Q&A
Rav Avigdor Miller on Acquiring Wealth by Giving
Q:How can we understand the Gemara (Taanis 9a) that says if you give ma'aser you will acquire wealth and that you even have a right to test Hakadosh Baruch Hu on this?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Convincing the Liberal
Q:How can one convince a baal teshuva who still has some liberal views?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Praising your Achievements
Q:It says אם למדת תורה הרבה אל תחזיק טובה לעצמך כי לכך נצרת – If you learned a lot of Torah you shouldn’t consider it that you did something great, because you were created for that purpose (Avos 2:8). But it also says, כי אם בזאת יתהלל המתהלל השכל וידוע אותי – that a person should yis’hallel, he should praise his achievements of knowing Hashem (Yermiyahu 9:23). Why is it yis’hallel? Isn’t this our obligation to do?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Weeping while Praying
Q:Is it good to weep when one prays or says Tehillim if he’s praying for a refuah shleimah for a loved one?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Dealing with Missionaries
Q:When non-Jewish missionaries come to your house how can you turn them away and at the same time be mekadesh Hashem?
Rav Avigdor Miller on the Opportunity to Give
Q:You said in a previous lecture that wealth is one of the best opportunities to make something out of yourself. Can the rich people really accomplish more in avodas Hashem than the poor can do?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Pushing Off Marriage
Q:If the Gemara says that a boy should get married at eighteen why is that the rabbis today allow bochurim to push off marriage until they’re twenty-three?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Bad Excuses
Q:Maybe we can’t blame people for failing tests that they undergo? Maybe some people are too weak; like the Jewish boy you spoke about tonight who became a Buddhist. He was from an irreligious family so he didn’t know better.
Rav Avigdor Miller on Gender Segregation
Q:You said that a man is expected to keep far away from women even if it’s for a good purpose like kiruv rechokim. So why is getting married such a good deed?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Cracking Jokes
Q:You were talking before about leitzanus, about not making wisecracks. Is it wrong to say a joke?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Misplaced Jealousy
Q:How can one work on themselves to not be jealous of another's success?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Taking Time for Torah
Q:How can one know whether he is spending too much effort on earning a living, instead of learning Torah?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Secular Media
Q:Why do you consider secular American media—television, movies and press—to be so dangerous for Jews?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Going to Eretz Yisrael
Q:Many Orthodox Jews say they will go to Israel when Moshiach comes. How do you feel in general about people going to Israel now?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Greeting People
Q:You said we should greet people with a sever ponim yafos. But if a person always looks at people passing by won't he be nichshal in shemiras ha'einayim, in watching his eyes?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Voting for Ourselves
Q:What can we learn from the election of Elizabeth Holtzman (Democrat, House of Representatives and then District Attorney of Kings County, Brooklyn)?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Arab Claims to Eretz Yisroel
Q:How could we answer the claim of Arafat who says that the Jewish people are throwing him out of his homeland?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Public School Prayers
Q:What do you think when it comes to the debate about prayer in public school?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Marrying For Looks
Q:What do I tell my friend who’s already getting old but every girl he goes out with, he has a complaint about how she looks? This one’s too fat and this one he doesn’t like her face.
Rav Avigdor Miller on Capital Punishment Today
Q:How can you promote the position that capital punishment should be enforced in this country? Isn't it going against the conditions of the Torah because the Torah requires two witnesses and so on?
Rav Avigdor Miller on High School English Principals
Q:Why do they allow secular library books in the major frum yeshivas? I want to avoid loshon hara so I won’t mention the names of the yeshivas.
Rav Avigdor Miller on Tzadik V’ra Lo
Q:How do we explain צדיק ורע לו and רשע וטוב לו, the phenomenon of a tzadik who suffers and a wicked person who prospers?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Rochel’s Weeping
Q:The Navi says that רחל מבכה על בניה, that Rochel Imeinu cries for her children who go out into Golus (Yirmiyahu 31:15). Why of all the mothers is it Rochel who is weeping for her children?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Kosher Entertainment
Q:If travel and movies and eating out are goyish, so where should people go for entertainment?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Common Sense Bitachon
Q:Whenever I have trouble my friend tells me to have bitachon in Hashem. How could I have bitachon if I’m not a tzaddik?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Striving To Make Money
Q:Would you equate the pursuit of the dollar to idol worship?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Enjoying Everything
Q:What is meant by the statement in the Gemara (Yerushalmi Kiddushin 12:4) that a person is going to have to give an accounting in the Next World for everything that he saw in this world and didn’t utilize for pleasure?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Jewish Girls in the IDF
Q:Why is it that when Jewish boys go to the army we don’t say they have the din of yehareg ve’al ya'avor, that it’s better they should give up their lives, but for girls we say that they should let themselves be killed rather than go into the army?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Mar-Cheshvan and New Year’s Resolutions
Q:Generally we have the principle of siman tov; we like to give good simanim by means of our speech. So how come we say of this month that it’s Mar-Cheshvan, Bitter-Cheshvan?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Rejoicing In Your Enemy’s Downfall
Q:How do we explain בִּנְפֹל אוֹיִבְךָ אַל תִּשְׂמָח – In the downfall of your enemy you shouldn’t rejoice (Mishlei 24:17)?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Soul Bonds
Q:You have said here that husband and wife are partners in this world. In Olam Haboh, when it comes time for reward, do they come in as individuals or together? How does it work?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Security of Medinas Yisroel
Q:What should be our reaction to the great campaign against the State of Israel that's being conducted by the Reform Jews and all the Jewish liberal organizations like the UJA and the American Jewish Committee? And they even appeal to the United States Government, to the Congress, to stop giving support to Israel because they are mistreating the poor Palestinian Arabs.
Rav Avigdor Miller on Praying For The IDF
Q:How much of an interest should one take in the matzav in Eretz Yisroel and what can we do to help?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Yom Kippur War: Fifty Years Later
Q:Why did Hashem allow the Arabs to attack us on Yom Kippur?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Reward of In-laws
Q:If my husband wants his parents to come for yomtiv but they belittle me constantly, do I have the right to prevent my husband from inviting them? Or should I just have them over and swallow the hurt?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Rainy Wives
Q:Why does the gemara (Yevamos 63b) say that קשה אשה רעה כיום סגריר – a bad wife is like an unpleasant rainy day? Isn’t a rainy day a good thing?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Simchas Beis Hashoeiva
Q:What was the big deal about the simchas beis hashoeva on Sukkos? Why was it so important?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Spiritual Harvest
Q:If Sukkos is teaching us the spiritual lesson of Hashem’s Providence, that Hashem is watching over us and protecting us, how does that fit in with the idea that it’s Chag Ha’asif, the festival of gathering in the crops? Doesn’t that seem to be a material, a physical joy?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Bein Hazmanim Shleppers
Q:Is it wrong for a yeshiva bochur to do manual labor during bein hazmanim in order to make extra money?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Yomim Noraim – Sukkos Connection
Q:Is there a connection between Yom Kippur and Sukkos?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Yom Kippur Teshuva
Q:On Yom Kippur are we doing teshuva me’ahavah or teshuva me’yirah?
Rav Avigdor Miller on L’maancha Elokim Chayim
Q:What does it mean when we ask Hashem for life and we say למענך אלקים חיים – “Let us live for Your sake Hashem”?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Punishment for Children
Q:When the Gemara (Yerushalmi Bikkurim 2:1) says that up until twenty years of age a person isn’t punished for sins what’s the reason for this?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Asking Forgiveness
Q:What should be the first thing one should correct before Yom Kippur?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Tzom Gedalyah
Q:Can you tell us something, a lesson maybe, about Tzom Gedalyah?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Rosh Hashana: Joyful Trembling
Q:Should I go into Rosh Hashanah with simcha because it is yomtiv or with trepidation because it’s the Yom Hadin?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Tashlich and the Fish
Q:What should we think when we see the fish during tashlich?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Rosh Hashana’s Parnasa Decrees
Q:If on Rosh Hashanah Hakodosh Boruch Hu decrees my parnasa for the upcoming year then why do I have to go out and work hard to make a living?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Teshuva and Gratitude
Q:How does a person know when his repentance is accepted?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Shower Thoughts
Q:What should a Jew that serves Hashem think about when he is taking a shower or a bath?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Torah Responsibility
Q:If a Jew is unwittingly the cause of serious harm to somebody else, how should he feel?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Overdressing For Lunch
Q:Should a yeshiva bachur wear his hat while eating in the yeshiva dining room?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The More Labor The Better
Q:Isn’t the added leisure time in modern society a sign that the generations are improving because it means that Hashem trusts us to do better things with our free time?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Kidneys’ Counsel
Q:The Gemara (Brachos 61a) says that הכליות יועצות, that the kidneys of a person give us counsel. What does that mean? Isn’t it true that kidneys don’t play a role in the thinking process? So what does the Gemara mean?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Potching the Mechutzaf
Q:A boy was insolent to his rebbi in the yeshiva. How should his parents react?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Florida Hurricane
Q:What's the reason that if it was decreed that a certain trouble should come on a person, but he is mispallel, he prays to Hashem before the tzarah comes, so Hashem answers him even though he has no other zechus, no other merit?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Arguing With Missionaries
Q:What should be our reaction when we see the Jews for Jesus? Should we ignore them or argue with them? When they give me a pamphlet I tear up the pamphlet and give it back to them. Is that correct?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Swallowing Hurt
Q:How should I react to my mother-in-law who said about my chasunah gown, which I made myself, that it’s junky material?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Marrying Down
Q:Can a bochur hope to have a successful marriage if he marries a girl who is smarter than him?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Mystery of the Disappearing Sheidim
Q:In the time of the Gemara people suffered from mazikim and sheidim. Where are all those mazikim today?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Russian Conundrum
Q:What is the significance of the movement of Jews from Russia to Israel and the fact that it’s so many irreligious Jews coming to the country?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Getting Back to Learning
Q:What should one do when he reaches a rut in his learning? He can’t wake up on time and he can’t sit with a sefer without falling asleep.
Rav Avigdor Miller on Leaving Eretz Yisroel Today
Q:There is a statement in the Gemara that “Anyone who lives outside of Eretz Yisroel it’s as if he has no G-d” (Kesuvos 110b). Can you explain that to me?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Upsherins and Orlah
Q:Why is an upsherin of a little boy compared to the din of orlah, where the fruit of a tree become permitted after three years?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Healing Scars of Sin
Q:If a person did a sin bein adam lechaveiro and he asked his friend for mechila and his friend was mochel, is the sin erased?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Highest Teshuva
Q:In some seforim they make it sound like doing teshuva is not so hard. It’s a process, but it’s not so hard. But in other seforim it says that it’s a big avodah of changing who you are completely. What’s the truth?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Shemiras Einayim and Cement
Q:How does a bachur counter the effects of pritzus and immorality in the street?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Seminary in Eretz Yisroel
Q:Is it proper for girls to go to a seminary in Eretz Yisroel?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Calculations and Justice
Q:How can you explain a person who does many mitzvos of chesed and then gets a disease and then he dies young?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Progress and Regress
Q:You said now that a wise person trains himself in the middah of ratzon, of being satisfied with all aspects of his life. So does that mean that someone who is trying to progress, he’s a fool?
Rav Avigdor Miller on American Elul
Q:Why is it that in Europe, in the yeshivos and even among the balabatim, there was a real sensation of eimas ha’din, the fear of the upcoming judgement during Elul, while here in America we don’t see that type of feeling? Aren’t we frum just like they were in Europe?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Wickedness of Slavery
Q:Someone told me that you said that slavery wasn’t wicked?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Dulling Of The Senses
Q:You said before that a Jew is so created that he naturally seeks the nearness of Hashem and finds pleasure in being close to Him. Then why is it that we see many people who when they perform a mitzvah or daven or whatever it is, they don't always feel a sense of happiness and fulfillment?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Crooked Courts
Q:Can an Orthodox Jew practice criminal law as defense counselor or a prosecutor or judge?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Utilizing the Long Night
Q:What’s the significance of the nights starting to get longer again?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Netziv and Mizrachi
Q:The Mizrachi movement advertised on the 80th anniversary of its founding that one of the founders of their organization was the Netziv. Is there any truth to that?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Compartments In The Mind
Q:You speak often about serving Hashem with happiness. But is it right to serve Hashem b’simcha when other people are suffering tzaros?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Dating Conversations
Q:What should be the first statement a boy says to a girl on a date?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Vacation Medication
Q:The Rav has said that vacations aren’t really necessary. But aren’t diversions, such as eating out or going on vacation, useful as recreation to break up the humdrum of routine and give a person a renewed and refreshed outlook when returning to his responsibilities?
Rav Avigdor Miller on From Weeping to Laughter
Q:You said before that the name Yitzchok is a symbol for us, for how the Am Yisroel will always laugh, how we’ll always be a happy nation. Are we going to laugh at the Holocaust, at the tribulations of the Jewish people?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Kamtza bar Kamtza: A New Look
Q:Was the Beis Hamikdash destroyed because of sinas chinam, baseless hatred, among frum Jews?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Surviving The Summer Streets
Q:What could I do to avoid seeing all the pritzus, all the immorality, that is so prevalent on the streets in the summer months?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Holocaust Kedoshim
Q:Would you say that the people who were killed in the Holocaust died al kiddush Hashem?
Rav Avigdor Miller on on Praying About Misfortunes
Q:We said at a previous lecture that a man should pray for health even when he has it; he should ask Hashem that he shouldn’t get sick. But doesn’t that contradict the idea of אל יפתח אדם פיו לשטן – not to open your mouth to the satan by speaking of misfortunes that could occur (Brachos 19a)?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Gzeiros Tach V’Tat
Q:Is there any specific aveiros which caused the gezeiros of Tach v’Tat (1648-1649)? I saw in a sefer that the it was because of a lack of proper respect for davening?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Rav Hillel’s Curious Statement
Q:What did Rav Hillel mean when he said that the Am Yisroel will not see Moshiach come because שכבר אכלוהו בימי חזקיה – we already ate up the days of Moshiach in the time of Chizkiyahu Hamelech (Sanhedrin 99a)?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Good Neighbors
Q:What does one do if he lives in an area where there is no contact with his rebbi?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Visualizing Hashem
Q:What picture should we have of Hashem when we daven?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Diplomatic Rabbis and Changing Congregations
Q:Should a rabbi speak about controversial matters to his congregation such as having big families, tznius, the truth about the State of Israel and things like that, if he’ll run the risk of being expelled from his position?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Serious Dating
Q:How many times should two young people go out before deciding to get serious?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Torah Vacations
Q:Is it proper for a Torah Jew to take a vacation from his daily schedule?
Rav Avigdor Miller on First Child Blessings
Q:Doesn’t it say if a daughter’s born first it’s a good sign for children (see Bava Basra 141a)? So why is it that when there's a bechor we’re especially happy?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Dignity of Dressing in Black
Q:Why do all religious people dress like they’re in mourning? Why should they all dress in black?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Two Aspects of Shabbos
Q:In mussaf on Shabbos we say וגם האוהבים דבריה – And those who love her words, her things, will be rewarded. What is meant by דבריה?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Kindly Churban
Q:The Rav quoted tonight from the sefer Tomer Devorah that we learn from Hashem’s middah of מי ק-ל כמוך that He bestows good to people even though they sin against Him. So my question is, if that’s true then why did the Churban come?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Concessions To Terrorists
Q:What can we learn from the desecration of Kever Yosef?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Making Torah Keva
Q:The Rambam says that a person should make his work arai, secondary, and his Torah should be keva, the permanent part of his life. In our times a person has to work 8 hours a day, so how do you think that can be?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Hashem and The Founding Fathers
Q:You said before that it’s part of the plan of Hashem that all the goyim should hate us. But don’t we see that sometimes in history the goyim help Jews?
Rav Avigdor Miller The Affirmative Action Doctrine
Q:What’s your opinion about affirmative action?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Moshe’s Sin
Q:If Moshe was the biggest proponent of the Torah, of keeping the Torah in all of its details, how could he make such a misstep as striking the rock instead of talking to it?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Avoiding Parental Guilt
Q:The Rav mentioned that Chazal say that sometimes a child will die because of something the parent did wrong (Shabbos 32b). Can you elaborate on that?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Beards, Authority and Equality
Q:What was Hashem’s purpose when He caused men to grow beards?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Soft As Silk
Q:What should one's response be after his wife shouts at him and he says, “Yes, yes, you’re right,” and she says “You're just saying that because Rabbi Miller said you should”?
Rav Avigdor Miller on A Titanic Lesson
Q:Recently the Titanic has been in the news again because they found the wreck and there are now pictures of it from the bottom of the sea. What lesson can we learn from the sinking of the Titanic?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Bungalow Marriages
Q:Should a husband and wife separate in order to go to the country in the summer?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Erasing a Bad Reputation
Q:How can a girl of twenty-one get rid of a bad reputation?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Throwing Stones in Glass Houses
Q:Is it OK for someone to criticize somebody else for doing something wrong when the critic himself is weak in other areas?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Songs of the Months
Q:You said last week that there’s no such a thing as bad weather. Is it a chisaron if a person enjoys a warm mild day more than a rainy day or a very hot day?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Too Late For Teshuva
Q:What lesson could we learn from the מעפילים who were killed in battle while making an attempt to conquer Eretz Canaan after hearing from Hashem that they were going to have to stay in the Midbar as a punishment?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Sin of the Spies
Q:Why did the Meraglim, the Spies, advise the Bnei Yisroel not to go into Eretz Canaan?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Flag Day (June 14)
Q:People want to know if we should display the American Flag or is it considered going in the ways of the goyim?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Pre-Engagement Kiruv
Q:Should a boy marry a non-religious girl who says she is willing to become religious in order to get married?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Tanach In The Yeshiva
Q:Why isn't the study of Tanach stressed in the yeshivos?
Rav Avigdor Miller on New Gedolim, New Ideas
Q:Within the short past period of time we lost a number of gedolim. You said that there is a chesed in everything Hashem does. What is the chesed for us if we lose our gedolim?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Where Is Hashem
Q:How are we to understand the idea that Hashem is bashomayim, that He’s in the heavens or that He sits on a throne?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Sipping or Drowning
Q:If it’s true that Hashem made this world for our enjoyment what is the meaning of some maamarei Chazal that say that a person should avoid pleasures, like כאילו כפאו שד, or the idea that you should not eat so much at the meal; you should always leave over or hold back from something?
Rav Avigdor Miller on A Light Unto The Nations
Q:If Jews are meant to live according to their Torah attitudes in a sort of intellectual ghetto, then how can we fulfill the commandment to be a light unto the nations?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Teshuva for a Slap
Q:What should a wife do to make amends if she slapped her husband during an argument?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Women’s Haircoverings
Q:I’d like to know the source for a married woman having to cover her hair, and also what’s the significance of it and also what is the punishment for not covering the hair?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Gay Rights
Q:What should one do now that the Gay-Rights Bill has passed in New York?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Nazir and Video Machines
Q:Can a person have a video machine in his home to show children educational video programs?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Reacting to the Loss of Gedolim
Q:Is the recent loss of the two gedolim, Rav Moshe Feinstein and Rav Yaakov Kaminetzky, zichronom livrocho, an omen?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Forceful Chinuch
Q:You spoke before about a man you know who learned how to live successfully because his father hit him when required. But doesn’t it state in a certain sefer that one shouldn’t hit a child with force?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Dropping The Bomb
Q:From a Torah point of view was Harry Truman correct in dropping the atom bomb on Japan?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Post-Shavuos Plans
Q:Now that we finished counting the Omer and we had Shavuos and we already received the Torah, so what should be the focus of our service of Hashem from after Shavuos until Rosh Hashana?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Forced Acceptance
Q:You said before that the Am Yisroel’s greatness is that they accepted the Torah. But don’t we know that it was only because Hashem held the mountain over them and forced them into it. So what’s so great about that?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Internet at Home
Q:Can somebody have internet in the house for business? Many businesses are on internet today and people want to know if they can have it in the house if they work from the house?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Ham, Narcotics and Internet
Q:The Internet is being used so much today. How can we rescue ourselves from it?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Verified Sinai Traditions
Q:It says כל המלמד את בן בנו תורה מעלה עליו הכתוב כאילו קיבלה מהר סיני – that if you teach your son or grandson Torah it’s as if he received it from Har Sinai (Kidushin 30a). What does that mean that he’s receiving it from Har Sinai?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Clean and Easy Parnasa
Q:What did Chazal mean when they say (Kiddushin 82a) that a father should teach his son an umnus kalah unekiyah, a profession that’s easy and clean?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Worthless Musicians
Q:I’ll quote from Plato in order to preface my question: “At the sight of beauty, wings grow on the human soul.” So what is your real reason for knocking the great musicians and artists of this world, artists who were able to rise above themselves and create such beautiful works?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Platonic Friendships
Q:Is it possible for a young man and a young lady to be friends, but only friends?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Vigilante Justice
Q:What do you say about the man, Bernard Goetz who shot those muggers on the train?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Business of Mothers Day
Q:What is the Torah view of Mother's Day? And should we consider it a halachic problem of chukos akum, of going in the ways of the non-Jews?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Quiet Tochacha
Q:Why do we read the tochacha at such a rapid pace and so quietly? Wouldn’t it be more effective if we read it slowly and with more emphasis?
Rav Avigdor Miller on A World of Color
Q:Why is the entire world colored with so many various colors, flowers and fruits?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Seeing A Gentile King
Q:The gemara says לעולם ירוץ אדם לקראת מלכי ישראל ולקראת מלכי עכו״ם, that a person should go out to see the kings and even the gentile kings (Brachos 19b, 58a). So when President Clinton is going to make a visit to the local frum community is it advisable that we should go see him?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Undercover Pirkei Avos Shiur
Q:You said before that Pirkei Avos is very important to learn. So why don’t you teach Pirkei Avos here on Thursday nights instead of this lecture?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Wisdom of Nagging
Q:Should a wife remind her husband to go to learn, or will it be considered as if she is a nagger and that she lacks confidence in him?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Center of the Universe
Q:It’s been quoted in some Jewish sources that the earth is the center of the universe. Rabbi, do you really believe that?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Sefiras Ha’Omer: Bread and Torah
Q:What is the reason for the mitzvah of sefiras ha’omer?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Organ Donation For Medical Research
Q:How do we explain the apparent contradiction that on one hand we benefit from all of the medical advancements that maintain and save lives but on the other hand Jews are not permitted to donate organs upon death for research in order to maintain and save lives?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Conformity Is Derech Eretz
Q:The Torah says אל תהא ער בין הישנים, that you shouldn’t remain awake among the sleeping. Since this is so, why did Dovid Hamelech stay up at night and learn?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Finicky Land
Q:Must one undergo a special spiritual preparation in order to go to Eretz Yisroel?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Chassidish or Litvish or What
Q:What does Hakodosh Boruch Hu want us to be – Chassidish, Litvish or what?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Yom Haatzmaus and Hallel
Q:What is your opinion of Yom Ha'atzmaus? Are you allowed to say hallel on that day?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Solutions For Sadness
Q:How does one keep from being depressed during times of trouble?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Preparing For The New Zman
Q:What is a way for a yeshiva man to prepare for a new zman in yeshiva?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Disillusioned With Geirim
Q:Why is it that we always push away goyim from becoming geirim?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Peak Before The Holocaust
Q:Why didn’t the tremendous zchus of the tzaddikim in the time of the Holocaust save six million Jews? The kehillos in Europe and the Torah learning was its peak.
Rav Avigdor Miller on Visiting The Grave of A Tzadik
Q:What is the function of going to a kever of a Tzadik?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Holocaust Coverup
Q:How do you understand the fact that babies were killed in the Holocaust?
Rav Avigdor Miller on TV Sports
Q:What should be the reaction of an orthodox Jew towards participating in sports and watching sports? This includes watching games in person and also on TV.
Rav Avigdor Miller on Rabbi Akiva’s Students
Q:I’ve heard fifteen different opinions of why Rabbi Akiva’s students were killed. One of them is that they had sinas chinam – which I don’t understand. That 24,000 of them all made the same mistake, that doesn’t go into my mind! Now, what’s your answer? Was it sinas chinam or something else? And was it all the 24,000? Every one of them?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Next Year in Jerusalem
Q:Why do we say לשנה הבאה בירושלים on Pesach? Is it true? Where is our attempt?
Rav Avigdor Miller on the Song of Emunah
Q:When Bnei Yisroel crossed the Yam Suf and the Egyptians were drowning so the Gemara relates that the malachim wanted to say shira but Hashem forbade them. He said, “Keep quiet!” because He was sad that His handiwork was drowning. How do we reconcile that with Hashem drowning them and us singing Az Yashir when they were drowning?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Springtime Holiday
Q:What is the Torah so interested that Pesach should fall out in the Chodesh Ha’aviv? What’s the difference which season we celebrate Pesach?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Slaughtering the Gentile Ideals
Q:What is one of the lessons that we can learn from the korban pesach?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Presidential Scandals
Q:How should an Orthodox Jew view the current Watergate scandal involving the President?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Review the Old Miracles
Q:I think that if the people here saw with their own eyes, the plagues and Kriyas Yam Suf and all the nissim that Hashem did for us, they wouldn’t have to depend upon artificial and superficial enthusiasm when doing mitzvos. Don’t you think we deserve today an injection from Hashem of real sensory perception?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Bein Hazmanim Basketball
Q:Is it proper for a yeshiva man to play ball bein hazmanin?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Paying Taxes and Loving the IRS
Q:Does ואהבת לרעך כמוך apply to non-Jews as well? And if not, does that mean it’s permissible to cheat them in business or to lie on our tax returns?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Toras Ha’Haircut
Q:What should we think about when we're getting a haircut? Is there something about hair that we could think about?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Thanks, But No Thanks
Q:You said that we have to thank the Creator for taking us out of bondage. So my question is, what was ever done by us to deserve such a bondage in the first place?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Shidduch Questions
Q:What should one look for in a prospective marriage partner?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Shidduchim and Yichus
Q:How much emphasis should I put on yichus when choosing a shidduch?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Hotel Gedolim
Q:Why does the Rav think that going to a hotel for Pesach is such a big sin? A lot of gedolim do it.
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Additional Shabbos Soul
Q:Rashi explains that the purpose of the neshamah yeseirah that a Jew gets on Shabbos is so that he should be able to eat more on Shabbos (Beitzah 16a). Isn’t that a very strange reason to get an additional soul?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Pesach Prep Shines A Light On Our Greatness
Q:What is something we can think about while we’re busy with the preparations for Pesach?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Thanking Hashem For Gentile Gifts
Q:What should a person think when looking at a bridge?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Ignoring Polluted Minds
Q:To what extent should a ben-Torah give away time from his learning in order to deal with air pollution and other problems that we are facing?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Heroic Couples
Q:Can a kollel man who leaves the yeshiva still remain a yeshiva man even while he’s involved in business?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Jewish Wives and Irish Wives
Q:I know a very religious man who works all day and then he spends his nights in the beis medrash learning and he doesn’t give a lot of time to his wife and children. And his wife and children complain about it. What do you think about that?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Beauty of the Jewish Woman
Q:Why should a Jewish woman attempt to look beautiful for her husband?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Yeshiva English Teachers
Q:How much emphasis should yeshivos put on hiring religious teachers instead of irreligious Jews or gentiles? Should more money be spent on salaries in order to bring in frum teachers?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Children and Pshuto Shel Mikra
Q:Should we focus on pshuto shel mikra with our children and our young students instead of focusing on Rashi?
Rav Avigdor Miller on How To Learn Chumash
Q:If I have time and I want to study chumash in the best way possible, what would you recommend as the best way to proceed in order to get the maximum benefit in the time that I have?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Aharon’s Innocence
Q:How come Aharon wasn’t killed? Wasn’t he the one who led the people astray in making the eigel?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Drive to Procreate
Q:Why is the mitzvah of having children encouraged by the yetzer hara, by such a wicked instinct, and not by the yetzer hatov?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Purim Takeaway
Q:The Rav spoke tonight about the lesson of Purim being the internalizing of how much Hashem loves us and our responsibility to love Him and to love the Am Yisroel. But isn’t it possible to say that the Simchas Purim is because of קיימו וקיבלו, that the Jewish Nation accepted the Torah again after the witnessing the neis of Purim?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Mordechai’s Demotion
Q:The last possuk in the Megillah (Esther 10:3) says about Mordechai that he was רצוי לרוב אחיו – that he was liked, appreciated, by most of the Jews. And Chazal say that it wasn’t everyone because he came too close to the malchus; people thought he became too karov to the malchus. And there’s a statement there from R’ Yosef (Megillah 16b) who says גדול תלמוד תורה מהצלת נפשות, that learning Torah is greater than saving lives. I don’t understand that. Maybe Rebbe can explain that to us?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Esther’s Sadness
Q:If G-d doesn’t approve of Jews and non-Jews living together, why did He choose to bring the yeshua by having Esther live with Achashveirosh? Couldn’t He have found a more noble way?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Mordechai Saves the Antisemite
Q:The Gemara (Megillah 11a) says that in the name Achashveirosh is a hint to the fact that he was ‘achiv shel rosh’, meaning that he was of the same mind as Nevuchadnetzar who wanted to destroy the Jewish people. If Achashveirosh hated the Yidden so much, why did Mordechai save his life?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Amalek’s Crime
Q:What is the crime of Amalek that we are expected to remember always?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Moshe’s Yahrtzeit (ז׳ אדר)
Q:Is there any significance to the fact that our great teacher, Moshe Rabeinu, passed away on the same day that he was born?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Benefitting From The Death of the Righteous
Q:Why is the death of tzadikim considered a kaparah for the Jewish people?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Haman and the IRS
Q:The Megillah says that the reason that Haman gave Achashveirosh for why the Jews had to be killed was “ואת דתי המלך אינם עושים – And the laws of the king they don’t follow” (Esther 3:8). And Rashi says that Haman was saying לתת מס לעבודת המלך – that the Jews are not paying their taxes. Is not paying taxes a logical reason for killing the Jews?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Origin of The Various Races
Q:How do we explain the existence of black and brown races? I mean as far as their origin.
Rav Avigdor Miller on Mishenichnas Adar
Q:משנכנס אדר מרבים בשמחה – When the Adar comes in we try to make more simcha. What does that mean?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Nature: The Open Textbook
Q:Should one allow himself to absorb the apikorsus found in books about niflaos habriyah?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Forcing The Willing
Q:In this week’s parsha the Am Yisroel said “Naaseh v’nishma,” so it seems like they accepted the Torah willingly. So how do we understand the medrash that says Hashem held Har Sinai over the Jews like a barrel and threatened to drop it on them if they wouldn’t accept the Torah?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Mechitzos and Mixing
Q:Is there a chiyuv to have a mechitzah at a wedding? I see sometimes Orthodox functions where the men and women are sitting together.
Rav Avigdor Miller on Praying For A Million Dollars
Q:Is there anything wrong with me davening to Hashem that He should give me a million dollars?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Lost Love, Lasting Loyalty
Q:How should one react if they find that they don’t love their partner anymore like they did in the beginning?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Sports Identity
Q:Is there anything wrong if a frum yeshiva bochur goes to sports games once in a while if he’s careful to watch himself?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Moshe’s Shidduch
Q:How is it that Moshe, the greatest man who ever lived, married a Midyanite woman, the daughter of Yisro?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Successful Parent
Q:The Rav mentioned earlier that a parent should use the word “please” when speaking to a child. But doesn’t saying the word “please” imply that the fulfillment of the request by the child is really only going to be a favor on the part of the child?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Helping Out In Medinas Yisroel
Q:How could you say that Jews should avoid doing military service in Israel if there are millions of Jews who need to be protected?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Bland Colored Potatoes
Q:The Rav said that Hakodosh Boruch Hu made fruit beautiful so that we should recognize His kindliness. Wouldn’t we be able to recognize Him even more if He also made potatoes beautiful?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Shidduch Investigations
Q:How can we be really sure about our future partner’s true character before marriage?
Rav Avigdor Miller on A Little Davening With A Lot of Thinking
Q:Is it more of a mitzvah to say the whole seder hatefillah every morning or to say part of the davening and think more into the meaning of what I’m saying?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Why The Frummeh?
Q:If it’s so that the terror attacks in Eretz Yisroel are coming because of the chillul Shabbos and rebellion against Hashem in the country why is it that many of those killed are frum people rather than the people who are actually rebelling?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Messages of Terror
Q:How should we react when we hear about these hostile attacks by the Arabs? What message are we being sent?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Holocaust Memorials
Q:What is the Rav’s opinion of the proliferation of Holocaust museums and memorials?
Rav Avigdor Miller on How Old Is The World
Q:How do I answer someone who shows me the recent article about evolution in the Jewish Action magazine and he’s trying to tell me that evolution is true, only that it was caused by Hashem?
Rav Avigdor Miller on My Mother and My Wife
Q:Should a man say anything to his mother if he knows his mother is saying not nice things to his wife?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Calling Out Stupidity
Q:Sometimes we see in the Gemara that the chachomim in Eretz Yisroel would refer to the Jews in Bavel as בבלאי טפשאי, those foolish Babylonians. How does that fit with the idea that you’re not supposed to ridicule people?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Danger of Misgendering
Q:Why is it that Hashem is referred to as “He” or “Him”? Why don’t we say “She” or “Her”?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Utilizing Rosh Chodesh
Q:What’s so special about Rosh Chodesh that we say Hallel and that it’s called a מועד?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Starving Talmid Chochom
Q:What is it that causes a young man who is learning Torah and is seemingly doing well in his studies to feel dissatisfied and to yearn for success elsewhere?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Stubborn Lose Out
Q:Makkas Barad it says that הירא את דבר השם, the ones who feared Hashem, brought their animals inside before the hail began in order to save their property. But didn’t they all see what Moshe Rabeinu had been doing with the Makkos already for such a long time? How could there be anyone who wasn’t yarei es Hashem?
Rav Avigdor Miller on חיים שיש בהם ובנו יראת שמים
Q:On the Shabbos before Rosh Chodesh, when we bless the new month before mussaf, we ask Hashem for a month of חיים שיש בהם יראת שמים – life that has in it fear of Hashem. And then a few lines after that we say, חיים שתהא בנו אהבת תורה ויראת שמים – a life that has in us fear of Hashem. Why is it repeated?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Taking The Blame
Q:The Rav said tonight that when someone gets sick or hurt, he shouldn’t blame Hashem, but he should look to blame himself for not taking care of himself properly. But shouldn’t we be looking back to see which sins we did to cause Hashem to punish us with the cold or the virus or whatever it is?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Resolving An Inferiority Complex
Q:There’s a frum boy who suffers from an inferiority complex. What should he do about it?
Rav Avigdor Miller on TV Rebels
Q:If a child comes home every day begging for a TV, should we let him once in a while go to a friend’s house in order to prevent him from rebelling?
Rav Avigdor Miller on TV Grandparents
Q:What should I do if my parents have a TV and my children want to go to their house to visit?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Accomplishing Without Confidence
Q:How can somebody who lacks confidence in himself gain confidence in order to accomplish things?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The On-The-Derech Phenomenon
Q:Why do we have so many boys and girls going off the derech?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Boys and Girls, Men and Women
Q:Should a little boy be prevented from playing with girls?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Greatness At The Wedding
Q:If someone has to go to a family event and he thinks that it’ll just be a big waste of time how can he protect himself from the negative influences?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Wild Names
Q:Why do Jewish males have names of beheimos temeios, of non-kosher wild animals? I’m thinking in particular about the name Dov, the bear, and Aryeh, the lion.
Rav Avigdor Miller on Emunah in UFO’s
Q:Should Jews believe in UFOs, in unidentified flying objects?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Couples Holding Hands
Q:Is it proper for husband and wife to hold hands in the street?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Appreciating the Gift of Food
Q:Why should we give thanks to Hashem for the food that He gives us? He made us; of course He has to feed us.
Rav Avigdor Miller on When To Complain
Q:In this week’s sedrah when Pharaoh asked Yaakov, “How long are the years of your life?” so Yaakov answered that his days were not as good as the days of his fathers. What did Yaakov intend by that answer?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Dream Interpretations
Q:Is there anybody alive today who can interpret dreams as far as the future is concerned?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Too Dead To Be Sorry
Q:How do I answer my cousin who says she went to an Ivy League college and wasn’t affected? She says she’s not sorry she went because it had no effect on her.
Rav Avigdor Miller on Children and Luxuries
Q:Is there a problem with taking children to concerts where shomrei Torah u’mitzvos will be singing kosher songs?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Which Miracle Matters
Q:Why is Al Hanisim mostly about the victory over the Yevanim and not about the nes of the shemen?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Fighting Missionaries With Chanukah
Q:What preventive measures can we take with our children to avoid them falling into the hands of missionaries or other foolish things when they grow up?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Chanukah Gifts
Q:The evening of December 25th is the first night of Chanukah. Should Jews refrain from giving gifts that evening?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Angry Kohanim
Q:People say that Kohanim are generally known to be ka'asanim, angry people. How can we reconcile this attitude with what we know are the consequences of anger?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Hillel’s Anger
Q:It says that Hillel never became angry. How is it possible that he never became angry?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Strength Through Struggle
Q:The Rav said tonight that the suffering we endure from the goyim is a benefit to us. How could it be that we benefited from the decrees of Antiochus during the days of Chanukah if we weren’t allowed to keep our religion?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Love, Favoritism and Partiality
Q:I’d like to know: It says that Yaakov loved Yosef more than his other children because he was of his old age. What about Binyamin? Binyamin was younger than Yosef.
Rav Avigdor Miller on Showing Favoritism
Q:The chachomim say that one of the lessons that we learn from the story of Yosef and his brothers is that you shouldn’t show favoritism to one child over because that’s what caused the whole Golus Mitzrayim. Does that apply even if you want to give something to somebody’s else’s kids?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Daf Yomi and Chazara
Q:A working person who wants to learn every day, is it a good idea to learn a daf a day like daf yomi so he finishes shas in seven years or is it better to do less but to do chazarah?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Working For Extra Money
Q:According to the Torah is it right for a person to strive to have more than just enough? Is it right to work to have more money than you need right now?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Like Sheep to the Slaughter
Q:The expression that the Jews in World War II went like sheep to the slaughter, is that true?
Rav Avigdor Miller on V’sein Tal U’matar
Q:Should we be storming the heavens about the bringing of Moshiach?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Hashem By The Kosel
Q:It says that מעולם לא זזה שכינה מכותל מערבי, that the Shechinah always remained by the Kosel Maaravi (see Shemos Rabbah 2:2). Is that true even today?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Blowing Your Nose Bracha
Q:We make a bracha asher yatzar thanking Hashem for the gift of being able to expel waste from our body. Why don’t we make the same bracha for sneezing or blowing the nose?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Shabbos Sleepovers
Q:My not frum relative is inviting my child for Shabbos. What’s the best way to decline that invitation?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Good Rebel
Q:What advice would you give to a twenty-year-old yeshiva man regarding his parents’ wish that he embark on secular education?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The One Not Worthy of Learning
Q:If everything is for somebody’s benefit, how can you explain the fact that someone wanted an opportunity for spiritual progress but was prevented because of circumstances beyond his control? Somebody wanted, let’s say, to become a yeshivah man or a talmid chacham but certain circumstances didn’t let him. If everything is min hashomayim, how do you explain that?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Yitzchok’s Error
Q:When I was listening to this week’s parsha in shul I was wondering how it could be that such a great man like Yitzchok made a mistake about Eisav?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Shopping Deals
Q:Should women travel long distances to go shopping in Manhattan in order to save a little bit of money?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Double Ring Ceremonies
Q:Recently I was at a wedding where at the chuppah the rabbi said that the kallah should also give a ring to the chosson. What do you think about that idea?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Health Foods
Q:In order to better take care of our bodies, should we eat natural health foods?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Havdalah Thoughts
Q:What should our thoughts be when havdalah is being made?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Moving From Brooklyn to Monsey
Q:Considering the moral and social climate in New York City, should people move to Monsey?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Why We Need Shoes
Q:Why did Hashem make it so that people need to wear shoes while animals don’t?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Great Ideas
Q:Why don’t you ever mention the source of your ideas, whether they come from Rav Simcha Zissel or from Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel of Slabodka or from Rav Isaac Sher?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Kiruv Lessons From Avraham
Q:What is the best method of teaching of being mikareiv young people, even our own children, to come to awareness of Hashem and to have the fortitude to contend with nisyanos?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Hashem Manipulates History
Q:How can we see how Hashem manipulates history today?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Entertaining Guests Instead of Davening
Q:The Gemara says that from the story of Avraham Avinu in this week’s parsha we learn that גדולה הכנסת אורחים יותר מקבלת פני השכינה – it’s greater to entertain wayfarers more than to receive the presence of the Shechinah. How does that apply in real life?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Five Percent Shalom Bayis
Q:How can I help a new couple in my family who are fighting and they’re thinking of separating?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Who To Vote For
Q:How should we decide for whom to vote, especially if we cut ourselves off from the newspapers?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Religion in Politics
Q:What do you say about this subject of mixing religion into politics? It’s an accusation lately brought up against Reagan that he’s mixing religion and politics too much?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Death Penalty
Q:What is your opinion of the death sentence that was carried out in Florida with the consent of the Governor there?
Rav Avigdor Miller on World Series Suckers
Q:What can we learn from the recent World Series game?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Likud Versus Labor
Q:What’s the Rav’s opinion of the Likud party versus the Labor party in Israel?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Voting in Eretz Yisroel
Q:To participate in voting for a memsheles Yisrael lifnei bi’as haMoshiach, a Jewish government in Eretz Yisroel before Moshiach comes, is that against the Torah?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Cavemen and Climate Change
Q:How does the age of the cavemen and the dinosaurs fit in with Torah?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Israeli Politicians
Q:What should be our reaction to Rabin handing over parts of Eretz Yisrael to the PLO?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Different Folks, Different Strokes
Q:When there are differences between different groups among the Jewish People, how are we to know who is right?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Saying It’s All Good
Q:Should we say that all is good even though we don’t feel it?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Sukkos: The Finale of The Yomim Noraim
Q:Is there a connection between Yom Kippur and Sukkos?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Hurry Up Teshuva
Q:On Yom Kippur are we trying to do תשובה מאהבה or תשובה מיראה? Are we repenting because of love of Hashem or because of fear of Hashem?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Sa’ir La’azazel
Q:The Rambam says that the sa’ir hamishtaleiach, the goat that is pushed off a cliff on Yom Kippur, is mechaper even without teshuva. How does that work?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Teshuva and Aveiros Forever
Q:You said before that every act lasts forever and that this includes aveiros. So what happens to the aveirah after a person does teshuvah?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Pre Yom Kippur Plans
Q:What should be the first thing one should correct before Yom Kippur?
Rav Avigdor Miller on A Tzom Gedalya Lesson
Q:Can you tell us something, a lesson maybe, about Tzom Gedalya?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Rosh Hashana Happiness
Q:How can we eat a big seudah with simcha on Rosh Hashana when we’re being judged and our fate is in the balance?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Fearing the Day of Judgement
Q:Now that the judgment is coming, what can we do in order to find happiness as we approach the Day of Judgment?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Nation That Knows the Shofar
Q:It states in Tehillim, אשרי העם יודעי תרועה – Praised is the nation that knows the shofar blowing (Tehillim 89:16). What is the meaning and significance of this quotation?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The First Teshuva
Q:Why does Yom Kippur come after Rosh Hashana? Wouldn’t it be better to do teshuva before Yom Hadin?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Ten Minute Rosh Hashana Prep
Q:The Rav said tonight that we should get busy before Rosh Hashanah remembering all the good that Hashem has given us since last Rosh Hashanah. But don’t we have to spend the little time time we have left thinking about our sins and our behavior over the past year and making resolutions for improving this coming year?
Rav Avigdor Miller on How To Make Aliyah
Q:What is your attitude to us settling in Eretz Yisroel?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Eating Out
Q:What should be the attitude of an Orthodox Jew regarding glatt kosher Chinese restaurants?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Importance of Gehenim
Q:What is the definition of Gehenim? And how important is it in Judaism?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Going Out-of-Town To Learn
Q:When should a boy be encouraged to go to an out-of-town yeshiva?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Elul in Slabodka
Q:Can the Rav give us an idea of what it was like in Slabodka during Elul?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Right One
Q:How does one determine who the right one is when looking to marry?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Talmud Torah Kineged Kulam
Q:Why is learning Torah so important that we say תלמוד תורה כנגד כולם, that it’s equal to all other mitzvos?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Delaying Your Engagement
Q:I proposed to a girl who accepted but my parents are saying that we have to wait – we shouldn’t get engaged until they meet her. But they’re not able to come here until after Pesach. Should I wait or not?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Big Small Achievements
Q:What should a person do if he wants to become great but he realizes that he lacks the motivation to accomplish it to the fullest extent that he desires?
Rav Avigdor Miller on What To Learn
Q:If someone doesn’t have time, is learning halachah more important than learning gemara?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Original Mussar Sefer
Q:How did people learn Mussar before we had the Mesillas Yesharim and the Chovos Halevavos?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Jewish Tax Cheats
Q:How should we respond to the fact that many frum people are cheating on taxes?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Hiding Your Judaism At Work
Q:Should I put up my payos and hide my tzitzis when I go to work?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Who Gives The Gett
Q:Why is it that a man can give his wife a gett, whereas the wife cannot demand a gett or give a gett?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Not Everyone Is A Nazi
Q:You’ve spoken quite harshly about the liberals, saying that they’re a danger to America. Which is worse, the old-fashioned Christians who killed millions, or the modern day liberals who stress civil rights?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Honoring Wives and Mothers
Q:When it comes to the mitzvah of kibud av ve’eim how does that fit in with honoring your wife? Sometimes both can’t be true.
Rav Avigdor Miller on Golus in Israel
Q:You made a statement earlier that the Jews in Israel today are in Galus. Can you explain that?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Why Golus?
Q:If we went into Exile because of our sins, doesn’t that make things only worse by sending us out to live among the gentile nations?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Night Torah Protects
Q:What does it mean when it says (Eiruvin 18b) that a house where the sound of the Torah is heard at night, that house will not destroyed?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Mourning In The Past and Present
Q:How can we mourn on Tisha B’Av for the losses to our people that took place so long ago?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Too Much Mourning
Q:You mentioned before the national tragedy of the 10 tribes going into Exile. Why didn’t Chazal establish a mourning commemoration for the galus of the Aseres Hashvotim, for the loss of these 10 tribes?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Leaping Without Looking
Q:Is there such a thing as being too picky when looking for a wife? Shouldn’t someone be able to choose what is right for him so that they can be happy?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Making Friends With Resha’im
Q:How should I deal with people who are nasty or unpleasant? Should I be nice to them?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Flatbush Eiruv
Q:What is your opinion of the Flatbush eiruv and why is there so much controversy about the question?
Rav Avigdor Miller on How To Help A Fellow Jew
Q:What is more important, praying for your friend or doing something tangible for him?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Rejoicing With Your Friend’s Suffering
Q:How can a person not be depressed when he hears about so many people who are dying young?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Minority Jokes
Q:Is it right to make jokes about minorities? Aren’t they also tzelem Elokim?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Do I Practice What I Preach
Q:Is there a difference between the advice that you give us and what you tell yourself? I guess what I mean is, do you practice what you preach?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Trips for Relaxation
Q:What do you say about a person going on a trip for relaxation?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The One Minute Mourning
Q:Should I be saying tikun chatzos during this time of the year - the Three Weeks?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Discovering a Baby’s Gender Before Birth
Q:Is it wrong for a person to discover the gender of his child before the birth?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Kollel Man in the Country
Q:Should I donate money to a kollel whose yungerleit go away to the country for the summer?
Rav Avigdor Miller on When to Not Do Kiruv
Q:There is a Jewish couple living next door to me - they're not married but they're living together. How would you advise going about being mikareiv them?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Being Thick Skinned
Q:If a person is sensitive to remarks is that a sign of conceit?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Best Merchandise
Q:You’re speaking tonight about the greatness of learning Torah and how important it is for a person’s perfection. But don’t you think that some people are better off making achievements in other areas? Maybe they didn’t have the opportunity when they were younger to learn how to learn and now it’s too late?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Parah Adumah: Learning and A Lesson
Q:What purpose is there in learning about parah adumah here in exile?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Pictures in the Mind
Q:The Rav spoke tonight about the importance of having a mind that is filled with Torah pictures. How does one work on this ko’ach hatziyur? How can one gain pictures in the mind?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Obligations to A Rasha
Q:You said before that there are certainly Jews who fall into the category of reshaim. What are our obligations towards a Jewish rasha?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Abortion and Topsy-Turvy Liberals
Q:You said before that according to the Torah law, life in its fullest sense actually begins only when a child is born. But when a pregnant woman, let’s say she’s in her fifth month, when she goes to a religious obstetrician and he examines her so he’ll turn around and say, “I actually feel life.” What does that mean when he says he feels life?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Carrying a Handgun
Q:When a person works in a dangerous neighborhood, is it advisable to apply for a license for a gun?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Sin of the Spies
Q:The Rav spoke about how great the Dor Hamidbar was. But if so, how can we understand the lack of emunah demonstrated in this week’s parsha (Shelach)?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Free Will of the Misnagdim
Q:You said that sometimes chassidim are so attached to their Rebbeh and it leads to fighting with other chassidim instead of being a ladder to climb closer to Hashem. But isn’t it true that even among the misnagdim that they also look up to and emulate the the roshei yeshiva?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Pur, Purim and the Holocaust
Q:If Purim got its name על שם הפור, because of the lot that Haman cast, why isn’t it called Pur instead of the plural Purim?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Purim Drinks
Q:How do I utilize drinking עד דלא ידע in order to serve Hashem?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Emunah and Daas
Q:In Slabodka I had two rebbes, zichronom livrocha, and boruch Hashem they were both inspirations to me. I will describe to you how different their behavior was on Purim.
Rav Avigdor Miller on Weeping For Lost Tzadikim
Q:At the outset of the shiur the Rav said that we shouldn’t be distraught when tzaddikim are niftar from this world. But shouldn’t we be upset because we don’t have their guidance and also that we don’t have the protection they give us by just existing?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Lessons From Russia
Q:What can we learn from the situation in Poland where the Russians have declared martial law and the Poles are suffering?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Simcha and Sympathy
Q:You said that when we see people who are less fortunate than us so we should use that sight as an incentive to be happy with what we have. But how can we be happy when we pass by a person with a disability who cannot walk or some other crippling disability? Aren’t we hurting that person when he sees us, that we’re able to function in ways which he cannot?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Investigating Terror Attacks
Q:What is the da’as Torah on the whole mess that’s going on in Eretz Yisrael, that they’re busy with peace talks but meanwhile Yidden are getting killed every day? What do we have to think – what’s the daas Torah?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Arson in Jerusalem: Indiscretion or Heroism?
Q:Can the Rav comment on the two yeshiva boys who were put in jail in Israel?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The One And Only Yeshayah Hanavi
Q:Someone told me that there were two nevi'im called Yeshayah. Is that true?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Evaluating Hachnasas Orchim Opportunities
Q:How far should a person go to fulfill the mitzvah of hachnasas orchim?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Fooling Your Father-in-law
Q:What's the best way to deal with a father-in-law?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Dealing With a Mother-in-law
Q:How do I deal with my husband’s mother who I would consider a difficult mother-in-law?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Beautiful Girls and Beautiful Middos
Q:What should I do if I want to marry a pretty girl because I’m concerned about what my friends will say?
Rav Avigdor Miller on When Hashem Is Not Silent
Q:When we see how the present government in Israel has appointed a Minister of Religions and a Minister of Education who are so anti religious and they’re doing other things against frum Jews in Eretz Yisroel, trying to wipe out every vestige of Torah, could it be that Hashem will remain silent?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Boycotting Walt Disney
Q:Is it wrong to allow one’s children to read Disney books like Mickey Mouse and things like that?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Owning a Dog the Orthodox Way
Q:My question is, what's the Jewish viewpoint on having a pet like a dog in the house?
Rav Avigdor Miller on A Visit to the Pet Store
Q:What should a parent tell a child that wants to get a pet like a dog or a goldfish?
Rav Avigdor Miller on How To Die The Torah Way
Q:If a person is senile at the end of his life and he dies without the ability to do teshuvah in his last years or to review let's say his learning or some other avodas Hashem, is this a form of punishment from Hakodosh Boruch Hu?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Role Of The Father In The Home
Q:What should the role of the father be in the home?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Missile Attacks in Eretz Yisroel
Q:What should have been the proper reaction of the Jews in Tel-Aviv to the missile attacks this week?
Rav Avigdor Miller on How Many Remained?
Q:The medrash on the words וחמושים עלו ממצרים says that only one out of fifty went out of Mitzrayim. Is this to be understood literally, and if yes, why was it so?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Clean Jewish Homes
Q:Should religious Jews be careful to have neat and clean homes?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Ten Drops of Wine at the Seder
Q:The Rabbi mentioned in his lecture tonight that we are expected to rejoice at the downfall of the wicked and that’s why we celebrate the punishment of the Mitzrim. If that’s really true, then why do we take drops of wine out of the cup of wine at the Seder?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Why We Have The Seder At Night
Q:The Rav said earlier that even more important than being freed by Pharaoh in the middle of the night, was the Yetzias Mitzrayim that took place in the morning because that’s when the Am Yisroel left Egypt and finally escaped the gentile environment. So why do we have the Seder at night and not in the morning?
Rav Avigdor Miller on How To Use Chol Hamoed
Q:What does the gemara mean when it says כל המבזה את המועדות כאילו עובד עבודה זרה – “Anyone who disgraces the yomim tovim, it’s considered as if he worshipped idols”?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Why We Say Half Hallel
Q:On the last days of Pesach we say only half-Hallel. Isn’t that because of מעשה ידי טובעים בים ואתם אומרים שירה (Megillah 10b)? Aren’t we sad that Egyptians were drowned and we therefore don’t want to sing to Hashem?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Getting Stuck On A Ladder
Q:Why are the Satmerer chassidim fighting with the Lubavitcher chassidim? And do you approve of it?
Rav Avigdor Miller on When A Boy Greets A Girl
Q:What should the response of a frum girl be when a frum boy greets her on the street?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Motor Bikes, Television, Pampers and Aristotle
Q:What's your opinion of yeshiva people who ride motor bikes?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Learning To Love
Q:Is it a mitzvah to love all Jews including the non religious?
Rav Avigdor Miller on How To Teach Tznius
Q:What is the most efficient way of teaching tznius?ֿ
Rav Avigdor Miller on Many Zivugim
Q:How does one know when he comes across the right shidduch?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Isru Chag
Q:What’s this idea of Isru Chag; of celebrating Yom Tov on the day after Yom Tov?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Why We Ignore Yom Hashoah
Q:Can you explain to me why some synagogues do not observe the Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Memorial Day) observance for the Holocaust victims?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Coatroom and Olam Haboh
Q:You told us before a story about a Jewish woman in the Middle Ages who was dragged to her death by anti-semites who tied her to the back of a horse. Why does Hashem test His children so severely to the point of having a good woman killed like that?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Recognizing The Importance of the Chachmei Hatorah
Q:It says in the Gemara that when Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi passed away so anyone who was there at that time was rewarded with a special place in Olam Haboh. What was so special about being there when Rebbi passed away?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Evil Eye
Q:How should we understand the principle of ayin horah, the evil eye? And how do we avoid it?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Four Humors
Q:I heard the Rav once say that the concept of four basic elements making up the human body is not a Jewish idea. But I’ve seen it quoted in seforim.
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Chicken or the Egg
Q:When Hashem created the world, what came first, the chicken or the egg?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Contact With Not Frum Family
Q:If one has brothers who are not frum, should he have nothing to do with them?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Why Hashem Created Medinas Yisroel
Q:Why did Hashem create Medinas Yisroel?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Mother’s Day
Q:What is the Torah view of the significance Mother’s Day? And should we consider it a halachic problem of chukos akum, of going in the ways of the non-Jews?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Hidden Sins of Talmidei Rabbi Akiva
Q:How should we understand the sins of the students of Rabbi Akiva that caused so many thousands of them to die?
Rav Avigdor Miller on How To Marry A Kollel Man
Q:Should a woman marry a man who learns in the kollel and has no parnasa?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Following Laws of Your Country
Q:How obligated is a frum Jew to keep the civil laws and statues of the country where he lives?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Kiruv Rechokim Versus Selfishness
Q:How much time should a yeshiva man give away to help others come closer to Torah and to yiddishkeit?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Melaveh Malkah
Q:What should you have in mind when you eat melaveh malkah?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Pesach Sheini Regrets
Q:What’s the significance of commemorating Pesach Sheini?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Why We Count Sefiras Ha’omer
Q:What should we think about when we count sefiras haomer?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Yawning
Q:Is it an aveirah to yawn during davening if the yawning is involuntary?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Being Like Rashbi
Q:When Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and his son came out of the cave where they were hiding for so many years they did strange things like wanting to destroy anyone who was working instead of learning Torah. Is that something we’re supposed to learn from?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Beauty of Music
Q:You said a few weeks ago, if I quote you right, that you despise music, or what’s being done with music. Now, I’m wondering, are you denying the good effects that music can have on a person like teshuva and hisorerus to ahavas Hashem?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Are We Going to Yerushalayim Or Not?
Q:Why do we say לשנה הבאה בירושלים on Pesach? Is it true? Where is our attempt?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Attitude Quandaries
Q:If I see a frum Jew who’s not so good, should I love him for being a Jew or hate him for the bad things that he’s doing?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Satmar and Lubavitch
Q:Can you justify the motives of two groups of chassidim who are in conflict with one another?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Speaking Up About the Holocaust
Q:Many rabbonim say we should not discuss in public why the churban of Hitler happened. Why do you, Rabbi Miller, think it is important to discuss it?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Yerushalayim and Peace
Q:Many groups have called for the internationalization of Yerushalayim. What is the Rav’s opinion about that?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Greatest Day In History
Q:In your opinion, what was the greatest event in all of history?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Lazy Or Happy
Q:
What’s the difference between an עצל, the lazy man who is criticized by the sages for not working to improve his situation, and the שמח בחלקו, the one who is happy with his lot, and who is praised by the sages?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Happiness Plan
Q:What should a person do in order to be always happy?
Rav Avigdor Miller on John Hinckley And A Country Gone Mad
Q:What can we learn from the verdict given to John Hinckley (who attempted to assassinate President Reagan on March 30 1981) of non-guilty by reason of insanity?
Rav Avigdor Miller on The Happiness of a Small House
Q:How can one happily accept the nisayon of a large family living in a small house?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Does Talmud Torah Go Lost
Q:At the end of the fourth part of the Shaarei Teshuva, Rabeinu Yonah brings a possuk, בחסד ואמת יכופר עוון and he explains there that by doing acts of kindliness or by learning Torah even a sin as terrible as chillul Hashem will be forgiven. I’m wondering what happens to that Torah that gave you a kaparah? Does it go lost forever? Let’s say you learned a hundred hours of Torah and now that cancels out a chillul Hashem that you caused. Is that hundred hours lost forever? Or do you still have it to your credit in the Next World?
Rav Avigdor Miller on A Nazir’s Sin
Q:What is the meaning of that gemara that says that it’s a sin for a person to become a nazir because he’s taking away the pleasures of the world from himself?
Rav Avigdor Miller on A Child’s Yetzer Hora
Q:What is the purpose of a yetzer hora in children if anyhow they will not receive reward or punishment for their deeds?
Rav Avigdor Miller on Flag Burning and Flag Hanging
Q:What should our attitude be towards the phenomenon of flag burning that we have been witnessing in recent months?
