Dust and Ashes: The Conflict Between Burial and Cremation

Without question, our prize possessions are the children we raise, and it is they who remain our legacy after we depart from the world.
Traditionally, children pledge funds to tzedakah and perform other good deeds in the merit of their deceased parents and loved ones.
What are the legal and philosophical arguments in defense of the idea that the deceased may enjoy the merits accrued by the good deeds of others? What if the individual was less-than righteous? Can the tzedakah by community members benefit their soul as well? What makes Yom Kippur a most propitious day to pledge tzedakah for the deceased?

׳שפטרני מעונש הלזה׳ – ביטוי נדיר ותמוה. לפנינו סקירה כוללת על מקור מנהג אמירת הברכה בעת עלית הבר מצוה, טעמו וביאורו.

A comprehensive examination of the ancient promise that those who attend a bris are forgiven of all their sins. Where did the legend start? To whom does it apply? And how seriously do we take it today?

From the moment Avrohom circumcised himself at 99, the Jewish Bris has been the pivotal act of Jewish identity throughout history. It is at this moment that a Jewish boy is given his name. Yet when a bris must be delayed for medical reasons, can the parents give him his name anyhow, or must the boy remain nameless until the Bris takes place? 

האם מותר להניח פרחים מעל ארון או קבר המת? הבנה יסודית בהגדרת האיסור והטעמים שלא ללכת בחוקות הגויים, מביא אותנו לסכם את שיטות הפוסקים בדין הנחת הפרחים.