Questions about Jewish customs and traditions.
1
vote
1answer
62 views
Sleeping on Stones
Where does the Minhag come from that we should sleep uncomfortably on Tisha B'Av?
10
votes
1answer
130 views
Haftora for a wedding
ונוהגין להפטיר בחתונה שוש אשיש.
The Rama above (from OC 428) says that in his area the custom was to read a special haftora if a groom was present in the synagogue.
Has anyone seen this ...
7
votes
3answers
497 views
Why do we comfort a mourner with Hamakom Yenachem Eschem?
Why, when comforting a mourner at the completion of a Shiva visit, do we refer to G-d as Hamakom? We say Hamakom Yanachem Eschem - why not Hashem Yenachem or Elokim Yenachem?
6
votes
2answers
179 views
6
votes
1answer
114 views
Can you sing during the sheva brachos?
I have been to weddings where, during the recitation of the seventh bracha under the chuppah, the congregation sings "asher bara...". Sometimes it is along with the one reciting the bracha and other ...
9
votes
2answers
505 views
How should one dispose of cut finger nails? Is it dangerous for a pregnant woman to walk on them?
Is there an Inyan of pregnant women walking over cut nails ex: a nail salon? Also, can I just vacuum up the cut nails from the floor?
7
votes
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 ...
1
vote
0answers
45 views
Is one allowed to listen to music during Pesach? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Sefira Restrictions During Chol Hamoed Pesach
One of the reasons given to pushing off the Aveilus period until after Rosh Chodesh Iyar is because one should avoid ...
7
votes
2answers
138 views
Standing during the Aseres HaDibros
There are people that always stand by Laining and people that always sit. Among those that sit there are those that stand at certain points, such as the Aseres HaDibros or the Shira, etc. Is it proper ...
8
votes
3answers
228 views
Saying VaYhi Erev VaYehi Voker before Kiddush Friday night
The Minhag that many people have is to start Kiddush Friday night with VaYehi Erev VaYehi Voker before saying Yom HaShishi.
I heard that HaRav Moshe Feinstein Zatzal did not say VaYehi Erev VaYehi ...
8
votes
5answers
274 views
Challah Friday Night
When you make Hamotzi on Shabbos you use the top Challah. However, on Friday night you use the bottom. Therefore, so as not to pass over the Mitzvah you hold the bottom one closer.
My question is why ...
7
votes
3answers
85 views
Why do we put out greenery on Shavuos?
Those that have the Minhag to put out greenery in the Shul on Shavuos, why do we do it?
3
votes
3answers
504 views
Changing a name for a sick person
Sometimes people add a name for a sick person. Can you just change it to an entirely different name? I know of a case where they kept the first name and changed the second name - originally the name ...
7
votes
1answer
246 views
Why doesn't Chabad read Ruth on Shavuot?
I was at Chabad this Shavuot and they did not read Ruth. Everywhere else I've been (all Nusach Ashkenaz) has read it claiming that it's appropriate since this is the time of the wheat harvest.
Are ...
8
votes
6answers
419 views
Is there a Kabbalistic source for not walking with one's hands behind one's back?
I've heard from people that it says in Kabbalah that one shouldn't walk with one's hands behind one's back. Does anyone know the source?
9
votes
2answers
203 views
Source for not eating Matzah prior to פסח?
Thanks to this question I am compelled to ask:
What is the source for not eating Matzah prior to פסח?
Is there a source for not eating it for 30 days prior?
2
votes
0answers
31 views
Walking during “l'dor va'dor” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Moving from one's spot after Kedusha
During kedusha everyone stands still, however I have seen a small percentage of people who start to walk again during the stanza ...
15
votes
4answers
366 views
How does an outsider know how to dress for a particular Orthodox community?
Standards of dress (at least for women) aren't nearly as consistent within Orthodoxy as we might wish. Wearing exactly the same halachically-correct clothing I have been under-dressed in some places ...
6
votes
1answer
148 views
Hand movements when lighting shabbat candles
When women light shabbat candles I often see them making hand gestures. These look like two or perhaps three circles around in the air. What is the source for this practice? Is it a law or custom? Is ...
3
votes
2answers
158 views
What siddur do Satmerer Chasidim use?
Many Chasidic groups have a particular siddur that is used by most in that group. Does Satmer have such a siddur?
7
votes
3answers
224 views
How does laughing confuse the Satan?
Sefardim have a practice (custom?) to laugh during habdalah. When I asked the reason for this practice I was told that it was "to confound the satan". I assume it has something to do with ...
6
votes
2answers
140 views
Rubbing the Havdalah wine
Is there any source for the practice of not only dipping one's fingers into the Havdalah wine that was used to extinguish the fire and rubbing the eyes with it, but also spreading it around onto other ...
8
votes
2answers
107 views
What are some traditional Iraqi Minhagim?
I'm a Sefaradi Jew of Iraqi descent, but my dad is not religious. I have looked in books like "A Treasury of Sefaradic Laws and Customs", but they tend to not have Iraqi specific Minhagim. I would ...
4
votes
3answers
350 views
Should I wear tefillin during Chol HaMoed?
If I don't have a known family minhag regarding this, how should I decide whether to wear tefillin during Chol HaMoed? Which communities generally follow each option, and what are the reasons behind ...
-4
votes
2answers
207 views
Why do people say “God” in English and not “Gosh”?
When people speak Hebrew, they say Hashem instead of Y-HVH, because saying His name is impossible/forbidden. Additionally, when writing, some people write G-d instead of God. Why when speaking ...
8
votes
1answer
340 views
matzah = mezonos or hamotzi
What is the reasoning of the 2 different minhagim (traditions) on what bracha to say on matzah when its not Peasach?
5
votes
2answers
81 views
What is the source of the additions before תתקבל צלותהון, יהא שלמא, עושה שלום in Kaddish Tiskabel?
In Kaddish Tiskabel, there are parts to be said (see page 131) by the congregation just before the three phrases that begin: תתקבל צלותהון, יהא שלמא, עושה שלום.
These do not appear in all siddurim ...
11
votes
8answers
331 views
What is the source for the “Upsheirin”?
In some families/communities, little boys do not get their hair cut until they are three, and then there is a gathering for cutting their hair. The haircut is called an "upsheirin" or "chalakeh."
...
2
votes
1answer
201 views
What is the reason for V-neck Titzis?
When buying Tzitzis, I have seen that there are two types of garment:
A "round" neck (the hole has a racetrack shape).
A "V" neck (the hole for the neck has a diamond shape).
What is the reason ...
1
vote
0answers
63 views
Should people not say Vidui before Tachanun?
Assuming that it is a hefseik and forbidden to interrupt between amidah and tachanun, should a person who regularly recites vidui change his custom and delay the recital of vidui until later on, after ...
6
votes
2answers
163 views
How historically accurate is Josephus?
How accurate is the writing of Josephus? Can we rely on any of his writings to establish authentic Jewish practices or in areas of halacha?
7
votes
1answer
168 views
Why do we cover the challot on Shabbos?
The answer I learned growing up was that "we don't want to embarrass the bread because we are first making kiddush" or some variation thereof. I later learned that is a zecher for the ma'n which fell ...
4
votes
2answers
296 views
No kaddish for a sister?
I have heard that some (e.g. Chabad?) have the practice not to say kaddish for one's deceased sister. Can anybody confirm this? What might be the reason for this? I had thought there is an ...
5
votes
1answer
111 views
Customs of the parents when the parents don't have past customs
I am of mixed Sephardic and Ashkenazic parentage. I view this as allowing me to behave Sephardically when it suits me (for instance, eating kitniyot for Pessach) or Ashkenacikally when it suits me ...
6
votes
1answer
163 views
Washing Kohen's Hands
Following kedusha during mussaf on a day when there is birchas kohanim (duchening), the Leviyim and Kohanim assemble at the sink and a Levi washes each Kohen's hands.
What procedure of hand-washing ...
6
votes
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 ...
3
votes
0answers
102 views
Following minhag of tzitzit in vs. out [closed]
When I became frum (around 2 years ago) I started wearing tzitzit hanging out. My grandfather just told me that he remembers that when he was a kid, he tucked his tzitzit in. He remembers his father ...
18
votes
2answers
201 views
Why the custom to switch around negative-sounding numbers, such as שד?
Often in sefarim we find that if the number of the siman spells out something negative, such as siman 304 which has a letter value of שד, we switch it around so it no longer reads as a "bad" word. ...
7
votes
2answers
166 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 ...
9
votes
1answer
138 views
May I rely on the halachik leniency of others?
If "Reuven" believes the halacha to be one way and "Shimon" believes it to be more lenient may Reuven rely on Shimon to do something for him based on this leniency?
Here is a 100% fictional ...
3
votes
1answer
74 views
Posuk (Breishis 24:1) said after the end of Hallel on Rosh Chodesh
Artscroll Hebrew Siddurim - and 1 2 among others have at the end of Hallel to say the following Posuk.
וְאַבְרָהָם זָקֵן בָּא בַּיָּמִים וַה' בֵּרַךְ אֶת-אַבְרָהָם בַּכֹּל
Artscroll says it is a ...
6
votes
1answer
159 views
Is there a custom to color eggs on Lag Baomer?
I heard from an old Lithuanian/Polish Jew (frum from Lithuania/Poland). He says that he had a custom to eat colored eggs in his shtetl, and everyone did it.
Is this custom documented anywhere, and ...
8
votes
2answers
217 views
Minhag not to view moon through a window?
I have a vague memory of being told not to gaze at the moon through the glass of a window. I think it had something to do with kabbalah. I know it's permitted to say kiddush levanah by looking at the ...
9
votes
2answers
224 views
How does Hagbah work on a Sephardic Torah case?
How does one do Hagbah on a Torah in a Sephardic Torah case, such as one of these silver cases (picture courtesy of Hadad Brothers) :
See also the Ashkenazi version of this question.
3
votes
1answer
75 views
Does one light candles by the Bima when not an Avel?
When someone is a chazzan during his mourning period, the Lubavitch custom is to light five candles.
Does a Chazzan who is not a mourner light any candles? I have seen people turn on an "electric ...
3
votes
2answers
62 views
When did the Ashkenazi custom to bake matza on erev Pesach afternoon start?
Historically, when did the Ashkenazi custom to bake matza on erev Pesach afternoon start? I am specifically interested in when this custom arose, rather than the reasons/opions pro/against.
3
votes
1answer
409 views
What is the source of the Birkat Habayit?
What is the source of the text of the Birkat Habayit:
I've seen them written on a hand, and some come with garlic, multi-colored beads, and some other strange objects.
Inspired by: ...
11
votes
4answers
181 views
Waiting Less Time on Shavuos
My family has a minhag to wait less time (3 hours as opposed to 6) between Meat and Milk on Shavuos. I was wondering if this has a written source?
[or if not, has anyone else heard of it?]
4
votes
1answer
73 views
Were Maftir Honors in 19th Century different from today?
I received a travel-diary for a man who was born in Huncovce (also known as Hunsdorf, once a famous yeshiva town, second only to Pressburg), Slovakia. He was born in 1851, presumably had some Torah ...
3
votes
2answers
64 views
Who reads the Haggadah?
In my family's Seder, and in one of the two others I've been to, the reading is done by taking turns going around the table. Mostly it is read in the language of one's preference, but some (myself ...
