Questions about Jewish customs and traditions.
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Is there a justification for the practice not to whip on Erev Yom Kipur?
The Shulchan Aruch (607:6) writes that on erev Yom Kipur, everyone gets whipped 39 lashes. However, I have not seen this done in practice. Is there any source who justifies the practice not to do ...
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2answers
193 views
Hardboiled eggs and salt water at the Seder
I've participated in only 3 different families' Passover Seders, so my experience is limited in terms of different families' traditions.
How widespread is the custom of eating a hardboiled egg in ...
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3answers
191 views
Saying selichos before midnight
What is the position with saying selichos (end of Elul and Aseres Ymei Teshuva) with a minyan that starts straight after maariv at say 10:30 or 11pm?
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2answers
267 views
Why do the laws of kitniyot still apply today to Ashkenazi Jews on Passover?
How did the tradition start?
Why is it still around today?
What is the basis for this Halacha (הלכה)?
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4answers
166 views
When do we say “Alenu L'shabe'ach”?
What are all the times when we say the t'fila beginning with the words "עלינו לשבח" commonly known as "Alenu"?
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4answers
117 views
Is it required to knock on doors before entering?
Do we have to knock on people's doors before entering?
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4answers
202 views
May musicians practice their instruments during Sefirah?
Although one should not listen to music during Sefirah, may musicians practice their instruments during this time?
Would it matter if their livelihood is or is not dependent on their musical talent ...
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2answers
114 views
Is it permitted to have a boy under barmitzvah age sing Anim Zemiros?
Is it permitted to have a boy under barmitzvah age sing the Shir Hakavod (or Anim Zemiros)? Why is it not like any other part of davenning where we use someone over barmitzvah?
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133 views
Lulav-shake count varying with shake history
T'hilas Hashem, the standard sidur (prayer book) of the Lubavitch chasidim, includes, passim, rulings of their first rabbi ("the Rav"), copied from his own sidur. The rules printed before halel ...
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178 views
If it's your minhag to daven Hanetz, do you do so even without a minyan?
A friend once told me that if one's minhag is to daven with Hanetz (i.e., starting the Amida prayer at sunrise), and if there's no Hanetz minyan nearby, you should still daven Hanetz, even without a ...
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2answers
399 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)
...
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166 views
Why the difference in minhagim about wearing a kittel on Yom Kippur only, or also on Rosh Hashanah
My families minhag is to wear a kittel just on Yom Kippur (so I do). But in shul I see a number of folk with the minhag to wear it also on Rosh Hashanah.
I know it is related to Yom Hadin, and ...
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211 views
Kissing Tzitzis during Shema
There are those that kiss their Tzitzis during Shema at Shacharis as per Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 17:7 and the Kaf HaChaim 18 and there are those that do not. What is the source and reason for those that ...
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3answers
185 views
Bending at “s'lach lanu”
I have seen many people bow slightly when striking their chests in recitation of the sixth b'racha of sh'moneh esrei. Is this a custom? Is there a source for it?
Anyone whom I've witnessed doing ...
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172 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 ...
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1answer
60 views
Moving Sefer Torah with Tallis (source?)
Often times, when someone will move a Sefer Torah from one place to another, on top of what the Sefer Torah is already normally covered with, he will put an additional covering of a Tallis-Gadol. ...
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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 ...
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364 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 ...
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2answers
72 views
Special Grace After Meals in a House of Mourning
The Shulchan Aruch in Yoreh De'ah 379 outlines a special version of Bentching to be recited in a House of Mourning. I have been in several houses of mourning and have never seen this done. Has anyone ...
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2answers
119 views
Which tefilot you say when your minhag differs from that of the shoul your praying in?
Here is the case: This past Sabbath, at an ashkanazi synagogue, a sephardi comes to pray. This is the synagogue that he normally attends (there are about 20 within 1 sq mile).
He prays with the ...
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3answers
150 views
Not sitting in the Sukkah on Shemini Atzeres
Shouldn't the obligation to sit in the Sukkah also fall into the category of Sefeika D'yoma? If so why do some not eat in the Sukkah on Shemini Atzeres?
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1answer
99 views
Yehei Shmei Rabbah… Yisbarach
Not sure where it came from, but many people tend to say Yisbarach after the Amen Yehei Shmei Rabbah verse. Where did this come from? Is this correct?
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1answer
66 views
Removing Yarmulka last when undressing (source)
I have noticed that some people remove their Yarmulka last when undressing
and wear it first when dressing.
Is this custom mentioned anywhere?
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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 ...
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498 views
What are Jewish conventions regarding honeymoons?
What are Jewish conventions regarding honeymoons? Is a honeymoon taken, and, if so, is it done immediately after the wedding--or later, once the woman is again tehora?
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164 views
Why do we put the belt (gartel) of the Sefer Torah on the top third?
I have observed in the Shuls I Daven in that the one who does Gelila often puts the belt (gartel) on the top third of the Sefer Torah. Is there a reason or source for this? Why not in the middle?
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1answer
100 views
How to practice when 2 customs collide
This question is inspired by recent news of events in Beit Shemesh.
What happens halachically when 2 customs collide and each custom affects the other side? In the case of modesty, for example, ...
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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)
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1k views
Trimming Toenails in sequence
As a follow up to the question "Rules for Cutting Nails" it occurred to me that while we spoke about the idea of not trimming one's nails in sequence (as well as discussing the relevancy of lenient ...
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1answer
59 views
What is the origin of the dispute on which way to wrap tefilin shel yad?
Non-Chasidic Ashkenazim wrap their tefilin shel yad inward toward the body when coming over the top of the arm, while Sefardim and Chasidim wrap outward away from the body when coming over the top of ...
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1answer
66 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 ...
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265 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?
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1answer
159 views
Eating faux-Matza Before Pesach
Mishna Berura 471:2:12 says there are those that do not eat Matza starting Rosh Chodesh Nissan. May one eat Matza that is Chometz?
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1answer
145 views
tying tzitzis together on Simchas Tora
When I was a child in the 1980s, something the boys in my synagogue did on Simchas Tora was tie one person's talis to another, or sometimes to furniture. (Now that I'm older and in a different ...
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1answer
135 views
Twelve Months of Mourning During a Leap Year
For those who are mourning a parent for the requisite twelve-month aveilus, would Adar 1 and Adar 2 count as two separate months towards the twelve? Or does one year mean a full year, i.e., from ...
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74 views
Haircuts on Friday when the 47th of the omer falls on Sunday
The Rema, commenting on the mourning of the first 33 days of the omer, allows haircuts on Friday, lichvod shabbos, when the 33rd falls on Sunday.
Does the same reasoning apply when the 47th falls on ...
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1answer
155 views
What is the source of the Kallah circling the Chasan 7 times?
What is the source of the Kallah circling the Chasan 7 times?
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356 views
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272 views
What are the halachot of Chanukat Habayit?
What are the laws and customs appertaining to chanukat habayit?
At what point, if at all, should you make a shehechiyanu; upon closing? Moving in?
Should you make a chanukat habayit on a home that ...
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318 views
Reasons for different minhagim regarding if and when to put tallit gadol over head?
I'm curious about the reasons and sources for the different customs about if and when to cover one's head with the tallit gadol during davenen. For example:
cover head from after bar'chu until after ...
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2answers
174 views
Tallit with Wool Atara
The only tallit I know of that has an all wool atara is the Beit Yosef Tallit, which is marketed for Sephardim. Is there a specific source for this or is it simply being machmir to wear an all-wool ...
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96 views
Is there any restriction on what constitutes a veil for bedeken?
What can be considered a veil to be used in a bedeken at a wedding?
(See also my other related question)
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1answer
138 views
Zecher L'Churban - Why a plate at Tenayim and a glass at the Chupah?
When a person gets engaged and married there are various things that we do as a Zecher L'Churban. At the Tenayim (whether done immediately or at the wedding) we break an earthernware plate, at the ...
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1answer
354 views
Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue?
Is there a problem of "chukat goyim" with the bride having "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue" at her wedding?
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2answers
174 views
Start of the Upsherin ceremony
When did it become popular to have a ceremony for a boys Upsherin, his first haircut when he reaches the age of three?
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1answer
145 views
Putting a talis on during Shabas mincha
Why (in some synagogues) does the shatz (leader) put on the talis during mincha of Shabas, before "Vaani s'filasi", rather than before the start of mincha?
As Gershon Gold notes in his answer, Shaare ...
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1answer
104 views
Passing an infant across a table
Is there a minhag that one should not pass a child over a table to another person to hold? In my family we would pass a child from person to person all the way around the table, but nobody could ever ...
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1answer
78 views
Birchas Kohanim in the Diaspora
Why do we (ashkenazim) not do birchas kohanim in chutz la'aretz (except on yom tov), but in Israel, we do?
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363 views
Trop (cantillation) for leining
Who created the trop (cantillation) for leining? Is it a Mesorah from when the Torah was written?
