The Q & A with Rabbi Breitowitz Podcast

Hesped in Bais Medrash of Yeshivas Ohr Somayach. 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 Produced by: Cedar Media Studios

Dedicated in Loving Memory of Cliff Drazen- צדוק בן ראובן 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 How do you convey a positive connection to intimacy if it's something we avoid before marriage and also how do we counteract society's influence toward it? 03:42 When someone speak lashon hara about you, you accrue their mitzvos? 14:00 Why are there so many differences in sefardi and Ashkenazic Halacha? Is it based on Minhag? At what point does minhag become Halacha? What is the soul effect? 34:34 Is there a strong background of Mizrachi being related to ashkenazim? 36:10 Are all nusachs inclusive of the Arizal's Kabbalah? 42:43 Why did Rav Moshe speak against Rav Steinzaltz's translation of the Gemara? 49:20 Should we hold back on talking about ourselves as to avoid jealousy from others and does Hashgscha Pratis have an effect of preventing that? 57:50 If someone never knew or connected to Rav Chaim z"l, should they still mourn for him, or any tzadik in general? 1:04:40 How do we respond to the comment that Yeshiva is a brainwashing operation? 1:07:50 What are the origins of dressing up and eating hamentashen on Purim? 1:10:12 If the majority of nations agree to it, does International Law like the UN conventions, Geneva Convention, etc. fulfil Dinim to the point that NATO and other countries would be obligated to enforce violations under Torah law? 1:14:45 Where is the Torah source for Shadchans and why are there mechizas for events that don't have to do with tefilla? 1:21:50 What is the logic behind the reasoning that certain mezonos could be bread, especially concerning matza? 1:24:49 Does the Gemara define romance at any point? 1:28:05 How are principles (eg Tznius or Shalom Bayis) defined in Halacha?—How can a principle be enough to outweigh a mitzva like women's zimmun? 1:32:13 In regards to increasing a cooking flame on Yom Tov, can one use a boiling pot to extinguish the flame? (see amplification below) 1:34:18 Should we be abstaining or partaking in Judaism (asceticism)? 1:37:41 Could one be Yotzei Matanos Leevnyonim on both days of Purim? 1:40:08 What happened to Moshe Rabbeinu's kids and why are they seemingly not mentioned very much in Tanach? 1:41:59 How literally should we take the fact that Rav Chaim Kanievsky was the last gadol hador? 1:44:00 What is the general controversy between Rav Moshe Feinstein and the Satmar Rebbe? 1:46:40 How does the Rav censor himself on camera versus off camera? 1:49:17 Outside of tzinus reasoning, are there permissibilities in movies and gaming if they are going to increase someone's learning? 1:51:24 What is it about Aramaic that we find such deep inyanim? 1:52:50 Amplificatons on R' Steinzatlz and Hilchos Shabbos Produced by: Cedar Media Studios

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 Produced by: Cedar Media Studios

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 Why are the 39 Malachos related to the idea of "rest"? 03:37 What's a good answer to give if someone asks why can't a woman be a rabbi? 11:14 What exactly defines jewelry for men? 14:50 What is considered "extreme" Teshuva? 18:04 How do we understand Rav Moshe's teshuva on homosexuality in terms of spiting Gd? 20:41 Why are minhagim so important? 27:12 Can the Rav define the word "mature" in a Jewish capacity or otherwise? 33:20 The Rav said in a previous QA (actually a few times) that one won't be held to account for following the Aruch HaShulchan, would the same be true for Minhag HaGra or similar? 35:59 How and when exactly do we judge others favorably, especially if I see them do an aveira? 43:06 How many dates and for how long should a BT have/date before proposing? 46:22 Why do certain garments or kippah colors express a certain hashkafa? 55:26 If I have influence on my friend and he wants to go a certain Yeshiva (Hesder, for example), should I leave it alone or encourage him to go to another Yeshiva? 57:40 Why is learning Tanach emphasized more in the religious-Zionist world versus the Haredi world? 1:03:50 If you see a Talmid Chacham with his zipper down or hat on backwards, should you say something? And further, how do we approach rebuke of rabbis or fellows in general? 1:08:48 To what extent do I give my children the same openness I had in becoming a BT? 1:12:25 What if I keep Shabbos but not malava malka or vice versa? 1:16:57 Why do we mention a rav in third person but Gd in first person? 1:19:14 What does the Rav think of bnei yeshiva using the N-word? 1:23:48 How are we supposed to understand non-Jews in the Torah mentioning Gd's name shem Hashem? 1:24:50 Will there be any "new Torah" in the days of Moshiach, for example, new "kesuvim," or halachos? 1:26:42 Why do we lift our feet and turn left and right in Kedusha? 1:28:56 Should there be a movement to reestablish the Sanhendrin? 1:33:18 Does a Jew have to be Haredi or could they be Daati Leuimi? 1:35:00 What does it mean to bring the Kedusha of Shabbos to the chol? 1:37:15 Where does one draw the line with Halacha in terms of Daati Leumi or otherwise? 1:39:26 Why are there no minyanim later at night on motzei Shabbat? Produced by: Cedar Media Studios

Watch the Purim Shiurim here 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 Produced by: Cedar Media Studios

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 Produced by: Cedar Media Studios

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

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 Produced by: Cedar Media Studios

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 Produced by: Cedar Media Studios

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