Question
What exactly is Mishmar? I see lots of yeshiva boys going to something called Mishmar once a week where they study Torah for about an hour.

Question
Dear Rabbi: When I was a kid, my father was not much of a religious man, but he often stated to my family his wish to be buried in Israel. He expected to live to an old age like his parents and grandparents did. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen and despite the appearance of good health, he died of a sudden heart attack in his forties when I was just 15. My mother, my siblings, and I could not afford to bury him in Israel and instead interred him locally at a ‘Jewish’ cemetery operated by a Reformed temple where many people who were not actually Jewish are buried. Now many years have passed. I am married with children, as are my siblings, and even my mother has remarried, and I have a close relationship with my stepdad and step siblings. Family life is great. But it still nags me to this day that my father didn’t get buried in Israel like he wanted. Today we have the money to transfer his coffin if that is possible. We don’t know if that’s a thing one can do. Does Jewish law allow this?

Question
I would like to gain more insight and understanding into what a pidyon nefesh is and if it is indeed a holy way of truly redeeming ones soul. What has been the experience when requesting such a prayer?

Question
What counts as ‘learning Torah’ in order to fulfill the mitzvah? Does reading a book or website in English (or one’s native tongue) that talks about the Torah count as learning Torah? What about attending a shiur or lecture from a rabbi or a layperson knowledgeable about at least part of the Torah? How about just watching a YouTube video in which there is no two-way interaction in which someone reads verses or comments about the Torah? Can any of these methods fulfill the mitzvah of studying Torah? Or must one actually open a book of the Tanakh or Talmud and read the exact word written inside?