Say ha'tov v'ha'meitiv instead of she'hecheyanu when two or more people benefit from or enjoy something. 

An eruv forms a boundary around an area of land in order to create a private domain (reshut ha'yachid).  Carrying items within that domain is permitted on Shabbat.  The eruv boundary may include a variety of structures such as:

• Real physical structures—whether natural (such as tree trunks, bushes) or man-made (buildings, fences, cars);
• Natural topographic features (such as slopes); and/or
• Presumptive doorways (often made of poles and wires or strong string).

Solid or Halachically Solid
Two structures (regardless of how thick or wide they are) within 10.5 inches of each other are considered to be halachically solid and constitute a single structure; this is called lavud.
NoteA halachically solid wall may have gaps of more than 3 tefachim (10.5 in.) high or wide (i.e., in either dimension) as long as the other dimension is less than 3 tefachim wide.

Examples

A halachically solid wall can be made of a:

• Wide mesh of ropes or strings; the cross strings are very far apart, as long as the vertical strings are within 10.5 inches of each other.

• Picket fence; each vertical slat must be within 10.5 inches of the adjacent slat OR each horizontal piece that connects the vertical slats must be within 10.5 inches of the adjacent horizontal piece.

• Chain-link fence.

Height
All vertical eruv components must be at least 40 inches high. There is no maximum height for the eruv if it is a halachic doorway (tzurat ha'petach--two uprights and a horizontal bar above and connecting the two).

Width

A solid component (for example, a board, wall, house, etc.) must be at least 12 inches from side to side. 

Non-solid components (for example, a series of narrow bushes, a series of trees with trunks less than 12 inches across, various types of fences, etc.) must be within 10.5 inches of each other and of the ground, both horizontally and vertically, for the entire distance between adjacent trees/bushes. They must be at least 40 inches high or wide.

 

Connectors

Vertical components, such as poles, that are connected above or below in the following ways are also halachic walls, regardless of how far apart they are:

• Connected above, such as with a board or string that rests across the tops of vertical poles, and which are at least 40 inches above the ground at all points along its course, or
• Connected below within 10.5 inches of the ground, such as bushes or small trees with branches that come within 10.5 inches of the ground at all points (even at the attachment point to the trunk).  Components must reach up to at least 40 inches above the ground. 

To wash hands the Three-Times Method:

• Fill the washing cup with at least 3.3 fl. oz. (99 ml) of water for the first pair of pours.
• Pour enough water (may be as little as 1.3 fl. oz.--39 ml, or 1/6 cup) from the washing cup to completely cover your entire first hand (either hand may be first, but it is proper to wash your right hand first).
• Pour enough water to completely cover the second hand.
• Repeat the pouring twice more, alternating hands, until each hand has been completely covered a total of three times.

To wash hands for rachtza:

• Fill the washing cup with at least 3.3 fl. oz. (99 ml) of water.
• Pour enough water (may be as little as 1.3 fl. oz.--39 ml, or 1/6 cup) from the washing cup to completely cover your entire first hand (either hand may be first, but it is the custom to wash your right hand first).
• Pour enough water to completely cover the second hand.

You do not need to pour more than once per hand and you do not need to break up the revi'it into more than one pour for each hand.
 

1. Place arm tefila box (bayit) on center of bicep of whichever arm you do not write with (knot on the arm tefila should touch the side of the box). If you are ambidextrous, put the tefila on your left arm.
2. Say the first blessing, “lehaniach tefilin.”
3. Tighten the strap.
4. Wrap the strap around your arm seven times between your cubit (inside of your arm, opposite the elbow) and your wrist.
   Note If you wrap more times, it is OK.
   Note You may wrap the tefilin strap over a wristwatch or put a watch on top of the tefilin strap.
   Note Tefilin straps should not overlap with each other and should not be wrapped on top of the ulna protuberance, but if they do--it is permitted.
5. Wrap the excess around the palm of your hand (tuck in the end to keep it tight and out of the way).

Light Chanuka candles from left to right, as you face it, not as it will be seen from outside the window. Add the new candle from right to left.  For example, on the first night, put the candle on the extreme right of the menora.
To set up and light Chanuka candles:

• Set up the candles starting from the right side of the menora.
• Light the shamash candle and hold it while you say the blessings:
  • Lehadlik ner shel Chanuka.
  • She'asa nisim l'avoteinu ba'yamim ha'heim ba'zman ha'zeh.
  • (And on the first night, add) She'hecheyanu.
• Light the left-most candle first and proceed to the next candle on the right, and so on.
• Once you have lit the first candle each night, say ha'neirot hallalu (this is a halacha).

Note Once the menora has been lit, you may not turn or move it, even to the window.

The presence of insects on fruits, vegetables, grains, etc., depends on season, location, crop type, year, and current conditions in the growing area. If more than one bug is usually found in 10 servings, you must wash or soak (preferably in salt water or soapy water) all of the food and carefully check a quantity equal to three servings. You may check the food or the water in which the food was soaked, if such soaking will remove the bugs.
If you do not find any bugs by this procedure, you may use all of the other (uninspected) food.
If you find even one bug, you must either check each piece of vegetable OR soak (preferably in salt water or soapy water) or rinse the entire batch. Then check three more servings and continue until no bugs have been found after one cycle of washing and inspecting.

A hot (120° F--49° C--or more), wet utensil transfers its gender to a countertop upon which it is placed, but only at the area of contact.
Status of Countertop

1. Gender status of the countertop:
   • D'rabanan, the countertop area of contact remains that gender until kashered (as long as the countertop material is kasherable).
   • D'oraita, the countertop reverts to kosher-neutral/pareve after 24 hours.
   Note If the utensil and counter were not wet (nor dirty with food) at the area of contact, there is b'di'avad no transfer of gender.
2. If you put a hot, wet utensil of the opposite gender on that same spot, that counter space may become non-kosher.

Status of Utensils
If the counter had not had a hot, wet utensil/container of food of the opposite gender placed on the same spot within 24 hours of each other, the utensils may be used and the utensils are still kosher.
Status of Food
This does not apply to food that is directly placed on the counter, in which case the food might become non-kosher.
 

To fulfill the commandment of lulav and etrog, you must hold them together the way they grow: stems down. But since you fulfill the commandment as soon as you hold the Four Species together this way, you must first pick up the etrog inverted (stem up) and then say the blessing, as follows:

• Hold the lulav with the spine facing you and the myrtle on the right, willows on the left, and the etrog with the pitom (opposite the stem) down;
• Say the blessings for the lulav;
• Turn the etrog right side up (stem-side down) and hold the lulav and etrog together; and
• Shake the Four Species together.  

 

1. What Makes a Woman a Nida

 
Introduction to What Makes a Woman a Nida
Vaginal Blood Flow
Only vaginal blood flow makes a woman nida. 
 
Nida D'Oraita
According to Torah law (d'oraita), a woman becomes a nida when she experiences a flow of uterine blood, preceded or accompanied by a hargasha. Because uterine blood flow is difficult to distinguish from the more general vaginal blood flow, we assume that a vaginal blood flow is from the uterus--unless a medical person (it could be a midwife) determines that the blood flow is not uterine.
 
Nida D'Rabanan
 
By rabbinic law (d'rabanan), a woman can become a nida even with only a qualifying stain (see below).

Hargasha
A hargasha is anything that signals that the woman's period is imminent. There are three classical hargashot, as well as possible hargashot that pertain only to an individual woman.
Note Many women today do not have hargashot.
 
Classical Hargashot
There are three classical hargashot:
1) Body Tremor
2) Petichat HaMakor
Some women, at petichat ha'makor (“opening of the uterus”), have a sensation of release similar to when one's bladder opens to urinate.
3) Zivat Davar Lach
Sensation of wet discharge that comes only with her period; this is not the wet discharge that every woman normally feels multiple times daily.
Note She does not necessarily need to feel it coming from her cervix in order for it to make her a nida.
 
Individual Hargashot
What Is an Individual Hargasha
The individual hargasha can be any physiological occurrence (pimples on her face, a bout of yawning, a bloated feeling in the belly, etc.) that correlates with a woman's getting her period within 24 hours. To become established as a hargasha, it must have happened three times in a row.
 
Note Cramps for most women may be a hargasha, since they may mean that the woman is about to have her period.
 
When a woman has a hargasha, we assume that her period has started, and she should immediately stop what she is doing and check internally with a bedika cloth. If she does a bedika as soon as possible and the cloth shows a forbidden color, or shows no discharge at all, she immediately becomes nida for at least 12 days, after which she goes to the mikva. 
Note If she had a hargasha and finds no blood and no discharge, she becomes a nida, since we assume there was blood and she just didn't find it.  If the bedika cloth shows brown, magenta, salmon, brick, amber, orange, etc., the rabbi will want to see the cloth to determine her status.
Note Most medium browns are OK.
 
What To Do If Not Sure
If she is not sure she has had a hargasha, she asks a rabbi and together they will sort out the answer.
 
 
Nida D'Rabanan
 
Stain (without Hargasha)
 
Stain Colors
A rabbi should be consulted in all matters of questionable colors of stains.  Some may seem to you to be forbidden but turn out to be permissible, and vice versa.
 
Stain Location
A stain of a color that could make a woman a nida can be on material or on the woman's body. None of the following lenient conditions apply if the woman is nida d'oraita:
   

1. Not positively attributable to another cause, AND
2. At least the size of a gris. For small, unconnected spots, she must evaluate whether, together, they equal the size of a gris (on material, the spots DO NOT get combined). If yes, she should consult a rabbi.

 
 
II. HARCHAKOT: How Do the Couple Conduct Themselves while the Wife is a Nida?
 
According to Torah law, when a woman is a nida, she and her husband are prohibited not only from having intercourse, but also (“lo tikrav”—Vayikra 18:19) from having any physical contact of a passionate or romantic nature (negiya shel chibuk v'nishuk)--those patterns of physical contact that often lead to intercourse. Since the penalty for violation is kareit, husband and wife should live separately during the nida period, but because we don't, we use “distancers” (harchakot) as reminders of distance while living together in the same home. The harchakot sensitize us to the smallest gestures of love. The couple who know that in a finite amount of time their union will not only be permitted, but even be davar sh'bekedusha--a thing of sanctity--will have the willpower to wait it out.
 
These harchakot are applied during the nida period:
                                 
III. Tahara after Nida:    

1. Wash or cleanse lower regions of the body.
2. Do an internal check/bedika: Insert a white cloth into vagina and circle it around to make sure to get every nook and cranny.
3. Moch dachuk: Insert a bedika cloth within two halachic hours of sunset and leave it in until after dark.

 

1. Bedika

 

2. White Underpants

 

3. No Hesech Da'at

A woman does not need to think about the seven clean days all of the time, but she must keep in mind, during the entire nida purification process, that she is not in an active nida state.  
Situation A woman found a stain and asked a rabbi about it. She assumed she was definitely nida.
What To Do Once she assumes that she has become a nida during that seven-day period, she must begin her count again--even once she has found out that she was not, in fact, a nida. 
Note If she asked the rabbi while not yet assuming that she was definitely a nida, she may continue her original count after the rabbi determines that she was not a nida.

• Full body cast.
• Being covered with sand.
• Being sweaty from head to toe.

• Moisturizer that covers most of her body.
• Adhesive that is left on her skin after a band-aid has been removed.
• Imperfect manicure, if she would not go to an interview like that.

         
 

• Shalom Bayit (in this case, she is not permitted see her husband until after dark Friday night).
• Dangerous Neighborhood.
• Infertility Issues (if she will miss ovulation if she does not go Friday night).

    Kosher immersion/tevila requires simultaneous immersion of every exposed part of the body (not bet ha'starim).   Here is the best way to accomplish simultaneous immersion:

• Enter the water until it is about 12 inches above the navel. 
• Make sure that every part of your body is relaxed (if you squeeze anything, you create crevices and cracks that impede complete access to your skin). 
• “Flesh”/basar is exposed to the water when standing while leaning a little forward.
• Exhale and push yourself under the water until you are certain that all of your body and all of your hair are submerged. 
• Once your head is above the surface of the water, say the blessing and then immerse again, the same way.

 
IV. Anticipating the Next Period/Veset
 
What To Anticipate
In anticipating the time of the month when her period is most likely to occur (onat ha'veset), a woman must determine both:

1. The day of the month, and
2. Whether it will begin during the daytime period (sunrise to sunset) or the nighttime period (from sunset to sunrise)

 
Regular and Irregular
Every woman needs to be able to anticipate her next period, whether she is a) regular or b) irregular. “Regular” is determined by any pattern to one's menstrual cycle that occurs three times in a row.
Note It is very uncommon for a woman to maintain her regular period for a long time.
 
Anticipating a Regular Period
Here are the five most classic regular patterns:

1. Veset HaChodesh (Monthly Cycle)

   

2. Veset Haflaga (Intervals Cycle)

 

3. Veset HaGuf (Body Symptoms Cycle)

 

4. Veset HaMurkav (Combination Cycle)

    A woman with an irregular period may have to abstain from relations and affectionate intimate contact (negiya shel chibuk v'nishuk) during these three onot/time periods:

1. Yom HaChodesh

 

2. Haflaga

 

3. Ona Beinonit

Almost all mitzvot may be enhanced by:

• Making them beautiful (hidur mitzva), or
• Observing non-required stringencies (mehadrin).

Jewish Festivals are listed in the Torah and are of two types: 

1. Three pilgrimage festivals (shalosh regalim):

• Passover,
• Shavuot, and
• Sukkot (including Shimini Atzeret).

These festivals were celebrated in ancient times by "appearing before God"--by bringing offerings to the Tabernacle or Temple.

2. High Holidays: 

• The Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashana—“Yom Teru'a” in the Torah), and the
• Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur).

 
Duration
Jewish holidays that were originally one day are now observed as follows:

• Rosh Hashana--2 days.
• Yom Kippur--1 day.
• Shavuot--1 day in Eretz Yisrael or 2 days elsewhere.
• Passover has festival days at the beginning and end of the holiday and intermediary days of lesser holiness, which are called chol ha'moed. In Eretz Yisrael, Passover lasts for 7 days in total and the first and last days are festival days. Outside of Eretz Yisrael, Passover lasts 8 days and has two festival days at the beginning and two at the end.
• Sukkot has festival days at the beginning and at the end and intermediary days of lesser holiness, which are called chol ha'moed. In Eretz Yisrael, Sukkot lasts for 8 days and the first and last days are festival days (the last day is Shimini Atzeret). Outside of Eretz Yisrael, Sukkot lasts for 9 days and the first two days and last days are festival days (the 8th day is Shimini Atzeret and the 9th day is Simchat Torah).

Character
Each holiday contributes its own character to Jewish life (Passover--the theme of freedom; Yom Kippur brings atonement, etc.). 

Celebrating
How to celebrate these holidays is detailed in our Oral Law and halacha books. Jewish festivals as practiced today are similar in holiness to Shabbat. As with Shabbat, the Jewish festival has candle lighting, kiddush at two meals, and havdala.   We eat our best food and wear our best clothing on Jewish festivals (we eat our next-best food and wear our next-best clothing on Shabbat!).
The main idea behind eating meals on Jewish festivals is joy (simcha), so you should drink wine and eat meat (only if you enjoy wine and meat).  There is no third meal on Jewish festivals since people used to eat two meals each day (adding a third meal on Shabbat was for enjoyment/oneg).
 
Melachot
Any activities or actions permitted on Shabbat are also permitted on the Jewish festivals. Actions that are forbidden on Shabbat are generally also forbidden on Jewish festivals, but there are some leniencies (only if the actions are needed for that festival day).
Examples

• Lighting from an existing flame,
• Cooking and baking for the Jewish festival day, and
• Carrying outside the eruv (hotza'a--transferring objects between domains).

 
Grama
Grama (indirectly causing an action) is permitted on Jewish festivals (but not on Shabbat). For example, you may advance or delay a timer that will make a light go on or off in the future (the timer must already be plugged in and operating from before sunset of the festival day).
Note For an action to be considered indirect based on time, there must be at least 2.5 seconds after the first action is done before the resulting action begins to happen.

Psik Reisha Dla Neicha Lei
Psik reisha dla neicha lei is forbidden on Jewish festivals, just as it is on Shabbat.

D'oraita Restrictions
D'oraita restrictions apply world-wide to:

• First and seventh days of Passover,
• First and eighth days of Sukkot,
• First day of Shavuot,
• Yom Kippur,
• First day of Rosh Hashana.

Note The same restrictions apply to all other Jewish festival days but are rabbinical.
 
Women
In general, women are not required to perform the positive, time-dependent commandments. Women and girls are not required to eat any Jewish festival meals except the Passover seder meal (but they are not allowed to fast on those days).

Whether a food made of the Five Grains qualifies as bread (ha'motzi) or mezonot (borei minei mezonot) depends on whether the food was intended to be eaten as a meal or as a snack, as follows:

• Bread for a meal: Say ha'motzi.
• Mezonot (but you will eat a full meal): Say ha'motzi.
• A snack (including bread as a snack): Say borei minei mezonot.
  Note Some foods may qualify as either ha'motzi or mezonot (such as pizza).
  Note Whether the bread/mezonot was made with fruit juice instead of water may not affect its blessing, since the blessing is determined by the food's intended use. “Mezonot” rolls on airline flights may still require the blessing of ha'motzi if you eat them as part of a meal.
  Note Bread that has been cut into small pieces and fried may be reduced in status from bread to mezonot.

In a non-bread food containing a mixture of grains, at least 20\% of the main ingredients must be from one of the Five Grains in order to require the fore-blessing (bracha rishona) of borei minei mezonot (after-blessing:al ha'michya).
If at least 20\% of a bread's flour is from one of the Five Grains, say a fore-blessing of ha'motzi (and birkat ha'mazon afterward if you ate at least 1.3 fl. oz. within four minutes).
Normally, the fore-blessing for bread (ha'motzi), or for other cooked or baked foods made from flour (borei minei mezonot), will override the remaining foods in a food mixture.
Say borei minei mezonot over:

• Cholent whose main ingredient is barley;
• Ice cream cone (ice cream + cone)—see “ice cream cone” for further details;
• Pie; and
• Cheesecake with any kind of crust.
  Note Cheesecakes are sold in bakeries and not in cheese stores, indicating that the mezonot part is more important than the cheese part as regards fore- and after-blessings.

WERE BOTH FOOD AND UTENSIL LESS THAN 120° F?
YES
What to Do Wash off with cold water and soap.
Status Everything is kosher and may be used immediately.
 
NO
WAS THE UTENSIL CLEAN AND UNUSED at 120° F or more FOR MORE THAN 24 HOURS?
Note Clean means no residual food, including pareve; this IS essential since the food or utensil or both were hot! If used at 120° F or more for pareve within 24 hours, ask a rabbi.
YES
Status

• Food is kosher
• Utensil requires kashering. 

What to Do

• Wash utensil with cold water and soap.
• Wait 24 hours after the spill occurred before kashering it.

Note If you wash off the utensil with hot (above 120° F) water, you must wait 24 hours after cleaning the utensil before kashering it.
 
NO
IS THE SPILLED FOOD LESS THAN 1/60th of the volume of the commonly used capacity of the utensil (if the utensil is empty) OR less than 1/60th of the actual volume of food contained within the utensil?
YES
Status

• Food is non-kosher.
• Utensil is kosher.

What to Do Wash utensil with cold water and soap and wait 24 hours before using the utensil.
Note If utensil had food in it and the spilled food was less than 1/60th of the volume of the food in the utensil, you may use the utensil immediately after cleaning it and you need not wait 24 hours.
 
NO (Spilled food was 120° F or more, utensil not clean, utensil used within 24 hours, spilled food is more than 1/60th of the utensil's volume)
Status

• Food is non-kosher.
• Utensil is non-kosher.

What to Do Utensil must be kashered.  See Hag'ala/Boiling or Libun/Direct Heat for instructions on how to kasher each material.



Note In this section, meat spilled onto a dairy utensil and dairy spilled onto a meat utensil are treated the same.

WERE BOTH FOOD AND UTENSIL LESS THAN 120° F?
YES
What to Do Wash off with cold water and soap.
Status Everything is kosher and may be used immediately.
 
NO
WAS THE UTENSIL CLEAN AND UNUSED at 120° F or more FOR MORE THAN 24 HOURS?
Note Clean means no residual food, including pareve; this IS essential since the food or utensil or both were hot! If used at 120° F or more for pareve within 24 hours, ask a rabbi.
YES
Status

• Food is kosher
• Utensil requires kashering. 

What to Do

• Wash utensil with cold water and soap.
• Wait 24 hours after the spill occurred before kashering it.

Note If you wash off the utensil with hot (above 120° F) water, you must wait 24 hours after cleaning the utensil before kashering it.
 
NO
IS THE SPILLED FOOD LESS THAN 1/60th of the volume of the commonly used capacity of the utensil (if the utensil is empty) OR less than 1/60th of the actual volume of food contained within the utensil?
YES
Status

• Food is kosher.
• Utensil is kosher after 24 hours.

What to Do Wash utensil with cold water and soap and wait 24 hours before using the utensil.
Note If utensil had food in it and the spilled food was less than 1/60th of the volume of the food in the utensil, you may use the utensil immediately after cleaning it and you do not need to wait 24 hours.
 
NO (Spilled food was 120° F or more, OR the utensil not clean, OR the utensil was used within 24 hours, and spilled food is more than 1/60th of the utensil's volume)
Status

• Food is non-kosher.
• Utensil is non-kosher.

What to Do Utensil must be kashered.  See Hag'ala/Boiling or Libun/Direct Heat for instructions on how to kasher each material.