Misc.

How would I find out which tribe of Israel I belong to?

Shalom Rabbi, The realm in which HaShem lives, is where we all earnestly do mitzvahs, however; is earth not a mere image of the realm? The difference is having skin, but the exact choice to serve our Creator is the same. Whether we have skin or not, the soul is always to choose the Torah. Is it then that whether live continues here on earth or in the realm we call heaven, we will always have a choice? Choice never ceases correct?

Are the 2 Chira's brought down in Tanach the same person? I'm referring to the Chira mentioned in Parshas Vayeishev who Yehuda befriended and the second Chira who's mentioned in Sefer Melachim towards the beginning. Thanks, Allan

I have looking up all the holy days we are commanded to observe and I do not understand how to do them. For example, NUMBERS28:26-31 the feast of weeks, NUMBERS 29:1-6 a sacred occasion, NUMBERS 29:7-11 a sacred occasion, NUMBERS 29:12-39 a sacred occasion,a festival of the LORD. All of these holy days require certain sacrifices but only a Levite priest can offer sacrifices and only at the temple in Israel. How do I observe them. Also NUMBERS10:2-6 is the reference I found for the feast of trumpets but these verse never specifically refer to it as the feast of trumpets and only a Levite preist is allowed to blow the trumpets. So how can this command be observed. Also LEVITICUS 23:33-43 the feast of booth is never written on the jewish calender I have and neither is the feast of unleavened bread which is to be the day after passover.LEVITICUS23:4-8 and NUMBERS 28:16-25 .please help me understand.

It is becoming a global norm, at least in the West, that marriage should not be legal for any person under 18 years of age. This global (Western) standard is based on various practical and moral concerns. In Judaism it was customary for at least 1000 years during the Middle Ages to marry the girls very early in teenage. (I don't know if average marrying ages are known for the more ancient times, long before the Middle Ages.) As there is such a vast amount of experience on the practice, one wonders if Jews encountered and documented any of the perceived modern practical or moral risks becoming reality. For example, there is a belief that having children in teenage is risky for the mother. I wonder if statistical information exists (or discussion about the topic in Medieval times), from which it would be possible to assess any excess mortality (or lack thereof) related to Jews marrying very young. Or do the historical records look like everything was OK, and girls marrying very young had no such adverse effects, which would have been noticed and documented by anyone?

My maternal great grandmother called herself Rosa Schmidt, but she was actually of Lithuanian Jewish descent according to DNA from my mother. Is there any way to match Jewish DNA to Jewish Lithuanian surnames? Rosa Schmidt had a colorful past and there must have been a reason why she hid her identity. She came to the U.S. from Swilno, Russland in 1892. According to my aunt, she was a prostitute in Cleveland when she met my grandmother's father, a one-legged night watchman. She settled with him in Chicago, bringing with her a daughter. Rose had 4 more children before she died in 1916.

Isaiah was the greatest of the Hebrew prophets but little is known about him. If he was such a great prophet, why is his personal history unknown? Joel, Obadiah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, and Malachi are entirely unknown figures; possibly some are pseudonyms.

1 Chronicles 5:1: Now the sons of Rueven, the first born of Yisrael, but for as much as he defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Yoseph the son of Yisrael: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright. Would you explain the impact this would have on the sons of Rueven? Would they have any inheritance? Did the sons of Yoseph have double the inheritance?