Search results for: ""mitzvah""
Asking Non-Jew To Do Melacha D'Oraita
You may not ask a non-Jew to turn ON a light or turn ON heat, or other d'oraita violations of Shabbat--even for a mitzva or for oneg Shabbat. However, you may ask a non-Jew to do a melacha d'oraita for any of a sick person's needs, even if there is no danger to the person's life.
Note You may tell a non-Jew to do melacha, even if it is d'oraita, for a mitzva or oneg Shabbat only if it is bein ha'shmashot (between sunset and dark).
Women: Eating Outside the Sukka
Women and girls may eat bread or mezonot outside of a sukka. They do not need to eat any meals in the sukka, but if they do, it is a mitzva and they say leisheiv ba'sukka.
Brit Mila: Announcement or Invitation
Don't formally invite people to a brit mila meal, just announce it.
Reason If you invite people and they don't come, they are disrespecting the chance to participate in a mitzva.
Reason If you invite people and they don't come, they are disrespecting the chance to participate in a mitzva.
Jewish Festivals: Asking a Non-Jew To Do Melacha D'Oraita
Although you may not normally tell a non-Jew to do melacha d'oraita on a Jewish festival, even for the purpose of doing a mitzva, the non-Jew is not forbidden from doing melacha if he/she wants to do so.
Note To save a life, even a Jew may do melacha d'oraita.
Holding Hands Up to the Light
Holding fingers toward the havdala candle flame is a non-binding custom.
Note We hold up our hands to the light because the minimum amount of light needed to fulfill the mitzva of the candle is to be able to see the difference between the skin of one's hand and one's fingernail. Doing so also creates shadows of our fingers on the palm of our hands, illustrating the bein or l'choshech (between light and darkness) segment of the havdala prayer. There are also kabbalistic reasons.
Jewish Man or Woman Making Kiddush
As on Jewish festivals, any adult Jew, male or female, may say kiddush for him/herself and also include any other Jews of any age or gender.
Reason Any person who may fulfill the mitzva of kiddush may say it for another person.
Note Women are obligated to say (or have said for them) Shabbat morning kiddush.
Note Women are obligated to say (or have said for them) Shabbat morning kiddush.
Why Two Blessings over Matza
We say two blessings over the matza: ha'motzi lechem min ha'aretz and al achilat matza.
Reason The blessing on motzi is one of enjoyment (nehenin); the blessing on matza is a blessing on a commandment (mitzva).
Reason The blessing on motzi is one of enjoyment (nehenin); the blessing on matza is a blessing on a commandment (mitzva).
Three Main Categories of Blessings
There are three main categories of blessings:
- Enjoyment (birchot nehenin), such as on foods and scents.
- Praise and Thanks to God (shevach v'hoda'a), such as when saying she'hecheyanu, on seeing mountains and the sea, or when good happens to us.
- Commandments/Mitzvot (birchot mitzva), such as reading the Torah, using the lulav, or lighting Shabbat candles.
Talit Katan: Blessings: Shema if You Wake Up Early
Situation You wake up early and want to say shema (in case you return to sleep and might miss the latest time to say morning shema).
What To Do
What To Do
- You need to wear only a talit katan (not a talit gadol).
- Say the blessing al mitzvat tzitzit, even if you normally would later put on a talit gadol and therefore would not normally say that blessing over a talit katan.
Public Festivities for Mourner for Parent
A mourner may not generally enter a hall of joyous celebration and may not eat at any public meal. During the year of mourning for parents, you may not join any public festivities (even if it is not a simcha) that have a meal, including any meals celebrating a mitzva (se'udat mitzva) such as for a brit mila, wedding, or redemption of a son (pidyon ha'ben). After 30 days, you may attend a bar mitzva or a siyum meal, since a bar mitzva is similar to a siyum since the child's parent's commandment to educate his/her child in Jewish education has been completed.
ExceptionA mourner whose child is getting married, does attend the wedding and does eat at the meal with everyone else, even if mourning for a parent. He or she does not need to leave the room when music is being played. To attend the wedding of anyone other than one's child, regardless of who died, a mourner must eat alone and outside the main dining area.
Note An intervening Jewish festival partially truncates the 30 days of mourning and so you may attend a bar mitzva or siyum even before the end of 30 days.
NoteIf you work at weddings (caterer, musician, etc.), you may attend weddings even before 30 days are up, but you may not join the meal.
NoteIf you work at weddings (caterer, musician, etc.), you may attend weddings even before 30 days are up, but you may not join the meal.
Shabbat: Asking Non-Jew To Help with Electric Door/Elevator
You may ask a non-Jew to open an electric door or to push the button to summon an elevator for you on Shabbat--even if he does not need to get to the floor you want--if you need to get to your room for any mitzva or Shabbat purpose, such as for a nap, to eat, or use the toilet.
Reason Even if a light comes on, it is d'rabanan (you do not need the light) and, therefore, you are permitted to ask the non-Jew to push the button.
Tzitzit: For What To Check
Torn
In checking tzitzit, determine:
Tangled
There is no problem if tzitzit are tangled. However, to untangle them:
If any tzitziyot are so frizzy that the individual tzitziyot cannot be distinguished, they are invalid (pasul).
Note To prevent frizziness during laundering, wrap the tzitziyot tightly in a rubber band before drying them in a dryer, or hang them to dry.
Note
In checking tzitzit, determine:
- Are any loops torn?
- Are 8 strings visible on each corner?
Tangled
There is no problem if tzitzit are tangled. However, to untangle them:
- Is a superior way to fulfill the mitzva, and
- Allows you to easily check them to see if there are 8 tzitziyot.
If any tzitziyot are so frizzy that the individual tzitziyot cannot be distinguished, they are invalid (pasul).
Note To prevent frizziness during laundering, wrap the tzitziyot tightly in a rubber band before drying them in a dryer, or hang them to dry.
Note
- If the hanging end of a tzitzit string breaks below the lowest knot, the string is kosher.
- If more than one string breaks, or if one string breaks above the lowest knot, consult a rabbi since the tzitzit may not be kosher.
After-Blessings (Bracha Achrona): Changing Location: Traveling
When traveling, the proper practice is to:
- Finish eating where you begin eating, or
- Intend, when saying the fore-blessing, to continue eating while traveling.
- You are already involved in doing a mitzva, or
- If you will incur a large loss of money, or
- By the time you would return to where you ate, it would be past the latest time to say the after-blessing.
Chanuka: Synagogue Menora: SheHecheyanu in Synagogue
If you light the Chanuka menora in the synagogue on the first night of Chanuka, say she'hecheyanu in synagogue. When you go home, if you light only for yourself, do not say she'hecheyanu again. However, if you light for your wife or for any adults including children above the age of bar or bat mitzva, say she'hecheyanu again.
CHAZAKA/THREE TIMES
Any action that is done three times consecutively is assumed to be a promise (neder)/permanent habit unless you determine ahead of time that it should not be (you do not need to say so out loud, just think it).
Note The principle that doing something three times is considered a neder only applies to a good custom (“minhag tov”) or to a mitzva.