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29 Jun 0Comments 0Likes

Look out for the Evil Eye

Note: Pirkei Avot (5:22) associates Bilaam (the protagonist in this week’s Parasha, Balak) with an “evil eye”. A recent Q&A sheds light on this well-known concept. Dear Rabbi Simon, Is there a source in Torah for the ayin hora [Evil Eye]?  If not, where did the Gemara get the idea from? Kol tuv, Ira Dear Ira The concept of an…

29 Jun 0Comments 0Likes

Parents’ Holiday Question

Hi Rabbi Simon. We are going away for two nights next week (not over Shabbos) and leaving the kids with a non-Jewish babysitter (she works at a Jewish day-care facility, so she’s relatively well versed in the workings of cooked food in a kosher kitchen). I am leaving the kids and her fully cooked food and I want to ask…

29 Jun 0Comments 0Likes

Delight for the Eyes – but is it allowed?

Note: This week’s Torah Reading (Re’eh) lists kosher and non-kosher species. Where does the peacock fit in? Hi Rabbi I have an unusual question for you.  My firm has a Jewish client, and we are doing the interior design and artwork for their New York residence (they are religious, but well-travelled/worldly and into the arts). We are designing a one-of-kind,…

29 Jun 0Comments 1Like

Kosher Refrigerator Question

Dear Rabbi Simon, It is common that when food is kept in a fridge, condensation and moisture droplets form on the walls of the fridge and then also on the outside and the inside of a plastic bag (if food is stored in that), or if it is a foil container then on the outside of the container and the…

29 Jun 0Comments 0Likes

Cremation and Kaddish

Dear Rabbi Simon, A distant elderly Jewish relative died last month and he chose to be cremated. Is it still appropriate to say Kaddish for him? Many thanks, Martin Dear Martin, The sombre and distasteful subject of cremation is discussed (and decried) in the Torah literature. The practice has become very common in non-Orthodox circles, and strenuous efforts are sometimes exerted…

26 Jun 0Comments 0Likes

Creation and other Miracles

Dear Rabbi Simon, I hope you had a good Yom Tov. The Sun stood still for Joshua (ch. 10) prolonging the day. Hundreds of years later, the day was shortened for King Chizkiyahu (2 Kings ch. 20). Have these miracles caused observable astronomical effects? Are there any other miracles in Tenach whose effects can be observed today? In reply to…

26 Jun 0Comments 0Likes

Kosher Dog Food??

Dear Rabbi Simon, Interesting question from a new client with his puppy… ‘What rules apply to dog food in a strictly kosher home?’ I have always been of the opinion that as it’s the dog that’s eating the food there shouldn’t be an issue, but I think the client has a point about wet, canned food and the storage of…

26 Jun 0Comments 0Likes

Life can be Crewel, but is it allowed?

Dear Rabbi Simon Hope you are well.  Just wanted to ask a question to which I think I know the answer but I wanted to make sure! I want to take up embroidery and I am particularly interested in crewel work which is traditionally made from wool on a cloth of linen or one with some linen content. Given this is sha’atnez…

26 Jun 0Comments 0Likes

Sinful Thoughts

Dear Rabbi Someone has asked me a quirky Q: If a person eats dairy chocolate cake with a meat meal deliberately (s/he wants to do the wrong thing)… and later finds out the cake was parve…Has that person committed an aveirah (transgression) for eating milk and meat together? Hilary Dear Hilary TY for your idiosyncratic בב”ח [meat with milk] Q:…

26 Jun 0Comments 0Likes

Swine Flu: Something to Sniff at?

Dear Rabbi Simon, I’ve just completed 2 flu immunisation forms at school for my children and noticed as I completed the form that in the NB it states the vaccine contains products derived from pigs! Please see a copy of the form attached! I have not handed them back to school yet. Presumably we have to request the alternative which…

Questions & Answers
this week

Questions and Answers

Ask the Rabbi: Quinoa on Pesach
Dear Rabbi Simon,
Where do you stand on quinoa (and the kitniyot ban) for Pesach?
Many thanks,
Tzippy
***
Dear Tzippy,
In line with other American authorities, I am in favour of quinoa. Although I reject completely the voices (mostly from Israel) seeking to abolish the ban on kitniyot entirely, IMO we do not need to include in the prohibition pseudo-grains that were unknown in the Old World until modern times. Best to buy with a Pesach hechsher though, to be free of any possible wheat contamination.
Rabbi Rashi Simon
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