The second of this week’s two parshios, Kedoshim, mentions the mitzvah of neta reva’ie. Hence… The Fruits of the Fourth Year Question #1: Rabbi Lamdan, a local talmid chacham, asks his Rav: “I have carefully studied this week’s parsha, which contains the Torah’s only mention of the mitzvah of neta reva’ie (fruit that grows during [...]

  Question #1: I have heard eulogies where the speaker seemed more interested in demonstrating his speaking prowess or saying clever divrei Torah than in commemorating the departed. Is this the proper way to eulogize? Question #2: I was told that sometimes one obeys the request of a person not to be eulogized, and sometimes [...]

Although Eisav’s wives presumably did not wear sheitlach made of Indian hair, according to Chazal, they were idol worshippers. But what would have happened if they had used sheitlach made from hair used in idol worship? A Background Discussion of the Halachic Issues Involved in the Use of Indian Hair This article was written originally [...]

Question #1: Shem, the son of Noach, was traveling one day and realized that he had not packed enough peanut butter sandwiches for the trip. Now hungry, he witnessed a travel accident, the result of which was that an animal had been killed. Was he permitted to cook the carcass for lunch? Question #2: Shem’s [...]

When Yehudah’s friend the Adulami was unable to locate Tamar, Yehudah reacts: "What can I do? This will lead to an embarrassing situation." This sounds like a good week (parshas Va’Yeshev) to study: By Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff Question # 1:  My boss asked me to attend a lunch meeting with a new client in a [...]

In parshas Va’Yishlach Yaakov needed to make very important and practical life decisions with major long-term ramifications, when he heard that Esav was approaching with his army of 400 men; these decisions were made based on his halachic and hashkafic background. We also have similar decisions to make. With this introduction, I bring you: Question [...]

When reading the parsha in which Rochel "stole" her father’s idols, I thought it appropriate for us to study: Miriam recently asked me these two questions regarding avodah zarah: 1) I received some figurines from a museum shop which resemble various Egyptian gods. May I keep them to demonstrate at the Seder what silly gods [...]

Because the beginning of the parsha (Chayey Sarah) discusses Yitzchak’s intense tefillos… Question: Wanderings of the Mind Mutti Kulis* calls me with the following predicament: "Despite my best intentions, my mind sometimes wanders during davening, although I really wish I could focus always on building my relationship with Hashem. I recently discovered that the Mishnah [...]

In this week’s parsha, Avraham tells the King of Sodom that he (Avraham) will not keep "even a thread or even a shoelace" from the booty of Sodom, although all of Sodom and its populace are rightfully his property as spoils of war. The Gemara teaches that as a reward for this, Avraham’s descendents were [...]

Sorry, there are a few corrections to the last article… It’s the same article, the Rav just changed the name, and there were a couple of real corrections. When Noach offered his korbanos after the Mabul, Hashem promised that the days of the earth will never again be changed, and that day and night will [...]