See pp 10-11 from a booklet put out by R Hadar Yehudah Margolin, available at www.dafyomi.co.il/lectures/reviis/kuntras-kzayis.pdf What we call "Chazon Ish Shiurim" is a mistake. The measures given for the Seder were not intended as iqar hadin, but included a safety margin beyond the largest known shitah. When it comes to Berakhos, you cannot make […]
On Wed, Mar 25, 2026 at 08:38:03AM -0400, Zvi Lampel via Avodah wrote: > Rabbi Berel Wein z"l with a different nuance: > https://www.rabbiwein.com/blog/post-2225 ... > [On the other hand.] Too much individuality can lead to narcissism and > arrogance. No individuality makes life meaningless and without true > purpose. Judaism always preaches balance in […]
RJIR in Avodah V44n18: > A recent Wall Street Journal article examined an emerging practice of human composting as a solution to cemetery space shortages. The process involves natural organic reduction transforming bodies into nutrient-rich soil using microbes, clover, hay, and straw in sealed vessels over 40 days. Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery plans on adopting this […]
I suppose it depends what happens with the bones. Do the bones themselves decompose with the soft tissue, or not? If they do, it's just an accelerated version of the normal burial process. We put holes in the casket, or in Israel bury in cloth, davka to speed the decomposition of the body and return […]
Tue, 24 Mar 2026 Joel Rich posted: From, The Paths of Providence -Chaim Gross: One of the hallmarks of modernity was the adoption (in the 18th and 19th > centuries) of individualism as the basis by which political and social > groups are structured. This principle values the individual over the > community to a […]
. R' Joel Rich asked: > A recent Wall Street Journal article examined an emerging > practice of human composting as a solution to cemetery space > shortages. The process involves natural organic reduction > transforming bodies into nutrient-rich soil using microbes, > clover, hay, and straw in sealed vessels over 40 days.... > What […]
A recent Wall Street Journal article examined an emerging practice of human composting as a solution to cemetery space shortages. The process involves natural organic reduction transforming bodies into nutrient-rich soil using microbes, clover, hay, and straw in sealed vessels over 40 days. Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery plans on adopting this method. What does halacha has […]
From, The Paths of Providence -Chaim Gross This articulates one of my deepest frustrations: One of the hallmarks of modernity was the adoption (in the 18th and 19th centuries) of individualism as the basis by which political and social groups are structured. This principle values the individual over the community to a much greater extent […]
On Wed, Mar 18, 2026 at 12:22:53AM +0200, Joel Rich via Avodah wrote: > ... which raises the question when can we say there is a minhag when > something is infrequent (tbd) I recently encountered the AhS saying "no". Those who are learning the supplementary material to Arukh haShulchan recently learned YD 57:19. The […]
The mlacha of kotzer on Shabbat is generally defined as taking a living organism and detaching it from the ground which is its chiyut (source of life). The Yerushalmi (shabbat 48b) and many rishonim use this definition to classify taking a fish out of water as kotzer. Some extend the concept to keeping a fish […]