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 Essential Parts of a Wedding Ceremony
What are the essential parts of a wedding ceremony? The only essential thing is the ceremony itself, consisting of two parts, eirusin (“betrothal”) and nisuin (“marriage”), which are always done together nowadays. Tenoim (antenuptial agreements) are also customary, but nowadays…
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Non-Natural Births or Conceptions
What are the Talmud’s views about non-naturally occurring births or conceptions? The Talmud is quite familiar with births that don’t occur naturally — Caesarian sections, for example. (The Talmudic term is “yotze dofen” — “coming out through the [abdominal] wall”;…
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Egg Donation
What does Jewish Law say about egg donation? Rabbinical views differ on the legal implications of using a donor egg. Assuming that the process is permissible, most authorities would probably agree that a non-Jewish egg is preferable, but opinions differ…
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Putting Grass or Earth on a Tombstone
Why do we put grass or earth on a tombstone? The source seems to be the B’er Hetev on Orach Chayim 224:8, quoting Derashos MaHaRaSh: We pull up grass or a clod of earth and put it on the monument…
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Sending a Sympathy Card With Flowers
Is it proper to send a bereaved person a sympathy card that has pictures of flowers on it? It isn’t customary to send flowers to Jewish bereaved persons, but there’s nothing objectionable about pictures of flowers on a sympathy card.
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Mourning for Grandparents
Are we forbidden to mourn for our grandparents? We are not supposed to mourn excessively, but this doesn’t mean not being sad; it means that the specific laws of mourning, which forbid certain things for 7 or 30 days (or…
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Organ Donation
Why is it permissible to receive an organ donation, but not for a Jew to donate an organ? Removing a vital organ from a person who is not yet legally dead (by halachic standards) is regarded as murder; but if…