9
votes
Accepted
What did it use to mean for a kohen to get a second aliyah?
Tosfot (Gittin 59b) answers (based on a similar case in Tosefta Megilla 3:6) that to distinguish the two sections, the kohen would go sit down back in his seat and then stand up again and go up to the ...
- 101k
8
votes
Accepted
Original Aliyah breaks for Ki Tisa
Indeed the custom you mention is first mentioned in 16th century Safed in the work Tikkun Yissakhar by Yissakhar ben Mordechai, and while he notes with praise the custom to have a Levi read the ...
- 101k
6
votes
Source for this Prayer for American Armed Forces
This was composed by Rabbi Aryeh Klapper, then the Rabbi of the Harvard Hillel Orthodox Minyan, around 2002.1
I remember him speaking, around that time, about the debt we owe to service members in our ...
- 48.6k
6
votes
Is a new blessing required when taking off and putting back on your tallit?
This is a dispute recorded in Shulchan Aruch O.C. 8:14:
אם פשט טליתו אפילו היה דעתו לחזור ולהתעטף בו מיד צריך לברך כשיחזור ויתעטף בו הגה וי"א שאין מברכין אם יהיה דעתו לחזור ולהתעטף בו וי"א ...
- 50.3k
5
votes
Tips for sitting holding a Sefer Torah without hurting your shoulder?
This probably depends in part on the size (eitz to eitz length, I mean) and weight of the sefer torah, but here's what people in my minyan do (and what I do personally) with a medium-sized scroll. My ...
- 57k
5
votes
Accepted
Why doesn't saying the sh'ma satisfy torah-reading requirements?
Your question is asked by no less than the P'ri M'gadim (OH Eshel Avraham: 135)!
According to the Amora Sh'muel, as quoted by R. Yehudah, in Berakhot (21a), the recitation of Sh'ma is merely rabbinic....
- 36k
4
votes
Does a woman recite Birchas HaGomel? (Blessing on being saved from danger)
At least as early as the 1600s, it appears to have been customary in some congregations for a woman not to make the blessing of Hagomel upon being saved from danger. The Knesess Hagedolah (Hagahos ...
- 11.2k
4
votes
Reason behind pinky during hagba
There is no definitive reason as to why specifically the pinky is used to point. In fact, others advocate using the pointer (cf. R. Haim Palagi, Lev Haim vol. 2 §167 3.6)
R. Meir Mazuz suggested a ...
- 12.1k
4
votes
Father and son - Hagbah and Gelilah, Pesicha for two Torahs
Shaalos U'Teshuvos Avnei Chaifetz 16:3 says that so long as they are not called up by name there is no issue of Ayin Hara and it is permitted.
Shaalos U'Teshuvos Mishne Halachos 3:20 says it is not ...
- 140k
4
votes
Accepted
Are there certain people that should not be called for the aliyah having the rebuke?
In my experience, the person who is giving the aliyot out generally keeps this one for himself so nobody else will feel bad about having been given the aliya. I have also heard of this aliya being ...
- 25.1k
4
votes
Accepted
Why is there no Kaddish after Torah reading at mincha on a fast day?
See Magen Avrraham OC 292 SK 2
The reason is that there is nothing between the eventually (and not existing) kaddich after the third ole and the kaddich before Tefilah shmona esre. The source is in ...
- 23.1k
4
votes
Accepted
Hilchos Pesicha/Pesichas HaAron
Open the ark after kaddish but wait for the chazzan to walk towards you before you take out the Torah. When he does, take out the Torah and hand it to him. He will recite the pesukim(according to ...
- 887
4
votes
Is a shul allowed to refuse an aliyah to an "improperly dressed" Cohen or Levi?
The Maharik (Shoresh 9) writes that the congregation have a right to refuse entry to a Kohen, thus enabling them to give the aliyah to someone else.
The Chasam Sofer (OCH 25) rules that once the ...
- 11.2k
4
votes
Why this specific pasuk when returning the Torah to the Ahron?
The Sefer haRokeah (Taamei B'rachos 319:274) says that his brother Chizkiyah explained that it's because we bow during birchas hatorah and we want to affirm afterwards that we weren't worshipping it ...
- 585
4
votes
Accepted
Torah service on shabbat with no kohanim and not enough yisraelim
The regular rules for Aliyah positions are based on three rules: 1) kohen and levi read first if available to avoid fighting about who reads first (Gittin 59a), 2) a kohen should not read directly ...
- 101k
3
votes
Limitations on two brothers or father and son one after the other, other than torah service?
The sefer Nisuin KeHilchesa pg. 299 quotes in the name of Rav Elyashiv that two brothers, or a father and son, may recite sheva brachos in sequence, and one need not worry for ayin hara. So at the ...
- 20.2k
3
votes
Kohen k'rav ya'amod
Areshes Sfasainu - Volume 3 - page 251 says that saying Kohain Kerav is based on the verse of Moshe telling Aharon to come near to the Mizbaiach.
ויאמר משה אל אהרן קרב אל המזבח
He gives other ...
- 140k
3
votes
Hashta Ba'agala
This answer is complete speculation. It is not sourced from anywhere, just my own original thoughts and pshat (understanding).
If I'm not mistaken, at the time that the Nusach (formulation) of our ...
- 131
3
votes
forgot birkas hachodesh
The Rivivos Efraim (OC 4 Siman 53) writes that they should not say it later publicly on a weekday, but the individuals can say it on their own during the week if they did not say it on Shabbos.
- 338
3
votes
May one reposition Sifrei Torah on Shabbat?
Disclaimer! I am not a posek.
This question is dependent on several sugyos
Muktzeh (tiltul bshabbos)
Hachana
Tircha Dztibbura
I wanted to say that it seems like there would not be a problem of טלטול,...
- 515
3
votes
What is the best route for going up to the bimah?
See O.C. 141:7. I have parenthetically added reasoning that is explained in Mishnah Berurah commentary):
It says that one goes up to the migdal (i.e. the raised platform used for Torah reading) via ...
- 71.5k
3
votes
Is a new blessing required when taking off and putting back on your tallit?
If one removes the tallit or tzitzit (for instance, if one needs to
use the restroom during prayers), with the intention of donning the
same tallit or tzitzit afterwards, then it is not necessary ...
- 1,365
3
votes
Procedure for repeating aliyot on shabbat
Every reader must read at least three verses (OC 137:2)
No break may be within three verses of a written paragraph break, unless at a written paragraph break itself (138:1).
Some allow extra breaks ...
- 101k
2
votes
Splitting up the rosh chodesh reading when another follows it
Adding to Gershon's answer, there's probably a good reason as to why only 1 aliyah is given from the 2nd Torah. There are two rules regarding reading aliyot:
1 - At least 3 verses must be read
2 - ...
- 71.5k
2
votes
Bar Mitzvah before Circumcision?
See also Melamed leHoil 2:79 from Rav Hoffman of Berlin who wrote that min hadin it's mutar, however, according to the circumstances it might be reasonable not to do so.
The rabbis of the city have ...
- 1,353
2
votes
Ya'amod by an Aliya
I suspect the reason we say ya'amod rather than yavo or one of your other suggestions is because we are stating the important part of what the oleh will be doing: standing before the Torah. Sure, you'...
- 25.1k
2
votes
Accepted
Is there a Sof Haftarah?
I usually use the system above. The system below seems to be more common. An etnachta is included on the side to show the intervals according to the key I’m transcribing by (mostly centered around the ...
- 245
2
votes
Accepted
When and why did Torah-reading "aliyot" begin?
Rambam (Hilchot Tfila 12:1) writes that Moshe Rabenu instituted public Torah reading on Shabbat, Monday and Thursdays. According to his reading Ezra instituted 3 alyot during the week.
Moses, our ...
- 54.1k
2
votes
Accepted
In what relative positions are multiple Sifrei Torah placed on the bimah?
According to minhag Ashkenaz the next sefer Torah is placed on the bimah to the left of the previous before the hagbahah of the previous.
Source: Rabbi Binyamin Shlomo Hamburger in Guide to Minhag ...
- 1,351
2
votes
Accepted
Balak ending on a sad note
Baruch Hashem, I'm not alone. This question is addressed by various sources, all brought in Ma Shehaya Hu Sheyihyeh Shir HaShirim II 5:3 fn. 8 by Rabbi Eliyahu Wolf from Yeshivas Ner Yisroel, ...
- 20.2k
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