Updates from the Halacha Commission and articles of interest
The First To Repent
Question: We find that both Adam and Cain repented their sins, yet our sages extol Reuben the son of Jacob, who lived many generations later, as being the first to repent. Why is that so?
Moshe Jakobowitz [...Click headline above for more...]
Dina D’Malchuta Dina – The Law Of The Land
Question: I’ve been told that we are to follow all the directives of the government in the current pandemic, even though these very directives seem to be contrary to our religious lifestyle. The argument I’ve heard from some is Dina D’Malchuta. Is this so? [...Click headline above for more...]
Rav Ya’akov Klass: Etrog Jelly
Etrog Jelly
Question: May one eat etrog jelly on Simchat Torah?
A Reader
Miami, FL
Answer: The Mechaber (Orach Chayyim 503:1, based on a Baraita (Betza 17a) states: “One is forbidden to bake, cook or slaughter on Yom Tov for the needs of the following day even if it be for the Sabbath or Yom Tov [the second day in the Diaspora] and even on the two days of Rosh Hashana [for we may not bake, cook and prepare on one day for the following]. [...Click headline above for more...]
Rav Ya’akov Klass: Why Fault Man?
Why Fault Man?
Question: It is obvious that G-d knows the future, and if that is so, are we not at a decided disadvantage since our choice is very limited? How can man be faulted for any missteps?
Zvi Kirschner
(via e-mail) [...Click headline above for more...]
Rav Ya’akov Klass: What Doubt?
What Doubt?
Question: A while back you wrote at length about iybur, the intercalation of the year. The main premise of your discussion was that today we rely totally on calculations, a fixed calendar as opposed to the former testimony of witnesses, on a monthly basis, who would report a new moon. [...Click headline above for more...]
Yomim Noraim Corona Piskei Halochos
Psokim regarding Yomim Noraim in the age of Corona
The upcoming Yomim Noraim raise many difficult halachic questions due to the pandemic and varying government regulations and medical advisory boards. We include below piskei halocho from HaGaon Rav Asher Weiss shlit”a and HaGaon HaRishon LeTzion HaRav Yitzchak Yosef shlit”a, as well as tshuvos from Rav Yosef Zvi Rimon and medical-halachic perspectives from Rabbi Professor Avraham Steinberg. May our tfilos reach Shomayim and achieve a gzar din letov for Klal Yisroel and the entire world. [...Click headline above for more...]
New Publication: Minchas Asher on Yomim Noraim During Corona
HaGaon Rav Asher Weiss, through his Machon Minchas Asher, published a booklet of tshuvos about the Yomim Noraim in the age of Coronavirus.
Questions include:
* If, when and how to shorten the davening
* Covering the shofar
* Fasting on Yom Kippur with Coronavirus
* Taking a lulav with gloves
and more [...Click headline above for more...]
