From: Lisa Dear Rabbi, Was Hebrew the first language spoken by mankind? If so, how did Adam and Eve know how to speak it? And what was the origin of the other languages? Why didn’t G‑d want all peoples to speak the same language? If Hebrew was the first language spoken by all, is there[…]
From: Tomer Dear Rabbi, I am intrigued by the role of the lion in Judaism. On the one hand, it’s not kosher. But on the other, it seems to represent holy concepts. One, for example, is the Tribe of Judah. Can you please explain? Dear Tomer, It is correct that the lion is not kosher,[…]
From: Bracha Dear Rabbi, I know someone who claims to be Jewish but a Karaite. The person was saying things about Judaism which didn’t seem right to me and the discussion became a little sensitive so I changed the subject. But I was wondering what you can tell me about Karaism and its relationship to[…]
From: Mathew Dear Rabbi, Is there some kind of promise that all Jews will be in the World to Come? Some kind of “spiritual green card”? This doesn’t make complete sense to me. Isn’t the World to Come something that one has to earn? Dear Matthew, Your intuition is right. There’s no favoritism regarding entry[…]
From: Sheina Dear Rabbi, Unfortunately, my sister is getting divorced and there’s some question regarding the spelling of her name on the get. The rabbis involved require that it be written in Hebrew with a particular spelling that is different than the way we’ve always spelled her name. She feels uncomfortable with this and I[…]
From: David Dear Rabbi, We are told that Moses was the greatest of prophets. Yet we find that he remained in this world and died a natural death which is not the case with Eliyahu who was conveyed into the spiritual realm in a chariot of fire because of the great spiritual heights he attained.[…]
From: Ted Dear Rabbi, I am Afro-American and Christian. It is my opinion that the Jewish religion is not racist. But I had a conversation with a Jewish friend of mine who pointed out that Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses for marrying an African woman. Is this so? And what is the Torah perspective on[…]
From: Menachem Dear Rabbi, There is a young man who has been coming to our shul recently who is in the process of becoming a baal teshuva. I have become a bit of a mentor for him and he asks me a lot of questions. My question to you is this: Our shul is regular[…]
From: Saul Dear Rabbi, Do animals talk? Has G‑d gifted the power of speech to animals? We read stories such as Bilam’s talking donkey and about King Solomon knowing the language of the animals. We also read in Perek Shira that they sing praises to G‑d, is this to be taken literally? Dear Saul, Animals do[…]
From: Harrison Dear Rabbi, My wife and I are not observant but we are traditional Jewish. We have been married several years and never intended to have children. We both consider it too much of a burden. Lately we have encountered a lot of criticism for this from a Jewish point of view. We’ve agreed[…]