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

Looking at one's hands by the flame of Havdalah

Hi,

The Tur and Shulchan Aruch cite midrashic sources as the basis for the custom of looking specifically at one's fingernails, and in a particular way, at havdalah. Therefore, even though one could benefit from the light in some other way, we should specifically continue this ancient practice. We keep our ancient customs.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 5:20:31)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

A multi-wicked flame for havdalah after Shabbat, on Yom Tov

Hi,

When Yom Tov takes place on Motzaei Shabbat, we blend havdalah of Shabbat with kiddush of Yom Tov. For the berachah on a multi-wicked flame, many people take the Yom Tov candles and incline them toward each other, so that the flames merge in a single, multi-wicked flame. One who does so need not be concerned lest the wax of the candles melt due to the blending of the flames.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 5:20:30)

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

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

Havdalah by telephone

Hi,

One who cannot recite or hear havdalah in her current location may hear it via telephone. This is not ideal (because the sound she hears is a reproduction of the original), but it suffices.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 4:91:4)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

When Shabbat is Erev Tisha b'Av, Part III

Hello,

Two more rules which are unique to this year's calendar, in which Tishah b'Av is Saturday night and Sunday:

One may not eat or drink, even after the fast is over, until after reciting Havdalah on Sunday night. One uses wine or grape juice for Havdalah.

Sunday night'sHavdalah does not involve the introductory “Hineih” paragraph, or the spices or flame. One begins with the blessing over wine/grape juice, and continues with the normal berachah of “HaMavdil.”

המצפה לישועה,
Mordechai

Speaking before the mavdil drinks

Hi,

One who hears Havdalah recited by someone else should not speak until someone drinks the appropriate amount from the cup, although it is possible that one who does interrupt still has fulfilled his obligation.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 4:70:1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Beginning seudah shlishit after sunset

Hi,

One should not begin a meal, even the mitzvah meal of seudah shlishit, after sunset on Shabbat afternoon. There is leeway for several minutes, though, for one who has not yet fulfilled the mitzvah of seudah shlishit; opinions vary regarding how much time one has. [See Mishneh Berurah 299:1 and this responsum of Rav Moshe Feinstein.]

One who begins after the permitted time should not be included in the 10 needed for a mezuman invoking Gd's Name. [I believe he would respond to the mezuman, though. - MT]

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 4:69:6)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Drinking from the Sheva Berachot cups at Seudah Shlishit

Hi,

We don't eat or drink after sunset on Shabbat, until Shabbat is over and one has recited Havdalah.

Therefore, where Seudah Shlishit is also a meal of Sheva Berachot and it ends after sunset, the person who recites birkat hamazon does not drink from the cup. However, the chatan and kallah do drink.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 4:69:1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Kiddush with a paper cup, expanded

Hi,

[Adding to an earlier post, here]

May I recite kiddush or havdalah using a disposable cup?

Three halachic considerations are relevant here:
• We require that the cup be "chai", which means that it must be whole. Some authorities rule that a disposable cup is inherently flawed; others argue that we only require that the cup be complete.
• We require that the cup be a "kli", an implement meeting certain halachic criteria, and some contend that a disposable cup does not meet those standards.
• We try to perform mitzvos in a beautiful manner. Disposable items, by definition, are inexpensive, and they are often unattractive.

Because of these considerations, we avoid using a disposable cup for these mitzvos. However, one who has no other option may rely on the authorities who accept disposables.

(Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 3:39; Minchat Yitzchak 10:23; Tzitz Eliezer 12:23; Shemirat Shabbat k'Hilchatah 47:11; Beer Moshe 5:55; Contemporary Halachic Problems II 12; Rivivot Ephraim 1:150:2; Az Nidbiru 6:49; Yalkut Yosef 271:42)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The berachah on besamim, when one has a cold

Hi,

Does one recite the berachah on besamim at Havdalah, if he cannot smell them due to a cold?

One who cannot smell should not recite a berachah on besamim, even if he is reciting Havdalah on behalf of a group; the others in the group should recite the berachah for themselves, before they smell the besamim.

If some in the group are unable to recite a berachah, then the leader should recite the berachah on their behalf despite his cold. He should only do so after drinking the wine from Havdalah, though.

(Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 297:5; Har Tzvi Orach Chaim 1:37; Mishneh Halachos 15:89; Shemirat Shabbat k'Hilchatah 61:5)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Havdalah on tea or milk

Hi,

One may only use tea or milk for Havdalah if no more qualified beverage is available; this is considered a last resort.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 2:75)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Soda for Kiddush and Havdalah

Hi,

Soda (flavored or otherwise, as I understand) is not considered "chamar medinah", and therefore it is not eligible for the daytime kiddush of Shabbat and Yom Tov, or for Havdalah.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 2:75)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Havdalah candle for Shabbat and Yom Kippur

Hi,

We explained here that Havdalah after Yom Kippur requires a flame that has been burning since before Yom Kippur began, whereas Havdalah after a normal Shabbat may use a flame that was lit anew after Shabbat.

Yom Kippur is on Shabbat this year. Ideally, for Havdalah after this Yom Kippur one should use a flame which has been burning since before Yom Kippur began, to remind people that this is the norm for Havdalah after Yom Kippur. However, in a year when Yom Kippur and Shabbat coincide, one who does not have a pre-lit flame may use a flame that was lit anew after Yom Kippur, since this is acceptable for the Havdalah after Shabbat.

(Mishneh Berurah 624:7; Aruch haShulchan Orach Chaim 624:6)

Gmar tov,
Mordechai

Overflowing the cup for kiddush and havdalah

Hi,

The practice of overflowing the cup should be unique to Havdalah, and should not be borrowed for Kiddush.

The practice of overflowing comes from a Talmudic statement that “A house in which wine is not spilled like water will never see blessings.” [The idea is that one is showing he is not stingy, and particularly with what he spends on a mitzvah.] Thus at the start of the week we look for a blessing to help us through the week, and this applies only by Havdalah.

Even for Havdalah some authorities are uncomfortable with wasting wine for the sake of a “good sign,” and so they advise that one overflow minimally. Certainly, one should not borrow this for other cups of wine which are not “at the start of the week,” such as Kiddush.

(Code of Jewish Law Orach Chaim 296:1; Mishneh Berurah 296:5; Aruch haShulchan 296 at length)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Blessing our children at Havdalah

Hi,

We have discussed the practice of blessing our children Friday night, but some also have the practice of blessing children at Havdalah, after Shabbat.

This practice appears in early Ashkenazic communities as well as in sources from the 17th-19th centuries. The Magen Avraham (559:1) cited Maharil as saying that one should not recite it when Saturday night is Tisha b'Av, and the practice also appears in the customs of the Chatam Sofer and in the siddur of Rav Yaakov Emden.

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Before arranging Havdalah

Hi,

Before one sets up Havdalah, and particularly before lighting the Havdalah candle, one must recite a verbal declaration of Havdalah to mark the end of Shabbat. Otherwise, one would not be permitted to light the Havdalah candle or perform other acts of preparing Havdalah itself!

One may satisfy this requirement by reciting Maariv. Failing that, one may say "Blessed is the One who distinguishes between the sacred and the profane."

(Code of Jewish Law Orach Chaim 299:10)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Eating after sunset on Shabbat

Hi,

We have already noted that one may not begin a meal before reciting Havdalah, after sunset on Shabbat, even if one does not intend to end Shabbat for hours.

However, one who has not yet eaten Seudah Shlishit (the third meal of Shabbat) should start it even after sunset, until 30 minutes before the stars emerge (about ten minutes after sunset, depending on one's latitude and the time of year).

(Code of Jewish Law Orach Chaim 299:1; Mishneh Berurah 299:1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

A Havdalah Bulb?

Hi,

[Please note: I have edited the last line in yesterday's email on the Daily Jewish Law blog, for clarity. The edited post now reads:
For Havdalah, one may use a candle which was kindled before Shabbat started, but one may not use a candle which was kindled during Shabbat, unless it was kindled on Shabbat in a permitted circumstance, such as being lit as part of an effort to save a life.]

A flame is only valid for Havdalah if one can see the actual flame (and use its light). Thus a flame behind a translucent material would not be valid for Havdalah.

Some authorities even refuse a flame which is behind a transparent barrier. This is based on the Talmud's rejection of a "lantern" for Havdalah. These authorities would therefore reject any light bulb, due to the glass containing its vacuum.

Others, though, would accept an incandescent bulb with transparent glass. The heating of a metal to the point of luminscence has traditionally been considered 'fire,' dating back to the times of the Talmud, and the horizontal incandescent filament would be considered like a multi-wicked flame.

Note: A fluorescent bulb would not have the same status.

(Code of Jewish Law Orach Chaim 298:15)

Have a great day,
Mordechai