From: Rebecca Mark in NYC Dear Rabbi, Where does the halacha for “kiddush levana” (blessing for the New Moon) come from and have there been any Torah authorities who were opposed to it? Also, why do we bless one another during the service with “shalom aleichem”? Dear Rebecca, The source for blessing the new moon[…]
From: Jill in Toronto Dear Rabbi, What is the special connection of women to Chanuka? In particular, why do women customarily rest or refrain from work while the candles are burning even though this candle lighting, as opposed to for Shabbat, is done by the men? Dear Jill, Take 1: The reason women rest while[…]
From: Caroline in NC Dear Rabbi, I was recently at a Jewish community event attended by members of the local community of all ages, gender and denomination. I saw there an Orthodox couple that seemed friendly and nice so I went over and introduced myself. To my utter surprise, when I extended my hand to[…]
From: Anonymous Dear Rabbi, I was not raised religious. A few years ago I met a girl who was raised religious and who was religious at the time. We started a relationship that was really meaningful with a lot of promise for the future. It was very important to her that I become religious. We[…]
From: Stefan in CA Dear Rabbi, I would like to know if there is anything wrong with drinking things like coffee or tea before praying the morning prayers. My question stems from the fact that I seem to recall that it’s forbidden to drink anything other than water, but when I look around, I see[…]
From: Gary Rushworth Dear Rabbi, My brother-in-law is studying Hebrew at his local college and he and a colleague have concluded that the tetragrammaton (the name comprised of four Hebrew letters) is misinterpreted. They say “Yahweh” is the correct spelling of the Name of G‑d, and “Jehovah” is a “trash” word, not worthy of discussion.[…]
From: Jill in Brookline, MA Dear Rabbi, If Moses was on such a tremendously high spiritual level while on Sinai in order to receive the Torah but didn’t actually write it down until after coming down from Sinai, thereby lowering his spiritual level, how did he understand while writing as he did on Sinai? Or[…]
A Pointed Question From: Binyamin Altman Dear Rabbi, There is a custom to remove knives from the table before Birkat Hamazon (Blessing after Meals). What is the reason for this and does it include plastic knives? Dear Binyamin, There are two main reasons for removing knives prior to Birkat Hamazon. A person was once reciting[…]