Hi, Thank you for taking the time to respond. I have a formica countertop, and I have read various statements on whether or not it can be kashered for pesach. it is very new with no scratches or grooves, but it has been used with chametz. I would very much like to know if there is a way to kasher it for passover so that we are not forced to cover it completely. Thank you for your time, and chag pesach sameach

If a person is so inclined to tithe to the levitical priesthood, is there still such a group that has no inheritance in the land and are eligible to receive tithe's. Then they in turn would tithe to the kohenim. thanks.

Why do we read so many times in the Torah that the sins of the fathers will be visited upon their children? It seems unjust when often the sinner's children are little and innocent, or perhaps yet unborn. Thank you for considering this question.

I understand there is a legend or tradition that the Ark of the Covenant will be rediscovered. Please relate the story, and the significance of such an event. Also, is there anything in Judaism regarding a New or Heavenly Jerusalem? Thank you.

Good morning, First, shalom (just bageling!) to R's Becher, Kohl and Rietti (in alphabetical order only) who presented a terrific program in Newport a couple of weeks ago--my first Gateway experience. Second, I wanted to follow up with R' Becher on my request for the name(s) of people I might ask for a blessing in the NYC area. Finally, I wanted to ask something about the historical records (or lack thereof) of the gentile world regarding the miracles of Passover. Doesn't it seem very odd that our tradition records these 10 spectacular events, happening one after another with 3 precisely weeks of warning before each one, affecting only the Egyptians while leaving the Jews in their midst unscathed--and yet the Egyptian record of events is silent on such a magnificent (or, tragic from their perspective) turn of events? And even if we posit the seemingly unrealistic premise that 100% of the Egyptians, who were on the losing end of this story, collectively omitted the story from their documentation of the day, still we should find stories of this specific chain of obviously related clear miracles meeting the exact descriptions of the plagues among Egypt's surrounding neighbors (i.e., those countries through whom the wild animals of the world commuted to maul Egyptians as part of one of the plagues). Also, our tradition notes that when we crossed the Sea of Reeds all waters in the world split--even the drink in a cup of water. So why don't we find a common story dating to that period from the Chinese, Irish, South Africans, etc. noting that miraculous day when the water split? After all, there are cultures with recorded history stretching back at least that far. Part of where this question is coming from is the belief that our religion's claim to authenticity is for me rooted in the claim that the entire people interacted with G-d at Sinai--a hard/impossible claim to invent and successfully pass down; so, if we can find that the entire world's population shares in our story of waters splitting our case is even stronger (but at the same time, what does it mean if our claim of worldwide waters splitting is uncorroborable in the accounts of the non-Jewish majority from that time?). Thanks in advance for your help with this, and please let me know if my question is unclear. David