Halachah

by R. Daniel Mann Question: Is it permitted to email, WhatsApp, and use social media before davening? Answer: Emailing and other forms of electronic communication have two broad purposes – social interaction; technical/business-related. Each can be a problem before davening, but their parameters differ somewhat. We will deal with them separately before touching on “policy.” (We leave out the important issue of such activity ...

by R. Daniel Mann Question: The last time my wife was away for Shabbat, my oldest daughter (under bat mitzva) wanted to light Shabbat candles instead of me. Can a minor daughter do so, and does she have precedence over me? Answer: The short answer is that you should be doing the hadlakat neirot and not your pre-bat mitzva daughter ...

by R. Daniel Mann Question: As a speech therapist, I was wondering whether Kri’at Shema can be done in a whisper. In a whisper, the “z” sound is produced as an “s” and the “v” sound is produced as a “f” (and all voiced sounds become devoiced). Scientifically, this is because the vocal chords do not vibrate when whispering. Doesn’t ...

by R. Daniel Mann Question: I run a camp for children under bar mitzva during a period that includes the Nine Days. We usually take them on trips off campus once a week. Is it permitted to do so during the Nine Days? Answer: We will address the two main issues regarding activities during the Nine Days and/or the Three ...

by R. Daniel Mann Question: Is it permitted to make an engagement party during the Three Weeks (i.e., before Rosh Chodesh Av)? Answer: Many of the halachot of the time before Tisha B’Av are based only on minhag and/or post-Talmudic sources. Engagement parties (in Modern Hebrew, mesibat eirusin) during this period are arguably mentioned in the gemara. The gemara (Yevamot ...

by R. Daniel Mann Question: I made a beracha before toveling several utensils, primarily glass, which I started with. Then I noticed that one of the utensils was metal. Since toveling metal is a Torah obligation and for glass it is Rabbinic, could the beracha on the glass utensil count for metal? Should I have made another beracha on the ...

by R. Daniel Mann Question: What is the Halacha in the following scenario? I am on an intercity bus, in which the price depends on how far you go. I fall asleep and miss my stop. Should I go to the driver to pay for the additional distance I will end up going? Answer: Since you present this as a ...

by R. Daniel Mann Question: If the person making Kiddush in shul does not eat after Kiddush, is his Kiddush valid? Answer: We must distinguish between a valid Kiddush for the person who made Kiddush and for those who listened to Kiddush and then ate. We accept Shmuel’s opinion (Pesachim 101a) that Kiddush is valid only in the place of ...

by R. Daniel Mann Question: My shul sometimes misses sof z’man Kri’at Shema (=szKS) by a few minutes. The rabbi instructs people to say the three parshiyot of Shema before davening, but I usually go ahead to make Kri’at Shema on time and wait during the following beracha for the tzibbur to catch up. Is that an improvement and/or a ...

by R. Yaakov Hoffman During the summer, many wish to eat the Shabbat evening meal well before dark. To accommodate them, many shuls offer early Friday evening services. Some daven Mincha right before plag ha-mincha (1 ¼ halachic hours before sunset) and immediately thereafter recite Kabbalat Shabbat and Maariv. Others begin Mincha at a set time all summer long – ...