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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The Requirement of Women to Pray
What is the basis for women being required to pray? There aren’t any explicit instances of women praying in the Torah, but in the Prophets (1 Samuel Ch.1) we find a detailed account of Hannah’s prayer for a child and…
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How is the Jewish Calendar Fixed?
How is the Jewish calendar fixed? Fixing the calendar is the responsibility of the Sanhedrin (the highest Jewish court); today we use rules that the Sanhedrin formulated about 1500 years ago. Since the calendar underlies all the commandments that have…
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The Basic Principles of the Jewish Calendar
What are the basic principles of the Jewish calendar? When was the present Jewish calendar established? Answer: The Jewish calendar is based on solar years and lunar months. The lunar month, which begins at the new moon, is about 29-1/2…
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Changing the Calendar
How was Hillel II allowed to change the Jewish calendar? Declaring the new month by observation of the new moon, and the new year by the arrival of spring, can only be done by the Sanhedrin. In the time of…
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The Accuracy of the Jewish Calendar
How accurate is the Jewish calendar? The Jewish calendar is based on a figure for the length of the solar year that is 6 or 7 minutes too long. As a result, over the past 1500 years (since the time…
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The Names of the Jewish Months
Where did the names of the Jewish months come from? The names that we use nowadays come from Bablyonia (Talmud Yerushalmi Rosh Ha-Shanah 1:2); in Biblical times the months had other names. Only four of the original Hebrew names of…
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Charity to a Formerly Rich Person
How much charity must be given to a rich person who becomes poor? The Torah (Deut.15:8) speaks about providing a poor person with “what he lacks”. This implies, for example, that if he was accustomed to having a horse to…
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Restrictions on the King
What restrictions are imposed on a Jewish King? The Talmud (Sanhedrin 21b), commenting on Deut. 17:16-17, tells us that a king can have up to 18 wives, and as many horses as he needs for his chariots and mounted troops,…
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Charity in the Torah
Where does the Torah speak about giving charity? The Torah speaks about giving charity in Deut. 15:7ff (“If there will be a poor man among you… you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand toward your poor brother;…