Rabbi Azriel Schreiber
855 answers
Whenever possible, JewishAnswers.org tries to include the name of the author on every post. However, at certain times, we make significant changes to the answers posted. In that case, we will often sign the post with our generic “pen name” – Rabbi Azriel Schreiber. This “pen name” may also be used when a writer declines to have his name published.
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Keeping Two Days of a Holiday
Why do we keep many of the holidays for two days, when according to the Torah they are only one day? Answer: Before the time of Hillel II, when the months were still proclaimed by the Sanhedrin court on the…
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Burying a Tattooed Person in a Jewish Cemetery
According to Halachah, may a person whose body has tattoos be buried in a Jewish cemetery? Ho whose body has been pierced? Answer: It is not prohibited to bury someone who has tattoos or body piercings in a Jewish cemetery.…
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Intermarriage Between Jewish Tribes
Is there scripture or command found in Torah which forbids marrying out of each tribe? In other words, could the daughters/sons of the tribe of Judah marry someone from any of the other tribes? How would they know this in…
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Joshua and Rahab
If Joshua the son of Nun married Rahab didn’t he break the covenant of not marrying outside of the their tribes? Answer: Indeed, our tradition teaches that Rahab married Joshua. The requirement of marrying within the tribe (which only applied…
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Authors of the Haftorah Portions
Who actually writes the Haftorah portions? Answer: From the time that God gave the Torah to the Jews about 3300 years ago, and throughout the time that the Jews lived in the Land of Israel, until about 2400 years ago…
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Jews and Success
I love the Jewish people, and I have recently discovered that I might be Jewish. I wonder then, why has my life been so difficult, why have I been unsuccessful. Why has it been, and still ism such a struggle…
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Free Will When G-d Knows What You Will Choose
How can Hashem be all knowing and let us have free will? If the future is known to him, are we really making our own decisions? Answer: This is an excellent, and complex, question. Let me add another question: Why,…
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Chanukah Gelt
Why do we give money to children on Chanukah? Answer: It was customary to give coins to children to induce them to study (Maimonides’ Mishnah commentary on Sanhedrin Ch.10). Giving coins to children on Chanukah is therefore appropriate, because Chanukah…
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Charging Interest to Non-Jews
If usury is a deadly sin, an injustice and an obvious manifestation of human greed (Ezekiel 18:8; Psalm 14:5), why are the Jews forbidden to sin against each-other and allowed to sin against the non-Jews Deuteronomy 23:19-20)? Is Jewish justice…