Halachah

by R. Daniel Mann Question: Is it permitted to use a unicycle on Shabbat? Answer: We have, in the past, discussed bicycles (forbidden) and tricycles (permitted), and the sources on the two can help us analyze the less common unicycle, which we have not found discussed by the poskim. We will refer to riding indoors or within an eiruv. Otherwise ...

by R. Daniel Mann Question: I was not sure if during Birkat Hamazon (=BHMZ) after seuda shlishit, I said R’tzei V’hachalitzenu or not. Should I have repeated BHMZ? Answer: The rule is that one who forgets R’tzei in BHMZ on Shabbat must repeat BHMZ (Berachot 49b). Is that also true for one who is unsure (safek) if he recited it? ...

by R. Daniel Mann Question: I noticed that a storage room jointly owned by several residents of our apartment building in Jerusalem does not have a mezuza. I bought a mezuza myself, and because it is nicer than some of those in my home, I thought of taking the new one for myself and moving one of my apartment’s mezuzot ...

by R. Daniel Mann Introduction: These days, the precious need to save lives is on our minds. We will now present some of the halachic and practical underpinnings of the laws that pikuach nefesh (saving a life) takes precedence over almost all of the Torah’s mitzvot and prohibitions. Now we look at the distinction between public and private pikuach nefesh ...

by R. Daniel Mann Introduction: Over the past few weeks, we have on our minds the precious need to save lives, including by “pushing off” Shabbat to enable this. We will now present some of the halachic and practical underpinnings of the laws that pikuach nefesh (saving a life) takes precedence over almost all of the Torah’s mitzvot and prohibitions.      ...

by R. Daniel Mann Question: Sometimes a man dies and his widow offers family members a monetary gift if they name a baby after him. If someone wants to do so, to be nice and also for the money, but they do not want to connect their son spiritually to the deceased (let’s call him Uncle David), may they tell ...

by R. Daniel Mann Question: I have instructions to put my contact lenses between uses in a solution in which one is supposed to put in a tablet, which dissolves and gives the liquid a tinge of yellow (the color has no significance). Is the dissolving or the turning of colors a halachic problem on Shabbat? Answer: Actually, if the ...

by R. Daniel Mann Question: May one build a sukka in front of his house but on public property? Answer: Most of our discussion will focus on the ability to fulfill the mitzva, but civic considerations are crucial regarding the mitzva as well as on their own.  Rabbanan rule that one does not need to own the sukka he uses, ...

by R. Daniel Mann Question: I (a religious doctor) am often consulted about those who cannot fast all of Yom Kippur. Is there a halachic preference for such people to start eating/drinking earlier “with shiurim” (small installments) or to wait longer but then necessarily have the amount of full “violation.”  Answer: The Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chayim 618:7, based on Kritot ...

by R. Daniel Mann Question: I will be the chazan for Musaf at a small, quite new minyan. The one thing that is “foreign” to me, is that they blow 30 kolot (blasts) during the silent Amida (=Amida). They are willing to not blow shofar for my sake, since the existing group anyway has mixed feelings about the minhag. Should/may ...