10 Questions for a Rabbi

Question

If you are setting up a kosher kitchen, can you wash the different sets of dishes in the same sink or dishwasher?
If a non-Jewish man marries a Jewish woman are their kids still considered Jewish because she is?
Why doesn’t Judaism encourage conversion?
Which is a holier day, Shabbat or Yom Kippur?
If a person is medically unable to fast for Yom Kippur or other fasting days what is the most appropriate way to observe the day?
Is there any guideline on how long a couple should date before being engaged?
Similarly, is there a set amount of time a couple should be engaged before getting married?
Can a single man light shabbat candles if he has no wife and does not live with female relatives?
Is it acceptable to politely tell a married (observant Jewish) woman she looks beautiful as a compliment? (For example, at a special event or gathering)
What does Havdalah represent?

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Answers

  1. The Just Ask! - AskTheRabbi.org Team
    1. The same sink can be used if separate inserts are put in the sink for meat and milk. A dishwasher needs to be designated either as meat or milk and should not be used for anything other than what it is designated for.
    2. Yes. The Jewish status of a child is determined by the mother. If the mother is Jewish the child is Jewish despite the fact that the father is not Jewish.
    3. Because Judaism does not require large numbers to prove that we are the Chosen Nation. We are happy to be small in number and close to God.
    4. It is hard to quantify as they are both very holy. Yom Kippur is described in the Torah as being Shabbat Shabbaton and it is generally regarded by all Jews – religious and not religious alike – as being the holiest day of the year. But there is also an argument to be made that Shabbat is more holy, in that that the hypothetically punishment for transgression is more severe, and also there are more people called up for the Torah reading on Shabbat. They are holy in different ways: Shabbat shows the holiness of time, when God completed the Creation, whereas Yom Kippur shows the holiness of human life and the ability to atone.
    5. By going to Synagogue and praying with the community. When they need to eat they should go home and do so in private, in consultation with a local Rabbi.
    6. Not really. In the very religious communities the dating process is normally relatively quick.
    7. The answer is basically the same. There is no hard-and-fast rule, but the more religious communities tend to have shorter engagement periods.
    8. Yes. Not only can he but he should.
    9. Not if it is a man telling her. Judaism places a lot of emphasis on modesty both in dress and in actions. In the religious communities there is very little intermingling of the genders and to compliment a woman on how beautiful she looks would be considered inappropriate.
    10. It is the ceremony that ends Shabbat. The Rabbis teach that the same way that we herald in Shabbat with making Kiddush and blessings over wine, so too when Shabbat ends we should do the same thing.

    Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team

  2. bkuperinsky
    August 13, 2018 at 7:20 pm

    Thank you Rabbi Moshe!