LifeCycle Events
-
The Soul After Death
According to Jewish tradition, does the soul goto heaven immediately when someone dies? The idea that the soul remains near the body for three days after a person dies is mentioned in the Talmud Yerushalmi (Moed Katan 3:5): "For three…
-
The Torah View on Abortion
What is the Torah view on abortion? Answer: The Torah holds human life to be of the utmost value; this applies also to fetal life. Hence abortion is basically forbidden. However, the Torah differentiates between born and unborn life, and…
-
An Organ Donator Being Buried in a Jewish Cemetery
Can I be an organ donor and still be buried in an Orthodox cemetery? A person who saves someone’s life by donating an organ hes done a great Mitzvah. The Halachic problem that arises is that if the organ is…
-
Donating Bone Marrow
Can a Jew give bone marrow to someone with whom a match has been found through a bone marrow registry, even if that person is a non-Jew? Absolutely. Someone who refrains from doing so because the recipient is a non-Jew…
-
The Prohibition of Cremation
Is cremation prohibited, or is this just a custom that arose after the Holocaust? Cremation is prohibited by the Torah. The atrocities of the Holocaust have no bearing at all on this prohibition. Our Rabbis tell us [Reference?] that someone…
-
Why Circumcision?
Why does the Torah require circumcision rather than some other distinguishing bodily sign? Circumcision is a permanent sign in the flesh, unlike a haircut, which grows back. It doesn’t harm the body; in fact, many people believe that it has…
-
Yahrzeit Commemoration
My father passed away recently. Although my father and I rarely saw eye to eye on anything, we loved each other dearly and were very close. This is a difficult time for me. I remember something referred to as a…