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Q. Is there history behind Yom Kippur?

A. Plenty. Moses came down with the 2nd Tablets on Yom Kippur, along with G-d’s pardon for the Jews’ first big sin. Yom Kippur is written right in the Torah, as a fast day, a day of atonement, th...

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Q. How did Jewish Cemeteries end up alongside UAlbany and in front of Crossgates Mall?

A. I’m in my 20’s yet remember clearly (I grew up in Albany) when Crossgates was built. The Uptown University Campus is only up since the very late ’60’s. Some time before that this a...

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Q. What does Judaism say about Capital Punishment?

A. The Torah enumerates specific offences, both religious and civil, punishable by the death penalty. However as any student of the Talmudic tractate “Sanhedrin” (The Laws of Courts) knows, a myr...

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Q. I’m going to Hawaii, is there Judaism there?

A. Go to www.Chabad.org and look up the Chabad Lubavitch Rabbi(s) there. The Lubavitcher Rebbe encouraged his Chassidim to take up life-time posts even in...

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Q. Did Ezra write part of the Torah?

A. From a traditional historic perpective: No. Ezra, one of the leaders of the return of the Jews from the first Diaspora and builder of the 2nd Temple, brought a forgotten Torah to a generation who had negl...