Rabbi Newman, I asked you this morning about confidential emails. i then responded to your email by asking you my personal question. i then saw an email that says that ask@asktherabbi.org is not monitored address. i dont know where my letter is, but i DEFINITELY dont want it flying around. PLEASE do what you can to get the letter and make sure it doesn't go around. not that anyone would know the people invovled, but it's not the type of letter one would want to let circulate. thank you in advance!

Please explain Bava Metzia 62a about the two men with just enough water for one of them to survive. I do not grasp R. Akiva's advice tthat only one of them drink the water in order to survive and he bases this on 'that thy brother may live with thee:' thy life takes precedence over his life." I seem to be missing something in this text and so I would be appreciative if you would explain. Understanding the text is very important to me as a Holocaust survivor. Thanks. WZ

Thanks for your response. Shabbat Shalom, D

I have a question for the rabbi, but i was first wondering if these questions are confidential, and personal. i can't ask my question, if my email address, name, or question will not be strictly confidential.

When my wife does the laundry, she puts my tsitsis in a nylon mesh bag to keep them from getting tangled. However, the knots still become loose. On closer inspection, I noticed that the final knot is what in Boy Scouts we used to call a "granny" knot, that is, an incorrectly tied square knot. A granny knot is easy to loosen. A square knot is easy to keep tight. They are both tied using two "overhand" knots, but a square knot is "right over left and under; left over right and under". Can I retie the tsitsis using square knots? Thank you.