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Last answer posted on: 3 Feb 2010

Questions answered to date: 1623

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Showing 20 Most Recent Questions

Question No.	1703
Category	The Nations
Date Posted	4 Oct 2009
The Question	what diffrentiates us from the goyim? and what happens to a typical goy after he dies? —Anonymous, brooklyn ny
The Answer	Click here to listen to Rabbi Leff's answer.

Question No.	1702
Category	Halacha (General Jewish Law)
Date Posted	1 Oct 2009
The Question	is one allowed to buy a lottery ticket if it is held on shabbos. is it a problem of possibly making money on shabbos even though his chances are slim. —Anonymous, cleveland
The Answer	Click here to listen to Rabbi Leff's answer.

Question No.	1701
Category	Hashkafa (Jewish Thought/Philosophy)
Date Posted	30 Sep 2009
The Question	Is it possible that a person who after 120 years is judged by hashem as a tzaddik would have been judged otherwise had he been born in a different era, or even in the same era to different parents (frum vs non-frum)or born in a different environment (Brooklyn,NY vs. Hawaii)etc? Or do we say that if a person ultimately succeeded he would have succeeded under any circumstances? Does hashem always place us in the absolute best situation for us to succeed? —yehoshua, brooklyn
The Answer	Click here to listen to Rabbi Leff's answer.

Question No.	1700
Category	Halacha (General Jewish Law)
Date Posted	30 Sep 2009
The Question	I am staying with my family. I am not able to Kasher some of their utensils (plates, bowls). May I use them with cold or hot parve or milkig food items? (not ben yomi) —Yonasan, Texas
The Answer	Click here to listen to Rabbi Leff's answer.

Question No.	1699
Category	Miscellaneous
Date Posted	29 Sep 2009
The Question	Dear Rabbi, I am a drug counselor. i often come across questions from my clients, that "if drugs are bad why did god create them" and "I am using drugs to connect myself to god and to feel spiritual". I don't have a good answer for them. How would the rav answer these statements. —Anonymous, far rockaway, new york
The Answer	Click here to listen to Rabbi Leff's answer.

Question No.	1698
Category	Halacha (General Jewish Law)
Date Posted	29 Sep 2009
The Question	Kvod Ha'Rav, My neighbors are currently building their sukkah under a tree. What action am I to take? They are religious sephardim who surely know the hallachah, but build their sukkah in the same spot every year. Thank you. —Anonymous, Jerusalem
The Answer	Click here to listen to Rabbi Leff's answer.

Question No.	1697
Category	Miscellaneous
Date Posted	29 Sep 2009
The Question	Kvod Ha'Rav, I am torn about which shul to daven at. We've recently moved and while there are many shuls in our new area, none are ideal. There is a local kolel, but it does not have services consistently and on key times such as Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, so we had to find an alternative at least for some occasions. We have finally found another shul that we like. It has an appropriate community, nice sanctuary, and is in a reasonable walking distance, Ashkenazi, etc. The catch is they are "liberal" orthodox. Women receive 3/7 aliyot once a month and a woman reads the Haftorah that week as well. Can I daven in this shul? In all other ways it seems "normal" and really seems to be the ideal option. Thank you. —Anonymous, Jerusalem
The Answer	Click here to listen to Rabbi Leff's answer.

Question No.	1696
Category	Miscellaneous
Date Posted	26 Sep 2009
The Question	We are planning a memorial service for Deceased patients of a Jewish Hospice. The name of the deceased patient will appear in the memorial printed material. It is our understanding that when the name of a deceased person is printed, it should include a jewish symbol recognizing that they are deceased. Unfortunately, we can not find any specificity as to the appropriate symbol to use and we would like to assure that we are conveying the appropriate respect. Could you please provide any information on this subject, including the name of the symbol so that we may locate and reproduce it in the memorial material? —Michael Kellough, Pittsburgh, PA
The Answer	Click here to listen to Rabbi Leff's answer.

Question No.	1695
Category	Kashrus (Kosher Laws)
Date Posted	25 Sep 2009
The Question	I have high cholesterol and i need to take certain dietary supplements such as fish oil capsules. there is a company that my doctor recommends called natures bounty that has fish oil capsules. is it ok if i take these capsules if they include gelatin? and does the type of fish used make a difference? —jack, brooklyn new york
The Answer	Click here to listen to Rabbi Leff's answer.

Question No.	1694
Category	Miscellaneous
Date Posted	24 Sep 2009
The Question	I have developed diabetes, now comes yom kippur, what do I do? I have not dissobeyed this mitzaht, I am afraid to! Rabbi, were I live there are no rabbies, you are the one I must go to. how shall I keep yom kippur, what shall I do. Shalom —Yaakov Ben Eliyahu, Cherokee Village, AR.
The Answer	Click here to listen to Rabbi Leff's answer.

Question No.	1693
Category	Women in Judaism (Laws/Customs)
Date Posted	24 Sep 2009
The Question	I have a question on tsnius. Is a woman allowed to go barefoot or barelegged (with a skirt covering the knees) in her own home when no one else is around, or if just her husband or children are home? I know frum women who do go barelegged, but, my husband said it is completely ossur. —Chana, Lakewood
The Answer	Click here to listen to Rabbi Leff's answer.

Question No.	1692
Category	Kashrus (Kosher Laws)
Date Posted	24 Sep 2009
The Question	I inherited dishes (China, duralex,plastic) and pots and pans from my mother who was frum but originally didn't eat glatt. Among her dishes was also stuff she got from sibling who didn't keep kosher, tovel etc. 1. Can I use her dishes as is, or do I need to kasher anything? 2. What if some of the stuff (glass I believe) originally was not toveled? Do I tovel everything questionable? What cannot be kashered? Duralex glasses? 3. There's one set of China that says Pesach but not if it's meat or milk, The most logical explanation is that it's meat, and may have been used once or twice. Can I assume it's meat? There's nobody that remembers. —Anonymous, Jerusalem
The Answer	Click here to listen to Rabbi Leff's answer.

Question No.	1691
Category	Hashkafa (Jewish Thought/Philosophy)
Date Posted	22 Sep 2009
The Question	If we are supposed to emulate the ways of Hashem, why is there a mitzva not to put a stumbling block in front of the "blind", if Hashem is constantly doing so? I'm referring to all of the difficulties that come up throughout the day that seem insurmountable, and especially for all those people in the world who are "blind" and haven't been zoche to see the Emes of the Torah? —Anonymous, Israel
The Answer	Click here to listen to Rabbi Leff's answer.

Question No.	1690
Category	Tefillah (Prayer Laws/Customs)
Date Posted	22 Sep 2009
The Question	Dear Rabbi Leff; As I was davening on Rosh Hashana, and the need to use the bathroom arose, I was wondering whether or not I could interrupt my Shmona Esrei by going to the bathroom, and return to my Shmona Esrei? I didn't want to have to rush through my tefilla, but the need was great. Also, sometimes, especially on Yom Kippur, my back, and sometimes legs really start to hurt when I stand for a long time. May I sit down during the Shmmona Esrei if my back starts to hurt me? Thank you. —Anonymous, Eretz Yisrael
The Answer	Click here to listen to Rabbi Leff's answer.

Question No.	1689
Category	Miscellaneous
Date Posted	16 Sep 2009
The Question	Tzadi Hassadik. What influence does this name have on a person? —joseph salaman, San Adres Island Colombia
The Answer	Click here to listen to Rabbi Leff's answer.

Question No.	1688
Category	Halacha (General Jewish Law)
Date Posted	14 Sep 2009
The Question	There's a website that sells very expensive paintings of gedolim. I wanted to see one of the pictures enlarged, so I clicked on it, and when it came up enlarged in a separate screen, I realized that I could right-click it and save it to my computer, which means I can bring my copy to a store and get it developed in a large size for a few dollars. I've listened to the questions about copying music, and in this case, I would definitely not pay $350 for a gadol picture, not even Rav Moshe. Is the halacha the same as with recorded music? If it matters, the quality of my copy will probably be considerably lower quality. Thanks and K V'Ch T. —Yoni Leibowitz, New York
The Answer	Click here to listen to Rabbi Leff's answer.

Question No.	1687
Category	Hashkafa (Jewish Thought/Philosophy)
Date Posted	14 Sep 2009
The Question	Intellectual honesty requires that one look at all possible sides of an issue. The Torah prohibits one from reading words of apikorsus, so isn't someone who follows the Torah being intellectually dishonest? —Anonymous, New York, N.Y.
The Answer	Click here to listen to Rabbi Leff's answer.

Question No.	1686
Category	Hashkafa (Jewish Thought/Philosophy)
Date Posted	14 Sep 2009
The Question	The impression I get is that even if having more children would cause a family to live in poverty, that the Torah says they still have to have more. Is this true? Does it make a difference if the couple has already had both a boy and girl? —Anonymous, USA
The Answer	Click here to listen to Rabbi Leff's answer.

Question No.	1685
Category	Kashrus (Kosher Laws)
Date Posted	14 Sep 2009
The Question	I was wondering if it was okay to take Omega 3 fish oil capsules if they don't have kosher certification. I noticed that the kosher one can be as much as 10 times the cost of the ones without certification. —Anonymous, Baltimore, MD
The Answer	Click here to listen to Rabbi Leff's answer.

Question No.	1684
Category	Halacha (General Jewish Law)
Date Posted	14 Sep 2009
The Question	regarding question 1176 and 1695. i read a teshuva from Rav Belsky, shlita, that stated that a person can easily convince himself that he definitely would not have bought the cd anyway, and therfore convince himself that he may copy it. therefore a person shouldn't rely on that heter. (a little side point i want to make. there is a new kind of ipod that cam hold up to 200 gigabytes of music! to fill that up with music legally, would cost $35,000! just imagine how much these singers, producers, composers, distributors are losing...) —Anonymous, Philadelphia
The Answer	Click here to listen to Rabbi Leff's answer.

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