Question: How important is it to cut my nails on every Erev Shabbos? What if I cut them just once a month when they are long? Answer: It is a Mitzvah to cut one’s hand nails on every Erev Shabbos. This is to be included within one’s Erev Shabbos […]
The obligation to desecrating Shabbos in order to help save someone’s life
The obligation to help save someone’s life even if it involves desecrating Shabbos: A. The Mitzvah and its reason:[1] One who has a life-threatening illness it is a Mitzvah [and obligation[2]] to transgress Shabbos on his behalf [to help heal him] and those who act with alacrity [and do so […]
From the Rav’s Desk: Is there any issue with making a Siyum Misechta by a wedding?
Question: Is there any issue with making a Siyum Misechta by a wedding? Answer: No, there is no issue and this is not considered to be mixing one joy with another joy. Sources: See Sheilas Rav [Rav Chaim Kanievsky] 1:8 p. 57; Keren Orah Moed Katan 8b
Not to replicate the form of hands of the Kohanim by Nesias Kapayim
Not to replicate the form of hands of the Kohanim by Nesias Kapayim:[1] One is not to replicate the form of hands of the Kohanim which they make by Nesias Kapayim [with the fingers straight and facing up[2]], as doing so arouses the ten powers of the side of evil […]
From the Rav’s Desk: Does the presence of a mother break Yichud for her son and another woman
Question: I am a young Bochur and need to go to a private female practitioner who works from her home for a certain medical procedure. Is it Yichud for me to go if I visit her together with my mother? She is not married. Answer: This matter is disputed […]
Yichud with a woman and her mother/daughter in-law
Yichud with a woman and her mother/daughter in-law:[1] It is permitted to be in Yichud with a woman and her mother/daughter in-law.[2] [This refers to her husband’s mother, her son’s wife.[3] It is permitted to be in Yichud with such a pair even at night.[4] This allowance applies even if […]
From the Rav’s Desk: Saying a blessing over food if decide to eat more after Mayim Achronim
Question: I switched areas during my meal taking my food with me, with prior intent to do so by Hamotzi, and forgot to eat a piece of bread while I was in my second area and only remembered after I already said Al Naharos Bavel and performed Mayim Achronim? What […]
Mourning after midday & Learning the laws of Beis Habechira/The Temple
This Halacha is an excerpt from our Sefer Buy me here or on Amazon.com Mourning after midday during the three-week period:[1] Some have the custom to mourn and cry over the destruction of the Temple for a half hour or more each day, after midday, throughout the days of the 17th of Tammuz and […]
From the Rav’s Desk: The scriptural punishment for oppressing an orphan
Question: Is it true that someone who oppresses an orphan is cursed by Scripture to also become an orphan? My kid came home saying that kids in his class were picking on a certain boy who does not have a mother, and one of his classmates said that they have […]
Avoiding dangerous activity during the three weeks
This Halacha is an excerpt from our Sefer Buy me here or on Amazon.com Avoiding dangerous activity during the three weeks: From the laws which warn against hitting a child[1], or walking during certain times of the day[2], we learn that there is an element of danger involved during the period of the three […]