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Wedding Customs: Wedding Shomer
The groom and bride each have a guardian (shomer/shomeret) with them from daybreak of the wedding day (some grooms have a shomer from the aufruf) until they are married.
Torah at the Table
Saying some Torah at each meal--anytime bread is eaten and at least two people are eating--is a custom but not a halacha. But, Torah can be said anytime!
Trivets for Dairy and Meat
Use separate trivets for each gender.
Reason A trivet assumes the gender of any hot food that spills on it. This may make it non-kosher and cause future utensils to become non-kosher.
 
Passover Chametz Search: Who May Search
One member of each house must search for any chametz (bedikat chametz) on behalf of the entire household. This may be a man, woman, or even a minor child, as long as he or she is sufficiently responsible to conduct the search in all of the details.
 
Shabbat: Removing Seeds in Foods
Shabbat: Easy to Remove
If each unwanted element is easy to identify and remove, there is no issue of boreir. Consult a rabbi regarding what is halachically considered easy to remove.

Shabbat: Removing Cantaloupe Seeds
You may remove cantaloupe seeds only by shaking, not by scooping, them out.

Shabbat: Removing Lemon Seeds
You generally may not remove lemon seeds (pits) from food. However, if you are squeezing a lemon and some pits get partly squeezed out, you may:
  • Shake the lemon in order to shake off the pits, or
  • Use your hand to remove the pits from the surface of the lemon.
Once the pits fall onto food, you may use your hand to push the seeds to the side of the plate. But you may not use any instrument to do so, not even a non-specialized instrument such as a spoon.

Note If there are only one or two seeds and they are easily differentiated from the food, you may remove them by any means, except by using an instrument that is intended to separate food from non-food or from undesired food, such as a sieve, strainer, or slotted spoon.

To Fulfill Havdala Requirements
To fulfill the requirement for havdala, each person (not only the mevareich) should:
  • Hear the blessing on wine;
  • Smell the spices; and
  • See the flame.
Note If you do not do so when hearing havdala, you should smell a spice and see a flame later and then say those blessings at that time.
Men and Women Must Say/Hear Havdala
The following must each hear or say havdala for themselves:
  • Men and boys 13 years old and up, and
  • Women and girls 12 years old and up.
Note As on Shabbat, any male Jew above 13 years old and any female Jew above 12 years old may say Jewish festival havdala for himself/herself and for anyone else.
Note A husband's or father's hearing havdala at synagogue does not cover his family's obligation to hear havdala.  He may say havdala for his wife and children even if he fulfilled his personal havdala requirement at the synagogue. (Men who say havdala for their families normally intend not to be covered by the synagogue's havdala).
When To Say Blessing over New Fruit Blossoms
The first time each year that you see blossoms on an edible-fruit tree, say the blessing “shelo chisar ba'olamo davar….” It may be anytime throughout the year, not only in Nisan. If you live in a region in which fruit trees blossom all year round, you should say “shelo chisar”... in Nisan after you see some new blossoms.
Note You may say the blessing on a single tree, even though the blessing says “trees” (plural).
Reading Weekly Torah Portion
Read the weekly Torah portion (parasha) twice each week and Targum (or commentary) once each week.

 

Tefilin: Checking: When
It is customary to check tefilin twice in each seven year period. Tefilin do not usually require checking, but you should periodically check:
  • Tefilin of the type that can become pasul (due to white-washed parchment).
  • Tefilin that are moved a lot, such as from place to place where there are large changes in temperature.
  • Tefilin in humid climates, such as Florida.
NOTE Ask a sofer for advice about any of these cases.
 
Wedding Customs: Couple Separates for Seven Days
The couple does not see each other for seven days before the wedding. They may speak on the phone.
Hodu in Hallel
In hallel, the congregation repeats the line “Hodu…” after each of the four lines that the prayer leader says.  Then the congregation says the next line before the prayer leader says it.
Note The congregation does not say the line "Hodu... before the leader first says it.
Separate Oven Mitts for Dairy and Meat
Use separate oven mitts for each gender.
Reason Oven mitts assume the gender of any hot food that spills on them. This could make them non-kosher and cause future utensils to become non-kosher.
 
Lulav: How To Wave During Hallel
Wave the lulav in all six directions each time when saying Hodu l'Adonai… and, later, Ana Adonai… and again in the final Hodu in Hallel:
  • Hold together the lulav and etrog during the entire procedure, pitom up, etrog in left hand.
  • At each word in Hodu l'Adonai… and at each syllable in Ana Adonai, shake the lulav/etrog together three times, advancing through the sequence of east, south, west, north, up, down.
For Hodu l'Adonai:
  • At Hodu, shake three times to the east;
  • At l'Adonai, don't shake but hold the lulav and etrog up while standing straight;
  • At ki, shake three times to the south, etc..
For Ana Adonai,
  • At “A,” shake three times to the east;
  • At “na, shake three times to the south;
  • At Adonai, stand straight and hold the lulav and etrog up;
  • At “ho,” shake three times to the west;
  • At “shi,” shake three times to the north, etc.
 
Four Cups: Minimum Quantity To Fulfill Mitzva
Minimum wine to fulfill the seder mitzva:
  • Each person must drink four cups of wine at the seder;
  • Each cup must hold at least 4 fl. oz. (119 ml);
  • For each blessing on the wine, you must drink at least 2 fl. oz. (59 ml) within 30 seconds of when you begin to drink each cup.