Must Everyone Get Up Early for Selihot?

Must Everyone Get Up Early for Selihot? Day: Sunday Date: August 31, 2014 Parshat: Ki Tetze Yalkut Yosef: 581 Torah teachers, Yeshivah students, and people that are not self employed, who feel that they will not be able to perform their jobs to par if they get up early for selihot may skip some days and should go to selihot at least on Mondays and Thursdays and during the aseret yeme teshuva. If possible they should say the selihot sometime in the afternoon or at night after hatzot. Tikun hatzot should also be said before going to sleep and if one can only say one or the other it is better to say tikun hatzot. One who is saying the selihot without a minyan may not say the thirteen midot as a prayer. Instead he should read it with the tune that it is read from the Torah. The DSH is brought to you in memory of Rabbi Mordechai ben Daniel. Please visit us online at sephardichalacha.org

The Best Time to Say the Selihot

The Best Time to Say the Selihot Day: Friday Date: August 29, 2014 Parshat: Shoftim Yalkut Yosef: 318 The ideal time to say the selihot is from hatzot and on until the morning. During that time it is more likely that our prayers will be answered as it is an "et ratzon." Before hatzot one may not say the thirteen midot or other parts of the selihot. If one hears others saying them he should not join in. On the contrary, he should he peacefully explain to them that what they are doing is incorrect. It is more important for a person to remain awake and alert during shahrit than it is for him to say the selihot early. Therefore one who feels that by getting up early to say selihot he will not be able to focus on his prayers, should say selihot later on in the day. The DSH is brought to you in memory of Rabbi Mordechai ben Daniel. Please visit us online at sephardichalacha.org

The Reason We Start Selihot from Rosh Chodesh Elul

The Reason We Start Selihot from Rosh Chodesh Elul Day: Thursday Date: August 28, 2014 Parshat: Shoftim Yalkut Yosef: 581 The Sephardic custom is to begin reciting the selihot from the day after Rosh Chodesh Elul until Yom Kippur. The reason for this is because we have a tradition that Moshe Rabenu went up on Har Sinai to receive the second set of luchot on Rosh Chodesh Elul and descended on Yom Kippur. These days are traditionally days of mercy for us. On that original Yom Kippur HaShem forgave us for our sin of the golden calf and therefore Yom Kippur was designated as the day of atonement for every year thereafter. The DSH is brought to you in memory of Rabbi Mordechai ben Daniel. Please visit us online at sephardichalacha.org

May One Pour Hot Water on an Egg on Shabbat?

May One Pour Hot Water on an Egg on Shabbat? Day: Wednesday Date: August 27, 2014 Parshat: Shoftim Yalkut Yosef: 318 If before Shabbat one poured hot water (from a kli rishon) over a raw egg causing it to become soft boiled, he may pour hot water over it again on Shabbat in order to warm it up. Even if the egg will become hard boiled it is still permissible because of the principle of "en bishul ahar bishul." Likewise, he may also put the egg into a pot of hot water that is no longer on the fire. However, if the egg is raw one may not put it into hot water even in a kli sheni. The DSH is brought to you in memory of Rabbi Mordechai ben Daniel. Please visit us online at sephardichalacha.org

Leaving a Pot of Raw Food on the Plata From Before Shabbat

Leaving a Pot of Raw Food on the Plata From Before Shabbat Day: Tuesday Date: August 26, 2014 Parshat: Shoftim Yalkut Yosef: 318 On Erev Shabbat one may put a pot of raw food on a plata which is connected to a timer so that when the plata eventually turns on the food will cook. Since there are some poskim who do not allow doing so, one who refrains even though he is not required to is worthy of blessing. On Shabbat itself one may place a pot of liquid that was cooked before Shabbat and cooled down somewhat on a plata that is currently off but will turn on with a timer. The DSH is brought to you in memory of Rabbi Mordechai ben Daniel. Please visit us online at sephardichalacha.org

May One Tell a Goy to Put Raw Food on the Plata

May One Tell a Goy to Put Raw Food on the Plata Day: Monday Date: August 25, 2015 Parshat: Shoftim Yalkut Yosef: 318 On Shabbat one may not put a pot of raw food on a plata connected to a timer that is off so that when the plata turns on the food will cook. Likewise one also may not a pot of raw food on the stove so that a non Jew will see it and turn on the fire. It goes without saying that one may not tell the goy to turn the fire on. Even if the food is fully cooked one may not have the goy turn on the fire to heat it. If the goy does so, one may not partake of the food the entire Shabbat even after it has cooled down. After Shabbat it may be eaten after the amount of time that it took to heat the food has passed. However a Sephardic person may instruct a goy on Shabbat to put onto the plata a liquid dish that has cooled down. Only things that are clearly asur to do may not be instructed to others to do. Since there is a mahloket whether or not one may put such a dish on the plata it is permissible to instruct the goy to do so. Ashkenazim may put the dish onto the plata on their own. The DSH is brought to you in memory of Rabbi Mordechai ben Daniel. Please visit us online at sephardichalacha.org

Adding Water to a Pot of Food to Prevent it From Drying Out.

Adding Water to a Pot of Food to Prevent it From Drying Out. Day: Sunday Date: August 24, 2014 Parshat: Shoftim Yalkut Yosef: 318 One may not add hot water on Shabbat directly to a pot of food that is still on the fire in order to prevent the food from drying out. One who sees others doing so should respectfully protest. One may add water however to a kli sheni. Ashkenazim may add water that is still hot to a kli rishon as long as the kli rishon is not directly on the fire anymore. Once the pot has been placed on a plata or a blech it is permissible. Sephardim may not add hot water to the kli rishon even once it has been removed from the fire until it cools down. A Sephardic student in an Ashkenazi yeshiva, or a Sephardic guest in an Ashkenazi home may partake of the food even if he knows that hot water was added. However, as we have said previously (see DSH from July 4, 2014) he may not tell the Ashkenazi to add water. The DSH is brought to you in memory of Rabbi Mordechai ben Daniel. Please visit us online at sephardichalacha.org

Adding Salt to Food on Shabbat

Adding Salt to Food on Shabbat Day: Friday Date: August 22, 2014 Parshat: Re'eh Yalkut Yosef: 318 One may add salt on Shabbat to a pot of food that has been removed from the fire even if the food is still hotter than yad soledet bo. If the salt is raw it is preferable but not necessary to wait until the food cools down. Most salt nowadays is considered to be cooked already due to the processing it goes through. The reason one may not add salt while the food is still on the fire is because doing so makes it appear as if one is cooking on Shabbat since that is a normal part of the cooking process. If one added salt while the food was still on the fire anyways the food may still be eaten. Other spices however, such as pepper, turmeric, saffron etc., may not be added to a kli rishon that is above the temperature of yad soledet bo. The DSH is brought to you in memory of Rabbi Mordechai ben Daniel. Please visit us online at sephardichalacha.org

Putting Bread Into Soup on Shabbat

Putting Bread Into Soup on Shabbat Day: Thursday Date: August 21, 2014 Parshat: Re'eh Yalkut Yosef: 318 It is permissible on Shabbat to dip bread in soup since the bread has already been fully cooked. For the same reason one may also pour soup over soup nuts or pour boiling hot water over coffee grinds. Since the soup nuts and the coffee grinds are both fully cooked, pouring the water over them has no effect of cooking. Likewise one may also our boiling water into instant soup or over noodles on Shabbat if the ingredients in the soup or noodles had been previously fully cooked and are edible before pouring the water. Sephardim may pour from a kli rishon directly onto these items and Ashkenazim may pour from a kli sheni only. If possible Sephardim should pour only from a kli sheni as well. The DSH is brought to you in memory of Rabbi Mordechai ben Daniel. Please visit us online at sephardichalacha.org

Toasting Bread on Shabbat

Toasting Bread on Shabbat Day: Wednesday Date: August 20, 2014 Parshat: Re'eh Yalkut Yosef: 318 Once a non liquid food item has been fully cooked it is permissible to recook it on Shabbat. Whether the item was originally baked, fried, roasted, toasted, boiled, or cooked in any other way it may be reheated. With regards to making toast on Shabbat there are some poskim who maintain that toasting bread constitutes a "makeh bepatish", or, the finishing touch, and therefore is forbidden. Other poskim maintain that the concept of makeh bepatish does not apply to food and according to them it is permissible to toast bread on Shabbat. The Halacha follows the latter view and one may in fact put bread on the plata on Shabbat in order to toast it. However one who wants to follow the stricter view and therefore refrains from making toast on Shabbat is worthy of blessing. The DSH is brought to you in memory of Rabbi Mordechai ben Daniel. Please visit us online at sephardichalacha.org

Heating Frozen Soup on Shabbat

Heating Frozen Soup on Shabbat Day: Sunday Date: August 17, 2014 Parshat: Re'eh Yalkut Yosef: 318 One is allowed on Shabbat to pour soup from a kli rishon directly onto bread. One also may dip bread into soup which is a kli sheni. One may not put frozen soup onto the plata on Shabbat. Even though the soup is frozen it is still considered to be a "liquidy" food. One may heat meat filled borekas or knishes on Shabbat even though doing so will cause the hardened oil inside to become liquid as it heats up. Ashkenazim however may not heat up such a boreka or knish because of the concern of nolad, causing a new creation or substance. If there is a only a very small amount of oil such that it won't be apparent, then Ashkenazim may heat it up as well. The DSH is brought to you in memory of Rabbi Mordechai ben Daniel. Please visit us online at sephardichalacha.org

Bathing During the Shevua Shechal Bo

Bathing During the Shevua Shechal Bo Day: Sunday Date: August 3, 2014 Parshat: Va'ethanan Yalkut Yosef: 551 Some people do not bathe starting from Rosh Hodesh Av and others refrain only during the week of Tisha Be'av. The Sephardic custom is to only refrain from bathing during the week of Tisha Be'av. The accepted custom for Sephardim is to refrain from bathing only in hot water. Cold water however is permissible. Ashkenazim however refrain from bathing in cold water as well unless absolutely necessary. Chasidim or others who immerse in a mikva daily may do so in a cold mikva during the shavua shechal bo. If there is no cold mikva, they may use a hot one. The DSH is brought to you in memory of Rabbi Mordechai ben Daniel. Please visit us online at sephardichalacha.org

Cutting Ones Nails During the She via Shechal Bo

Cutting Ones Nails During the She via Shechal Bo Day: Friday Date: August 1, 2014 Parshat: Devarim Yalkut Yosef: 551 One may comb or brush his hair during the shavua shechal bo even though it'll cause hair to fall out. Some poskim forbid cutting ones nails during the week of Tisha Be'av and some allow it. The accepted custom is to allow one to cut his nails. Even those who do not allow cutting ones nails do allow it if the nails extend beyond the end of the person finger. During the shavua shechal bo we do not do any laundry. The prohibition against washing clothes applies even if a person has only one outfit, he still would not be able to wash it during the week. Likewise, we also may not wear fresh clothes, including undergarments. In hot climates where it is necessary to change clothing, one may wear the garments in advance for a short time so that they will not be considered freshly laundered when he puts them on later. One may switch garments a number of times before the shavua shechal bo starts just so that he can wear them once it starts. This may even be done on Shabbat and is not considered preparing for the weekday since he is using them on Shabbat. If a person didn't prepare any clothing beforehand and he's danger of losing his self respect, he may wear fresh clothes. The DSH is brought to you in memory of Rabbi Mordechai ben Daniel. Please visit us online at sephardichalacha.org