Eliezer Posner

Question: Is it a mitzvah for a divorced couple to remarry one another? Answer: Yes. The Jerusalem TalmudTractate Ketubot 11:3 see this in Isaiah 58:7, where the prophet exhorts the Jew not to "hide from your flesh," i.e. to look out for our relatives. Ra...

Although Cognac and some brandies are wine based, the taste of the wine is completely lost in the final product. As such, the proper blessing is the standard one for beverages, Shehakol. Click here for the text of the Shehakol blessing. Rabbi Eliezer Posn...

The correct blessing on cantaloupe is Ha'adamah—the blessing recited on "vegetables," or "produce from the ground." When determining the proper blessing to say on produce (other than the five grains – wheat, barley, spelt, oat and rye – or wine), our sole...

Question: Is there a source in Jewish teachings for the importance of maintaining cleanliness and personal hygiene? Answer: In Deuteronomy, 23:13-15. the Torah discusses rules that regulate battle encampments. Now, an impromptu temporary battle camp is no...

In terms of today's money, what would be the value of the biblical half shekel? Maimonides writes (Laws of Shekalim 1:5) that the half shekel mentioned in the Torah – the annual contribution every Jew was required to give to the Temple coffers – is equal ...

Question: What is the reason for the two-handled washing cup I've seen used for ritual hand-washing? If such a cup is not handy, can I use a regular cup? Answer: After the first hand is washed, it is clean and pure. The unwashed hand, however, is not. If ...

The time for reciting maariv (the evening prayers) extends throughout the night. Nevertheless, the sages were concerned that people would delay the recitation of the biblically mandated nighttime Shema – which is recited as part of the maariv – until the ...

Question: Why do we read the Torah reading that discusses the Exodus some three months before Passover? Why doesn't the reading coincide with the festival that commemorates the event? Answer: If we would try to synchronize the reading of the parshiot (wee...

Question: I was born in the month of Adar during a non-leap year. This year, a leap year, there are two Adars, so when do I celebrate my birthday? Answer: You are lucky—you get to celebrate your birthday twice this year! You celebrate your birthday both o...

"Nothing remains of his food; therefore his goods shall not prosper"—Job 20:21. It thus follows that if something does remain of one's food, his goods shall prosper. For this reason many have the custom of not finishing an entire loaf of bread; but to lea...