Jewish History
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The Rise of Judaism
What are the basic events that led to the rise of judaism? It depends on what you mean. Abraham was, for all intents and purposes, the first Jew. It was he whom G-d contacted to live a life that was…
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Rabbi Sirkus
I am a direct descendant of Rabbi Joel Sirkus. Could you tell me about his contributions to the Jewish Faith? I would be interested to know more about him. Thank you Lived 1561-1640 in Poland. He served as Rabbi in…
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Medical Research from the Holocaust
I am a second year medical student. We have recently begun our neurology term. Today, I found out that the recommended text for this course, Neural Science, by Kandel & Schwartz, has been largely based on the results of experiments…
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Shulchan Aruch – “Set Table”
Shulchan Aruch (the standard code of Jewish law) means ‘Prepared Table”, or “Set Table”. Why is it called that? Rabbi Yoseph Caro, its author, chose the name because it conveys the idea of something being all prepared for you, just…
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Yehudit
Shalom!….where can I find everything about the story of Yehudit? Who was she? What did she do for jewish people? What is the meaning of her name? everything…. Thank you very much. Hi The best book for finding out about…
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Star of David
What does the Star of David mean? Do the points of the Star represent something? How does it apply to the Jewish Faith? The six sided star represents the presence of G-d in all sides of the world, and above…
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Bar Kochba and Rabbi Akiva
During the Bar-Kochba uprising Rabbi Akiva supported its leader. But once Bar-Kohba refused to obey Rabi Akiva when he forbade being friendly with Samaritans. As a result Rabi Akiva left Bar-Kohba and his followers. My definition of this situation is…
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Did Moses write about his death?
If Moses wrote down the Torah how could he write about his death? The Talmud asks this question. Typically Talmudic, there are 2 opinions: Yes, “with tears in his eyes” and No, Joshua did. To my knowledge there is no…
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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…