In March 2018 we were stranded in the Bahamas trying to renew our US visa (there are worse places to be stranded). Pesach was around the corner and I felt bad that I was not able to help the community prepare. And so we started a WhatsApp group for halachic questions. Overtime this became two groups of nearly 400 students and alumnae and to my surprise has become probably the largest writing and educational project of my last two years as well as a major organising tool for the community.
With huge gratitude to one student in particular – Joey Baum – who laboured to upload every individual teshuva, I am delighted to share here the nearly 600 questions that have been asked by the students of downtown Manhattan, sorted by category and easily searchable. The group has been a labour of love – allowing me to research topics, develop a writing style and most importantly connect with students through the medium of Torah. More interesting than my own responses are, the variety and depth of questions, providing quite the sociological window into the life of young religious Jews today.
So here we go… https://wp.nyu.edu/ravjoest/
I hope they can be a useful resource for people. I have not been through every question again since first writing them so if there appears to be something strange feel free to reach out for clarification.
joe wolfson 