What One Can Do While Waiting to Take Three Steps Back
First, let us review your assumption that you may not step back. In general, you may not encroach...
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How to Carry Out a Shortened Chazarat Hashatz
The Shulchan Aruch and Rama discuss starting Shemoneh Esrei along with a chazan in two different contexts. In...
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Davening Without a Minyan vs. Working Before Davening
One should not perform any work before davening once alot hashachar (some 72 minutes before sunrise) has passed....
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Forming a Separate Minyan to Accommodate Multiple Mourners
It is often difficult and unwise to argue with chiyuvim because their demands usually stem from a sincere...
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A Brit Mila or Mincha – Which Should be Done First?
We will first explain why this question does not arise in the writings of the classical poskim. A...
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A Wheelchair Bound Chazan
There are two main issues to discuss regarding this question. In discussing the qualifications of a chazan, the...
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What a Woman Should Do If She Missed Mincha
One factor that your question depends upon is whether women are obligated to daven Mincha. The Rambam says...
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Chazanim Repeating Words
The mishna states that one who says “Modim modim” is silenced. The reason is that he appears to...
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One Who Davened Mincha Instead of Ma’ariv
There are times when one might recite Shemoneh Esrei at Ma’ariv without having recited Kri’at Shema and its...
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At What Points During Davening May a Gabbai Speak?
Chazarat hashatz is a logical time to take care of planning the aliyot. Although it is theoretically better...
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Must the Oleh for Maftir Read Along?
First, we will summarize the matter of an oleh reading along with the regular kri’at haTorah. The Shulchan...
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The Correct Pronunciation of a Kamatz Katan
If your shul has a rabbi, this public policy matter is his decision. Since not every shul has...
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Giving the Second Aliya to One With Doubtful Levi Status
Investigative work might uncover how likely it is that Reuven is a levi. However, we cannot to do...
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What to Do When a Mistake is Found in a Sefer Torah During Laining
Many problematic mistakes in sifrei Torah can now be caught in advance by computer checks, which every shul...
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Correcting a Mistaken Opening Beracha for Torah Reading
This not infrequent scenario is the subject of an interesting machloket. The Maharil tells of one who started...
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Are Levi’im Obligated to Wash the Hands of the Kohanim?
In the many places in Israel that this respondent has davened, I have found that levi’im almost always...
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An Ashkenazi Doing Birkat Kohanim in a Sephardi Minyan in Chutz La’Aretz
Let us start by exploring why Ashkenazim refrain from doing Birkat Kohanim daily in chutz la’aretz and see...
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When to Go Up for Birkat Kohanim
The gemara says that just as Aharon is described as blessing the people at the time of avoda...
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Is it Preferable to Start a Meal with Bread?
One is not required to eat bread if he does not want to, even if it means that...
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How Long to Wait After Zimun to Resume Eating
The gemara cites a machloket regarding until which point birkat hazimun extends. Rav Nachman says it is until...
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One Who is Uncertain if He Recited Birkat HaMazon
The Shulchan Aruch rules that if one is unsure whether he bentched or not, he should nevertheless bentch....
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Moving to a New Location in the Midst of a Meal
You have made the question more manageable by asking specifically about a meal, which we are assuming includes...
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The Beracha on Schnitzel
The truth is actually not simple. As we will see, much of the difficulty is not a matter...
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Factors that Determine the Precedence of Berachot
First, we will explore whether you could have eaten grapes based on the beracha that you made. Then...
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Beracha Acharona After Ice Cream and Ices
We will start by discussing the parallel discussion among the poskim regarding tea and coffee, and we will...
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Repeating Tefillat HaDerech During An Ongoing Trip
The Kolbo cites the Maharam MiRotenberg’s assertion that one says Tefillat HaDerech only once during the day even...
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Beracha at the Place Where One Was Saved in a Car Accident
First, if you are Ashkenazi, reciting HaGomel as you did was proper, as one recites the beracha after...
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Reciting HaGomel for a Child Who Was Saved
Regarding a question about something that already happened, we should consider the matter from two perspectives: What is...
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Use of a Non-Jew on Shabbat
There are two issues to discuss regarding the use of a goy shel Shabbat. One is menschlichkeit. You...
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Using a Driver Who Did Not Make Havdala
The gemara tells of an Amora who chopped wood after Shabbat before reciting Havdala, but only after reciting...
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