A ספר was presented to רבי יעקב משולם for a הסכמה. After reviewing it, he suggested that it be called פלאי פלאים. When asked to explain why, he said: "Until now I knew that סמרטוטים, rags, can be turned in to paper. I didn't know that paper can revert to its original state and be
An author of a ספר brought it to רבי יצחק אלחנן and pressed him for a הסכמה. The רבי reviewed it and found it to be worthless. He put off the author again and again, but he was persistent. Finally, when he could no longer refuse, he penned a few words of praise on top
Some people think the תרי״ג מצוות are multiple choice.
"Why דווקא is המן called a רשע?" one man asked his friend. "After all, if it's because he wanted להשמיד ולהרוג, there were and still are many who want to do so." His friend responded: "It’s not merely that he wanted להשמיד ולהרוג. If that's all he wanted to do, he would have done
Several days before פורים, a man who was preparing for the חג by reading מגילת אסתר in a ספר, approached his רב with a question: "I understand why we want to blot out the name of המן הרשע, but what sin did the holy words on the opposite side of the page commit to be
One תשעה באב, an עם הארץ threw his תפילין של יד to the ground. The קהל all screamed “Are you nuts? What are you doing?” The עם הארץ answered: “I’m following the שלחן ערוך. It says that if you drop the תפילין של יד, you don’t have to fast.”
An עם הארץ asked his friend why it is that on תשעה באב we don't put on תפילין until מנחה. His friend replied: "The חכמים wanted to make sure that people won't eat on the fast, and they were confident that no Jew is going to eat before הנחת תפילין."
A group of religious men in ירושלים were talking about Tel Aviv, when one of them remarked that every Jew there behaves like a גוי. Another man in the group responded: “Look what a wonderful city it is, even someone who might want to be a גוי remains a Jew.”
A farmer advertised a cow for sale. A prospective buyer from a nearby village asked why he wants to sell it. The farmer responded that it eats much and produces little. “How much do you want for it?” the villager asked. The farmer told him that for $300 it’s his. The villager said he’s not
In a conversation with רב צבי הירש לוין in Berlin, a חילוני Jew said that he is still traditional. On שבועות, for example, he eats חלבי and puts green branches in his house. The following year, he became completely Reform and abandoned even these traditions. רב צבי הירש told him that the גמרא supports his
