts of vows and oaths I for sure never want to keep because they are so horrible. I made sure never to verbalize them…. Read more »
unify the name yud-kei with vav-kei
Question: In counting the omer, unify the name yud-kei with vav-kei in perfect unity what is the meaning “yud-kei”and :vav-kei” Answer: One of the names of H-shem that we may… Read more »
Women’s voting rights and vote
Question: Dear Rabbi, I have some odd thoughts these days that our world in the early 1900s which granted women the right to vote may have been a pure liberal… Read more »
Hug from Professor
Question: Hi, Thank you for helping. I have a professor (non jewish) that I was speaking with on the last day of class. Other students had left the room as… Read more »
Relationship with Hashem after Chilul Hashem
Question: I wrote things about Torah observance that are wrong and misleading and wrote about idolatrous practices as if they are equally valid. My writing went very far and can… Read more »
Lending money
Question: I understand you don’t need to lend money to a mechalel shabbos. My question is do you have to lend money to a tinuk shenishbar – that’s a mechalel… Read more »
Lying to get a certain psak (seeking forgiveness)
Question: I lied to getba psak to eat normally on Yom Kippur. I feel ashamed. I asked the Rabbi for forgiveness. I put it out of my mind. Yom Kippur… Read more »
Whatever happens is for the best (a lesson to gain) but without the mishap:
Question: When a Jew faces a difficult situation in life, the first existence to most importantly look up for guidance is – G-d. G-d, can’t speak to us (individually through… Read more »
Eating fruit while picking
Question: My son is at a Moshav and they are getting a tour and the tour guide said that they could pick off the trees and the vegetables while they… Read more »
Silver investor guidance
Question: Dear Rabbi, Can you comment on New Zealand which currently offers a silver one ounce coin that has the yad hey vav hey written on the bottom of a… Read more »
Shiflus vs. Gaavah
Question: I don’t think I have heard of shiflus before. You said it means lowliness and that it’s also bad, like gaava is bad. Please tell me more? Which is… Read more »
Vow to God to not cut my hair
Question: Hello, I made a vow to God to not cut my hair. I am regretful of this vow because I would like to cut it. I know in the… Read more »
Isn’t it a chutzpah to ask Hashem for forgiveness?
Question: Isn’t it a chutzpah to ask Hashem for forgiveness? I understand the importance of Viduy and expressing remorse and commitment for the future, but isn’t it an outright chutzpah… Read more »
Torah perspectives on mental illness
Question: What does the Torah say about mental illness, like bipolar disorder? What does the Torah say about manic spirituality? Many, many people experience spiritual euphoria when they have symptoms… Read more »
Atonement
Question: When we feel emotional pain over our sins does it count as the suffering that’s needed sometimes for atonement? Answer: Definitely. Part of the atonement for the sin that… Read more »
Impressions of the space programs
Question: Dear Rabbi, I am interested in the orthodox commentary and feeling about the space program we are witnessing. Interesting I have noted that of course we have landed on… Read more »
False judgement between two people only:
Question: in referrance to http://dinonline.org/2018/06/25/people-judge-and-embarass-me/ Does embarrassment also count, if it’s not done in a public area (amongst a group of people). For instance, an embarrassment occurring between only 2 people…. Read more »
People judge and embarassment
Question: Why does G-d allow people to constantly judge an innocent person, such as me. We can never ask G-d why, but just trying to understand. Judging results, in an… Read more »
Haughtiness
Question: Thank you for explaining. Is it okay for me to remember my accomplishments and be proud of them? Or does that diminish the reward? I think it helps me… Read more »
Ktav for Sta”m
Question: Shalom. What exactly is Ktav “Vellish”/Script? What are it’s origins and when was it first used? How come Sephardim who use Vellish script (for Tefillin, Mezuzot, etc…) don’t use… Read more »
Thank you.
Question: Thank you with all my heart for answering my questions and listening to my concerns and reassuring me about the same things over and over. This website feels like… Read more »
How to distribute money to ones married children.
Question: Chalom Someone got an unexpected sum of money. He wants to distribute it to his children all of them are married with children (one with 7 one with three… Read more »
Miracle workers livelihood
Question: Hello DIN online, I have seen references and stories regarding rabbis and others who would receive contributions for assisting people by healing them, their relatives, influencing events in the… Read more »
Does it help to ask a child mechilla
Question: I am a teacher for third grade boys. Over the year there were some times when I got upset and embarrassed a student in front of other children even… Read more »
Can someone come a nazir if he thinks about it
Question: Can someone come a nazir if he thinks about it Answer: A person cannot become a nazir simply by thinking about becoming a nazir. Becoming a nazir needs that… Read more »
Permanent damage to myself because of my sins
Question: If a person permanently damaged their own abilities, either trough drug use or failing to address a medical/mental health condition, and now they are permanently changed by their mistakes,… Read more »
Still sorry after teshuva
Question: If we believe that Hashem forgives us when we do teshuva, then what should we do when we still feel remorse after doing teshuva? Isn’t that expected? After all… Read more »
Doing teshuva gradually
Question: Is it okay to do teshuva gradually? It feels too scary and shameful to face some of the things I’ve done in the past. Is it okay to tell… Read more »
accidentally ate bugs
Question: Hi, I just ate mulberries off a tree without checking first to see if they had bugs. I know I should have. After eating a few, I looked closely… Read more »
Teshuva and accomplishments.
Question: Are there limits to teshuva? There are stories of people who lives sinful lives and did teshuva at the very end and Hashem accepted them, but did they really… Read more »
Why 12 months in Sheol
Question: Shalom Rabbi I was always wondering how do rabbies know that the soul of the departed, except for Czadikim who meet G-d immediately, go to sheol ( ie. purgatory)… Read more »
Are goyim metzuvah in the mitzvah of peru urevu?
Question: Are goyim metzuvah in the mitzvah of peru urevu? Answer: It is controversial if gentiles are commanded in the mitzvah of pru urvu. Although they were certainly commanded to… Read more »