Search results for: ""Torah""
Reading Material in the Bathroom
You may not take a Jewish publication into the bathroom if it contains words of Torah. You may read a newspaper or magazine that is printed in Hebrew as long as there is no Torah content.
Sheimot: Illegible
If a normal person is not able to read your handwriting, then even if you wrote holy words, Torah, or halacha, they are not considered sheimot.
VaYechal
If at least six of the men in a mincha minyan on a fast day are fasting, read the Torah portion Va'yechal (Exodus 32: 11-14). If fewer than six are fasting, omit it.
Why Bugs May Not Be Eaten
Bugs are not kosher and may not be eaten for two main reasons:
- First, the Torah forbids the “sheretz ha'shoreitz al ha'aretz” (“creeping thing that creeps on the ground”).
- Second, if people consider bugs disgusting to eat, the bugs are forbidden.
General Rules: Kashrut and Bugs
Three basic principles govern bugs/insects in food:-
Partial-Bug Nullification
A whole bug or insect cannot be nullified, even when it makes up less than 1/60th of the volume of the food in which it is found.
Note Any bug that is missing even a tiny part of its body may be nullified if less than 1/60th of the volume of the food in which it is found, but only if:- You cannot remove the bug, and
- You cannot see it.
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The Three-Bug Rule
Any time you find three bugs in food, you must assume there are more bugs to be found and you must therefore check every piece of that food before eating any of it. -
The Still-Kosher Food-and-Pot Rule
Even if the bugs were cooked in the food, as long as you later remove all the bugs, the food and the utensil in which they were cooked remain kosher.
Exception If bugs make up 50\% or more of the total volume, the food is not kosher.
What To DoIn this case, you should consult a rabbi about whether the utensil is kosher.
Sheimot: Definition
Sheimot/sheimos are written items with:
- God's name in Hebrew or even in other languages;
- Three consecutive words of Torah in Hebrew (or commentaries on the Torah in any language); or
- Halacha in any language.
Wearing Hat for Prayer
For details on men's wearing a head covering for prayer, see Attire: Man's Head Covering for Prayers or Torah Study
Leaving Eretz Yisrael
If you live permanently in Eretz Yisrael, you may leave permanently in order to:
- Get married;
- Earn a living; or
- Study Torah.
When To Face Jerusalem
Face toward Jerusalem when saying the amida.
Note You may not stand with your back to an ark containing a Torah scroll, so you might need to modify the direction in which you are facing.
Holy Books: Definition
A Jewish holy book is any book that contains:
- God's name in any language, not just Hebrew,
- Any lines (psukim) of Torah,
- Midrashim,
- Halacha in any language, or
- Mishna/Talmud and their commentaries.
Reason To Not Own Pets
You may own pets but it is not customary unless they are needed for protection since you might violate a Torah prohibition of eating before you have fed them.
Tum'a: Washing Hands and Books
You do not need to wash your hands before reading a book of hashkafa/halacha/Jewish philosophy or even Torah or Talmud from a book, unless you have touched something impure/tamei before reading.
Returning Lost Objects (Hashavat Aveida)
You are required to return a lost object (hashavat aveida) to its Jewish owner if you can. This is a Torah commandment.
Note It is saintly behavior to return lost objects to non-Jews, too, if it will be a kiddush Hashem.
Note You should tell a person if his or her cigarettes fall out of a pocket, even though the cigarettes are dangerous to the smoker's health.
Note You should tell a person if his or her cigarettes fall out of a pocket, even though the cigarettes are dangerous to the smoker's health.
Dayenu
In dayenu, we say that at each level of what God did for us, it would have been enough. Since we didn't get the Torah until one of the last stages, this seems incorrect, since of what value is money, wandering in the desert, and all of the other details if we don't have the Torah?
The answer is that we need to be grateful to God for each miracle that we received, and that at each stage, we owe praise and thanks to God.
Also, in one sense, we already had the Torah (in some version, even though not in the form in which Moses/Moshe wrote it later).
The answer is that we need to be grateful to God for each miracle that we received, and that at each stage, we owe praise and thanks to God.
Also, in one sense, we already had the Torah (in some version, even though not in the form in which Moses/Moshe wrote it later).
When You May Eat Before Your Pet Eats
You must be very careful to feed your animals every day before you eat (otherwise you are violating a Torah commandment). If your animal only eats late in the day, you may eat before that.
Wasting People's Time (Tircha d'tzibura)
You may not waste people's time or upset them (tircha d'tzibura).
Example A prayer leader should not:
- Roll a Torah scroll during the minyan in order to get to the correct place for reading (it should have been done previously) unless necessary;
- Roll up his tefilin after taking them off for musaf on Rosh Chodesh, before hallel on chol ha'moed of Sukkot, or after hallel on chol ha'moed Passover. (Instead, he should take them off and leave them on the bima until the prayer service is finished, or roll them up during Torah reading).