Adding Time

Inviting non-Shomrei Shabbat to attend Shul or meals at your
home is often also an invitation for them to drive on Shabbat. What are the
laws of this overlooked yet critical issue? Do the ends ever justify the means?
How can we balance our love for our fellow with our love for halacha?

Given that both Haman and ‘the Manna’ are spelled the same,
is there any deeper connection between the two?
Legend of a Cookie – The Purim cookie. Three corners, folded to swathe a filling. Supposedly it is named after the wicked Haman from the Purim story. How is this cookie reminiscent of the wicked Haman? (Sources)

The popularity of Smart Sensors is on the rise. As more aspects of ordinary life are administered by electronic mechanisms, many practical questions are raised about how observant Jewish life is impacted by the new technology.

When the stairwell lights only turn on when sensing your presence, can you use them on Shabbos? What about the inadvertent motion that triggers a neighbors’ outdoor lights? Can you be present in a room that is monitored by closed-circuit surveillance cameras?

A summary and index of the major contemporary Poskim on this issue.

See also: “An Uplifting Shabbos” on the general issue of Electricity and Shabbos.

One of the the central themes of Chanukah is Pirsumei Nisa, the public display and celebration of the holiday. Around the world, Menorah’s are kindled in Malls, at City Halls and all sorts of public places. May one recite the traditional blessing over the Chaukah lights if they are being lit in the city square and not in the privacy of one’s home or Shul?

Further restricting an already slimmed down Pesach diet is not something anybody would eagerly embrace. But the Jews of medieval Ashkenazic communities adopted the stringency of avoiding the consumption of legumes throughout the duration of Pesach. The question is, why? How was this ban treated for the centuries that have since passed? Was it adhered to equally in times of prosperity and adversity?

Shabbos is a day of physical delight and spiritual rejuvenation. Each of the Shabbos meals is designed with taste and splendor, which elevates the simple act of eating to being a Heavenly experience.
Of what mystical significance are the three halachically-mandated meals on Shabbos? How does Jewish mysticism transform our appreciation for the Shabbos in general, and our perception of the third Shabbos meal in particular?