G-d and Torah
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How a Halakhah becomes Accepted
How does a Halakhah become accepted? Any post-Biblical Halakhah is the result of a Rabbinical decision. Until about 1000 years ago there were Rabbinical courts whose authority was generally accepted — for example, the Sanhedrin in Israel or the Yeshivos…
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How Jewish Law Develops
How does Jewish law develop? A Jewish law (Halacha) develops as decisions are made about questions that hadn’t previously been raised. This is generally a process of addition rather than change; Rabbis can’t overturn decisions made by earlier Rabbis, especially…
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The Authorship of the Bible
Who wrote the books of the Bible? The first five books of the Bible (the Pentateuch) were given to Moses by G-d. The next group of books, the Prophets, were written by prophets, and so were also Divinely inspired. The…
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Angels
What are angels? The Bible uses the term “Malachim” (Hebrew for “messengers”), which is often translated as “angels”; see, for example, Genesis 16:7 and 19:1. The Jewish tradition is that the angels were created on the second day, and that…
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Angels having Wings
Do angels have wings? Angels with wings appear in (Christian) art, but the angels (“messengers”) mentioned in the Torah aren’t described as having wings — they were usually indistinguishable from people. Other types of supernatural creatures, such as the Keruvim…
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Satan
What is Satan? “Satan” in Hebrew means “adversary”; see Num.22:22. Angels (“messengers”) are sometimes assigned to rebuke or test people; examples are Balaam (loc.cit.) and Job (1:6ff).
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Evil Spirits
Does G-d make use of evil spirits to do bad things? Both good and evil are G-d’s creations; see Isaiah 45:7. He can certainly make use of evil spirits, for example to smite the Egyptian firstborn (Ex. 11:23). The “evil…
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Impurity after Giving Birth
Why is the period of impurity after giving birth to a girl twice as long as for a boy? The commentaries say that carrying and giving birth to a girl has a greater effect on the mother, from which it…
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Where is G-d?
Where is G-d? G-d is everywhere; but there are times and places where He seems closer to us (see Isaiah 55:6).