Music without a Beit haMikdash

Hi,

In a time when there is no Beit haMikdash, when the sages of the Talmud prohibit music, singing is permitted outside of a pub, but justification for permitting instrumental music - outside of a mitzvah context like a wedding - is harder to find.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 1:166)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Hard-boiled eggs at the Seder

Hi,

Some customarily eat hard-boiled eggs at the seder; several explanations are brought for this practice, including:

1) Eggs are part of a traditional meal of mourning, and we mourn for the loss of the Beit haMikdash [Temple], with its associated korban pesach;

2) The egg is used on the seder plate, in many traditions, to commemorate the korban chagigah, a celebration korban that Jews bring in the Beit haMikdash when they come visit for a yom tov [holiday].

(Code of Jewish Law Orach Chaim 496:2; Mishneh Berurah 496:11)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Mourning for the Beit haMikdash, year-round

Hello,

When the Beit haMikdash [Jerusalem Temple] was destroyed, the sages enacted that any Jew building a structure should leave a part unfinished, in a visible area near the entrance, as a memorial to the destruction of the Temple. That segment should have an area of about 3 square feet.

If a Jew buys a structure which was built by a non-Jew, he is not obligated to damage it in order to create such a memorial.

(Code of Jewish Law Orach Chaim 560:1; Mishneh Berurah 560:3-4)

Have a good day,
Mordechai