13
votes
Accepted
Am I a body with a soul or a soul with a body?
Am I the soul or the body?
The answer is yes.
The mashal is given of a blind man and a lame man in the king's orchard. The blind man put the lame man on his shoulders. The lame man steered the blind ...
- 42.9k
11
votes
Accepted
What is the closing psalm at Chabad services about?
I believe that what you are referring to is part of the daily break-down of the Torah, Sefer Tanya and the book of Psalms that Lubavitchers refer to as Chitas (which stands, of course, for "Chumash, ...
- 18.8k
10
votes
Accepted
What would a slave say in the birchot hashachar?
The Beit Yosef (OC 46) writes (quoting Sefer Abudirham):
השבוי מברך שלא עשאני עבד שלא תקנו ברכה זו מפני העבדות עצמה, אלא מפני שאין העבד חייב במצות כישראל ואינו ראוי לבא בקהל ופסול לכמה דברים.
...
- 97.4k
10
votes
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Short prayer after a vort or dvar torah
You are thinking of the famous saying of chazal (our Rabbis of blessed memory) found in Makkos 23b and famous for being mentioned at the end of Pirkei Avos:
רִבִּי חֲנַנְיָא בֶּן עֲקַשְׁיָה אוֹמֵר ...
- 30.3k
8
votes
Saying sim shalom in maariv shmoneh esrei
Shulchan Aruch 127:2
The Rema says that we say Sim Shalom any time we have a tefilah that is fitting for the blessing of the Kohanim to be included.
This is based on the end of the discussion of the ...
- 10.7k
8
votes
Accepted
Why was it the Arizal's custom that Yigdal not be said?
The MaVar YaBok brings that The Arizal was particular not use anything from the Achronim (not in our sense of the word rather later authorities ,not sure the starting point),rather only use prayers ...
- 41.1k
8
votes
What is the basis for the custom to stand or sit by Vayivarech Dovid?
To stand for Vayevarech David is codified by the Rema, OC 51:7:
ונהגו לעמוד כשאומרים ברוך שאמר ויברך דוד וישתבח:
The custom is to stand when they say Baruch She’amar, Vayivarech David, and ...
- 34.1k
7
votes
Am I a body with a soul or a soul with a body?
I asked R' Tzvi Berkowitz this question. He said that when one sleeps, 4 parts of the soul leave, while the lowest part of the soul remains with the body. The "me" in this prayer is that lowest level ...
- 58.3k
7
votes
Accepted
Time for morning prayer when flying over Greenland and seeing the sun rise twice
From http://ravbaruch.com/AskTheRabbi.asp?QID=92#_ftn2:
Reportedly, Rav S. Z. Auerbach z’’l and Rav Moshe Feinstein z’’l ruled that if one experiences two sunrises on the same day of the week, one ...
- 17.7k
7
votes
Accepted
אין כערכך ואין זולתיך - a mistaken addition?
T'fila L'Moshe by Rav Aharon Lopiansky quotes Rav Y'huda ben Yakar as linking the two components in this way, with each later line being an explanation of its preceding word pair(+) (emphasis mine).
...
- 23.7k
7
votes
Al gav or al gabei – singular or plural?
This is a controversial issue. If you look at older siddurim, like the one of R' Yaakov Emden, who, besides his other talents, was an exceptional authority on grammar, you can find the על גבי version ...
- 7,434
6
votes
Accepted
Why does ArtScroll place Birkot Hatorah towards the end of Birkot Hashachar?
It uses this order because that is the traditional Nusach it is using. The Ramo justifies this in O.C. 46:9, see here for additional sources, primarily the Maharil and the Maharam MiRottenburg, both ...
- 31.8k
6
votes
Accepted
What should I think about when reciting this blessing?
The word sechvi can mean a rooster or the heart. Just as God gave the rooster an understanding of the difference between day and night, we thank Him that He gave our heart the understanding that it is ...
- 48.1k
5
votes
When is the latest that one can have coffee before reciting the kiddush on Shabbat morning?
One should not taste any food before the morning kiddush (SA OC 289.1). The reason one can drink water before praying is that there is no obligation of kiddush before praying and water is not ...
- 48.1k
5
votes
Accepted
Difference between men and women regarding drinking water before the day kidush
The Ben Ish Chai explains his own position in Year 2 Parashat Bereishit #18
קידוש הלילה אינו תלוי בתפלת ערבית, שאם ירצה לקבל שבת מבעוד יום ולקדש ולאכול ולהתפלל ערבית בלילה, רשאי, ורק צריך שיתחיל ...
- 97.4k
5
votes
Source for Modeh Ani
Sefer Seder Hayom from Rabbi Moshe Ben Machir.First edition (Venezzia) in year שנ"ט" (1599)". See here
At the begining of the Sefer:
ובקומו מיד מודה אני מלפניך מלך חי וקים שהחזרת בי ...
- 22.7k
5
votes
why do we skip mizmor l'toda on pesach but still bring the sacrifice with our lips in eyzeh mekoman?
We say the mishna of Eizehu Mekomon so that everyone should learn some mishnayos every day (Shulchan Aruch siman 50). This reasoning applies even when we can't bring some of the korbanos (such as on ...
- 61
5
votes
Accepted
Is there a source for standing during ברכות השחר (from אשר נתן לשכוי through הגומל חסדים...) as many have the custom of doing?
When it comes to standing for Birkat Hashachar, the following sources write that one should stand:
Ishei Yisrael 5:14 writes that some have the practice to stand.
Piskei Teshuvot 46:3 writes that ...
- 3,849
5
votes
Morning blessing before Shema - why "Borei et Hakol" and not "Borei Ra"?
Thanks to JoelK for pointing to this answer on MY which mentions the gemara in Brachot 11b which already points out the same issue. On that gemara, artscroll comments
The reason for this deviation ...
- 48.1k
5
votes
Accepted
What was the order of "Shacharit" in the Bet Hamikdash?
After the korban tamid was slaughtered, skinned and butchered, its blood thrown on the altar and its limbs placed on the altar's ramp, they would gather in the lishkat hagazit and recite:
Ahavat Olam
...
- 41.8k
5
votes
Short prayer after a vort or dvar torah
From https://outorah.org/p/4589/
The Rabbis’ Kaddish (“Kaddish D’Rabbanan”) is recited after a public lecture in the Oral Torah. There is an opinion that the primary practice is to recite this ...
- 10.6k
4
votes
Exercise before Shacharis
I found
1 Torah Musings says
Minor activities are not considered to be work, nor a fulfillment of
one’s own desires, and they are therefore permissible before prayer.
For example, a person ...
- 47.2k
4
votes
Should one recite Mourner's Kaddish between the daily Psalm and Psalm 27?
In principle you could say Kaddish on just a couple verses, but you don't usually see people stopping after every few lines of the daily Psalm to say Kaddish because the general rule* is to always ...
- 97.4k
4
votes
Learning before Davvening
The Piskei Teshuvot writes that people are not stringent about learning before prayers, and that anyone who finds it easier to learn before prayers based on his daily schedule may do so. He adds that ...
- 1,737
4
votes
Why don't we say Ein KeLokeinu on Tisha BeAv?
Nit'ei Gavriel, Hilchot Bein HaMetzarim 62 fn 7 quotes an explanation from Responsa Zera Emet as to the common custom to omit shir shel yom and ein kelokeinu from shacharit and instead to recite them ...
- 41.8k
4
votes
Am I a body with a soul or a soul with a body?
As for E-lokai Netzor and Hashem putting a soul within me, my own intent when saying these words is based on the Vilna Gaon's taxonomy of prayer:
Prayers that express an ideal to be repeated and ...
- 9,418
4
votes
What should I think about when reciting this blessing?
Tosfot on Talmud Brachot 60b as cited on p. 102, here, says:
He makes this blessing even if he did not hear the rooster because
this blessing was established to acknowledge the benefit that we
...
- 70k
4
votes
Why was it the Arizal's custom that Yigdal not be said?
Sefer Masos Kapay quotes the Siddur Hageonim Vihamekubalim that the Arizal insisted on only saying piyutim authored by Rishonim because those could be trusted to be al derech haemes, but the later ...
- 6,487
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