Question
Dear Rabbi, Is there a problem with a kohen flying on a plane transporting a dead body? Truth is, passengers usually don’t know the plane has one. The one time I found out was when a plane I was on landed and they announced they were stopping to ceremoniously drop off the body of a soldier killed while on duty. That soldier was not likely Jewish. But all airlines, El Al included, do transport corpses, usually without letting passengers know.
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Question
Dear Rabbi, If some people have a Yiddish rather than a Hebrew name that is used for ritual purposes (e.g. getting an aliya, praying for the sick), can one have an English name for ritual use? What makes it so a Yiddish name can be used, but no one uses English names ritually? And what if someone only has an English name, but none in Hebrew or Yiddish? Can that person (or their son) receive an aliya under an English name?
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Question
Dear Rabbi, can the letter het ח be pronounced KH? For example: "Ḥizkiyya" "Menaḥem" "Yoḥanan" Can we pronounce "Ḥizkiyya" "Menaḥem" "Yoḥanan" as: Hizkiyya, Menahem, Yohanan and not as Khizkiyya, Menakhem, Yokhanan? Can we ever pronounce the letter het ח as h and not KH?
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Question
Dear Rabbi, according to Jewish law is there an obligation to obey all traffic laws without exception? For example, is a pedestrian permitted to cross on a red light when it is clear that no vehicles are approaching?

Question
The Gemara in Berachos 44a says the following: Chiya bar Abba said in the name of R Yochanan: Any meal without a soup ( שריף ) is not a meal. First question: what kind of soup is meant by שריף ? I bought a case of borscht to be mekayim this mitzva with the least bother for my wife (to serve cold right out of the bottle). But I was told that the שריף must be hot. Second question: Is it a requirement of a seudas mitzvah to have soup? I was told that there is no such mitzvah because it's not brought down in the halacha sforim (at least the ones this person looked at). On the other hand I heard from others that at many weddings they do serve soup because of this Gemara. Third question: In general, isn't the Gemara the foundation for halacha? If a Gemara says to do something, why isn't that the halacha - if there is no dispute within the Gemara and if the commentators are silent on the matter?