Dear Rav, I have been told of a concept that says once one has gone up in "holiness" one can't come down. I assume this applies to doing a mitzvah which once done one can't stop doing it (i.e chazaka). Is this what it means and does it apply to minhagim which have been done, or can a minhag be stopped or changed (i.e if one was unaware of a minhag not being a halacha, but one found out that it isn't halacha, i.e. in Rav Neuwirt's shmirat shabbat khilchata it says that there is minhag not to brush your teeth on shabbat but with liquid toothpaste one can. If one stopped brushing their can they start again , using liquid toothpaste and if so how liquid is liquid. ) as long as it doesn't go against halacha or once one has said one will do a minhag does this become halacha and therfore does one need to do Hatart Nedarim on erev Rosh Hashana and/or Kol Nidrei on Yom Kippur?

Just a quick question - I work with someone who who is Jewish yet as like many of them out there she knows very little about yiddeshkeit - she told me that she wants to fast yom kippur - so maybe she has some kind of interest - I wanted to buy her a book or two - nothing to heavy - just so that she could learn a little about what Rosh hashana/Yom Kippur is all about - I was wondering if you had any suggestions - Than You!

Dear Rabbi, allow me a few related questions. When Moses went up to Sinai to recieve Torah, was it God who told him to fast for 40 days/nights or was it Moses who decided to do that? Why 40 days? Why obstain from food and water? How was Moses' life sustained? I would appreciate any insight to these questions. Shalom, Joshua

IS IT TRUE THAT ACCORDING TO BIBLE THAT ALL JEWS WILL BE EITHER KILLED OR CONVERT TO CHRISTIANITY IN THE END.

Some people say that everything that happens is an act of G'd. If that is so then is there such a thing as free will? And what is actually freedom? Perhaps it is just a state of mind. Perhaps it is through knowledge that men can free their minds. I have always been a bit fearful about knowledge and maybe this fear is what blocks myself from being myself - presence of mind destroyed by presence of me - but is it me or is it fear? Maybe I should just follow the voice of my heart and do things in a way I feel is right no matter what others say or what is the general opinion or rules because rules are made by men and men are not perfect - if men were perfect then they would be like G'd. And what is actually G'd? Does G'd have an infinite nature? Can it be regarded as a separate entitiy or does G'd transcend through all that exists in the Universe - and since the Universe may be infinite - can human mind ever perceive infinity?