Salted sunflower seeds

Hi,

If sunflower seeds are salted, so that a member of the household is known to suck on the shells for their flavor, then the shells are not muktzeh. However, the person eating the seeds must know that, for without that knowledge he will consider the shells to be useless, and so they will become muktzeh.

[I am not sure what would happen if the person eating was a minor. - MT]

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 5:20:7)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Prayer with a Sefer Torah

Hi,

One should always make sure there is a sefer torah (Torah scroll) in the room where regular prayer takes place, even if the room is used specifically for the prayer of children. Indeed, the prayer of children is particular important to Gd.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 5:20:5)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Educating children

Hi,

When educating children in performance of a mitzvah, one must have them perform it in the way that an adult would perform it, and not in any deficient way.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 5:20:5)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

An atarah for a tallit

Hi,

There is no obligation to put a decorative atarah (lit. crown) on the part of the tallit which goes on one's head, and many Jewish communities historically did not do it. However, one who has an atarah need not remove it.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 5:20:3)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

HaMapil for insomniacs

Hi,

Should an insomniac recite HaMapil if he might not be able to sleep?

The berachah of HaMapil, first recorded in the Talmud and then appearing in alternative forms in the works of early halachic authorities, thanks G-d for enabling human beings to sleep.

Some authorities view this berachah as personal, thanking HaShem for our own sleep experience, and according to them one who fears he won't fall asleep should not recite the berachah. Most authorities disagree, though, viewing the berachah as general praise of HaShem for His gift to humanity; according to this view, insomniacs recite the berachah regardless of their own prospects for sleep.

(Berachot 60b; Tur and Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 239:1; Eliyah Rabbah 239:3; Chayyei Adam 35:3; B'Tzel haChachmah 5:166:4; Biur Halachah 239 samuch; Yechaveh Daas 4:21; Teshuvos v'Hanhagos 2:131; Shut Migdal Tzofim Orach Chaim 2:5)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

Folding a tallis on Shabbos

Hi,

One who needs to put his tallis away in its bag on Shabbat may fold it in order to fit it inside.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 5:20:1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Taking a tallit home from shul on Shabbat

Hi,

One may take a tallit home from shul on Shabbat morning, even though this is an act of preparing for his next wearing on another day, if he does so in order to keep the tallit from being lost or stolen.

[This assumes that the area is enclosed in a valid eruv.]

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 5:20:1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Earliest time for Tefillin

Hi,

How early in the morning may I put on tefillin?

Tefillin should not be worn before misheyakir, when there is sufficient light to recognize a casual acquaintance from several feet away. Some attribute this to the biblical promise, "The nations of the world will see that the Name of G-d is upon you" which the sages associate with tefillin, so that our tefillin must be visible. Additionally, there is concern lest one fall asleep, which would be disrespectful to the tefillin. Some calculats misheyakir as one hour before sunrise.

One whose work requires him to start davening before misheyakir, and who is in a position in which sleep is unlikely, may don tefillin without a berachah as early as necessary. After misheyakir he should touch the tefillin and recite the berachah.

One who will need to complete his entire davening before misheyakir should don tefillin without a berachah, and find a later time to don tefillin with a berachah, repeating shma, even late in the day. Where that is impossible, significant authorities permit reciting a berachah even before misheyakir.

(Berachos 9b and Rabbeinu Yonah ibid; Menachos 36a; Tur/Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 30; Mishneh Berurah 30:11, 13, 14; Biur Halachah 30:keivan, Aruch haShulchan Orach Chaim 30:3-6; Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 1:10, 4:6; Teshuvos v'Hanhagos 1:49; Rivivos Ephraim 4:12)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

Shnayim mikra

Hi,

One who studies Torah all day is not exempt from shnayim mikra, the practice of reading the weekly parshah twice in the original Hebrew and once in the Aramaic translation.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 5:17)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Need more matzah?

Hi,

One who needs extra matzah in order to supply the proper amount of matzah for others at his seder should not add matzot to his own three. We require 'bread of poverty', and poverty would be contradicted by an increase in mitzvah. Rather, one should provide additional sets of 3 matzot for others at the table.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 5:16:4)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Davening the Friday night before plag

Hi, Granted that authorities have permitted certain communities to daven before plag on Friday evening in certain circumstances, this is not halachically correct. However, one should not protest their practice. (Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 5:15) Have a great day, Mordechai

Women and Birchat haGomel

Hi,

A woman is obligated to express gratitude to Gd by reciting Birchat haGomel, as men are. However, they are not obligated in the trappings which the sages set up for men - reciting it with a minyan, and linking it to kriat hatorah. Even reciting it in front of her husband is sufficient.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 5:14 - but see Mishneh Berurah 219:3)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Giving food to someone who will not recite a berachah

Hi,

One should avoid giving food to someone who will not recite a berachah. However, one who feels he must provide food, lest he appear rude, should find a way to ask the person to recite a berachah. Then, even should the person decline to do so, the host will have fulfilled his personal obligation.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 5:13:1, 5:13:5)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

A mechitzah for one woman?

Hi, Where a group of men are davening and one or two women are present, and this is not an on-going occurrence, no mechitzah is required. [This assumes that the men will not see anything they are not permitted to see while davening. - MT] (Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 5:12:2) Have a great day, Mordechai

Mechitzah in a shivah house

Hi,

When people daven in a non-synagogue location which is not open to the public, then there need not be separate spaces for men and women. [This assumes that the men will not see anything which they are prohibited from seeing during prayer. - MT]

A house of mourning is generally considered open to the public, and so there should be separate spaces. However, where those present refuse to separate one may view this as a temporary place of prayer, and separate spaces would not be required.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 5:12:1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Mixed seating at a class

Hi,

[This is probably a good time to remind the reader of the disclaimer atop this blog.]

Lectures should be held with a mechitzah separating men and women. However, one may invite a community to a lecture without a mechitzah, for the sake of drawing people close to Torah, if they would not come to a lecture with a mechitzah.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 5:11)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

How much must one drink at Havdalah?

Hi,

How much must one drink for havdalah?

The cup used for havdalah should contain at least a reviit (3.3 fluid ounces, per Rav Moshe Feinstein, viewing this as a rabbinic mitzvah for which one may be lenient regarding the drinking threshold). The person reciting havdalah should drink at least this amount, ideally, to avoid doubt regarding the need for a berachah after drinking. The minimum amount is a cheekful, which is half of a reviit.

The person reciting havdalah may give the cup to another person who will drink a cheekful; this may be a child who is mature enough to be educated in the mitzvah of havdalah. In a case of need, multiple people may combine to drink that amount. The listeners may not speak until after someone has consumed a cheekful.

Should no one consume a cheekful, the listeners would not recite havdalah again, and could consider their obligation fulfilled. However, they should try to hear havdalah recited by someone else, if possible.

(Pesachim 107a; Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 271:14; Shulchan Aruch haRav Orach Chaim 190:4; Kaf haChaim 296:16; Mishneh Berurah 296:6, 296:9; Aruch haShulchan Orach Chaim 296:15; Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 4:70:1; Teshuvos v'Hanhagos 1:257; Shemirat Shabbat k'Hilchatah 60:36-37, footnote 139)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Secular names

Hi, There is no prohibition against giving children non-Hebrew names, even when these are names which non-Jews use as well. (Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 5:10:1) Have a great day, Mordechai

Combating price gouging

Hi,


"Should the non-Jews elevate the price of fish, it would be good to enact that we not purchase fish [for Shabbat]."

(R' Avraham Gombiner, Magen Avraham 242:1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Women and Mezuman

Hi,

When three men eat a meal together, they are obligated to participate in a "mezuman" for the blessing after meals. [Women are not obligated to create their own mezuman, but they may if there are three women.]

Where women eat with a group of three men, they are obligated to respond to the mezuman, and the men are prohibited from performing the mezuman without inviting them to participate.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 5:9:10)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Looking at one's fingernails at Havdalah

Hi, When one recites Havdalah ending Shabbat, one recites a berachah before a flame and looks at one's fingernails. There is some debate regarding the nature of this berachah: Is it a berachah praising Gd (birkat hashevach) for giving us light, and so one could use the flame by looking at his nails before reciting the berachah? Or is it a berachah thanking Gd (birkat hanehenin) for the benefits of His life, such that one should recite the berachah before using the flame's light? Our practice is to recite the berachah, and then use the light. (Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 5:9:9) Have a great day, Mordechai

Lost and Found in a Synagogue

Hi, One who finds items in a synagogue, in a protected area, should leave them there. Where they are in an unprotected area, he should move them to a protected area. The item should be announced in the synagogue, verbally and in writing. It should also be publicized in nearby synagogues which the owner might have frequented. See the responsum referenced below regarding the duration of the announcements, and what to do after that time expires. (Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 5:9:8) Have a great day, Mordechai

Mixed-up raincoats in shul

Hi,

One who accidentally takes the wrong raincoat in shul, and then returns to find that his own raincoat is gone, may not continue to use the raincoat he took.

It would be good to implement the custom recorded regarding overshoes in Aruch haShulchan Choshen Mishpat 136, to agree communally that those whose coats are switched may continue to use them until they meet each other and are able to trade them to each other. However, even in such a case one would be required to return the coat he took to the rightful owner once he was identified, even where his own coat was still missing. Further, in this last case he would be obligated to pay for the benefit he received from the coat, since the owner was not the person who took his.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 5:9:7)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Getting rid of the pits

Hi,

Because seeds and pits which neither people nor [common] animals eat are muktzeh, one may not remove them from his mouth by hand.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 5:9:5)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

When to start sitting on the floor

Hi,

It is not clear whether one should start sitting on the floor for Tisha b'Av at sunset, or once maariv begins. One should start from sunset, as at that point some may begin maariv.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 5:9:4)

Have a great day,
Mordechai