Mourning and minors

Hi,

One should not obligate minors to fulfill the practices of mourning, even if they are over the age of education. There is more reason to obligate a minor [older than the age of education] in tearing keriah, but even this is subject to debate, so that there is justification for refraining.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:224)

Have a good day,
Mordechai

Lifting a communal ban

Hi,

Where a Rabbi decrees that a community member may not be called to the Torah, but then the person ceases the sin that had led to the decree, then others may rescind the ban. Those others need not be on the level of the sage who had issued it in the first place. Ideally, this should be done by three men convening as a beit din, because the decree might be considered the equivalent of a formal ex-communication.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:221)

Have a good day,
Mordechai

The berachah for raisin wine

Hi,

The blessing for a beverage which consists of water and the juice of cooked raisins is borei pri hagafen, so long as the raisin juice constitutes at least one-sixth of the beverage's volume.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:208)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Pidyon HaBen on the wrong day

Hi,

There is a debate as to whether Pidyon HaBen may be done after the baby's 30th day ends at nightfall, or whether it must wait until the baby has lived an entire lunar cycle, which is a little more than 29.5 days. Thus a baby born just before nightfall on July 1 will be eligible for Pidyon HaBen after nightfall on July 30 according to the first view, but the second view will still require more time. We follow the second view.

If a family mistakenly invited guests for a Pidyon HaBen on the night after the baby's 30th day, and there would be great shame in informing the guests of the error and re-scheduling the Pidyon HaBen, then they may proceed with the Pidyon HaBen at the advertised time, to avoid embarrassment.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:196)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The 17th of Tammuz

Hi,

Tuesday June 25th is the fast of the 17th day of the month of Tammuz, and it begins a three-week national Jewish mourning period.

On the 17th of Tammuz one neither eats nor drinks, but - unlike the fasts of Tisha b'Av and Yom Kippur - one may wear leather shoes and wash normally.

(Code of Jewish Law Orach Chaim 550:2)

For more on the fast, click here; for more on the Three Weeks of mourning, click here.

צום קל ומועיל,
Mordechai

Pidyon haBen for a child of a Jewish mother and a non-Jewish father

Hi,

A son born to a Jewish mother and a non-Jewish father must have pidyon haben (assuming the general criteria for pidyon haben are met). If there is concern that the child might not do it himself upon reaching adulthood, the mother's father (or others) may do it on his behalf.

The money used for the pidyon should be assigned to the child for the sake of redemption, and the blessing recited should be changed to "al pidyon habechor".

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:195)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Pidyon haben for the son of a woman who converts to Judaism

Hi,

If a woman converts to Judaism while pregnant with her first child, and that child is a boy, then he performs pidyon haben for himself once he reaches adulthood.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:194 [see more there regarding what to do while he is a minor])

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Pidyon haBen with unknown lineage

Hi,

The ritual of pidyon haben is performed for a firstborn son of parents who are from neither kohen nor levi stock, and only if this was the mother's first pregnancy.

If a boy had not had a pidyon haben, and he does not know whether his parents had kohen or levi lineage, then upon reaching adulthood he should perform pidyon haben without reciting a blessing.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:188)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Re-starting the Orla count

Hi,

We are required to abandon the fruit of a tree's first three years, neither eating it nor benefiting it; this is the law of Orla. [See Vayikra 19:23.]

If a tree is uprooted, but it retains a root ball encased in earth - and this earth could keep it alive if it were placed in a hole such that it would not lose its moisutre - then the orla count does not re-start.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:185)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Mezuzah for a non-Jewish home

Hi,

Where a non-Jew requests a mezuzah, one may provide it, unless there is concern that it might be treated with disrespect by the recipient or a subsequent tenant.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:184)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Checking a painted mezuzah

Hi,

Normally, we require that mezuzot be checked twice in seven years. However, if a mezuzah undergoes something which could damage it, we check it immediately. Therefore, if a doorpost is painted, and the mezuzah was left on, we check the mezuzah to ensure that liquid did not enter and damage it.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:183)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Taking down the mezuzot when moving

Hi,

One who is moving out of a residence should remove the mezuzot, if the new tenants will treat them disgracefully. If the landlord cannot be trusted to remove the mezuzot and handle them properly, then the tenant who is moving out should do it.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:182)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Mezuzah on the entrance between a house and its backyard

Hi,

If a house has an enclosed backyard, such that the only entry to the backyard is from the house, then the backyard is viewed as a room of the house. Therefore, the mezuzah is placed on the right side of the entrance to the backyard, from the perspective of a person going from the house to the backyard.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:181)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

When do I put up the mezuzah?

Hi,

One is obligated to place mezuzot on a dwelling in which one will live for at least thirty days. However, there is some dispute as to whether the obligation begins immediately upon acquiring rights to the property, or only after one has lived there for thirty days.

Despite the dispute, one should place the mezuzah immediately, with a berachah, and not wait for the thirty days. The only exception would be a case in which one remains only temporarily, coming and going on the spur of the moment, like a bungalow in the country. [See more on this in the responsum.]

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:179)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Mezuzah for limited rental of a space

Hi,

One who rents a space for use twice each week is not considered a "permanent" resident, and is not obligated to place a mezuzah. This is true even if he lives his equipment there, so long as the space is not idenfied as a storage site for that equipment.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:178)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Mezuzah for a sealed entrance

Hi,

If a room has multiple entrances, and one them is sealed such that it is never used, but its frame remains intact, no mezuzah is required for the sealed entrance. However, if all of a house's entrances are sealed, then mezuzot are required; we assume that someone will want to enter at some point.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:177)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

Mezuzah for a doorway without a door

Hi,

Where there is an entrance between two rooms, but there is no door, or there is a door which swings both ways, and there is no other way to determine which way one normally enters, then there is no obligation to place a mezuzah.

Note the disclaimer atop this blog - others disagree.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:176)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Propping up a Torah

Hi,

If a Sefer Torah is propped up in a standing position on a bench, as many shuls do on a day when two Sifrei Torah are in use, then those who are in the room are required to stand.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 1:38; and see Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:175)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Voice-activated recording on Shabbat and Yom Tov

Hi,

Speaking, and thereby activating a voice-activated recorder, is prohibited on Shabbat and Yom Tov, even where one does not intend to activate the recorder, where that is a guaranteed result of one's speech.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:173)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Musical Torah

Hi,

One may not record passages of Torah with a tune in order to play them for the sake of enjoying the music; this would reduce Torah to a plaything.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:173)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Playing recordings of Torah or prayer

Hi,

One may not play a recording of Torah or prayer in such a way that people who are in a bathroom will hear it, lest they be caused to think about Torah or prayer in an inappropriate place.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:173)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

HaShem's Name in English

Hi,

In non-Hebrew languages, only a word which is dedicated as a Name for HaShem counts as a name. In English, that only applies to the word "God", such that this word should not be said without purpose.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:172)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Praying with awareness

Hi,
"One whose heart is not opened, who does not see himself as standing before Gd and praying, is not performing an act of prayer."

(Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik to Rambam, Hilchot Tefillah 4:1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Missionary materials with Gd's Name

Hi,

Missionary materials produced to attract Jews to other religions, which include Gd's Name, do not have any sanctity, and may be erased or destroyed.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:172)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Removing Gd's Name from a Sefer Torah

Hi,

If a sefer torah should have had the word יהיה, but the scribe erroneously substituted a ו for the second י, so that it was actually the Name of Gd, then one cannot alter the word itself, because it may be considered a valid recording of the Name of Gd, which cannot be erased. Therefore, one ought to cut that word from the sefer torah [and put it in genizah], and replace it with a new piece of parchment on which יהיה is written.

Ideally, one should remove the Name of Gd with the two adjacent words, since they enjoy some extra sanctity due to their location beside the Name of Gd. However, where the passage was טמא יהיה, so that leaving the word טמא [impure] next to Gd's Name would make a blasphemous declaration, then one should not do this.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:170)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Upside-down Nuns

Hi,

[First, for anyone who arrived here due to a misunderstanding - the "nun" in the title refers to the Hebrew letter nun, or נ.]

The Talmud (Shabbat 115b-116a) mentions that the verses of Bamidbar 10:35-36 are to be marked off from the rest of the Torah. Traditionally, those markers have been upside-down nuns. However, there is a debate as to whether this means that such markers appear before and after those verses in the Torah (Noda beYehudah), or whether this means that the normal letter nun which appears in the word בנסע in 10:35, and which appears in כמתאוננים in the subsequent verse, 11:1, should be upside down (Maharshal).

Our practice is to follow the view of Noda b'Yehudah. However, a sefer torah which has the markers as determined by the Maharshal is still kosher, and should not be altered. We treat this sefer torah as the "location of Maharshal", where it was appropriate to follow his practice.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:165)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Spending large amounts of money for a mitzvah

Hi,

Aside from the rule that one should not spend more than 1/5 of his assets to fulfill a commandment, one also should not spend "large sums" [הון רב] even where they are less than 1/5, for this will prevent fulfillment of other commandments. This is why many pious Jews, through the ages, did not fulfill the mitzvah of writing a sefer torah.

[Note: This only refers to fulfillment of מצוות עשה, commandments; one must spend far more to avoid violation of a prohibition.]

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:163 and Dibrot Moshe Bava Kama (II) 89:21)

Have a great day,
Mordechai