Guide for Sephardim Prepared by Rabbi Yonatan Nacson1

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Guide for Sephardim Prepared by Rabbi Yonatan Nacson1 Laws for Praying at Home During the High Holidays A Practical Halachic Guide for Sephardim Prepared by Rabbi Yonatan Nacson1 Laws regarding Selichot 1. The Sephardic custom is to recite Selichot the entire month of Elul, starting from the day after Rosh Chodesh Elul.2 The Ashkenazic custom is to recite Selichot starting from the week of or before Rosh HaShanah.3 2. One may even recite the entire Selichot through technological means (such as a live hookup, the radio, or telephone.) However, if one merely listens to a recording of the Selichot, he may not recite it.4 It is even better to recite Selichot along with a larger minyan through a live hookup than to recite it along with a smaller minyan. This is common in Eretz Yisrael, where there are large Selichot minyanim, and many people follow along with a screen projecting the Selichot live. In such a case, it is better to recite it along with the screen than to form a separate and smaller minyan.5 3. When reciting Selichot without a minyan, one may recite the Thirteen Middot, provided that he recites them with the tune from the Torah reading.6 4. When reciting Selichot alone, one is not required to complete the pasuk for the Thirteen Middot (venakeh lo yenakeh).7 5. One who cannot recite Selichot with a minyan should refrain from saying the Aramaic parts.8 They are as .מחי ומסי (4 .מרנא דבשמיא (3 .דעני לעניי (2 .רחמנא (follows: 1 1 Most of the material in this document was excerpted from the of the Torah reading. See Palagi, Ruach Chayim 131:1; Ben Ish book “Laws of the Holidays” Chai, Ki Tisa 1:9; Rav Pe’alim 1:11; and Kaf HaChayim 131:23. See 2. There are different customs brought in the Rishonim. The also Chazon Ovadia, Yamim Nora’im, p. 27; Yalkut Yosef, Yamim Rambam, as he writes in Hilchot Teshuvah 3:4; the Rosh, as he Nora’im, p. 33; and Torat HaMoadim, Yamim Nora’im, p. 8. This is writes in Rosh HaShanah, ch. 4, in the name of Rav Cohen unlike Ohr LeTzion, vol. 4, 1:2, which states that one should omit Tzedek; Rav Hai Gaon; Rav Amram Gaon; Sefer HaManhig; and the Thirteen Middot entirely. others only recited Selichot from after Rosh HaShanah until Yom 7. Rabbi Ben Tzion Abba Shaul in Ohr LeTzion, vol. 2, 89:1 holds Kippur. The Rosh also cites the view of the Ritz Giat in Sefer regarding whether to recite Tachanun, that a person praying HaManhig, Hilchot Rosh HaShanah §25 and the Ran in Rosh alone may recite the Thirteen Middot, but he must recite them HaShanah 16a, who write that in many places, the custom is to with the Torah cantillations, and one must complete the pasuk, recite Selichot beginning from Rosh Chodesh Elul. This is also since one may only recite half a pasuk with a minyan. This is also the view of the Shulchan Aruch 581:1 and the Arizal, as brought the view of Igrot Moshe, Y.D. 3:21. However, the view of in Shaar HaKavanot, in the beginning to the introduction to Chacham Ovadia Yosef in Yechaveh Daat 1:47; Yabia Omer, vol. 9, Derush Rosh HaShanah (see Kaf HaChayim §16, which brings this 108:69; Halichot Olam vol. 1, p. 241; and Chazon Ovadia, Yamim view). See Kaf HaChayim §14 for various reasons why one should Nora’im, p. 30 is that one does not have to complete the pasuk, recite Selichot for a total of forty days. See also Chazon Ovadia, since it is clear that one is only reciting the Thirteen Middot as a Yamim Nora’im, p. 1; Ohr LeTzion, vol. 4, 1:3, in the footnotes; and supplication, which may be said even without a minyan, since Yalkut Yosef, Yamim Nora’im, p. 1. he is also reciting the phrase with the cantillation melody. This 3. Rama 581:1. See also Torat HaMoadim, Yamim Nora’im, p. 4. is also the opinion of Rabbi Raphael Baruch Toledano in his 4. Chazon Ovadia, Yamim Nora’im, p. 21; Torat HaMoadim, Yamim Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, p. 122, Nefilat Apayim §21. See also Yalkut Nora’im, p. 17; Yalkut Yosef, Yamim Nora’im, p. 10, 9. This is unlike Yosef, Yamim Nora’im, p. 39 and Halachah Berurah, vol. 7, 131:9. the Ohr LeTzion, vol. 4, 1:4. See also Yalkut Yosef, Yamim Nora’im, 8. See Torah Lishmah §49; Yechaveh Daat 3:43; Chazon Ovadia, p. 17, which brings in the name of Chacham Ovadia Yosef that Yamim Nora’im, p. 11; Torat HaMoadim, Yamim Nora’im, p. 8; and even if there is a few-second delay, one may still answer and Yalkut Yosef, Yamim Nora’im, p. 40, which rule unlike the view of take part in the Selichot. However, this ruling may not be applied Ohr LeTzion, vol. 4, 1:2. Ohr LeTzion states, though, that if one to listening to the Megillah on Purim, in which one may not wants to say the Aramaic parts, he may do so if he translates fulfill his obligation even through a live hookup. them into Lashon HaKodesh. See also Nitei Gavriel, Rosh HaShanah 5. Yalkut Yosef, Yamim Nora’im, p. 18, 10. 12:9 and Halichot Shlomo, Tefillah 17:2, which state that if the 6. This is the view of the Shulchan Aruch, O.C. 565:5, which states minyan is slightly ahead, one may still recite the Aramaic parts, that one may not recite the Thirteen Middot unless they are and does not have to skip to follow with the minyan. A similar recited with derech keriah be’alma, with the tune and cantillations view is stated by Ben Ish Chai, Ki Tisa 1:4; Od Yosef Chai, Ki Tisa 1 OU Chag at Home 5781 Going to the mikveh on erev Rosh HaShanah 6. It is a praiseworthy custom to go to the mikveh on erev Rosh HaShanah. Preferably, one should not go to the mikveh earlier than about an hour before chatzot.9 As many mikvaot are closed this year, one should pour on himself around 12.5 liters of water. This can be accomplished by turning on the shower and standing under it for about four to six minutes. There is no difference between using hot water and cold water.10 Hatarat Nedarim 7. Many people have the custom to perform hatarat nedarim on erev Rosh HaShanah and erev Yom Kippur. Preferably, one should perform hatarat nedarim before ten people. However, if this is too difficult, he should at least recite it before three people. Hatarat nedarim nullifies all of one’s forgotten vows, as well as any stringency that one has performed at least three times, which gave it the status of a vow, and he now wants it nullified.11 8. A boy under the age of thirteen may not serve on a bet din performing hatarat nedarim.12 9. Even one’s own family members may serve on a bet din performing hatarat nedarim. However, a man should not serve on a bet din performing hatarat nedarim for his wife.13 10. One may not send a shaliach to perform hatarat nedarim on one’s behalf.14 11. It is permitted to perform hatarat nedarim over zoom, if there are three people together who are acting as the Bet Din in one place. One can also call on the phone and join in with others who are performing the hatarat nedarim. Those on the Bet Din should have in mind all of those who are participating on the phone or Zoom.15 Prayers of Rosh HaShanah Prayers of the Night of Rosh HaShanah HaMelech HaKadosh and Other Added Phrases 1. Beginning from Arvit of Rosh HaShanah until after Yom Kippur, one must recite haMelech haKadosh instead of haKel haKadosh in the Amidah, at the conclusion of the berachah of Atah Kadosh.16 2. It is proper to raise one’s voice slightly when saying haMelech haKadosh to remind oneself that he did not forget to recite it.17 §8; and Torah Lishmah §96 in regards to the Thirteen Middot. See See also Chazon Ovadia, Yamim Nora’im, p. 61, which adds that if also Kaf HaChayim 131:24. However, Chacham Ovadia Yosef one’s wife goes to the mikveh on the night of Rosh HaShanah, writes in Halichot Olam, vol. 1, p. 211 that one should finish the then one is obligated in the mitzvah of onah, and should go to phrase with the taamei hamikra if the minyan has already the mikveh again before Shacharit on Rosh HaShanah. finished reciting the Thirteen Middot. See also Yalkut Yosef, 11. See Birkei Yosef §21, also cited in Shaarei Teshuvah §1; Kaf Yamim Nora’im, p. 66, 33. Halachah Berurah, vol. 7, 131:9, p. 8, HaChayim §12; Chazon Ovadia, Yamim Nora’im, p. 43; Yabia Omer, adds that if at least six people are still reciting the Thirteen vol. 1, O.C. 41:18; and Yalkut Yosef, Yamim Nora’im, p. 158 and Middot, then one does not have to recite them with the taamei on. See also Ohr LeTzion, vol. 4, 1:8, which states that one should hamikra. Similarly, if one is in the middle of reciting Selichot and preferably perform hatarat kelalot, since it is more inclusive than the minyan begins to recite the Thirteen Middot, he should stop hatarat nedarim. what he is saying and recite them along with the minyan. See 12. Halichot Olam, vol.
Recommended publications
  • Download Full Journal (PDF)
    SAPIR A JOURNAL OF JEWISH CONVERSATIONS THE ISSUE ON POWER ELISA SPUNGEN BILDNER & ROBERT BILDNER RUTH CALDERON · MONA CHAREN MARK DUBOWITZ · DORE GOLD FELICIA HERMAN · BENNY MORRIS MICHAEL OREN · ANSHEL PFEFFER THANE ROSENBAUM · JONATHAN D. SARNA MEIR SOLOVEICHIK · BRET STEPHENS JEFF SWARTZ · RUTH R. WISSE Volume Two Summer 2021 And they saw the God of Israel: Under His feet there was the likeness of a pavement of sapphire, like the very sky for purity. — Exodus 24: 10 SAPIR Bret Stephens EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Mark Charendoff PUBLISHER Ariella Saperstein ASSO CIATE PUBLISHER Felicia Herman MANAGING EDITOR Katherine Messenger DESIGNER & ILLUSTRATOR Sapir, a Journal of Jewish Conversations. ISSN 2767-1712. 2021, Volume 2. Published by Maimonides Fund. Copyright ©2021 by Maimonides Fund. No part of this journal may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of Maimonides Fund. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. WWW.SAPIRJOURNAL.ORG WWW.MAIMONIDESFUND.ORG CONTENTS 6 Publisher’s Note | Mark Charendoff 90 MICHAEL OREN Trial and Triage in Washington 8 BRET STEPHENS The Necessity of Jewish Power 98 MONA CHAREN Between Hostile and Crazy: Jews and the Two Parties Power in Jewish Text & History 106 MARK DUBOWITZ How to Use Antisemitism Against Antisemites 20 RUTH R. WISSE The Allure of Powerlessness Power in Culture & Philanthropy 34 RUTH CALDERON King David and the Messiness of Power 116 JEFF SWARTZ Philanthropy Is Not Enough 46 RABBI MEIR Y. SOLOVEICHIK The Power of the Mob in an Unforgiving Age 124 ELISA SPUNGEN BILDNER & ROBERT BILDNER Power and Ethics in Jewish Philanthropy 56 ANSHEL PFEFFER The Use and Abuse of Jewish Power 134 JONATHAN D.
    [Show full text]
  • Rosh Hashanah Jewish New Year
    ROSH HASHANAH JEWISH NEW YEAR “The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the Israelite people thus: In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe complete rest, a sacred occasion commemorated with loud blasts. You shall not work at your occupations; and you shall bring an offering by fire to the LORD.” (Lev. 23:23-25) ROSH HASHANAH, the first day of the seventh month (the month of Tishri), is celebrated as “New Year’s Day”. On that day the Jewish people wish one another Shanah Tovah, Happy New Year. ש נ ָׁהָׁטוֹב ָׁה Rosh HaShanah, however, is more than a celebration of a new calendar year; it is a new year for Sabbatical years, a new year for Jubilee years, and a new year for tithing vegetables. Rosh HaShanah is the BIRTHDAY OF THE WORLD, the anniversary of creation—a fourfold event… DAY OF SHOFAR BLOWING NEW YEAR’S DAY One of the special features of the Rosh HaShanah prayer [ רֹאשָׁהַש נה] Rosh HaShanah THE DAY OF SHOFAR BLOWING services is the sounding of the shofar (the ram’s horn). The shofar, first heard at Sinai is [זִכְּ רוֹןָׁתְּ רּועה|יוֹםָׁתְּ רּועה] Zikaron Teruah|Yom Teruah THE DAY OF JUDGMENT heard again as a sign of the .coming redemption [יוֹםָׁהַדִ ין] Yom HaDin THE DAY OF REMEMBRANCE THE DAY OF JUDGMENT It is believed that on Rosh [יוֹםָׁהַזִכְּ רוֹן] Yom HaZikaron HaShanah that the destiny of 1 all humankind is recorded in ‘the Book of Life’… “…On Rosh HaShanah it is written, and on Yom Kippur it is sealed, how many will leave this world and how many will be born into it, who will live and who will die..
    [Show full text]
  • Yom Kippur Morning Sinai Temple Springfield, Massachusetts October 12, 2016
    Yom Kippur Morning Sinai Temple Springfield, Massachusetts October 12, 2016 Who Shall Live and Who Shall Die...?1 Who shall live and who shall die...? It was but a few weeks from the pulpit of Plum Street Temple in Cincinnati and my ordination to the dirt of Fort Dix, New Jersey, and the “night infiltration course” of basic training. As I crawled under the barbed wire in that summer night darkness illumined only by machine-gun tracer-fire whizzing overhead, I heard as weeks before the voice of Nelson Glueck, alav hashalom, whispering now in the sound of the war-fury ever around me: carry this Torah to amkha, carry it to your people. Who shall live and who shall die...? I prayed two prayers that night: Let me live, God, safe mikol tzarah v’tzukah, safe from all calamity and injury; don’t let that 50-calibre machine gun spraying the air above me with live ammunition break loose from its concrete housing. And I prayed once again. Let me never experience this frightening horror in combat where someone will be firing at me with extreme prejudice. Who shall live and who shall die...? I survived. The “terror [that stalks] by night” and “the arrow that flies by day” did not reach me.”2 The One who bestows lovingkindnesses on the undeserving carried me safely through. But one of my colleagues was not so lucky. He was a Roman Catholic priest. They said he died from a heart attack on the course that night. I think he died from fright.
    [Show full text]
  • Rosh Hashanah Ubhct Ubfkn
    vbav atrk vkp, Rosh HaShanah ubhct ubfkn /UbkIe g©n§J 'UbFk©n Ubhc¨t Avinu Malkeinu, hear our voice. /W¤Ng k¥t¨r§G°h i¤r¤eo¥r¨v 'UbFk©n Ubhc¨t Avinu Malkeinu, give strength to your people Israel. /ohcIy ohH° jr© px¥CUb c,§ F 'UbFknUbh© ct¨ Avinu Malkeinu, inscribe us for blessing in the Book of Life. /vcIy v²b¨J Ubhkg J¥S©j 'UbFk©n Ubhc¨t Avinu Malkeinu, let the new year be a good year for us. 1 In the seventh month, hghc§J©v J¤s«jC on the first day of the month, J¤s«jk s¨j¤tC there shall be a sacred assembly, iIº,C©J ofk v®h§v°h a cessation from work, vgUr§T iIrf°z a day of commemoration /J¤s«et¨r§e¦n proclaimed by the sound v¨s«cg ,ftk§nkF of the Shofar. /U·Gg©, tO Lev. 23:24-25 Ub¨J§S¦e r¤J£t 'ok«ug¨v Qk¤n Ubh¥vO¡t '²h±h v¨T©t QUrC /c«uy o«uh (lWez¨AW) k¤J r¯b ehk§s©vk Ub²um±uuh¨,«um¦nC Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-olam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu l’hadlik ner shel (Shabbat v’shel) Yom Tov. We praise You, Eternal God, Sovereign of the universe, who hallows us with mitzvot and commands us to kindle the lights of (Shabbat and) Yom Tov. 'ok«ug¨v Qk¤n Ubh¥vO¡t '²h±h v¨T©t QUrC /v®Z©v i©n±Zk Ubgh°D¦v±u Ub¨n±H¦e±u Ub²h¡j¤v¤J Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-olam, shehecheyanu v’kiy’manu v’higiyanu, lazman hazeh.
    [Show full text]
  • Tachanun for a Modern Jew Elyssa Joy Auster
    1 KEREM Tachanun for a Modern Jew Elyssa Joy Auster And now, hear, our God, the prayers of Your servant and his supplications, and shine the light of Your face on the Holy Sanctuary...” — : IDON’TREMEMBERANENCOUNTERWITHTACHANUN before I was in rabbinical school at Hebrew College. At the time, I was using the ArtScroll Siddur, a fairly comprehensive Orthodox prayerbook. I noticed that even though our services at Hebrew College were varied and dynamic, Tachanun was almost always left out. I started thinking about the meaning of the Tachanun prayers and started to pray them in the privacy of my own home, in the unique posture in which they were traditionally recited — prostrated on the floor. Since then, I have begun offering workshops to explore Tachanun further and to make this overlooked part of our liturgy more accessible to others. Tachanun, meaning supplication, is a section of prayers which appears just after the Amidah, in the morning and afternoon services. It is also known as Nefilat Apayim , meaning falling on one’s face, which reflects both the content and the choreography of the prayers. Originally recited in a prostrated position, Tachanun now incorporates the unusual posture of putting one’s head down on one’s forearm, echoing King David’s plea to “fall into the hand of God” and the pray-er’s utter resolve to fall before God as dust. Tachanun is also unusual in being omitted from the liturgy on numerous occasions. The broad rule is that in times of either exceptional joy or exceptional sorrow, Tachanun should not be recited.
    [Show full text]
  • Rosh Chodesh and the Transformation of Ritual a GREAT JEWISH BOOKS TEACHER WORKSHOP RESOURCE KIT
    Rosh Chodesh and the Transformation of Ritual A GREAT JEWISH BOOKS TEACHER WORKSHOP RESOURCE KIT Teachers’ Guide This guide accompanies resources that can be found at: http://teachgreatjewishbooks.org/resource-kits/rosh-chodesh-and- transformation-ritual. Introduction Rosh Chodesh means “head of the month,” and refers to the minor Jewish holiday that occurs at the beginning of each new month in the Hebrew calendar. The ancient Rabbis interpreted the Biblical verses Exodus 12:1-12:2 as requiring that the new month be determined by eyewitness testimony. Just as God showed Moses and the high priest Aaron the new moon, witnesses were supposed to testify before the judges of the Sanhedrin, the Great Court in Jerusalem, that they had seen the new moon. The officiants at the Holy Temple would then mark the occasion with a sacrifice, feasting, and fanfare. After the destruction of the Second Temple, this eyewitness procedure was replaced by astronomical and mathematical calculations that were used to determine when each month began. Bonfires were lit on the mountains between Jerusalem and Babylonia to announce the arrival of the new moon. In later years, as witnesses and messengers were replaced with a fixed calendar, few Rosh Chodesh rituals remained, although it continued to be marked liturgically by the birkat ha-chodesh (or, in Ashkenazic pronunciation, birkas hakhoydesh), the blessing of the month, which is recited on the Saturday before each new month begins. Because of associations between women and the moon, Rosh Chodesh has long been considered a special holiday for women. This association was taken up by Jewish feminists in the 1970s as they innovated to create Jewish rituals that affirmed women’s strength and created empowering female community within Jewish ritual life.
    [Show full text]
  • MEMORIAL KADDISH Dr
    MEMORIAL KADDISH Dr. Polly Etkind Hochberg Wife of our esteemed President Herman Hochberg, mother of Marisa, sister of Barbara Etkind (Rabbi Jack A. Luxemberg). Her dedication, leadership, boundless love for our Synagogue, Sisterhood and Men’s Club, and her love for Torah studies, have been instrumental in transmitting our Jewish values to the next generation. A Woman of Valor, her life was a blessing and an inspiration. She will be sorely missed. SHABBAT SHALOM Rabbi Arthur Schneier • Senior Rabbi YAHRZEITS Rabbi Benjamin Goldschmidt • Assistant Rabbi Mr. Zoltan Lefkovits, brother • Mrs. Vivian Mook Baer, aunt • Cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot • Chief Cantor Mr. Jack Pomeranc, parents, brother, sisters • Cantor Benny Rogosnitzky • Cantor Dr. Susan Nachamie, father • Mr. Moses and Mr. Jacob Sabbagh, father • Rabbi Harold Einsidler • Ritual Director Mrs. Simone Blum, husband • Toby N. Einsidler • Administrator Mrs. Helen Schlesinger, husband • Mr. Herbert Feinberg, son • Mr. Steven Thal, father • Mrs. Carla Rothman, husband • Saturday, September 2, 2017 Ms. Helga Abel, brother • Mrs. Gladys Kartin, father • 11 ELUL 5777 Mrs. Marilyn Dukoff, father-in-law • Mrs. Judith Banker, mother • KI TEITZEI Mr. Charles Maurer, grandmother • Mr. Larrry Rosner, mother • Ms. Diane Hewitt, father • Rabbi Jonathan Medows, father • Deuteronomy 21:10-25:19 Hertz p. 840 Artscroll p. 1046 PARSHAT KI TETZE HAFTORAH Isaiah 54:11-1-10 When you go out to war upon your enemies…and capture from them captives (21:10) Also from one’s spiritual enemies one must “capture captives.” Anything negative in man or in the Hertz p. 857 Artscroll p. 1201 world can be exploited for the good, if one can derive a lesson from it in the service of the Creator.
    [Show full text]
  • “Cliff Notes” 2021-2022 5781-5782
    Jewish Day School “Cliff Notes” 2021-2022 5781-5782 A quick run-down with need-to-know info on: • Jewish holidays • Jewish language • Jewish terms related to prayer service SOURCES WE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE INFORMATION FOR THIS BOOKLET WAS TAKEN FROM: • www.interfaithfamily.com • Living a Jewish Life by Anita Diamant with Howard Cooper FOR MORE LEARNING, YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN THE FOLLOWING RESOURCES: • www.reformjudaism.org • www.myjewishlearning.com • Jewish Literacy by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin • The Jewish Book of Why by Alfred J. Kolatch • The Jewish Home by Daniel B. Syme • Judaism for Dummies by Rabbi Ted Falcon and David Blatner Table of Contents ABOUT THE CALENDAR 5 JEWISH HOLIDAYS Rosh haShanah 6 Yom Kippur 7 Sukkot 8 Simchat Torah 9 Chanukah 10 Tu B’Shevat 11 Purim 12 Pesach (Passover) 13 Yom haShoah 14 Yom haAtzmaut 15 Shavuot 16 Tisha B’Av 17 Shabbat 18 TERMS TO KNOW A TO Z 20 About the calendar... JEWISH TIME- For over 2,000 years, Jews have juggled two calendars. According to the secular calendar, the date changes at midnight, the week begins on Sunday, and the year starts in the winter. According to the Hebrew calendar, the day begins at sunset, the week begins on Saturday night, and the new year is celebrated in the fall. The secular, or Gregorian calendar is a solar calendar, based on the fact that it takes 365.25 days for the earth to circle the sun. With only 365 days in a year, after four years an extra day is added to February and there is a leap year.
    [Show full text]
  • Receiving the Torah Anew
    GLOBAL RELIGIOUS LEADERS זצ“ל Rabbi Avraham Shapira Receiving the Torah Anew hag Matan Torah is the holiday of the Oral Law. says,4 “Were it not for this day, how every day and at any time, but there is Of the Torah Sages of many Yosefs would there be in the particular significance in repeating it in every generation. Matan marketplace?” In other words, thanks to the days leading up to Shavuot. Torah is renewed in every Matan Torah, I am different from your These are the days in which the light Cgeneration, and the day the Torah was regular Yosef, and hence he instituted of Torah begins to appear, just as at Har given in the past is a day infused with special foods on Shavuot. But at first Sinai the light of the Torah began to the spiritual energies for the Torah to glance it is not clear why he says this. sparkle even before then, and therefore be given every year. Every year, there is After all, if it wasn’t for this day, the we don’t say Tachanun on these days, a return to what was, and just as Pesach entire world wouldn’t exist, not only Rav like the Rishonim say we don’t say is the time of freedom every year, so Yosef. Rather we learn from here that Tachanun on Fridays at Mincha, because Shavuot is the time ripe for receiving Rav Yosef is not referring to the Giving the light of Shabbat already begins to the Torah anew in every generation.
    [Show full text]
  • CCAR Journal the Reform Jewish Quarterly
    CCAR Journal The Reform Jewish Quarterly Halachah and Reform Judaism Contents FROM THE EDITOR At the Gates — ohrgJc: The Redemption of Halachah . 1 A. Brian Stoller, Guest Editor ARTICLES HALACHIC THEORY What Do We Mean When We Say, “We Are Not Halachic”? . 9 Leon A. Morris Halachah in Reform Theology from Leo Baeck to Eugene B . Borowitz: Authority, Autonomy, and Covenantal Commandments . 17 Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi The CCAR Responsa Committee: A History . 40 Joan S. Friedman Reform Halachah and the Claim of Authority: From Theory to Practice and Back Again . 54 Mark Washofsky Is a Reform Shulchan Aruch Possible? . 74 Alona Lisitsa An Evolving Israeli Reform Judaism: The Roles of Halachah and Civil Religion as Seen in the Writings of the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism . 92 David Ellenson and Michael Rosen Aggadic Judaism . 113 Edwin Goldberg Spring 2020 i CONTENTS Talmudic Aggadah: Illustrations, Warnings, and Counterarguments to Halachah . 120 Amy Scheinerman Halachah for Hedgehogs: Legal Interpretivism and Reform Philosophy of Halachah . 140 Benjamin C. M. Gurin The Halachic Canon as Literature: Reading for Jewish Ideas and Values . 155 Alyssa M. Gray APPLIED HALACHAH Communal Halachic Decision-Making . 174 Erica Asch Growing More Than Vegetables: A Case Study in the Use of CCAR Responsa in Planting the Tri-Faith Community Garden . 186 Deana Sussman Berezin Yoga as a Jewish Worship Practice: Chukat Hagoyim or Spiritual Innovation? . 200 Liz P. G. Hirsch and Yael Rapport Nursing in Shul: A Halachically Informed Perspective . 208 Michal Loving Can We Say Mourner’s Kaddish in Cases of Miscarriage, Stillbirth, and Nefel? . 215 Jeremy R.
    [Show full text]
  • The Rosh Chodesh Planner Was Designed to Serve As a Resource for Shluchos When Planning Women's Programs. Many Years Ago, When
    בס"ד PREFACE The Rosh Chodesh Planner was designed to serve as a resource for shluchos when planning women’s programs. Many years ago, when one of the first shluchim arrived in Pittsburgh, PA, prepared to combat the assimilation of America through hafotzas hamayonos, one of the directives of the Rebbe to the shlucha was that it did not suffice for her to only become involved in her husband’s endeavors, but that she should become involved in her own areas of activities as well. Throughout the years of his nesiyus, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Nesi Dorenu, appreciated and valued the influential role the woman plays as the akeres habayis. This is evident in the many sichos which the Rebbe dedicated specifically to Jewish women and girls worldwide. Involved women are catalysts for involved families and involved communities. Shluchos, therefore, have always dedicated themselves towards reaching a broad spectrum of Jewish women from many affiliations, professions and interests. Programs become educational vehicles, provide networking and outreach opportunities for the participants, and draw them closer in their unified quest for a better and more meaningful tomorrow. Many shluchos have incorporated a schedule of gathering on a monthly basis. Brochures are mailed out at the onset of the year containing the year’s schedule at a glance. Any major event(s) are incorporated as well. This system offers the community an organized and well-planned view of the year’s events. It lets them know what to expect and gives them the ability to plan ahead. In the z’chus of all the positive accomplishments that have been and are continuously generated from women’s programs, may we be worthy of the immediate and complete Geulah.
    [Show full text]
  • Rosh Chodesh
    ROSH CHODESH JUNE 2020 VOLUME XXIV NUMBER 1 4631 South Lockwood Ridge Rd., Sarasota, FL 34231 (enter ONLY from Proctor Road between Beneva and Swift Roads) Phone (941) 924-1802 www.SINAISRQ.org SPECIAL NOTES: about the cover: Though we are physically Rosh Chodesh distancing ourselves for all of our health and safety, we are (Beginning of the Month; literally Head continuing to find ways to of the Month) is the name for the first socially and emotionally day of every month in the Hebrew cal- connect, grow and celebrate. endar, marked by the birth of a new moon. Please refer to pages 10-11 of Female-centered Rosh Chodesh observances are this tablet along with visiting centered on small gatherings of women, where Temple Sinai's website and there is often a particular interest in the Shekinah, considered by the kabbalah to be a feminine as- Facebook page. pect of God. These groups engage programs that center around issues important to Jewish women, Temple Sinai’s Website: exploring spirituality, religious education, ritual, https://templesinai-sarasota.org/ health issues, music, history, art, etc. Temple Sinai’s Facebook Page: Miriam's Cup (for the prophet Miriam) originated in the 1980s in a Boston Rosh Chodesh group. It https://www.facebook.com/ was invented by Stephanie Loo, who filled it with templesinaisarasota/?ref=bookmarks mayim hayim (living waters) and used it in a femi- nist ceremony of guided meditation. Some seders (including the original Women's Seder, but not lim- During this Covid-19 crisis, if the temple ited to women-only seders) now set Miriam's Cup office is not available, please contact as well as the traditional cup for the prophet Eli- Temple Sinai Clergy directly for the jah.
    [Show full text]