Question Are you allowed to eat a se’udah (meal) on erev Shabbat or erev Yom Tov? When is the right time to eat se’udah shlishit when Shabbat falls on the first day of Yom Tov? Answer The Gemara in Gittin 38a tells of a family that made a habit of eating a formal meal (kove’a se’udah) on erev Shabbat, and they were punished for it. The Rambam (Shabbat 29:4) therefore … [Read more...]

Question Do we say Tashlich when the first day of Rosh Hashana falls out on Shabbat? Answer The Rema (Orach Haim 583:2) writes of the minhag of Tashlich is going to a river and reciting the pesukim of “Ve'tashlich bimtzulot yam kol hatotam” (“And You shall cast all their sins into the depths of the sea,” Michah 7:19). The minhag is to say Tashlich on the first day of … [Read more...]

HaRav Netanel Levihim - The Gemara, Berachot 4b, establishes that reciting Keriat Shema al HaMita — the first paragraph of Shema upon going to bed — is a mitzvah. The Shulhan Aruch, OH 239:1, rules that one should say Shema and afterward recite the beracha of Hamapil. The Bet Yosef writes the reason it should be said close to sleep is in order to to fall asleep with the … [Read more...]

HaRav Netanel Levihim - When is the best time to say Selihot? Can I say it at Night? Maran in Shulhan Aruch, (Orah Haim siman 581) writes that the minhag is to recite Selihot by Ashmoret from Rosh Hodesh Elul until Yom Kippur. The reason for reciting Selihot is based on the Pirkeh DeRabbi Eliezer, which writes that this was the time Moshe Rabbenu went up to ask Hashem … [Read more...]

HaRav Netanel Levihim - Can One Say the Yud Gimmel Midot Without a Minyan? And Which Parts of Selihot Can Only Be Said With a Minyan? The Tur in Orah Haim 565brings down from Rav Natan that a person should not say the Yud Gimmel Midot without a minyan. The Tur himself, however, writes that he is not certain what the issue is, and why it is not like any other pasuk in the … [Read more...]