Questions about Jewish customs and traditions.
5
votes
2answers
398 views
What does biting off the Pitum have to do with Pregnancy?
I recently read that it's a Segulah (others put it as a minhag) for a pregnant woman to bite off the Pitum of the esrog on Hoshana Rabbah for an easy labor.
(please correct me if I misunderstood it)
...
7
votes
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)
5
votes
3answers
200 views
Status of feet while making a bracha or davening
In todays day and age where we no longer have homes with dirt floors:
do you still need to cover your feet when making a bracha or davening?
If so are socks enough?
does it depend on the custom of ...
5
votes
2answers
106 views
How/why does kaparot work?
The ritual of kaparot [lit. atonement], which is usually done just prior to Yom Kippur (usually the day before), where one waves a chicken or an [unspecified] amount of money over one's head in a ...
11
votes
1answer
280 views
Why don't we bow “correctly” during tefillah anymore?
According to the Gemara (Megillah 22b), and according to the RaMBa"M (Hil. Tefillah 5:13) (and apparently R' Avraham ben HaRaMBa"M was adamant), when we pray we are supposed to bow down ON our knees ...
0
votes
0answers
49 views
Davening by a Tzaddik on Rosh HaShanah
Where does the inyan of davening with a Tzaddik on Rosh HaShanah come from? Where did it start? Was there ever such a minhag before chassidus come along? (Assuming it started with the Chassidim -- my ...
2
votes
1answer
64 views
What is the point of Hataras Nedarim every year?
The second paragraph of Hataras Nedarim has the person being mattired saying that "I am making a modaah that any oaths being made in the future are considered to be as if 'bli neder'".
Is this ...
1
vote
0answers
65 views
What if there is no object for use in a mitzva?
There is a story I once heard about the Ben Ish Chai examining the only known etrog available in Iraq. Despite the great need for it, he declared the etrog passul for use and no one could fulfill the ...
6
votes
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 ...
1
vote
1answer
101 views
Yom tov kiddush tune
There's a popular tune used for kidush on the nights of the shalosh r'galim. (It's available on YouTube (but ignore the "shehechiyanu" part of that recording).)
What's its origin?
Does it have the ...
12
votes
1answer
242 views
Avinu Malkeinu - middle verses said out loud by Chazan
Why do we repeat out loud the verses of Avinu Malkeinu - from Hachzireinu B'Teshuva until Kosveinu B'Sefer Slicha U'Mechila? Why only these verses? Why not others?
4
votes
1answer
46 views
Why do the Ashkenazim say Selichos for a minimum of 4 days before Rosh HaShana?
The Ashkenazim start saying Selichos a minimum of 4 days before Rosh HaShana? What is the reason of a minimum of 4 days?
8
votes
5answers
319 views
Why do some people wrap their Tefilin around their arms 8 times?
I have seen people who wrap the Tefilin 7 times around their arm and some that wrap it 8 times around their arm. Why do the people who wrap it 8 times do so?
5
votes
1answer
92 views
Minhag of saying Selichos only before Rosh HaShanah
There is a minhag to only say Selichos before Rosh HaShanah and not during Aseres Yemei Teshuva. I know in Chabad this is in the minhag. Is this minhag practiced anywhere else? Where does it come ...
1
vote
0answers
77 views
Saying Misod and Reshut (introduction) for piyutim, then skipping them
I have seen that many yeshivos (and recently, even some shuls) often say just Misod and the Reshus on RH and YK, and then skip the actual piyutim they are meant to introduce!
This is even more evident ...
14
votes
1answer
114 views
Why do we open the ark for important prayers?
What is the origin of the custom of opening the ark for important prayers (not connected with the need to take out the Torah scroll)?
4
votes
1answer
100 views
Customs surrounding fasting when a sefer torah falls to the floor?
Based on this question I would like to know what the earliest source for fasting when a sefer torah falls comes from? Is is true that if a person is in the room but turns away so as not to see it ...
5
votes
3answers
363 views
wearing a hat instead of a kipah
If I want to do something and/or go somewhere and partake in something that is permissible, but I just don't want anyone to hassle me about being Jewish, am I allowed to wear a baseball cap or some ...
3
votes
1answer
114 views
Source for checking talis over shoulder
What is the source for checking one's tzitzis while the talis is over one's right shoulder: isn't the halacha just to check the knots and strings? Can't the checking be done on a table?
5
votes
12answers
385 views
What is the most widespread Israeli Minhag?
What is the single most widely practiced minhag among Jews in Israel today? By "widely practiced" I mean practiced by the most people.
6
votes
4answers
148 views
Why do we say Vhu Rachum before Maariv?
Before Maariv, we say the pasuk "Vhu rachum yichaper avon..." (Psalms 78:38). Why?
3
votes
2answers
98 views
Why no play on words for apple and honey?
The other simanim eaten on Rosh Hashana contain a play on words with the name of the food and either a wish for a good omen or a wish for bad to befall our enemies. The yehi ratzon for the apple has ...
2
votes
1answer
90 views
Earliest source for diping apple in honey on Rosh Hashana
What is the earliest source for the custom of dipping an apple in honey on Rosh Hashana?
(It is found in the Tur (Siman 683), the Abudraham (quoted by the Rama there) - believed to be a student of ...
7
votes
2answers
226 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
votes
3answers
162 views
Why don't we say Tachanun at Mincha on Erev Shabbat or Erev Yom Tov?
It says in the Rambam that there is a custom not to say Tachanun at Mincha on Erev Shabbos and Yom Tov. What is the reason for this custom?
5
votes
3answers
171 views
Have not gone to parents grave in seven years
A friend recently mentioned that she has not gone to her parents grave in over ten years due to its distance and when she wanted to go she was told by a Rabbi that if she has not been there for over ...
2
votes
1answer
95 views
What is the origin of BS“D / B”H? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
B'siyata D'shmaya or Baruch Hashem
What is the origin of putting BS"D (or Beis Samach Daled) on the top right hand corner of anything one write?
6
votes
2answers
113 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 ...
8
votes
1answer
117 views
Accepting parents' minhagim
Since the Conservative movement tends to take most of its minhagim from the German tradition due to its German roots, most Conservative Jews in America tend to practice the German customs (such as ...
1
vote
1answer
58 views
The “Shir Hamaalos” etc before Maariv: is it said before nightfall?
The German nusach contains the following explanation of the “Shir Hamaalos” etc said before Maariv.
When ערבית is recited after nightfall, it is preceded by the following
פסוקים, which speak of ...
4
votes
2answers
289 views
Black Hats During Mussaf
Lately, I have noticed that many people who wear a tallis during davening will deliberately put on the black hat, which they wore on the way to shul, while still wearing their tallis near the end of ...
7
votes
3answers
285 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?
2
votes
0answers
31 views
What are the customs for looking at fingers during havdalla [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What to do with the candles during Havdalah
According to this question, there are many different customs about looking at fingers after the bracha borei m'orei ha'eish ...
10
votes
4answers
161 views
Not falling on hands for Tachnun
How come Sepharadim do not "fall on their faces" during Tachanun as Ashkenazim do, if the prayer is called "nefilat apa'im" (literally the falling of the faces)?
The Shulchan Aruch seems to hold of ...
8
votes
2answers
137 views
When there are four aveilim (mourners), Is it better to have one minyan of 40 people or 4 minyonim of ten each?
Today I was in a shul where there were four parallel mincha services because four mourners wanted to lead the services. I thought there was a principle of ברב עם הדרת מלך?
What sources are there that ...
3
votes
1answer
161 views
Should a woman wear a gartel?
My understanding of the halachic need for a gartel is very limited; is there any reason a woman should or should not wear one during prayer?
2
votes
2answers
100 views
Kibbud for wife
There is no Torah obligation (as far as I am aware) for kibbud for a wife; however, in my experience, husbands tend to show a special honor for their wives. An example where this is frequenetly ...
4
votes
3answers
664 views
Eating at a shiva house
What is the basis for some people's practice not to eat the food at a shiva house; is there a halachik basis for this, is it a minhag or perhaps just superstition?
4
votes
0answers
104 views
Lithuanian minhag for talis katan material
Not an halachic question, but we can read many things about talis katan: wool over cotton, tzitzis out or in, etc. It seems that the Lithuanian minhag was to tuck them in, but what about the material? ...
2
votes
1answer
112 views
Why do Lubavitch talisos ensure tzitzis hang off the side?
A Lubavitch chasid's talis gadol has a special way of being tied that ensures that the tzitzis hangs off of the side of the talis and not off of its front or back.
Why?
13
votes
2answers
195 views
How old is the custom to eat dairy on Shavuos?
I don't think I've ever seen a rationalization for this custom in works earlier than those of the Acharonim. I've never seen any Rishonim even mention it; certainly not earlier authors.
What's the ...
5
votes
3answers
118 views
Milchigs (dairy) on Shavuos - when is the proper time?
When is the proper time to eat dairy on Shavuos? (night meal, day meal, prior to day meal, Shul Kiddush)
4
votes
3answers
151 views
Shalom Aleichem to angels?
The zemer "Shalom Aleichem" is obviously addressed to angels. The Tur (OC Siman 3) gives a short text to says before entering the bathroom: התכבדו מכובדים משרתי עליון, etc. (also obviously addressed ...
7
votes
1answer
79 views
Why do we strike ourselves during prayer?
Why do we strike ourselves when confessing sin either during shmoneah esrei or viduy?
6
votes
0answers
88 views
Father being Matir Neder for himself: does it affect the family?
If a father is Matir Neder on a minhag (gebroktz, let's say) for himself for a valid reason, does that include his whole family? Are they now also permitted to eat gebroktz because that is now the ...
3
votes
1answer
120 views
How could boiling 3 eggs at a time help?
A lot of people have a custom of boiling 3 eggs at a time, as mentioned here, among any other places.
One reason given for this practice is that if one egg turns out to be unkosher, the remaining two ...
5
votes
5answers
171 views
Shavuos and Malachim(angels)
We all know that there is a custom on Shavuos to eat dairy. One of the reasons given is based on a Medrash that When Moshe Rabbenu went up to Heaven to receive the Torah the angels complained and said ...
12
votes
6answers
746 views
Why is Soy milk considered Parve and not Milchig/Halavi?
Considering that milk is forbidden with chicken (as stated in this answer), because chicken could be confused with meat, why isn't soy milk considered milchig as well?
In Israel, chicken is ...
5
votes
1answer
65 views
Why is the Eicha reading broken up?
It seems to me that everywhere I've been, the reading of Eicha on Tish'a B-av night has been broken up, with different chapters read by different people. Why is this custom so prevalent, specifically ...
5
votes
2answers
262 views
The value of the daily study of Chitas (Chumash, Tehilim, Tanya)?
What's the value of learning "Chitas" compared to any other daily Torah study?
Side question: If it's so important, why was it introduced only recently?
