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Q. A co-worker libeled me and it cost me my job. Now I have an opportunity to sully his reputation. Is that Kosher?

A. I know where you are coming from. I, too, once felt betrayed and unjustly treated and felt the same. But the Torah forbids us to take revenge, no matter how human and natural a trait it is. An allowance &

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Q. I saw a dance at a Jewish wedding with people dancing with bottles on their heads. What’s the point?

A. There’s a big Mitzvah to be joyous at wedding and rejoice with the bride and groom. This is one interesting form of entertainment. It happens to be a Russian talent and tradition and is quite diffic

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Q. Something’s wrong. Calendar says to burn Chametz on Friday, and then eat it until Saturday morning?

A. That only happens when Passover begins on Saturday Night. We can’t burn Chametz as usual on the day before Passover, since that would be prohibited on the Sabbath. So we do it on Friday, but we are

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Q. Why do we pray towards East, but to a Western Wall?

A. We in the diaspora pray toward East to the direction of Jerusalem. (The Jews of Babylonia and Syria prayed to the west, towards Jerusalem). The Western Wall is named such because it is the wall surrounded

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Special $5 Mezuzah Offer! JoinProtectiveEdge

—- This offer has closed as of September 10th, 2014. Thanks to 10+ UAlbany students who have taken advantage of this unique offer and of course thanks to the #JoinProtectiveEdge sponsors and Chabad on

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Q. I always thought Megillah referred to the Book of Esther, and now I hear there’s five such books?

A. There’s only one Book of Esther and Purim story, but there are five books in Jewish scripture which bear the name Megillah. But you are right, when people say Megillah they are almost always referri

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Q. I need to know what it took to become a Rabbi in the 1st Century?

A. A lot more than it does today. Not all scholars were automatically Rabbis back then. The title “Rabbi” referred to the “Smicha” ordination of the earlier generation (represented by

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Q. My Jewish tenant asked me to switch the outdoor light’s motion-sensor to a photo-sensor. Is a motion-sensor unclean? Does it violate individual privacy?

A. There’s nothing unclean or unacceptable about motion sensors. But they do present a one day a week problem to a Sabbath observant Jew. Those who are strictly observant do not manipulate or change el

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Q. What’s a “Psak”?

A. This refers to a clear decisive authoritative ruling on a Halachic issue by a respected expert Rabbinic figure. It also has a Yiddish slang meaning a firm and decisive punishment.…