Questions about Jewish customs and traditions.
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1answer
151 views
What is the origin of the custom to kiss a Mezuzah?
What is the source or origin of the custom to kiss a Mezuzah?
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2answers
228 views
Naming your child using a dead relative's initial
Is there a Jewish tradition of naming your child using the first letter of the name of a recently deceased relative?
7
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1answer
145 views
May a man learn Torah without a Kippah?
Is it permissible for a man to learn Torah without a Kippah?
Let's say that he can't wear a Kippah at work, or he lives someplace where it is dangerous to outwardly display signs of being Jewish, ...
7
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1answer
83 views
Is one allowed to eat foods that were grown from non-kosher materials?
There is a known story of how one time a person brought a giant carrot on Erev Pesach to the Belzer Rebbe (back in Europe) for Karpas. After the donor left, he said "burn it with the Chometz". As the ...
7
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1answer
104 views
Origin of Spilling Wine by 10 Plagues
The custom among all Jews (as far as I know) is to spill a drip of wine for each of the plagues as they are mentioned in a list in the haggadah. This custom is not mentioned anywhere in the Talmud (as ...
7
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1answer
95 views
When to say LeDovid HaShem Ori in a minyan with different nusach
I daven Nusach Ashkenaz saying “LeDovid HaShem Ori” at Shacharis and Maariv.
Q1 If I daven Mincha with a Minyan which says “LeDovid HaShem Ori” at Mincha, should I say it with them? (I assume yes, ...
7
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1answer
89 views
Why does Yalkut Yosef recommend women not do “tashlich”?
I read in Yalkut Yossef that women don't need to go to Tashlikh and the Rav Y. Yossef shlit"a concludes with "Shev Veal Tasse Adif" (trans. it's better to do nothing).
Does anyone know the reason ? I ...
7
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1answer
226 views
Yachid blowing shofar during Elul
During the first few days of Elul, I will be away in a city with no minyan. I have a shofar, but was wondering whether a yachid blows a shofar if possible.
On the one hand, the reasoning exists, but ...
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3answers
119 views
Staying up all night on Shavu'ot
Every year, when I stay up learning Torah through the first night of Shavu'ot, I invariably fall asleep during the subsequent morning prayers. Last year, I tried something new: Learn all night, but ...
7
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1answer
75 views
Where/when/how/why did flags become part of Simchas Torah celebrations?
Kids today all know that they have flags when dancing on Simchas Torah.
How, when, where, and/or why did the flags originate? (Someone decided it was fun, and then it caught on?) What pictures were ...
7
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1answer
114 views
Kapparos on money - How much?
Is one does the Minhag of Kapparos on money - How much money should be used for each person? (sources)
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3answers
289 views
Why do Lubavitchers fold their talisos under, on the shoulders?
A Lubavitch chasid wears his talis with the sides folded under, at the shoulders, bunching the side material under rather than over the material that lies on the shoulder (see an example). Why?
7
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1answer
79 views
Why do we strike ourselves during prayer?
Why do we strike ourselves when confessing sin either during shmoneah esrei or viduy?
7
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2answers
167 views
bracha on tefillin while sitting
The shulchan aruch apparently writes (by hilchos tzitzis) that one should stand while reciting birchas hamitzvah. Tefillin are a mitzvah. So why is the Sfardic minhag to sit while putting them on and ...
7
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1answer
94 views
Why are the ends of Tefilin Retzuos cut on a slant?
I noticed than the end of my Tefillin Retzuos are cut on a slant. In the comments to this answer various reasons are postulated. What is the true reason?
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3answers
139 views
Sitting for “Ashre”?
I have seen people seemingly careful to sit down when beginning the paragraph of prayers that starts "Ashre yosh've vesecha" (Ps. 84:5). One such person told me that he was, in fact, careful to do so, ...
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1answer
105 views
Up part of the night on Shavuos
As described by Stephanie Hegarty for the BBC, Roger Ekirch, an historian, has evidence — and is convinced — that people used to have
a first sleep which began about two hours after dusk, followed ...
7
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1answer
72 views
Source for wearing special clothing on Rosh Chodesh
Is there a source for wearing somewhat festive clothes on Rosh Chodesh?
I have seen some people who hold this custom.
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2answers
165 views
The Split Between Sefardim and Ashkenazim
How did this split happen historically and halachically before Shulchan Aruch, and why is not like having two Torahs? Where is the source for the split?
7
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1answer
109 views
Wearing no head-covering?
Under what circumstances is it permissible for a man to wear no head-covering?
If one is in a place that is experiencing anti-semitism, for example, does one need to wear a hat if one feels ...
7
votes
1answer
92 views
Is the Haftarah a Minhag?
Is reading the Haftarah a Minhag?
I know that the practice was instituted when we couldn't publicly read torah, and then it was kept. Does that make it a Minhag?
7
votes
2answers
121 views
How do we operationally define kitniyos?
I've heard/read much debate on whether certain plants qualify as kitniyos, such as snow peas and quinoa. What exactly halachically defines "kitniyos?" is it based on what was popular in 13th century ...
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1answer
79 views
Sefer Torah enclosures
The Torah scrolls of Ashkenazim have a very different look than those of Sepharadim. Ashkenazim just roll the parchment onto two poles, and read it in a horizontal position; the Sepharadim install the ...
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1answer
128 views
Changing minhag about tallit gadol
I first became involved with a non-orthodox congregation where it was customary for everyone over Bar Mitzvah age to wear a tallit gadol. However, I understand that it is an Ashkenazi minhag not to ...
7
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1answer
120 views
Piyyutim on Yomim Noraim. Why do we split phrases against their meaning?
Why is it that in the davenning for Yomim Noraim, we split up the phrases in many of the piyyutim against their real meaning?
For example, in “Vechol maaminim shehu…” (p 538 Artscroll Machzor For Yom ...
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2answers
87 views
Why omit “Av harachamim” for the four parashiyos?
"Av harachamim" is a prayer asking God to recall those who died al kidush hashem. It was written in response to the First Crusade (and is thus said only in the Ashk'nazi rite). Because of its somber ...
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11answers
302 views
Widespread American Minhag
What is the single most widely practiced minhag (religious Jewish practice that's not mandated by halacha) among Jews in the United States today? By "widely practiced" I mean practiced by the most ...
6
votes
6answers
371 views
Bedikas Chometz - 10 pieces of bread
In Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 432:2 the Rama says that the Minhag is to place bread in such a place that the searcher can find it. Both the Be'er Hataiv and the Mishna Berura say that according to the ...
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votes
7answers
528 views
Why do Sephardic Jews dress in black and white?
Many observant sephardim in Israel, especially those in yeshivot, dress in black and white. Does anyone know how this happened?
There is no tradition of Jews in North Africa or in the Middle East ...
6
votes
3answers
366 views
Baby boy's MOTHER as the sandek(et)
I have recently come upon historical evidence of the mothers of baby boys serving as the sandek(et) during the brit milah.
From page 18 of The Orthodox Jewish Woman and Ritual: Options and ...
6
votes
3answers
156 views
Lag Baomer - why not Laomer?
Nusach Askenaz says Baomer, Nusach Sefard and Sefardim say Laomer - Why does everyone call it Lag Baomer - why not call it Lag Laomer?
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votes
3answers
227 views
spitting in aleinu leshabeach
Does anyone know the origin of the custom to spit in Aleinu after the words
Shehem mishtachvim lahevel vlarik
Where did it start? and in which sforim it is mentioned?
I have seen the sefer Hayom ...
6
votes
1answer
174 views
Speaking while wearing Tefillin
Is there a real halachic source for the widespread practice not to speak while wearing tefillin? Of course, one is required to keep his mind on the tefillin, and may not get drawn into conversations ...
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4answers
288 views
Peeling vegetables on Pesach
It is a minhag in Chabad to only eat vegetables that you can peel on Pesach. There is a possibility that either the wax coating on certain vegetables contains chometz or that certain processing of the ...
6
votes
2answers
174 views
Is there a minhag for a chassan and kallah to hold hands after the chupah?
I have been to many weddings where the chassan and kallah hold hands after the chupah on their way to the yichud room. It seems like a widespread (minhag?) thing that everyone does, even by couples ...
6
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2answers
105 views
Bal Toisif on the Four Minim
It seems that there exists a Minhag (a practice of the last Lubavitcher Rebbe Zatzal) of adding extra Hadassim or Aravos (Hashanos) — I am uncertain which, maybe both — to the standard 4 ...
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2answers
239 views
Eating by one who doesn't separate glass
Some, mainly Ashkenazim, hold that glass dishes must be separated between milk and meat. Some, mainly Sefardim, do not. May the former eat on the latter's glass dishes?
6
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3answers
168 views
How to bow during Shemone Esre
During the Shemone Esre, we bend our knees and then bow. I have observed two ways of doing this. One is to bend the knees, then to straighten the knees, and then to bow at the waist. The other is ...
6
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1answer
81 views
Pounding the pavement WITH LEAVES?
Is hitting the Hoshanos on the ground a universal practice? And what is the source for this custom?
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3answers
144 views
Misreading a k'suva
The k'suva text varies slightly depending on whether the bride is a virgin, independent of whether she has been married previously. (For one thing, the amount of money mentioned in it is different; ...
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2answers
82 views
Why a Beitzah on the Seder Plate?
Why do we use a roasted (maybe?) egg on the Seder Plate to represent the Festival offering?
6
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2answers
249 views
What is the difference between dati, chasidish, and charedi?
How would one explain the distinctions between datim, chasidim, and charedim, especially to an American Jew who didn't know much about the Israeli religious spectrum? In particular, are all chasidim ...
6
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4answers
171 views
Is it possible to be chasidish without wearing the garb and keeping all the minhagim?
Can someone be chasidish (or a chasid) if they don't dress in a distinctively "Jewish" way or don't keep all the minhagim such as "cholov yisrael", saying tehillim on rosh chodesh, etc? Does it ...
6
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4answers
150 views
Why do we say Vhu Rachum before Maariv?
Before Maariv, we say the pasuk "Vhu rachum yichaper avon..." (Psalms 78:38). Why?
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2answers
179 views
6
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1answer
208 views
Why does Lubavitch eat in the Sukkah when it rains?
I have always heard that while we do not eat in the Sukkah while it rains, those of Chabad do. Why is this so?
Found it on wikipedia too:
Though the halakha doesn't obligate one to eat or sleep ...
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3answers
342 views
When to say Hamapil
In the bedtime shema, some siddurim have the bracha of Hamapil printed immediately before the paragraph of shema, whereas others have it printed at the very end of the bedtime shema prayers. What is ...
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3answers
331 views
Cutting Tefillin Retzuos
As we know, the outside of the tefillin's retzuos (phylacteries' straps) must be black. Lately, I've noticed that the very end of the retzuah of my shel yad (tefillin of the arm) is cracking and ...
6
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2answers
105 views
Repeating Seder HaKitores
Why do Nusahos Ari, Sefard, Edot HaMizrah, and Ashkenaz of Eretz Yisrael repeat the order of the kitores (incense offering) at the end of Shaharis every day and why does Nusah Ashkenaz of Hutz LaAretz ...
6
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2answers
114 views
When do we start reciting Psalm 27?
Yesterday being the 30th of Av (and Rosh Chodesh Elul), prompted a question at shul: exactly when do we start saying Psalm 27—on the first day of Elul or the first day of Rosh Chodesh Elul? Most ...
