Daf Yomi Avodah Zarah Daf 43

Ask the Rabbi: Anonymous Return of Stolen Money

The 4 Who Never Sinned

Rav Kook explains the Initial - Inevitable Flawlessness of Israel .

Rav Kook's innovative explanation of this puzzling gemara/midrash reveals new light on why these 4 character's never made any mistake, and just "died because of the sin of the snake, Adam & Eve. Rav Kook deals with the difference between the 1st line of heroes who all sinned, and those before and after them, who didn't. This classic class deals with leadership, as well as how the sources claim that Israel if flawless, even though we see our shortcomings! (Ayn Aya Shabbat v, 40)

How to Take Payment from a Guarantor – part II

(based on ruling 83023 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)

(based on ruling 83023 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)

Report on Relations with New Turkish Government

Igrot Hare’aya – Letters of Rav Kook: 174#

Igrot Hare’aya – Letters of Rav Kook: 174#

Beracha on Vegetable Soup with Soup Nuts

What beracha/ot do I make on vegetable soup into which I put soup nuts?

What Is the Significance of the Number 40 in Jewish Tradition?

What Is the Procedure for the Torah & Haftora Reading This Shabbat?

2. The Number of Candles and the Mehadrin min Ha-mehadrin Practice

Chapter 12: Lighting the Hanuka Candles

There are two levels of mitzva observance: fulfillment of the basic obligation and mehadrin, going beyond the basics to beautify the mitzva.

Was Rivka Really 3 Years Old When She Married Yitzchak?

4. The Three Oaths

Chapter 4: Yom Ha-atzma’ut

The verse states: “I adjure you, O maidens of Jerusalem, by gazelles or by hinds of the field: Do not wake or rouse love until it please!” ). The Sages explain that God administered three oaths: two to Israel – not to ascend to their land forcefully all together and not to rebel against the nations – and one to the gentiles – not to subjugate the Jews excessively.

Give Space Before Harmonizing

Ein Aya Shabbat 2, 276

Rav Kook teaches that opposing legitimate ideals inevitably first appear as contradictory, but eventually harmonize with each other. So by all partnerships and inter-personal and relationships, as well as ideological rabbinic machloket.

The Halacha Named for a Thief!

What Halachic principle is, strangely, named after a thief?

How Can We Know This Is Really Redemption?

Translated by Hillel Fendel

I understand that the establishment of the State of Israel is an amazing miracle and cause for celebration. But is it really the beginning of the Total Redemption that our Rabbinic literature speaks of?

Dealing with Late Payments and Ribbit

I, a lawyer, often need to write a contract with a clause for extra payment if the buyer pays late. How can I do this without making the client violate ribbit (usury)?

What Is Emuna & How To Get It

Translated by Hillel Fendel

Translated by Hillel Fendel

Wired

The Four “Exiles”

A Light - Not Fight - to the Nations

Burning Passion

At the Shabbat Table

How did Yisrael Cohen light the menorah during the holocaust in Auschwitz?

Chalav Akum – Non-Jewish Milk

Losses from Financially (and Morally) Bad Loans – part II

based on ruling 75001 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts

based on ruling 75001 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts

Connection in Blood

based on Ein Ayah, Shabbat 14:4

based on Ein Ayah, Shabbat 14:4

Heter Shopping

The Seudah of a Bris

Driven to Talk

At the Shabbat Table

At the Shabbat Table

More on Bikkurim

Bringing Bikkurim

For God's Sake Don't Go To Israel

Israel National Torah

Clarifying the spies' argument for not entering the Land of Israel...and then clarifying why it's so important to enter the Land anyway.

Birkas Kohanim

Answering Accusations of Israeli-Occupation

& Why the Moral Mitzvot are Geared Only to Jews- Not Gentiles?

These oft-debated issues of "hasbara", demand good answers. Rav Shvat suggests 4 replies to the accusation of Israel occupying arab "territories" based upon the difficulty western & rational man has in understanding why the arabs could be the aggressors if they always suffer more casualties? The world doesn't understand the Jihad mindset which doesn't mind losing wars and being suicide bombers which in fact, defies logic and prevents deterrance. History, both old and new also bolster the Jewish claims. Anti-semitism is an additional unfortunate clouding factor. Among several approaches to why the moral mitzvot are geared particularly to Jews: is simply that the Torah addresses Jewish life, among Jews, in the Jewish Land for the Jewish People, and more.

How to Time Vatikin?

When minyanim closed, I started davening vatikin (starting Shemoneh Esrei (=SE) at hanetz hachama (sunrise=netz)). If I do not know precisely when netz is, is it better to err on the side of starting SE before or after netz?

Key Accessibility for Non-Jew Who Buys Chametz

Moses Annuls a Vow

The Mitzvah of Levayas Hameis

Questionable Responsibility for Another’s Property

based on ruling 76037 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts

based on ruling 76037 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts

Hot Ice Cream - Leadership 4

What happens when your biggest competition is about to incur a lot of losses? Are you happy or do you help? Watch this incredible story of how a company reacted to its competition's crisis.

Laban the Aramean

To Have a Why

An Avel as a Chazan for Yamim Noraim

Is it permitted for an avel (mourner) to serve as a chazan for Yamim Noraim (Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur)? Whose decision is it – the shul’s or the avel’s?

Tefillin Retzuos, Maintenance, and Purchasing Instructions

May I Attend a Wedding During the Three Weeks?

I live in a predominantly Ashkenazic community where the “Three Weeks” are observed with no music, and certainly no celebrations or weddings. A Sefardic family in the neighborhood has scheduled a wedding during the Three Weeks.

What Is the Brocha?

The Chanukah Miracle

Davening for Rain in the Southern Hemisphere

Part 1

Part 1

Unfinished Symphony

Sick and Tired

Was the song "Ma'oz Tzur" written for Chanukah?

Is My Stove Kosher?

A Tale of Four Islands

Why Do We Rejoice on Lag Ba'Omer?

Faith and Friendship

Doubt Whether you Recited Birkat HaTorah

I usually recite Birkat HaTorah on the way to shul. This morning, I was mentally preoccupied, and I have reason to suspect I did not say it. I thought of this when I came home and asked my wife, who had not yet recited it, to do so with me answering Amen. Did that cover my obligation?

Unfulfilled Shidduch Expectations – part II

The plaintiffs (=pl) hired a dating service (=def) to help find suitable matches for their son and daughter for 5,800 and 5,000 shekels, respectively, while hiding the source of the shidduch suggestions from the children. The contract stated that def would suggest potential matches and would give “advice” and that the fee was not refundable under any circumstances. Def suggested, through middlemen and through Facebook, several women for the son, and he dated one of them. Def suggested two men for the daughter, who refused to date either. She confronted her mother after sensing “collusion,” and after the mother admitted hiring def, the daughter refused to receive any more ideas. Pl demand a refund on several grounds: def tricked them, as they were too inexperienced to know that def was unlikely to get their children married; the impossibility of a refund is illegal and an unreasonable condition in a set contract; pl were unaware of this condition; def involved pl in the ideas, which was not supposed to happen; def did not do a good enough job; the fee was well beyond industry standards. Def responds that their conditions were fair and clear. They are more professional than other agencies. It is not their fault that the daughter decided not to cooperate. They did not promise a certain amount of dates but to work professionally.

Chumash and the Fall of the Ghetto

What Makes Bread Jewish?

A Leader Who Goes Down and Brings Up

R. Shmuel bar Nachmani said in the name of R. Yonatan: Whoever says that the sons of Shmuel sinned is making a mistake, as the p’sukim say: “And so it was when Shmuel became old, and he made his sons judges for Israel… and his sons did not follow in his ways” (Shmuel I, 8:1-3). “In his ways” they did not follow, but they did not sin either. So how does one explain the [continuation of the] pasuk: “they went after improper profits (betza)”? This means that they did not act like their father, as the righteous Shmuel would travel to all the places in Israel and judge the people in their cities, as the pasuk says: “He would go year by year and would go to Beit El, Gilgal, and the Mitzpa and judged Israel” (ibid. 7:16). In contrast, his sons did not do so, but they sat in their cities so that they could increase the profits of their assistants and scribes.

Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ezra

Among the Rishonim in this week’s parsha, we find a dispute as to when the rainbow was created. The pesukim imply that the rainbow was created after the mabul as a covenant, and, indeed, the Ibn Ezra explains the verse this way, disputing an earlier interpretation of the posuk from Rav Saadyah Gaon. However, the Ramban contends that the rainbow was created during the six days of Creation. This provides us with an opportunity to discuss a great rishon, about whom most people know very little.

Why Be Jewish?

Understanding the Prohibition of Avodah Zarah

Sefirat Ha’Omer: In Anticipation or In Preparation?

The Nature of Tzniut

The Rabbis taught: it once happened that a man married a woman who was missing one hand and did not notice this until the day of her death. Rav said: How tznu’ah (modest) this woman was, in that her husband did not notice this. Rav Chiya said: This was natural for her. Rather, how tzanua was this man, who did not notice this about his wife.

Matan Torah – Why Fire?

Justice or Peace?

THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE

Trapping on Shabbos

Would the Bnei Yisroel have been permitted to trap arov on Shabbos?

Zera Yisrael

We have been dealing, over the last few weeks, with ideas to help integrate olim from the Former Soviet Union into Israeli society as full Jews. A group with a real obstacle is children of Jewish fathers and non-Jewish mothers. They are, of course, not Jewish unless they undergo conversion. Yet, it is our opinion that we should not look at them as if they have, in the meantime, no connection to the Jewish People. The great majority were treated as Jews in the Soviet Union, where a citizen’s nationality is determined by his father, not his mother. As a result, they suffered from anti-Semitism. How shocked were many, upon arriving in Israel, to find out that halacha does not view them as Jewish and that they cannot get married here?

Why did Isaac love Esau?

Halachic Table Manners

By Rabbi Avraham Rosenthal

Seeing Eliezer act appropriately as a guest reminds us to discuss a practical topic, dealt with in this article by a guest writer

Non-Leather Footwear on Yom Kippur

Practices of the Tochacha

How Many Eggs Should be Boiled Together?

When making hardboiled eggs, may one cook one or two eggs or must there be at least three? Also, does it make a difference if there is an even or odd number

Tefillin in Pre-Dawn Hours

work at a hospital and, some days, I am unable to wear tefillin during the day, but only pre-dawn. May I then put on tefillin before its regular time? [Our staff knows the querier.]

Komemiyut

On Yom Ha’atzmaut we celebrated the establishment of the State of Israel, which became a reality, to a great extent, by our miraculous success in the War of Independence. In Hebrew that war has a few names – including, Milchemet Hakomemiyut. The word komemiyut is a mila yechida’it – a word that is found only once in the Torah. In this case, it is found in our parasha: “I am Hashem who took you out from the Land of Egypt from being slaves, and I broke the staves of your yoke, and I led you komemiyut” (Vayikra 26:13). I refrained from translating the word, and for good reason. One of the ways commentators and translators know how to explain a word is by comparing it to its other appearances in Tanach, including some in which the meaning is clear by context. Since we cannot do that for komemiyut, we will use other methods: context in our pasuk, analyzing the root, along, of course, with looking at our classical commentators.

Lighting Candles When One Needs to Leave the House

My husband and I were going away for Shabbat, walking to a different side of the neighborhood to eat with relatives and sleep at a neighbor’s empty home. We left late, so we knew we would not make it in time to light at our destination. What should we have done about Shabbat candles?

How Many Should be Saying Kaddish?

Daf Yomi- nazir25

Testifying in Non-Jewish Court

Birkot HaTorah – The Blessings on the Torah

Chapter ten-part one

Chapter ten-part one

When we need to wash our hands?

Chapter eight-part three

Chapter eight-part three

Ruach Ra’ah

Chapter eight-part two

Chapter eight-part two

The Mourner’s Kaddish

Chapter four-part two

Chapter four-part two

Who Can Be Counted in a Minyan?

Chapter Two-part three

Can every ten men be a Minyan or are there other conditions?

I have to pray with a minyan?

Chapter Two-part two

Chapter Two-part two

An Oven Used for Chillul Shabbat

The Desecration of God and the Torah

Fundamentals of the Laws of Prayer

Chapter one- part one

what is the prayer? what we can learn from our grate fathers prayer? and how the prayer work?

Fasting and Feasting on a Yahrzeit

“My father’s yahrzeit falls during the week of sheva brachos for my grandson. May I attend the sheva brachos?” "My yahrzeit falls on Shabbos this year. Do I fast on Friday or Sunday instead?" "I usually fast on my father’s yahrzeit, but someone is honoring me with sandaka’us on that day. Do I fast, and do I need to be matir neder in the event that it is permitted to eat?"

NOACH

The Special Mitzvah of Reciting Hallel

A Return To The Sabbath

NITZAVIM – VAYELECH

Parsha Summary: Masei

An Overview of the Torah Portion

An Overview of the Torah Portion

Keeping Kosher - Eating Out

Bishul Akum Problems in the Home, part II

Mrs. Goldman calls the non-Jewish babysitter, Jenny, to apologize for the delay and asks her to find something in the freezer to warm and serve the kids. Jenny finds some blintzes, places them on ceramic cookware and pops them into the toaster oven. That evening, when Rabbi Goldman returns from Kollel, Mrs. Goldman tells him about her frustrating commute home. Rabbi Goldman realizes that they may now have a kashrus concern in their house.

Behalotcha

The Birthing Process

Hirsch At Your Table

A brief Dvar Torah on the Parsha, based on R. Samson Raphael Hirsch’s Torah Commentary

Parsha Summary: Vayakhel

An Overview of the Torah Portion

An Overview of the Torah Portion

It’s About Time - Bein Hashemashos

About Bein Hashmashot, the impact on important mitzvot, how will it affect the time of the bris? Dovening Minha, Shabbat, Rosh Hashana, the Gra and Rabbeinu Tam.

Listen, Do You Want To Know A Secret?

Yosef’s personal saga and journey through life is actually the “roadmap” for the entire history of our exile and our redemption!

Milk Spoon in a Meat Sink or Dishwasher

Kashrut in a Nutshell

The Halacha of meaty, dairy and parve cutlery washed together in the sink or dish washer, with hot or cold water.

Bnei Noach and Korbanos

Can a Gentile bring a sacrifice to Hashem

Can a Gentile bring a sacrifice to Hashem? Is it considered idolatry? What about burning incense or Islam?

Hester Panim, Exile and Redeption

Shiv'a de-Nechemta: The Philosophy of Comfort and Redemption - 6

The exile was an active decisions of G-d, the result of which was a state of hester panim for the nation. Those who choose to come and live in the Land today and fulfill the prophecies of yore – merit to return to the protective gaze of Hashem Himself.

Answering Machine

Each prayer has an effect

Our calls are never ignored though, for the Heavenly answering machine is always turned on and working. According to Jewish tradition and belief our calls can be returned, so to speak, years and even generations later. But once our message is recorded on that Heavenly answering machine it remains there permanently and will be dealt with in Heaven’s good time and effective manner.

Daf Yomi - Eruvin 73

Writing on Shabbat

May I write my initials on a frosty window on Shabbos?, May I communicate with someone on Shabbos by making the motions of writing the letters?

What Would Rav Kook Say Today?

Renaming the Movement to "Religious - Zionist - Humanist"

If we claim that zionism is an integral part of religion or Torah, then why originate a new slogan ‘religious-zionism’, in place of the age-old title ‘religion’ or ‘Torah’? If there is a reason for the new slogan, is there a need for renaming it - "Religious - Zionist - Humanist”?

Adjusting to the Students’ Training

seudat hodaya

Unsigned Estimates for a Contractor

part II

part II

Does He or Does He Not Want Our Korbanot?

Tolerance and Unity Between Right, Left and Religious

Kitvei HaRav Kook 8

Rav Kook is famous for his stress on tolerance, but here he details that we aren’t looking for passive tolerance but for active appreciation for the positive (not negative!) ideology of every stream of Judaism. He posits that there is a need in Israel and all societies for right-wing nationalist parties, left-wing humanist parties, as well as religious parties, for each two limit the third side of the triangle from extremism. Godliness is revealed through the harmonizing of these three ideologies which comprise mankind.

The Shabbat Meals

Nothing brings a family closer than a correctly handled Shabbat Meal. How do we make sure we do not miss this great opportunity presented to us by Shabbat?

Vaeira

Parashat Shmot - Questions

Parsha and Rashi Q & A for the Shabbos Table.

Chanuka

Chalav Yisrael and Powdered Milk

"Friends of ours keep chalav Yisrael, but they will use foods made with non-chalav Yisrael powdered milk. But I know from my professional research that one can purchase powdered mare's (female horses) and camel's milk – they are specialty products that command a very high premium. So why is there any difference between using non-chalav Yisrael powdered milk, and non-chalav Yisrael fluid milk?"

Parashat Miketz - Questions

Parsha and Rashi Q & A for the Shabbos Table.

Parashat Vayeshev - Questions

Parsha and Rashi Q & A for the Shabbos Table.

Lighting the candles on Friday night

Where should I light if i'm staying at somone else's house for Shabbat? Should we light before or after Havdalah?

The procedure for lighting Hanukkah candles

The order of lighting the Chanukah Candles, with the blessings, "Hanerot Halalu" and "Maoz Tzur".

Daf Yomi - Chullin 10

When to Ask the Questions

Chanukah

Performing a Proper Hesped

The Halachot of a 'Eulogy'

The Torah’s Instructions to Non-Jews—The Laws of Bnei Noach

The 7 Noahide Laws, Non-Jews and everything in between.

Validity of a Get When a Father’s Name Was Incorrect

Daf Yomi - Maccos 18

Revealing Our Inner Essence

The Ox and the Goat

B’har- B’chukotal

The Death of a Tzaddik

When to Downplay Physicality

Going To Peace

The Prayers of the Avot

Shir Hashirim

Deeper meaning of Shir Hashirim, The Song Of Songs.

Relationships during the Time of Engagement

A young engaged man and his fiancée naturally have very strong feelings for each other. It goes without saying that these will be expressed after the wedding, but what expression, if any, is permitted in the meantime? And while we're on the subject, is the attraction of men and women to each other really a good thing to begin with?

It’s About Time - The Bracha of Shehechiyanu

The laws of Birkat Shehechiyanu, which comes first Shehechiyanu or the blessing on the food? reciting the Shehechiyanu on house renovations and on similar fruits, reciting the Shehechiyanu on a Mitzva, the first time lighting candles.

Who is Obliged, and Who is Exempt from Chanukah Candles

Fulfilling the Mitzvah in the following cases, according to the Sephardic and Ashkenazi customs: lighting in the Synagogue, travelers, women, single and married children living at home and away from home, Yeshiva students, soldiers, roommates, mourners, and blind persons.

Daf Yomi - Kesuvos 52

Shidduchim and Loshon Hora

How should one ask and answer shidduch- related questions? How to ask and What not to tell?

Sifting the Makom HaMikdash

The Waqf have been constructing at Makom Hamikdash - our Holy of Holies, what are the Halachic implications of the finds? How does one regard the finds?

Reciting Brachos in the Presence of Unpleasant Odors

Reciting Brachot, Benching and learning Torah in the Presence of Unpleasant Odors. May one wash for bread in a public restroom? Can one discuss Torah while walking through city streets where there are dumpsters or dog droppings? What if one cannot smell? and more.

Some Light Chanukah Questions

Some Light Chanukah Questions. Eating in one house ans sleeping in another, when is the optimal time to kandle the Menora? Lighting candles in a Hotel, Where does a Yeshiva Bachur light? and more....

How Are Tefillin Manufactured A Tefillin Shoppers Guide

A Tefillin Shoppers Guide, What are the important Halachot Which one should know before purchasing Tefillin?

Where’s the Beef? - Eating Meat During the Nine Days

Halachot regarding the Nine days: marriage and Seudat Mitzva, eating meat and drinking wine, Shabbat leftovers, Havdala wine And the reward for observing the Nine days.

The Intersection of the Three Eichas

The "Malkosh" - Last Rains

Man's existence hinges upon land and rain. At the same time, these two elements, without man, lack benefit and direction. The sages of the Midrash therefore teach, "Were it not for man, there would be no covenant with earth to bring rain upon it."

Flying High - A Traveler’s Guide to Channukah

What does one do about Channukah candles in a hotel, while traveling and in other complicated circumstances?

Tevet and the Seasons of the Year

Equinoctial periods, because of their balanced nature, are fit to bear sanctity. Therefore, these periods contain most of Israel's Festivals. However, there are other times of year less sympathetic to Israel - periods marked by poles in cold or heat.

The Connection Between Chanukah and Sukkot

Exact Timing

Parshat Bo

Parshat Bo

Three Days of Torment

The Remaining Chanukah Oil

When buying oil for Chanukah, one should not say, “This oil is for Chanukah,” for some authorities hold that by making such a statement one dedicates all of the oil for Chanukah candles alone, including that which remains in the bottle after Chanukah.

Parasha Summary - Vayigash

An Overview of the Torah Portion

An Overview of the Torah Portion

The Words of Yirmeyahu

Parashat Matot

Parashat Matot

Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook - A Biographical Overview

Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook served as Head of the Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva for thirty years. During these years, an entire generation of students was nurtured upon a philosophy which combined the Torah of Israel, the nation of Israel, and the land of Israel.

Galut is Punishment

Parashat Kedoshim

Parashat Kedoshim

Love Your Neighbor as Yourself – Unity and Uniqueness

We all possess something in common with Adam. Adam contained within himself all of his offspring. Still, he was created as an individual and the world was created for him alone. Exclusiveness and unity find expression in each of his descendants.

Back to the Succah

The Succah seems to be so flimsy and vulnerable, yet it is the archetypal example of protection. How can such a temporary structure provide such protection?

Morning Prayer Times

How early may one begin praying in the morning? When is it too early to recite the Shema? When is it too late? Should mountains be taken into account when calculating the sunrise? Rabbi Eliezer Melamed addresses these and other pertinent issues.

The Seventh Blessing Re-examined

“God, our Lord, let there soon be heard in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem the sound of joy and the sound of gladness, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the grooms’ jubilance from their canopies.”

Since the Six Days of Creation

Parashat Vayetze

Our Torah portion this week tells of Jacob's marriage with the matriarchs Rachel and Leah. From it, we learn the degree of difficulty involved in arranging these nuptials. The whole ordeal appears nearly as difficult at the splitting of the Red Sea.

The Maharal of Prague: An Introduction

We might very well credit Rabbi Yehudah Liva, the legendary "Maharal of Prague," with being the first to "open the gate" and provide us with a truly penetrating look at the essence of the Sages' homiletical teachings on the Torah - the "Midrash."

The Commandment to Settle the Land of Israel

Part 1

Part 1