Rinse and Repeat

For some, only a serious serving of Cappucino or Esspresso can pack in a much needed energy boost for the day.

With 11,962 Starbucks locations throughout the United States, the prospect of buying coffee from your local coffee shop raises some important halachic questions.
Part I:
Does a coffee prepared by a non-Jewish barista involve an issue of Bishul Aku”m? May one drink inside the coffee shop, or only to-go? What was the Arizal’s unique take on the subject? Also: what is the proper Bracha on coffee beans?

(Hebrew)

Your hostess has labored to prepare a tongue tantalizing gourmet dinner, but alas – her fine china dishes were never ritually purified by immersion in a Mikvah. How do you navigate this delicate situation?

Does making tztitis at night make them invalid? What was the
position of the Rebbeim in this regard?

Scientific advances have unlocked some of the ‘source code’ of living organisms, where by splicing genes from, say, arctic salmon into strawberries, or mice into chickens, we can produce strains of plants and animals which grow better, are more resilient, and are more beneficial economically or otherwise.

While discussion abounds regarding the long-term health effects of these developments, what is the Torah’s view on such manipulation? Do the ethos of kilayim preclude meddling in G-d’s domain? Or does the command to “fill the earth and subdue it” (Bereshis 1:28) provide the ethical mandate to do just that?

What are the Halachic ramifications? Is the act of implanting the gene –in flora or fauna- a violation of kilayim? What is the kosher status of the resulting hybrids? Does the status of the donor carryover to the recipient? What if the transferred genes affect the presence of the traditional kosher signs? (a tuna with no scales, a shark with scales)? Is an Esrog which has been thus modified considered a Murkav, disqualifying it from use for the Mitzvah?

Is there a spiritual effect? Do the characteristics of those animals which the Torah deems negative carry over into the new creature? Would consuming this (otherwise Kosher) creature bring spiritual coarseness (timtum halev)?

A collection of Tshuvos and articles in Hebrew and English.

Many of contemporary society’s challenges could be remedied by the observance of the mitzvah of honoring one’s parents. Yet Kibbud Av V’Em is a broad and sweeping mitzvah with vaguely defined boundaries. To what extent are we obligated? Are we required to sacrifice our own social life to care for our parents? Does it apply to marriage partners? How do we define respect? Learn the Torah’s definition of honoring our parents.

המאמר שלפנינו סוקר את פרטי צורת עשיית הטלית ועטיפתו, ואת צורת התפילין ולבישתם על פי מנהג חסידי חב״ד, אשר יסודותם בהררי קדש של תורת הסוד.