I was listening to someone explaining a halachic question and they kept returning to a term I could not figure out the meaning of from context "shas of the hock" (likely misspelled). It seemed to be used that in this situation, due to differing details, the halacha does not follow what you would ...

This sounds frivolous but it's a genuine distinction. One practical ramification is regarding conversion for a child born via surrogacy, whether the birth mother is Jewish and the egg donor is not, or vice-versa (depending on the halachic debate regarding motherhood). A Rabbi I spoke to said it w...

Rabban Gamliel held of office of Nasi (patriarch) and was deposed (berachot 27b) his successor was chosen to be Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya. R' Elazar was a Kohen and therefore could not have been of the same family as the Nasi, nor could he have been a descendant of the line of David. I would like t...

Kabbalistically speaking, the name Elokim denotes strict justice, while the name Y-K-V-K denotes mercy. If this is the case, then why are we more strict not to say Hashem's name of mercy outside the Beis HaMikdash, but we often say Elokim outside? Shouldn't it be the other way around?