Questions about Jewish customs and traditions.
5
votes
1answer
140 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 ...
4
votes
1answer
101 views
What to do when visiting Kivrei Tzaddikim?
When visiting Kevarim of Tzaddikim, when are proper procedures to follow?
I would hope an answer would cover:
What and how to daven
If there's any specific Tehillim to say
If one should (or must) ...
8
votes
3answers
227 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 ...
7
votes
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?
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 ...
5
votes
2answers
269 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)?
3
votes
4answers
191 views
Fasting on the wedding day - when getting married right before or after a fast
When a person gets married a day before Yom Kippur or a day after Tzon Gedalya - does he/she have to fast two days in a row?
5
votes
3answers
246 views
2
votes
2answers
199 views
Can a person start swimming in the three weeks?
Someone told me that if a person did not swim prior to the three weeks, he may not start swimming during the three weeks? Is there a source for this? (sources)
5
votes
3answers
212 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 ...
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?
4
votes
2answers
257 views
Can one follow Rabbeinu Tam time for beginning Shabbos?
Does anyone today follow Rabbineu Tam time for the beginning of Shabbos? Reading some tshuvas (e.g. Eretz haTzvi) it is clear this was widespread in Europe.
If one has previously been accustomed to ...
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 ...
6
votes
3answers
341 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 ...
9
votes
1answer
236 views
Does Drinking Seltzer == Drinking Water?
Inspired by this revision of this answer:
There are various minhag implications with regards to drinking water. Seltzer is essentially carbonated water. So how do those minhagim apply to seltzer?
...
5
votes
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 ...
14
votes
3answers
192 views
Must EMTs and others rend Kriyah each time they see a patient die?
I was looking at Yoreh De'ah 40:5 (יו"ד סימן ש"מ ס"ק ה) and Moed Katan 25b (כה עמוד ב), which require Kriyah (garment-rending) for all who are there at the time of death. It would seem to me that an ...
5
votes
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 ...
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?
7
votes
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.
8
votes
4answers
319 views
Why does the Tefilin Shel Yad have a protective cover?
When you purchase Tefilin, the Tefilin Shel Yad has a protective cover. Why? Is it Halachically necessary?
6
votes
1answer
157 views
how to call up a kohen/levi as acharon
Shulachan Aruch (OC 135:10) holds, and Rama (there) seems to also hold, that if a kohen (or levi, m.m.) is called as acharon then the gabai should say "af al pi shehu kohen". The purpose of this is to ...
8
votes
1answer
149 views
Direction of Tefillin Winding
Why do some people have the custom to wind the Tefillin-Shel-Yad towards themselves, while others wind it away from themselves? What is the reason behind these two customs, and which sects of Judaism ...
11
votes
4answers
365 views
Getting married in age order
Those that refrain from allowing a younger sibling to get married prior to an older sibling mention the verse from Lavan, "Lo Yaiose Kain BimiKomeinu Losais Hatziyira Lifnei HaBechira, In our locale ...
11
votes
8answers
330 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."
...
8
votes
2answers
202 views
Kiddush Levanah - Saying Aleichem Sholom with the other person?
As discussed here, while doing Kiddush Levanah, we say "Shalom Aleichem" to 3 other people, and they respond back with "Aleichem Shalom". I've seen some people saying "Aleichem Shalom" together with ...
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?]
3
votes
2answers
132 views
והוא ידרוש לציון עיר ה…
In the song "ברוך א׳ עליון" (text) is the line:
וְהוּא יִדְרֹשׁ לְצִיּוֹן עִיר הַנִּדָּחָה
My grandfather, ע״ה, when singing this line, would replace הַנִּדָּחָה with another word (I think ...
8
votes
1answer
950 views
Does ב"ה actually stand for Boruch Hashem?
We asked here about writing either ב"ה or בס"ד on the top of a letter. In the question it was assumed that ב"ה stands for Boruch Hashem.
Do we have a source that ב"ה actually stands for Boruch ...
5
votes
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 ...
12
votes
6answers
748 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
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 ...
3
votes
1answer
134 views
What is the origin of the custom to say Shema to a baby on the day before his Brit Milah?
I have seen a custom among Ashkenazic Jews that on the day before the Brit Milah of a baby boy, a group of children will come and all say the Shema to the baby. What is the origin and reason for the ...
9
votes
4answers
368 views
Why do we eat Milchigs (dairy) on Shavuos?
Why do we have a Minhag to eat Milchigs (dairy) on Shavuos?
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)
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?
4
votes
1answer
58 views
What is the earliest source mentioning that Jews put out greenery on Shavuos?
What is the earliest source mentioning the Minhag that Jews put out greenery on Shavuos?
6
votes
2answers
155 views
wording of the invitation to birkas hamazon
I know some Ashk'nazim say rabosay n'varech, some rabosay mir velen bentschen, and some hertzi rabosay mir velen bentschen. (Any other forms?) Is there any particular reason given for one or another?
12
votes
2answers
154 views
People half-standing for אלקינו in zimun
When conducting a zimun with ten or more men, the nusach is to say "...ברוך אלקינו שאכלנו משלו".
I have noticed that many people, when saying the word "אלקינו", get up from their seats at least a ...
4
votes
3answers
289 views
What practices are affected by a belief in demons?
Inspired by R' Slifkin's new monograph, Wrestling with Demons, and acknowledging the fact that the existence of sheidim and other things magical in nature is an age-old dispute, I am wondering about ...
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 ...
10
votes
3answers
360 views
Talis Gadol for Unmarried Individuals
In my minhag (and I believe it's minhag Ashkenaz), unmarried men do not wear a Talis Gadol (only a Talis Katan).
Why is this so?
15
votes
1answer
309 views
Blessing the Children on Friday Night
I have noticed that many families (including my own) have the custom for the father to bless all the children on Friday night before kiddush.
When and where did this custom originate, and by whom, ...
3
votes
1answer
61 views
Leading half the prayers
Assuming one is to follow the congregation's nusach when leading the prayers and one's own otherwise,
what should he do if he's asked to lead the prayers from "Shochen ad", and agrees, before the ...
7
votes
3answers
367 views
Being Shaliach Tzibbur in a Congregation with a different Nusach
In Yalkut Yosef OC 101:10 rules that a Sephardi who is davening in an Ashkenazi minyan should not daven Nusach Ashkenaz as shaliach tzibbur. He can only be shaliach tzibbur if the minyan agrees to let ...
3
votes
2answers
203 views
Why is the atara on a tallis always the same design?
Maybe a frivolous question, but I am intrigued as to why the atara (the strip of cloth denoting where the tallis should rest on your shoulders) on every standard tallis (other than the fancy ones with ...
10
votes
4answers
185 views
Why fill the glass all the way to the top?
Why is it that when people make kiddush/havdallah they insist on filling up the cup all the way to the top, sometimes till it overflows just a little? Is this a documented minhag/custom etc...?
14
votes
2answers
114 views
תהלת ה' ידבר פי - what's the origin?
In between the 'Shir HaMaalot' that precedes birchat hamazon and the the blessings themselves, there are a few psukim beginning תהלת ה' ידבר פי . Some people add these, and some don't. What's the ...
5
votes
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 ...
10
votes
3answers
392 views
Infant seeing reflection in mirror
I have heard that some people do not allow a child to see his or her reflection in a mirror before they can speak (or say their name, possibly). Is there any traditional source for this practice?
