Rabbi Yitzchak Kolakowski
31 answers
Rabbi Yitzchak Kolakowski is the spiritual leader of Congregation Kol Emes in Richmond, VA. He learned in Ohr Somayach in Yerushalayim and in Yeshivah Beis Medrash L’Talmud in Queens, NY.
-
Meat in the wilderness
The children of Israel, while in the wilderness, ask God for meat. Why did they do that when they had the animals they had brought with them from Egypt? Answer: Thank you for your excellent question. The preeminent commentator on…
-
Capital Punishment in Practice?
I heard a radio host say that the punishments mentioned in Leviticus (e.g. stoning someone to death for some horrible act, etc) were only mentioned to show how egregious God thought such acts were, but that the punishments were never…
-
Animals, Spirit, and Reincarnation
I recently had to put my service dog to sleep. What is Judaism’s position on the souls of our animals and how we dispose of their bodies after death? Answer: The Kabbalah recognizes two separate issues which shed light on…
-
Sending the Mother Bird
Why is it forbidden to take the eggs or non-flying chicks of a kosher bird if a kosher mother bird is above them, but it is permissible to kill them in front of the mother? I thought the whole purpose…