The Q & A with Rabbi Breitowitz Podcast

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R' Yishmael's 13 Middos of Interpretation- 5 Mar 06, 2022

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We'd love to hear from you : podcasts@ohr.edu https://podcasts.ohr.edu/ Visit us @ ohr.edu Produced by: Cedar Media Studios

Q&A- Russia-Ukraine War, Purim Torah & Kabbalistic References Mar 03, 2022

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Would you like to sponsor an episode? A series? We'd love to hear from you : podcasts@ohr.edu https://podcasts.ohr.edu/ Visit us @ ohr.edu 00:00 the Rav supplements this week's Q and A with follow up up on questions from last week: 00:03 Leaving out Lecha Dodi 01:38 Going into a church 03:09 R Moshe on Dor Yesharim 08:33 The Netziv and secular studies 11:47 Making instant coffee on Shabbos 14:16 Is there any zechus in the Ukrainian prime minister staying back and defending his country? 17:54 What does it mean that the tannaim were learning Torah? 20:25 Why are there exactly 70 nations? 27:31 Why is there not more focus on tefilla in Yeshivas as we approach Mashiach times or otherwise? 39:04 Where did the mintage of using parsely as karpas on Pesach come from and is it correct? 44:06 Is there a preference to using Kabbalah or non-kabbalistic references. And what is the view of gedolim having mystical powers of sorts? 50:29 What's the view of bachurim learning Tanach? 57:44 What is the Halacha about talking about divrei chol on Shabbos? 59:24 How does one balance the "level" of mitzvahs and aveiras? 1:02:26 How do Kabballists seemingly justify speaking to the dead when there is an issur of communication with the dead? 1:05:04 What is the earliest Mekor for Purim Torah and can the Rav share a few of his most favorite and best ones he's heard and/or created? 1:06:44 If malacha is usually defined as a creative action, then how can we say Shabbos is a day of menucha? 1:10:21 As a Baal Teshuva, one is supposed to feel simcha but also regret. Which should we take on? Especially if regret can turn into self-loathing? 1:15:15 Is the story of Elazar ben Dordia an example of wasting seed and was his teshuva a source of proof that one can make teshuva on this? 1:18:04 The Gemara in Sukkah speaks about the "Sheva Roim" (the Seven Shepherds) in Navi and the list excludes Yitzchak Avinu with Rashi there bringing a source that Yitzchak Avinu is busy saving his children from Gehinom… what's happening here? Produced by: Cedar Media Studios

R' Yishmael's 13 Middos of Interpretation- 4 Mar 01, 2022

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We'd love to hear from you : podcasts@ohr.edu https://podcasts.ohr.edu/ Visit us @ ohr.edu Produced by: Cedar Media Studios

R' Yishmael's 13 Middos of Interpretation- 3 Feb 27, 2022

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We'd love to hear from you : podcasts@ohr.edu https://podcasts.ohr.edu/ Visit us @ ohr.edu Produced by: Cedar Media Studios

Q&A- Therapy, Censorship, and the Literal Ages of Torah Personalities Feb 24, 2022

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Would you like to sponsor an episode? A series? We'd love to hear from you : podcasts@ohr.edu https://podcasts.ohr.edu/ Visit us @ ohr.edu 00:00 What happened with Yehuda HaNasi's grave? 00:17 Is therapy effective? 05:37 is one allowed to gamble in a casino or just with friends? 15:07 Excluding mesora, how should one decide to follow Mishna Berura or Orach Hashulchan? 21:03 Jews can't go into churches for no reason. If a Jew is visiting Rome or a place where churches are like museums, what is the Halacha? 31:09 Is it permissible to make a powdered soup on Shabbat with a Kli shishi? 38:40 Is there an issue of giving respect to a place like the Sistine Chapel or the like? 42:33 What is the definition of Bitul Torah? 54:30 What is the Rav's opinion on censorship? 1:14:50 Are Chazal censored? 1:16:38 Why does Lecha Dodi mention SHAMOR before ZACHOR when it's opposite in the Torah itself? 1:18:01 Some Jews cut out verses of Lecha Dodi, why? 1:19:42 How do we explain machloket in the Gemara when there was a mesora from Rebbe? 1:23:37 What happens when we don't posken like a Mishna? 1:26:23 We are given different ages of people in Tanach, should we take them literally? 1:29:20 If you're sitting in shachris Shabbos morning, and a person you know to have been born a woman sits down next to you, what should you do? 1:36:13 Are children below 13/12 obligated in middos? 1:39:15 What does it mean that Avraham was blessed "BAKOL" exactly, and what gives the right to the Ibn Ezra to give his opinion about the grammar of the pasuk? 1:44:22 What if a one's parents don't keep Shabbos? Produced by: Cedar Media Studios

Q&A- Tanya, Golden Calf & Genetic Testing Feb 22, 2022

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Would you like to sponsor an episode? A series? We'd love to hear from you : podcasts@ohr.edu https://podcasts.ohr.edu/ Visit us @ ohr.edu 00:00 What is the secret of Sasson and Simcha in Gemara Sukkah? 04:55 Does MUTAR mean it's good and allowed or just not forbidden but could be questionable? 09:11 What is the significance of the blood on the earlobe, the thumb, and the big toe of a Kohen? 14:42 Why would Moshe care about Hashem relinquishing his connection to the other nations of the world (Parshas Ki Tisa)? 31:59 We fight the Yetzer Hara every day, so how is that not analogous to the idea that Christians believe we are born evil? 34:45 Is the point of Tanya to mitigate our animal soul? 37:38 Can you contradict the Tanya? 42:19 How much should we value the five levels of a person mentioned in Tanya? 43:47 Why didn't the Jews in the desert turn to Aharon as their conduit to Hashem? Why did they seemingly go straight to an idol? 45:36 How should we deal with climate change? 48:06 There are three exceptions to not living in Israel. Parnasa, learning, and shiduchim. Are these exceptions derived from the Torah? Otherwise, where are these exceptions derived from? 56:40 For Shnei mikra v'echod targum, do pictures yotzei you? 58:25 Why does it seem like Gd needs to be "calmed down" by Moshe so often? 1:04:30 In a chassidus setting or otherwise, how is it possible to do so much learning and whatnot in the morning (from 6am-11am) without eating? 1:09:50 How do I justify my Teshuva when I know I'll sin again, even the same sin? 1:13:32 When it comes to Dor Yesharim blood testing, could the Rav elaborate why we should or should not, and what we should do? And what is the general view on genetic testing when it comes to kids, couples, etc.? 1:21:58 What about genetic engineering? 1:27:00 Did Adam HaRishon have a first wife? Produced by: Cedar Media Studios

R' Yishmael's 13 Middos of Interpretation- 2 Feb 17, 2022

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We'd love to hear from you : podcasts@ohr.edu https://podcasts.ohr.edu/ Visit us @ ohr.edu Produced by: Cedar Media Studios

R' Yishmael's 13 Middos of Interpretation- 1 Feb 15, 2022

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We'd love to hear from you : podcasts@ohr.edu https://podcasts.ohr.edu/ Visit us @ ohr.edu Produced by: Cedar Media Studios

Q&A- Mazal, Korbanos & Cherem Feb 10, 2022

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We'd love to hear from you : podcasts@ohr.edu https://podcasts.ohr.edu/ Visit us @ ohr.edu Video available here 00:00 What is the classical understanding of the size of the letters in Megillas Esther before 1945? 04:10 Why couldn't Gd just give us Israel uninhabited? Why did we have to fight for it? 08:12 What is the origin of the Reisha and the Seifa in a Mishna? 13:32 Is there any issue with having a temporary bima in a shul? 19:13 How does it make sense that we're commanded to love Hashem? 26:00 In terms of kavod of Torah and Beis Midrash, what's halachically acceptable to help you stay awake or otherwise? 29:34 There are 72 3-letter names of Gd. Which names were written on the Urim v Turim? 31:37 How do we understand the point of existence without having eaten from the Etz HaDa'as? 37:20 What is the importance of saying the recitation of Korbanos? 40:55 How should a mainstream Yeshiva handle a former Talmid who is mchalel mitzvos bfarhesia by leading a publicly homesexual lifestyle, but expresses a genuine interest in attending an alumni Shabbos and will actually keep that Shabbos properly. On one hand, this may send a bad message to the attendees and their kids, but on the other hand he will keep that Shabbos and will have a better shaichus to Torah. What should they do? Is it worth having him? 43:58 What exactly does the term "mazal" mean? 53:32 What exactly did it mean to learn Torah before Chumash and Mishna? 56:52 What was the source of Kabbalah before Chumash/Zohar? 58:55 How could Jews derive certain laws without the Torah itself? 1:03:16 What is the purpose of the activity of the deep ocean in relation to Jewish avoda? 1:07:14 What was part of the tefillin before Moshe? 1:09:32 How do we understand or accept the grandchildren of a Rasha teaching Torah? 1:14:45 Is there Teshuva for non-Jews? 1:17:40 Why do we sometimes switch Chazzanim at Yishtabach? 1:19:36 Do nidoi and cherem apply today? 1:22:58 Why does Hashem put special needs children in the world? 1:24:48 What are the specifics of the cherem from the GRA to the chassidim? 1:30:20 Kosher phones in Israel? 1:32:34 If the GRA considers our universe absent of G-d, how would he see the idea of Hashem Echod? 1:36:31 Why did Hashem make angels? 1:38:54 What is the argument of tucking peyos behind the ear? 1:39:57 Rav Breitowitz talks on a question from last week regarding someone's mission in life vs. learning Torah. Produced by: Cedar Media Studios

Q&A- Army Drafting, Black Hats and Types of Zionism Feb 02, 2022

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We'd love to hear from you : podcasts@ohr.edu https://podcasts.ohr.edu/ Visit us @ ohr.edu 00:00 Why are there state-nations now versus how there used to be tribes? 03:32 Will we ever be able to identify Amalek? 05:48 What is the halacha when people commit suicide? 11:20 What did people do before Rashi or Rabbeinu Tam tefillin? 17:16 When a reform rabbi and orthodox rabbi did a tour, a question was asked that if a Jewish student had one hour a week to either learn Torah with the reform Rabbi or watch HBO, what's a better use of his time? 23:32 What if we said we will send haredim to the army if all Israelis had one mandatory year in Yeshiva? 32:36 What is the story with Miriam bas Bilga? 36:27 Which Gemara mentions kids only go by what they hear from parents? 36:46 How come the biggest intellectuals don't come to accept Judaism? 41:13 How do we reconcile that Parnasa is variable when it is relatively predictable with a good job, etc.? 47:48 What about the 50th level of Tumah makes someone irredeemable? 49:30 Does din hamalchusa apply in Israel? 55:05 What will happen near end of days in terms of Gog UMagog? 58:52 Would Hashem reward Jews who went off the derech but became more involved (and successful) in scientific and/or philosophical achievement? 1:04:16 What is the definition of Zionism and why would a lot of Haredim be opposed? 1:11:01 How can we base the idea of not embarrassing someone off Tamar if it's possible that she may not have been believed? 1:14:22 What other significant roles did Ezra play? 1:16:08 Did scrolls with Ksav Ivri become passul after the script changed? 1:17:08 What is the Rav's view on Tikkun HaKlali? 1:19:00 What are some more views on Ezra and what is the authenticity of Torah scrolls older than the Dead Sea scrolls? 1:24:49 What message does a hair covering for women give? And what is the size of C'Beya? 1:29:39 Why do Jews wear suits and hats? 1:35:12 We don't wear black on Shabbos, so why do we wear black hats? Produced by: Cedar Media Studios

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