Berachah on cooked fruit

Hi,

If a certain fruit is normally eaten cooked, and it is intact, or at least recognizable, then one recites borei pri ha'eitz upon eating it in its cooked form.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 2:25)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Vegetables which are normally not infested

Hi,

Species of vegetables which are normally not infested with non-kosher bugs or worms do not require close checking for infestation.

Species of vegetables which are normally infested with non-kosher bugs or worms, but which undergo treatment during their growth to eliminate infestation, should be checked, if it is possible that the treatment was not done. Where it is very likely that the treatment was done, such as where the producers have a strong financial incentive to carry it out, then there is no need to check.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 2:25)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Changing one's seat in shul when in mourning

Hi,

One who is in mourning changes his location in the synagogue. There is great debate as to whether one should do this on Shabbat; in practice, one should.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:257)

Have a good day,
Mordechai

Shemini Atzeret and Shloshim

Hello,

When a person is buried during chol hamoed of Succot, Shemini Atzeret counts as only one day of the 30 of shloshim, not as seven days.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:256)

Have a good day,
Mordechai

Mourning for parents

Hello,

The reason that one mourns for parents for a year, but for other relatives for only 30 days, is because of the obligation to honour one's parents.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:255)

Have a good day,
Mordechai

Taking payment to recite kaddish

Hi,

One who is hired to recite kaddish for someone who passes away may accept multiple such "jobs". Each kaddish recitation should be assigned to a particular person for whom kaddish is recited, and at least one kaddish per day should be recited for each of them. Ideally, one should record which kaddish is recited for which person.
 
Note that the person reciting kaddish must notify his employer that he is only reciting one kaddish per day for that particular person, since the employer might have assumed differently. Otherwise, this could be theft.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:254)

Have a good day,
Mordechai

Starting shivah when the funeral is on another continent

Hello,

Where a relative passes away on another continent, and some of the family travels to the funeral while the rest remains at home, those who remain home begin their mourning immediately. This is because there is no way that they will be at the funeral.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:253)

[Note: Rav Moshe's case is of family members in the USA and a funeral in Belgium. I do not know how Rav Moshe would define the limits of this application - for example, a case of a death in Mexico and family members in New York.]

Have a good day,
Mordechai

Kohanim escorting their relative to burial

Hello,

Kohanim are not permitted to become tamei, but they are supposed to become tamei in burying their immediate relatives.

Normally, a kohen is buried at the edge of the cemetery, eliminating the exposure of the kohen's relatives to the other graves. However, where burial at the edge of the cemetery is not an option, the relatives should escort the kohen's body to its grave and remain present for the duration of the burial. After the burial: if they can find a spot which is more than 4 amot (about 7 feet) from any grave, they may remain there for tzidduk hadin and kaddish. Otherwise, they should leave immediately.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:252)

Have a good day,
Mordechai

A neglected cemetery

Hi,

Where a cemetery is being debased by the local population, and there is no means of guarding the cemetery, the bodies buried there should be exhumed and moved to a safe location.

The bodies may not be buried in a mixture in a mass grave; each body must have its own space, with some earth dividing it from the next body.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:246)

Have a good day,
Mordechai

Headstones

Hello,

One may not benefit from a headstones which has been used with a grave. Therefore, headstones which have been replaced should be buried in a spot from which they will not be mistakenly taken and used.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:245)

Have a good day,
Mordechai

Recycled caskets

Hi,

Once a body is put into a casket, no one else may benefit from it. However, where a family buys a casket and a body is placed in it, and then the family decides to use a different casket, that first casket may be used for someone else. The reason is that the casket must be buried anyway, like other items from which one may not benefit. However, the second family may not provide any sort of payment or recognition for the first family, lest that constitute illegal benefit.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:244)

Have a good day,
Mordechai

Exhuming on the deceased's instructions

Hi,

Where a person had instructed not to be buried in a particular part of the cemetery, and that person's reason is gauged to be significant for people in general, then that person may be exhumed to honour that wish. However, if the reason is not one that others recognize as valid, then the body may not be exhumed.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:242)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

A Jew buried in a non-Jewish cemetery

Hi,

Where a Jew is buried among non-Jews, he may be exhumed to be moved to a cemetery of Jews.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:241)

שנראה בנחמת ירושלים,
Mordechai

The Tisha b'Av demeanor

Hi,

On the fast of Tishah b'Av, one should not greet others in the normal manner of "Good morning, Hello, How are you." If one is greeted by a person who does not know better, one should respond politely but in a manner which indicates that the day is a day of mourning, and teach his interlocutor about the mournful fast if possible.

One also does not give gifts on this day.

We also minimize our comfort and dignity on the fast of Tisha b'Av, just as a mourner cares little for his own comfort or dignity when in his most intense grief. Therefore, there is a practice of minimizing one's comfort while sleeping. Those who ordinarily sleep with a pillow will sleep without a pillow that night; some people sleep on the floor.

(Code of Jewish Law Orach Chaim 554:20, 555:2; Mishneh Berurah 554:41)

המצפה לישועה,
Mordechai

For Tisha b'Av

Hello,


Regarding Tisha b'Av, this Monday night and Tuesday:

"Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: One who eats and drinks on Tisha b'Av is as though he ate and drank on Yom Kippur. Rabbi Akiva said: One who goes to work on Tisha b'Av will not see any sign of blessing from it.

"The sages said: One who goes to work on Tisha b'Av and does not mourn for Jerusalem will not merit to see its celebration, as it is written, 'Rejoice with Jerusalem and celebrate in it, all who love it! Rejoice in it, all who mourn for it.'

"Based on this, our sages taught: One who mourns for Jerusalem will merit to see its joy; one who does not mourn for Jerusalem will not see its joy."

(Talmud, Taanit 30b)

המצפה לישועה,
Mordechai

Exhuming to avoid mixed burial

Hello,

According to Rav Moshe Feinstein in this responsum, popular practice is to bury men beside men and women beside women, other than in the case of a husband and wife. Therefore, where a man and woman who were not married to each other were accidentally buried side-by-side, the second one buried there should be exhumed and moved.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:241)

המצפה לישועה,
Mordechai

Exhuming due to water entry

Hello,

One would be permitted to exhume a body if groundwater was entering the grave.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:239)

המצפה לישועה,
Mordechai

Exhuming to unite a family

Hello,

One is justified in exhuming a body in order to unite the bodies of parents with their children. Exhuming for other relatives does not seem to be justified. However, a minority opinion does permit exhuming to unite families in general; this may be relied upon in cases of great need, but specifically where enough time has passed that the body's flesh will have decayed.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:236; for related issues, see 1:237-238)

המצפה לישועה,
Mordechai

Separating stacked graves

Hi,

Graves which are layered require 6 tefach (21.6 inches) of height between them. This does not depend on the type of material between them; even where impermeable material separates the grave, this space is required.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:234)

המצפה לישועה,
Mordechai

Minimum depth of a grave

Hi,

The minimum depth of a grave is such that there will be three tefach (10.8 inches, per Rav Moshe Feinstein's measure of a tefach) of dirt atop the casket.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:233)

המצפה לישועה,
Mordechai

Experimenting with human flesh

Hello,

Flesh taken from a living person must be buried, or destroyed in a respectful way. One may conduct necessary tests on flesh taken from a living person, but the remains should be buried, or destroyed in a respectful way.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:232)

המצפה לישועה,
Mordechai

Burial for an amputated limb

Hello,

Flesh or organs amputated from a living person require burial, or destruction in a respectful way.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 2:231-232)

המצפה לישועה,
Mordechai

Recycling a headstone

Hi,

[One may not benefit from a grave and its attachments; therefore, one may not benefit from a headstone.]

When replacing an old headstone with a new one, one may use the old stone for the grave of a needy person; this is not considered inappropriate benefit from the headstone. However, the people involved should take care not to benefit from this stone, such as if the person carving the letters would charge for the stone itself.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:228)

Have a good day,
Mordechai

Changing the wording on a headstone

Hi,

Where a headstone has become weathered and a new engraving is needed, the child of the person buried there is not allowed to reduce the praises that had been written there beforehand; this is a function of the mitzvah of honouring one's parents. However, one may condense the praises without losing their meaning.

Other relatives are permitted to reduce the praises in order to save money, but they ought to examine whether it would be better to leave the original, weathered headstone in place, with its greater praise.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:228)

Have a good day,
Mordechai

A wedding for a mourner

Hi,

Where a prospective bride or groom loses an immediate relative, and the wedding would have been during the week of shivah, and delaying the wedding would mean losing the deposit made for the wedding hall, then they should:

1. Do the chuppah before the burial;

2. Have the burial while observing the seven days of sheva berachot;

3. Make one of the sheva berachot meals in the hall at the originally scheduled time of the wedding; and

4. observe shivah after the week of sheva berachot.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:227)

Have a good day,
Mordechai

Sheva berachot for a mourner

Hi,

Sheva berachot are viewed as a way to gladden the bride, in particular. Therefore, where a new husband is in mourning, the bride is able to forgive her right to sheva berachot.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:226)

Have a good day,
Mordechai

Shemirah in modern times

Hi,

We station people with a body between the time of death and burial, and texts link this practice of shemiah with protection of the body from mice. However, there is evidence that one should have a guard look in on the body regularly even when the body is in a place where there is no concern for mice.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:225) [and see Chachmat Adam, Shaar haSimchah, Matzevet Moshe 14)

Have a good day,
Mordechai