The fellow who led the services had tried to get people to go up and lead but nobody wanted to and eventually he himself went and led them.

He got to the shmoneh esrei several minutes before honetz (aka netz/vatikin) and one person was getting visibly nervous. He even went to the chazzan and tried to get him to wait until the official sunrise time, but the chazzan brushed him off. He went back to his seat and was visibly nervous and even started gesticulating to people to wait, it is too early, etc. The services went on despite his anxiety.

After the services were over he went over to the chazzan and told him off for being too early and it is a netz minyan and so close to netz he could have waited 3 or 4 minutes, etc. 

This is a minyan made up of mostly random people who happen to be there for whatever reason, along with a few regulars of people who work in the building or nearby. This chazzan is one of the regulars, and the anxious guy is not.

When Mr Anxious went over to complain, the chazzan responded that it is not a netz minyan but a "workers minyan" and it is perfectly fine to not wait. The anxious guy was arguing about that a bit. I was standing right behind them and joined in for a moment saying his complaining is inappropriate - what's done is done and he didnt violate anything even if netz is preferred. Also, the shulchan aruch when talking about davening at netz only says the "vatikin" would try to daven close to honetz. Today we have people who are concerned about getting the time right down to the millisecond by use of atomic clocks and whatnot, but there is no such requirement and people davening early were never so concerned about that level of accuracy until recent generations.

I heard a rav once say that davening before netz is just as bdieved as davening after netz.

What do you think - who was right in this situation - the chazzan or the anxious person? I get the idea that you are so close to netz anyway so why not wait a few minutes, but also people dont want to wait - they have places to go, things to do. They are just going to stand around for 3, 4 or 5 minutes doing nothing? Making them wait is the definition of tircha dtzibbura. I personally think his criticism and behavior was very out of place. He could have waited for honetz if he wanted to (and I think he did) but he should not have gesticulated and criticized and shown his anxiety.

By the way, as a I left I checked the sign that has the schedule of services and nowhere on the sign does it say it is a netz minyan.

Fair enough.

The City of Tel Aviv reportedly has said no public prayer will be allowed. Go to shul if you want to pray. From what I understand they said that in years past it was only because of CoronaVirus issues and attempts to keep indoor gatherings small, if at all, so they allowed prayer gatherings outside, but before that and after that it is not and was not allowed.

Fair enough.

While I have no specific desire for them to allow prayer in the streets, I think they should be davening in shul in general and not int eh streets unless there are extenuating circumstances, I do think the person who made the request should either appeal the decision or appeal to the courts.  The City of Tel Aviv recently allowed public prayer for Muslims in public areas outdoors for a recent holiday (Chag HaKorban). If outdoor prayer can be allowed for Muslims, it should also be allowed for Jews.

Whatever is decided, I hope people can respect the final decisions and not have/cause a repeat of last years terrible situation.

Also, Tikkun Chatzos should not be said today.

source: Arutz7

Skipping tomorrow, on Thursday, would be a more significant statement. Or, in a real Jewish state they would have delayed the strike until Wednesday night.. (just joking, relax)

Israel is scheduled to transition off of DST to Winter Time at the end of October. According to Barkat, the troops will benefit form the extra hour of daylight during active hours, so instead of sunset at 4:30 it would be at 5:30, and the economy will benefit from this as well. Additionally, people get down and depressed during the winter months with darkness settling in early - keeping it daylight for a bit longer will keep people's spirits up a bit.

Some support the initiative, saying it will help the war efforts.

Others oppose the initiative. Minister from Shas along with Minister of Communication Shlomo Karhi are opposed to the initiative because it will hurt religious people who need to pray. With a late sunrise people wont be able to pray until 7am instead of at 6am.

source: Ynet

I do not personally have an opinion on the matter other than to say that if it really would help the troops and the general morale of the nation, and I do not know if it will or wont and that should be studied, it should be done. At this time that is the most important thing. The religious people, myself included, can sacrifice a bit and daven a little later for a short period of time. It seems a little selfish while the troops are sacrificing everything including their lives, or at least risking them, that davening at 7 is our biggest problem and we give priority to that. And again, I do not know if extending daylight savings time will help the troops, and that should be studied, but if it will it should be done.

The only justification I can think of for the opposition of the extension is if the opposing ministers are referring to religious soldiers not being able to daven until 7am which might be too late for them. If they are referring to civilians I see no justification in the event that the troops really will benefit from the extension.

I do think it is interesting that this is an effect of, and conversely can effect, the war.

This year has seen a serious shortage of rain. The other the news reported that a group of farmers petitioned to the Eida Hachareidis to instruct its followers to say the rain prayers, and the Eida did release such a call to the public.

We are near the end of January and have only had a few days of decent rains, so there isnt much left of the winter.

Rav Zilbershtein notes that while we have had some rain, it was a very small amount so far and very short lived - just brief periods of rain.

Rav Harari went to Rav Asher Weiss to ask his opinion on this matter.

Rav Weiss responded paskening that a person manning the booth is exempt from davening mincha. However, he added, if there is another Jew at the polling statino that is there to prevent fraud, then the first is not exempt and can rely on the other to prevent fraud while he davens. He himself is only exempt if he is the only Jew present.

Rav Weiss added that there is a consideration regarding people who man the booths both lshem shamayim and because they pay well, if perhaps the pay detracts from the mitzva aspect and then they would no longer be exempt form davening. Rav Weiss paskened that because they are going to dangerous places, even though they are getting paid it is clear the main purpose is the mitzva, so they are still exempt.

source: INN

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

But if you are a religious person, of any religion, who believes in prayer, it seems like a house of worship, of any type, would be a bad place for staging such a hostage incident and threatening to blow it up. If you believe in prayer, it seems a house of worship would be a place where all that is concentrated, making your terrorist work all that much difficult, with the odds stacked against you.

Thankfully the hostage incident in Congregation Bet Israel ended peacefully, and I consider the death of the terrorist as a peaceful ending, because nobody else was hurt in the process. Good work by the FBI and other security forces, with the backing of God saying not in My house, urged on by all the prayers on behalf of the hostages.

I don't know why they did this, but Hamechadesh says that a group of the donors tracked the shiach of the kupa and saw that because of the heat, on the long walk to the grave he took his hat and jacket off. The young man fulfilled his task by saying some tehillim by the grave and saying the names of the donors, but he did so without donning his hat and jacket.

the donors asked Rav Mendel Shafran if they deserve their money back as they had expected a rav of some sort to be sent, not a bachur [who would take off his hat and jacket]. The Kupa responded that they never promised or insinuated that they would be sending a rav, just that they would send a messenger to daven and say the names of the donors at the grave - that was done and they need to pay their commitment.  

The group of rabbonim led by Rav Shafran, including Rav Yaakov Chaim Sofer, Rav Shafran, Rav Naftali Nussbaum and Rav Fried, rejected the claim of the donors. They decided that if the kupa did not explicitly promise to send a rabbi or a notable talmid chacham to daven on their behalf, sending any frum, Torah-observant Jew, is acceptable. Rav Chaim Kanievsky agreed with this psak.

Rav Shafran concluded the psak with a note saying that who even knows if the prayer of notable rabbonim is more accepted than those of a young yeshiva bachur who is still protected and without sin...

Haredim10 reports that Rav Dinner paskened that one should stop davening immediately and go to the bomb shelter or other protected area - a reinforced room, stairwell, etc. Rav Dinner said that pikuach nefesh takes precedence.

Rav Dinner added that he heard this psak himself from Rav Shteinman back in the day. He says he asked Rav Shteinman for an explanation, as the gemara says that one who is davening should not react and interrupt the prayer even if a snake is winding itself around his ankle. Rav Shteinman had explained that most snakes are not dangerous and do not kill. The explosions - each one is dangerous, they are all dangerous, and it is a miracle that more people are not killed from each one, but being that each rocket is dangerous but most snakes are not, that is why on a rocket siren one must stop his prayers and go immediately to a protected room.

Rav Klein says that this outage of rain is unusual for this time of the year and this now has the status of a drought. Farmers are now even using watering systems to water their crops, which never had to be done at this time of the year.

source: Hamechadesh

Let's get to it. Israel needs its rain!

As an aside, I love how they say this will be a surprise while they are announcing it in advance. And How they talk about secrets trips to foreign countries with secret meetings with foreign leaders while they are publicizing it.

The big election surprise is going to be, possibly, the King of Morocco paying a visit to Israel, to Al Aksa, and to meet with PM Netanyahu. The visit has not quite been scheduled yet, but the invitation has been extended, and according to the new reports Netanyahu and his people are hoping it will happen before the elections and work in his favor. 

I wonder if this will draw away some of the voters from Shas to Likud, as the Sefardi voters 

Perhaps the more interesting part of this story is the halachic aspect of it.

Chief Rabbi Rav Yitzchak Yosef has issued a psak, based on this rumor of a possible surprise visit by the King of Morocco, that one who sees him should NOT say the bracha said upon seeing a king.

Rav Yosef explained that even though the bracha would be made upon seeing a king who has the authority to order a death sentence or to issue a pardon for someone on death row, and the King of Morocco has this authority, you still would not say it upon seeing this king. 

Rav Yosef explained that the King of Morocco does not wear the traditional royal garments of a king but wears a suit and tie. The bracha is only said upon seeing a king wearing his royal garments - suit and tie are not considered royal garments.

Rav Yosef adds that one would be able to say the bracha without using the full text with the name of Hashem. I guess that would be a way of showing respect to the king without actually making a bracha.

source: Hamechadesh

  - all guidelines form the Ministry of Health must be followed, with davening and minyanim only taking place according to the guidelines.

  - people should go get vaccinated

  - mincha should be davened earlier to have enough time for the Torah reading and haftorah and birkat kohanim before Shabbos begins

  - anyone with CoronaVirus should not fast, even if he does not feel sick with any symptoms

  - anyone in quarantine who does not feel well should not fast

  - people leading the services Friday night should not extend them with lengthy prayers and tunes, as the fast only ends when people make kiddush

That is a big one - instructing people to change the text of the prayer to reflect the current reality.

Someone asked Rav Asher Weiss about a person who did not wear masks and mingled with people not keeping distance and eventually caught the CoronaVirus. his situation has turned dire, and the question is if this person should be davened for?

Rav Asher Weiss compares it to a case in the Gemara in which someone ignored the words of Chazal and ate something Chazal considered dangerous. He got sick and a similar question is dealt with. 

Rav Weiss concludes that there is nothing wrong with davening for someone who is sick, even if he got sick due to his own negligence and therefore doesn't really "deserve" the prayers. Chazal say someone who refuses to beseech for mercy for his friend, for another Jew, is a sinner.

source: Kikar

Good health to all

Could you daven for someone who got sick with CoronaVirus, if he was not wearing a mask?

A talmid chochom asked Rav Yitzchak Zilbershtein, Rav of Ramat Elchonon neighborhood of Bnei Braq, if he should daven for someone with CoronaVirus, after the fellow had refused to heed warnings and wear a mask. The story goes that in this shul they say tehillim for people with CoronaVirus, led by this talmid chochom (I will assume it is the rav of the shul, even though the article in Kikar does not say so), and then people submit names of the sick people for the prayer for the sick after the tehillim. One person has been going to the shul without a mask. Many people told him to wear a mask, and he continued to refuse to do so. The rav also warned this fellow and when he continued to refuse, the rav warned him that he is actively killing himself and if he gets sick "don't come to me to daven for you".

Sure enough, Mr Brainiac got sick a few days later and even went into critical condition. 

Brainiac's family went to the rav and asked him to daven on behalf of the sick relative, specifically at the various bris mila ceremonies he participates in.

Initially the rav responded saying he won't daven for him - he had warned the fellow and been ignored and he specifically told him not to come back asking for tefillos.

At some point he was not confident his approach was proper, so he asked Rav Zilbershtein if he should be davening for this fellow.

Rav Zilbershtein responded that it really depends. If the fellow was not healthy before he got Corona, then perhaps he was not of clear mind and when he refused to wear a mask it was not a clear conscious decision, so he should be davened for, and if he recovers he should bentch gomel. If, however, he was healthy before he got Corona, then there is no need to daven on his behalf and if he recovers he should not bentch gomel.

My question is the second one asked above. The rav asked if he should daven for this fellow. My question is if he could daven for him. He does not need to, but perhaps he still could. When a person does this to himself, is there no place in us for rachmanus? Does it cost us anything? Does it use up our quota of prayers for other people in heaven and maybe someone else we daven for won't get helped?

I get that there is no need to but could he anyway?

Rosh Hashana is just a week and a half away and nobody really knows what will be allowed then and what will be recommended, what regulations will be in place, if there will be a closure or not, will the shuls be open or not and if yes for how many people.... so many questions, and we likely won't know until a day or two before the holiday starts. Any decisions and announcements made between now and then will likely be reversed or changed closer to the holiday.

In preparation, as much as possible, for a Rosh Hashana that might have all sorts of limitations, different rabbonim are issuing rulings as to what can, and sometimes should, be changed and what should be kept as normal....

Kipa quotes  the rulings from Chief Rabbi Rav Yitzchak Yosef. According to Rav Yosef, all instructions from the Ministry of Health must be followed, including social distancing and wearing masks, and opening the windows of the shul. Anybody who is not careful to wear masks and does not keep his distance in shul and infects other people, and especially if he infects people with prior health conditions and gets him sick and causes death, has transgressed a very serious sin.

After that introduction, Rav Yosef says, regarding:

Shuls: 2 minyanim should be organized, with one operating at sunrise, netz hachama, and the second later. It is better to have the minyanim outdoors if possible, making arrangements for shade and airflow. If davening indoors, the people davening should be divided up into groups as per the instructions from the Health Ministry

Davening: singing and piyutim should be minimized. When necessary, selling the aliyos and other honors should be minimized or cut out, as should the Mi Shebeirachs after aliyahs as well. Rabbonim should shorten any speeches to be given (such as before the shofar blowing). The Mizmor said before the shofar blowing, normally repeated 7 times, should only be said once.

Shofar: People should not stand near the person blowing the shofar to avoid the particles of breath and spittle blown out of the shofar. In necessary situations, the large opening of the shofar can be covered with a face mask, but in such scenarios the mask should be on it tightly and should not go into the shofar itself at all. In such a situation, before the holiday it should be tested to ensure the mask covering the shofar is not changing the sound of it at all. 

Anybody sick with CoronaVirus or in quarantine, or anyone in the high risk category, should not go to shul but should daven alone at home and should find someone to blow near his house by a window so he can hear the shofar. One can fulfill his obligation of hearing the shofar blown like this even through a closed door.

Women: women who always go to shul on the Yomim Noraim are not obligated to go to shul and do not need to perform an annulment of vows, a hatarat nedarim. Because women are not obligated in the mitzva of shofar, if there is no space available in shul, a shofar blowing for women should be arranged for later in the afternoon.

Tashlich: someone in quarantine should say tashlich in his house near a bowl of water  or by the running water of the faucet.

Selichot: someone in quarantine can say selichot via the telephone or other forms of communication (eg zoom, whatsapp video, etc)

Hatarat Nedarim (Annulment of Vows): someone in quarantine can perform the customary annulment of vows via telephone and other forms of communication, by saying the text along with someone else saying it, and when the "beis din matirim" respond with their text they should have in mind all the participants, including those on the telephone and zoom, etc

Kikar brings the rulings of a number of Rabbis as well on these matters.

Rav Shlomo Raanan, Director of Ayelet Hashachar, asked several poskim the following questions:

1. considering the increased risk of spreading the virus via blown particles, can oen cover the shofar with a mask or a filter, or can the shofar blower keep his mask on while blowing the shofar? (note, I have no idea how the shofar can be blown physically while wearing a mask)

2. can the shofar opening be directed downward?

3. is it ok lechatchila to blow just 30 blasts, and is it ok to skip piyutim?

4. (Ayelet Hashachar is an organization that arranges minyanim and torah learnign in secular areas, especially on secular kibbutzim) in such minyanim as those arranged by Ayelet Hashachar, is it appropriate to be more lenient on being more careful? (note, I dont understand the question. At first I thought there must be a typo in the article, but based on answers below, it was not just me )

Rav Yitzchak Zilbershtein, Rav of Ramat Elchonon neighborhood of Bnei Braq, responded:

1. you cannot blow shofar through a mask - that is a chatzitza.

2. you cannot blow less than 100 blasts, but ask people to keep their distance from the shofar blower.

3. do not cut out piyutim, especially now being in a time when we need more heavenly mercy, but it is really too early to discuss this possibility as things change daily.

4. Rav Zilbershtein didn't understand this question.

Rav Mendel Shafran, posek, av beis din and rosh kollel in Bnei Braq, responded:

1. a. the shofar blowers mouth cannot be covered with a mask because of chatzitza, and disinfecting between people might not help

b. possibly soaking the shofar in alcohol between people using it might help

c. at the large opening of the shofar, a cloth filter can be attached. It is not a chatzitza nor does it affect the sound of the shofar, and dulling the strength of the sound is not a problem.

2. the shofar can be turned downward

3. if there are instructions to finish the minyan quickly, 30 blasts would be enough, and that can be done if chazarat hashatz is not ebing said. It would be better though to say chazarat hashatz but skip the yotzros, and then blow another 30 during the brachos.

Technically, the yotzros can be minimized and even skipped, but, Rav Shafran says, he thinks the congregation will not want to skip some of the regular yotzros that are sung nicely,.

4. all instructions from the Ministry of Helth should be strictly adhered to no matter where you are - in Haredi, Religious or Secular communities.

Rav Gershon Bess, rav of Kehilas Yaakov community responded:

1. covering the shofar with a mask has been checked and found to not affect the sound, so it is fine.

2. It is preferable to not minimize the number of blasts blown and piyutim said.If we follow all the guidelines as instructed, wearing masks and distancing then we have performed our obligations faithfully. Rav Bess says he is hesitant that being lenient on minhagei yisrael could weaken the minhag and next year or in another year there mightbe some issue and people will say but last year we canceled it so it is less important. If necessary, we will dow hat is necessary but if there is no outstanding reason, we should not minimize them.

Rav Shlomo Aviner, one of the leading Religious Zionist rabbis, responded:

1. the mask is a chatzitza (I don't know if he means the mask ont he shofar, the mask on the shofar blower, or both)

2. the shofar can be turned downward

3. piyutim should not be skipped

4. it should be blown near an open window

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------