From: Ken Lipworth Dear Rabbi, I am puzzled as to how the Israelites produced the golden calf. These people were slaves. It seems totally incongruous that, as slaves, they would have owned any gold jewelry. In a similar vein, from where did the Jews get swords to fight the battle against Amalek? It would seem[…]
From: Rabih Sarieddine in Switzerland Dear Rabbi, It seems to me that universality is one of the main topics in Judaism. However, in Judaism, conversion is a long process that needs human validation. Now take someone who really wishes to become Jewish. It happens that he takes a voyage on the sea and the[…]
From: Holly in Scotland Dear Rabbi, Who were the first Jews? If Adam and Eve, then all mankind is Jewish. If Abraham (or the other patriarchs and matriarchs), since they came from non-Jewish families, where do we find they converted? And if they did, then were Ishmael and Esau (and their descendants) Jewish? If the[…]
From: Mark in Worcester, MA Dear Rabbi, According to my understanding, philosophy addresses a lot of the questions that Judaism does, so what advantage does Judaism have over philosophy? Dear Mark, Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi addresses your question very directly and cogently in his work “The Kuzari” that was written in 11th century Spain. The book[…]
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: 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: 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[…]
From: Abraham in L.A. Dear Rabbi, I remember that my grandfather, of blessed memory, used to mention Rabbi Meir when he gave tzadaka. I don’t know exactly what he was saying, but I think it had something to do with asking G‑d to help him give the charity in the name of Rabbi Meir of[…]