Eating small meals on Shabbos

Hi,

We are instructed to create pleasure on Shabbat; this is the mitzvah of oneg Shabbat. Where an action would bring pleasure to the body but disturb one's psyche, or vice versa, psychological/emotional pleasure trumps physical pleasure.

Therefore, one who would derive physical pleasure from eating, but who does not want to eat, may eat the minimum for the three meals of Shabbat and stop with that.

(Rivivot Ephraim 1:223:5)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Is snow muktzeh?

Hi,

Snow which falls on Shabbat is not muktzeh, because it is edible for people as well as animals. It is not considered nolad, either.

(Rivivot Ephraim 1:223:1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Berachah for enjoying Shabbos?

Hi,

We have a mitzvah of "oneg Shabbat", enjoying the day; we fulfill this in many ways, including eating fine foods and having light in our homes. Where is the berachah [blessing] for this mitzvah?

The berachah for this mitzvah is the berachah recited upon lighting Shabbat candles. However, there is no requirement for the family to be present when the candles are lit and the berachah is recited; the person reciting the berachah does so on behalf of the household.

(Rivivot Ephraim 1:222:30)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Driving home after Shabbos

Hi,

The Shulchan Aruch writes that one may perform melachah after Shabbat, once one has recited havdalah in the amidah. [However, one may not eat until after reciting havdalah with a cup of an appropriate beverage.] Others contend that ideally, one should not perform any melachah until after reciting havdalah with a cup of an appropriate beverage. What, then, is the justification for driving home from shul after Shabbos, when one will only perform havdalah at home?

The answer may be 1) that the Mishneh Berurah does not cite the contention that one should not perform melachah, and 2) that it would be a hardship for people to walk home.

(Rivivot Ephraim 1:222:29)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Reading by electric light on Shabbos

Hi,

The Talmud (Shabbat 12a) records a prohibition against reading by an oil lamp, lest one forget it is Shabbat and incline the lamp to provide fuel for the wick. This is brought in Shulchan Aruch. (Orach Chaim 275:1)

This concern does not apply regarding a light bulb fueled by electricity, because the light is generally great enough that one will not need to adjust, and because there is no means of adjusting it to raise its luminescence. However, it is not clear that this permission should extend to a bulb which has multiple settings.

(Rivivot Ephraim 1:222:27)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

An electric blanket on Shabbos

Hi,

One may use an electric blanket on Shabbos, where it is already on, but one may neither turn it on nor adjust the setting.

(Rivivot Ephraim 1:222:26 and 1:235)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Moving a trash can on Shabbos

Hi,

[Note: This topic is subject to some debate; please consult your Rabbi for practical guidance.]

An empty trash can may be brought back from the curb on Shabbat, whether because it is needed for depositing more trash or because of concern that it might be stolen. This is because the can is made of non-absorbent materials that are easily cleaned.

This assumes that a valid eruv is in place.

(Rivivot Ephraim 1:222:19)

חג אורים שמח,
Mordechai

An accidental knot

Hi,

One may not untie a knot on Shabbat, but one may un-do a slipknot.

Where someone attempted to tie on a hat or hood on Shabbat with a slipknot, to permit untying, but then they made it into a knot by accident, they may untie the knot. This is the law because leaving the hat/hood on all day would be upsetting, and because the intent from the beginning was to untie it.

(Rivivot Ephraim 1:222:17)

חג אורים שמח,
Mordechai

Soaking a hand on Shabbat

Hi,

On Shabbat, one may not engage in medicine-related activities, unless one is in danger or in debilitating discomfort. However, one may engage in therapeutic activities which 1) do not relate to taking medicine, and 2) are not visibly medicinal.

Therefore, one whose hand is injured, and who needs to soak it in order to relieve the pain, may do so on Shabbat. It is not visibly therapeutic; also, we are talking about a case in which the pain is considerable.

(Rivivot Ephraim 1:222:6)

חג אורים שמח,
Mordechai

Lighting the menorah on Friday afternoon

Hi,

On Friday afternoon we light the menorah before we light Shabbat candles, since once we have lit Shabbat candles we have accepted Shabbat and we cannot light the menorah.

We make sure that the candles will last until at least thirty minutes into true night (after the stars have emerged) - so that we need candles that will last at least 93 minutes (18 minutes between candle lighting and sunset, 45 minutes between sunset and when the stars emerge, and then another 30 minutes). People tend to use thick Shabbat candles, which last longer than the usual Chanukah candles.

[This is a special concern in years when the last night of Chanukah is a Friday night, so that we light eight candles and need them to last for a long time. With that many candles so close together, the candles tend to melt down very quickly. If one can use oil, that helps. Alternatively, tea lights work well.]

(Code of Jewish Law Orach Chaim 679)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Adding a table leaf on Shabbat

Hi,

One may add a leaf to a table on Shabbat.

Although one may not create a roof over a space on Shabbat, this is acceptable 1) because one is adding to an existing "roof", 2) because the table is made for such expansion, and 3) because the primary problem is where there are both roof and walls, and our tables do not have walls.

(Rivivot Ephraim 1:222:3)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Shacharit during Musaf

Hi,

One who comes to shul late, when the community is already reciting the musaf amidah, should still pray in the proper order, reciting the shacharit amidah, rather than recite musaf with the community. According to some opinions, doing this fulfills an element of praying "with the community", despite the fact that one is reciting a different amidah.

(Rivivot Ephraim 1:220)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Musaf before Kriat haTorah?

Hi,

A synagogue may recite the musaf amidah before reading from the Torah [on Shabbat or Yom Tov], if there is a particular, significant need, such as where the person who will read from the Torah is not yet available, and they are concerned about straining the community by waiting for him to proceed. However, we try to keep to the normal order. Therefore, the community should not do this on an on-going basis; other remedies should be sought.

(Rivivot Ephraim 1:219:2)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

An electric chanukiah?

Hi,

May one use an electric chanukiah?

The consensus of many authorities is that electric lights do not fulfill the mitzvah. The reasons include:

1. At the time we light, there must be enough fuel present for the flame to last for the entire period; electricity is continuously generated.

2. We require direct kindling, as takes place when one touches a flame to a wick; flipping a switch or pressing a button is an act of indirect lighting (grama).

3. The point is to commemorate the original menorah, which employed fuel and wick.

4. Each flame is supposed to be a single flame, not a medurah (lit. bonfire), since the original menorah had a single flame for each wick. A filament, which arcs horizontally, is a medurah.

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef says that one who cannot light a standard chanukiah should use an electric chanukiah without a berachah. [Apparently, he is not concerned lest onlookers view this as acceptance of an electric chanukiah in general.]

(Har Tzvi Orach Chaim 143; Dvar Halachah (R' Kletzkin) 36; Meorei Eish 5:2; Tzitz Eliezer 1:20:12; Yabia Omer 3:Orach Chaim 35)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

Late Lighting

Hi,

If my wife lights Chanukah candles in our home on time, and I will not come home until later that night, do I light when I arrive at home?

A man's wife may light on his behalf at home, exempting him from his obligation to light. However, the man may still be obligated to see Chanukah candles, personally. Therefore: if someone will be awake when he arrives home, the man should state that he is not relying upon the lighting taking place in his home. He should then light upon arriving home.

(Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 676:3, 677:3; Mishneh Berurah 677:14; Aruch haShulchan Orach Chaim 676:7; Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 5:43:1; Mishneh Halachos 15:207:1)

 Have a great day,

Mordechai

Lighting menorah at a Chanukah Party

Hi,

May I light the chanukiah at my family's Chanukah party, and count that as my mitzvah?

One may not light at a Chanukah party located in another person's house. One who will return home after traffic outside his house has ceased should light before going to the party, after plag haminchah (3:45 PM in Toronto at the start of Chanukah this year), and the chanukiah must remain lit until more than 30 minutes after the stars emerge.

Where the above solution is not possible, one should have someone light in his home at the proper time, or one should light after returning from the party, making sure that someone else is awake to see his chanukiah.

(Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 677:1; Mishneh Berurah 677:12, 679:2; Rivivot Ephraim 4:163:12, 16, 32)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

The Golden Calf and the tribe of Levi

Hi,

The beginning of Parshat Ki Tisa includes the story of the sin of the Golden Calf. Because the tribe of Levi rallied at Moshe's call to battle the worshippers of the Calf, we extend the first two aliyot so that they will be read in the aliyah of a member of the tribe of Levi.

As a result of the above: In a synagogue where there is no kohen, a levi should be called for the first aliyah, and the levi's aliyah should extend through the end of the Golden Calf.

(Rivivot Ephraim 1:212:1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Help with heat on Shabbos

Hi,

The weather became very cold on Shabbos; may I ask a non-Jew to turn on my heat?

There are two potential Shabbat prohibitions in this situation:

·         One may not ask a non-Jew to perform tasks which are prohibited for Jews. Hinting is also not allowed.

·         One may not benefit from prohibited tasks performed by non-Jews for the exclusive benefit of Jews.

On the other hand, we view exposure to great cold as equivalent to illness. Therefore, one who has no usable warm space in his home may hint to a non-Jew to turn on the heat. Ideally, the hint should not involve direct instruction, and should not describe the desired action; one should only describe his discomfort. However, where necessary one may instruct explicitly.

If small children are present, one may ask a non-Jew to turn on the heat for the children even when the cold is not great.

(Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 276:5; Mishneh Berurah 276:39; Aruch haShulchan Orach Chaim 276:3, 276:12; Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 3:42; Shemirat Shabbat k'Hilchatah 23:24)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

When a shul misses Torah reading

Hi,

When a synagogue misses the Shabbat Torah reading, they should make it up on the following week. This applies regardless of why they missed it. They read the previous portion first, and then the current portion. They also read the haftorah for both Torah portions.

(Rivivot Ephraim 1:211)

[Note: Rivivot Ephraim does not discuss whether one recites separate blessings for each haftorah; I imagine that it is one set of blessings, but I don't know.]

Have a great day,
Mordechai

If the sefer torah is disqualified at the end of the reading

Hi,

As a general rule, if a disqualification is found in a sefer torah during the Torah reading, one continues the reading with a new sefer torah, but one does not go back to that which has already been read.

If the disqualification is found after the entire reading is completed, one does not go back. Some authorities suggest that the congregation may take out a new Torah and read without blessings, but others disagree due to concern for the honour of the Torah scroll.

(Rivivot Ephraim 1:210)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Timing of the mi shebeirach on Shabbat

Hi,

It is traditional to recite a mi shebeirach prayer for the sick in the synagogue on Shabbat. This prayer is often recited between aliyot or after the haftorah. It should not be recited after Ashrei, though; nothing should be interpolated between Ashrei and the kaddish which precedes musaf.

(Rivivot Ephraim 1:209:2, and see Mishneh Berurah 284:15)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Presenting a derashah when the Torah is out of the Aron

Hi,

The Rabbi should not present a dvar torah [sermon] when the Torah scroll is out of the aron kodesh [ark]. Doing so would distract people's attention from the Torah scroll, and this would be disrespectful.

(Rivivot Ephraim 1:209:1, and see Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 4:40:21 as well)

Have a great day,
Mordechai