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It is with pleasure that I bring you this month's installment of "Ask the Rabbi." Over the past six years I have learned a great deal about what is on the minds of people in our community. I am grateful for your readership and loyalty to the column, and as always appreciative of your questions and comments. Please continue to stay in touch and, don't be afraid to ask! And I wish you a bright, happy and healthy New Year of 5769!

1. I once heard that there is such a thing as a Jewish exorcism. Is this true?

The notion of a foreign spirit or demon entering and possessing the body of a person is known to Christianity for sure, and was immensely popularized by the movie "The Exorcist". What is surprising is that such a notion is indeed found in Jewish texts of the early talmudic period. The Talmud relates that to help Rabbi Simon bar Yochai have anti-Jewish decrees annulled, a demon entered the body of the emperor's daughter. Upon Rabbi Simon's command, the demon left. Thus was Rabbi Simon ingratiated to the emperor, who then rescinded the edict. Josephus, the great 1st century Jewish historian, reports that in his time a Jew named Eleazar drove a demon out of a possessed man in the presence of the Roman emperor Vespasian, by means of putting a certain root to his nostrils and reciting ancient incantations ascribed to Solomon. By the 16th century, and even earlier, Jewish exorcism rituals were well known.

2. Is a yarmulke a holy object?

Wearing a yarmulke (also known as a kippah) is a Jewish custom, not a Jewish law. From talmudic statements it appears that the sages did not walk four steps with uncovered heads (Talmud, Shabbat 118b). In Temple times the priests wore a headdress in the form of a turban while officiating. The Yiddish word "yarmulke" is of uncertain origin, though some think it is a shortened form of two Aramaic words - yarey me-elohecha (one who fears God). Nowhere in the Torah is a man mandated to cover his head. The head covering has come to symbolize a sign of respect and acknowledgment that there is a God in the universe.

In the 16th century Rabbi Solomon Luria, a leader of Polish Jewry, was asked by a man who suffered from headaches whether he was permitted to eat without his head covered. Rabbi Luria responded that there was no requirement to wear a head covering even during worship, but, he added, since the custom of Jewish men covering their heads had become widely accepted, people might think that anyone who went about bareheaded was impious. He therefore suggested that the man wear a soft head covering of fine linen or silk.

Because the yarmulke does not have God's name attached to it, it is not considered a holy object in the same ways as tefillin, which contain holy parchment upon which is inscribed biblical texts with God's name. Unlike tefillin or a prayerbook, which must be buried when torn and no longer usable, there is no requirement to do likewise for a yarmulke.

3. Is serving chicken soup good for a person who has a cold? My bubbe always said that it was.

The notion that eating chicken soup (my favorite) when one is ill has often been dismissed a simply a Jewish old wives' tale. For years, Jewish people have served chicken soup not only as a Shabbat staple, but also when people have colds, fevers, and even pneumonia. I was surprised to learn that the American Medical Association (in real laboratory studies) has confirmed the therapeutic value of eating chicken soup. Chicken soup has long been recognized as possessing potency against a wide variety of viral and bacterial agents. As early as the 12th century, the philosopher and physician Moses Maimonides wrote that chicken soup is recommended as not only an excellent food, but also a powerful medication!

4. Can a minyan be constituted over the Internet, or an audio or video conference?

According to most rabbinic authorities that are a part of my rabbinic union, only physical proximity, that is, being in the same room with the person leading services, allows a quorum (minyan) to be constituted. Once a minyan of 10 persons has been duly constituted, anyone hearing the prayers being offered in that minyan may respond and fulfill his or her obligations thereby, even over long distance communications of any sort. Thus, one could call into a minyan if there is no way to get to a synagogue, but that person calling in cannot be counted in the minyan because one must physically show up to be counted. According to my colleague Rabbi Avram Reisner, when the rabbis moved to require a minyan for communal public prayers and banned response absent a quorum, it seems that they were opting to force the community to come together, whereas otherwise, if one could fulfill all obligations alone, they feared that public communal structures would not develop. They extolled the public praise of God.

Rabbi Ron Isaacs is the spiritual leader of Temple Sholom, a Conservative congregation in Bridgewater. He has recently published biographies of Abraham Joshua Heschel and Judah Touro (Torah Aura Productions). Contact him at www.rabbiron.com or"Ask the Rabbi," c/o Rabbi Ron Isaacs, Temple Sholom, P.O. Box 6007, Bridgewater, NJ 08807.