Someone in a place where songs associated with idolatry are played, such as during the Christian holiday season, is not prohibited from hearing them. However, it is correct to refrain from enjoying them, as doing so is distasteful. The...
Dear Rabbi and Shira , Hi. I’m engaged to a great guy. My issue with him is that he seems very indecisive in terms of which career to pursue. After many...
A visitor to a supermarket is struck by the vast array of chocolate items for sale, such as candies, chocolate cake, chocolate milk, chocolate cookies and the like. There is also a vast array of halachic issues which apply to chocolate. Is...
The Chanukah menorah has eight lights for the eight days of the holiday. There is a ninth light, the shamash, which is not an actual Chanukah light. A box of Chanukah candles usually contains 44 candles so you...
Parashat Vayigash tells the dramatic story of Yosef’s revealing his identity to his brothers. In the years after they sold him a slave, Yosef miraculously rose to the position of vizier in Egypt. When the brothers came...
“And Yehudah approached him...
The Torah tells us, “Va’yechi Yaakov be’eretz Mitzrayim – And Yaakov lived in the land of Egypt.” The Baal HaTurim reveals that the gematria, the numerical value, of the word va’yechi is 34. He explains that 34 represents the...
It states (45:1) “Yosef couldn’t restrain himself in the presence of all who stood before him...
There is something strange about the Chanukah celebra- tion. The festival of C h a n u k a h commemorates an extraordinary victory -- of the Mac- cabees, a relatively small and dedicated force of fighters, against one...
