Rabbi Yoel Spotts
46 answers
-
Praying for Recovery
Is there one prayer or many prayers that are said for someone who is seriously ill? Someone I know is in serious condition in the hospital. What prayer can I say to help the healing begin? First of all, let…
-
The “Yad” for the Torah Scroll
Why do we use a Yad when reading Torah? In general, why is it prohibited to touch the torah directly? Thank you You have actually answered your first question by asking your second question. A Yad is used in order…
-
Fallen Angels
The Torah mentions the Nephilim as giants in both sections Genesis 6-4 and book of Numbers. Who and what are they? I have had conflicting answers that they were fallen angels to just a story thrown in as filler? Can…
-
The Slanted Mezuzah
Why is the Mezuzah (Scroll on the doorpost) always put on a door obliquely (slanting) and not straight? Your question is an excellent one and requires a bit of background: The Talmud discusses the proper positioning of the Mezuza on…
-
Counting the Years
This year in the Jewish calendar, we are in the year 5766. Since when did we start to count in order to be now in the year 5766? If I understand your question correctly, you are asking what event marks…
-
Language derived from Hebrew
I found many words that are the same in English as they are in Hebrew. I’ve found 341 so far. ‘Gimel’ ‘Resh’ ‘Nun’ is THROAT and in English its GROAN. ‘Kuf’ ‘Lamed’ for VOICE and CALL in English. ‘Tav’ ‘Lamed’…
-
Jewish Thinkers
As a research project I’d like to compare and contrast two Jewish thinkers and their views on one Biblical text. So what two thinkers would be good to focus on and what text would the two argue about? Sounds like…
-
The Name “Zeira”
I just want to know where the name Zeira comes from I have been reading about a Rab Zeira .Can you give me any information to where the name originated from, the meaning of his name? The most famous Zeira…
-
The Placement of the Bimah
Is the custom of situating the bimah on the eastern wall of a synagogue a custom or merely a custom or is it a requirement? Interestingly, there are actually two components to a synagogue which serve as the center of…