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Have a question? Send it in! Questions are answered by Rabbi Bartfeld.
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# 2630 Covid's True Constancy = Change
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Q. My backyard adjoins other neighbours who wish to make a minyan across backyard fences in the way described as permitted by the Rov. Do I (and the other adult male members of my household) have an obligation to join such a minyan? Without the 3 people from my house, there would be no minyan in adjoining properties. (I currently daven b’yachid in accordance with the directives from Hatzoloh locally, and Agudas Yisroel of America who have prohibited minyanim “without exception” – as per April 6 Joint Statement with RCA, OU, Lakewood Vaad.)
A. A defining attribute of the Covid crisis is its constant ability to change.
Horav Shlomo Miller's opinion today (4/14/20) is, that due to the changing situation, at this point in time, all minyonim should be avoided. This includes the one you describe, as well as the one addressed in questions 2610, 2624, and 2629. Although, they would comply with the strict letter of the law in our locations, the Rov maintains that the potential for Chillul Hashem, as well as the possible non-compliance of the attendants to all conditions, preempts all other considerations.
Therefore, all minyonim in every form and location, should be avoided at his time.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as advised by Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit'a
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Posted 4/14/2020 12:45 PM |
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# 2629 So Far and Yet So Near
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Q. Re- questions 2610 and 2624 regarding a group of five neighbors that share different sides and corners of their back yards, with one standing in the middle, that want to organize a minyan during these critical covid times. Since each family has one or several bar mitzva children and they are all staying home because of the required separation. They organized a minyan by just looking over the fences of the adjoining properties. (See there the important details and conditions).
When reading the Torah in the central backyard, can someone in an adjoining property receive an aliyah without entering into the yard where the Torah is being read?
A. Horav Dovid Pam Shlit'a mentioned that he heard in the name of Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit'a that he permitted a neighbor that is inside his own backyard and cannot read the Torah from that far, to be called and then recite the brochos from where he is, as he would normally do, and then just listen to the reading of the Torah.
The above is based on the fact that a blind person, can also be called to the Torah and proceed to recite the brochos before and after, even when he can't actually read the sefer, but just hear the reading. (See Remah O.H. 139: 3, and Mishna Berura ibid. 130).
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as advised by Horav Dovid Pam Shlit'a
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Posted 4/14/2020 12:16 AM |
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# 2628 No Place Like Home
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Q. My father became ill and tested positive to the corona virus. However, since his case is until now B'H mild, his doctors were not convinced that his best option is to be hospitalized. Since he lives in a way off place, the hospital available to him will not provide these days kosher food, due to the restrictions set by the current crisis. The food that would be available to him in the hospital, even if he only eats fruits and vegetables, may still be questionable during Pesach. As he is not in imminent sakana (danger), and BE"H he should keep on that way, what is the correct thing for him to do?
A. Horav Shlomo Miller's Shlit'a opinion is that considering that he is not in sakana now, and being hospitalized may be a detrimental and aggravating factor as his doctors also advised, it would seem reasonable that the best option is to stay at home, where his family can take care of him, and he can also consume proper food. Also he may not be additionally exposed to other infections.
However, great care should be taken to monitor constantly his condition and have the means ready to transport him to the hospital immediately, if that becomes necessary.
One should also maintain his physicians constantly aware of his condition.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as advised by Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit'a.
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Posted 4/13/2020 5:16 PM |
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# 2627 Glory In Non Glorious Days
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Q. In our critical times, (Pesach 2020), when we are all davening at home without a minyan, do we say hallel the first and second night of Pesach after maariv?
A. Shulchan Aruch (487: 4) quotes two opinions whether we recite hallel after maariv in shul the first and second night of Pesach. Sefaradim and Chasidim usually do and with a brocho. (See Mishna Berura ibid. 16, Kaf Hachaim ibid 45, and Igrois Moshe O.H 2: 94, that this was also the minhag of the Gaon).
Horav Shlomo Miller's Shlit'a opinion is that for those who maintain the minhag to recite hallel in shul, when at home and without a minyan, it is preferable to recite it without a brocho, due to the different opinions involved.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as advised by Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit'a.
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Posted 4/13/2020 4:39 PM |
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# 2626 Touch Base
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Q. Can one return from the curb the garbage bins that were collected during Yom Tov? (this is important since in streets where non frum or Gentile neighbors dwell, they are bothered by the apparent disregard of the frum people to the cleanliness and the by-laws of the city thus creating a Chilul Hashem)
A. Re- question 2613 regarding garbage bins with chometz in them, it is permitted to place them by the curb outside the homeowners property, before the time when the chometz prohibition begins (this year (2020) on Wednesday). Even if they are emptied on Thursday (first day of Pesach), it is permitted, since the chometz is off one's property and not inside one's utensil.
Since the bins themselves are after all a utensil, and its use is permitted on Shabbos and Yom Tov, the reason they may be muktza may be due to the fact that they became a "bosis" or a base and support to the prohibited chometz on it at the beginning of Yom Tov.
However, Poskim disagree whether the above also applies to an object that was already destined to be removed during Shabbos or Yom Tov, as is in our case (See Shulchan Aruch O.H. 309: 4 and Mishna Berura).
Therefore. Horav Shlomo Miller's Shlit'a opinion is that they may be moved from the curb when needed. (Or one may just push them with his body, if one desires to be stringent).
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as advised by Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit'a.
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Posted 4/13/2020 3:54 PM |
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# 2625 Differences of Opinion
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Q. Recently we have heard different viewpoints from our Gedolim and Rabbonim regarding the Heavenly reasons for these difficult covid times. What is Horav Shlomo Miller's Shlit'a opinion?
A. Horav Shlomo Miller's Shlit'a opinion is that it is a reflection of the tremendous laxity of morals in our days, especially in relation to parades and similar public displays of indecency, that just openly defy Hashem. Other Rabbonim have expressed different ideas.
After reading what Horav Chaim Kanievsky Shlit'a wrote in an exhorting message and blessing for all of us, one may add. The Rov said: "Everyone must be mechazek (strengthen) to refrain from lashon harah, rechilus, and promote sholom bais. All of us must further strengthen ourselves in the midah of humility and to be maavir al midosav (forgiving). Whoever strengthens himself in these, the merit will protect him and his family members, and not one of them will fall ill."
After reading the above, I realized that maybe it all has to do with Trump. Not that chas veshalom, he is guilty of all that is happening, as many of his detractors and defamers would have it. It is exactly the opposite. They are the guilty ones. Since we have never seen in our days such a specious, deceptive and malicious widespread campaign, against any world leader as we witnessed during the days just prior to the covid 19 crisis. The monumental size of the lashon harah, rechilus and lies spoken and spread worldwide was truly colossal, as was the show of hate, detest and breakdown of sholom bais in a nation. And all that being dispersed by haughty and arrogant political people without a grain of humbleness or modesty in their souls. On a lighter side, the name "covid" fits well. It is all about "coved" after all.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as advised by Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit'a.
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Posted 4/12/2020 3:38 PM |
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# 2624 Way Out Entry
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Q. I heard that the Rov permitted a minyan in a backyard in his neighborhood (during the current pandemic), could that be correct?
A. On question 2610 regarding a group of five neighbors that share different sides and corners of their backyards, with one standing in the middle. We wrote that Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit'a "stressed that no other people or guest that are not the constant inhabitants living in those houses with neighboring backyards are allowed to join the minyan. The dwellers and their children should strongly avoid crossing over the fences or even coming close to them to talk to the neighbors. They should clearly stay away from the fences."
If other neighbors that do not dwell on those adjoining houses want to join the minyan, they should be sternly rejected and denied entry. A sign should be placed at the entry of the backyard, prohibiting the admittance to non dwellers.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as advised by Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit'a.
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Posted 4/12/2020 3:32 PM |
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#2623 Mind Your Language
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Q. As in this critical mageifa (pandemic) days we all daven at home, if someone is used to add his own private prayers for his needs during shemoneesre in English, can he still do so when he davens without a minyan?
A. Shulchan Aruch (O.H. 101: 4) quotes two opinions if one can daven and ask for his own private needs such as for the ill or any other painful situation in his home, in any language he desires when he prays without a minyan, or one should only avoid the Aramean language that the Malachim dislike.
Mishna Berura (ibid. 15) explains that the first opinion maintains, that the angels do not understand any other language besides lashon hakodesh (See Tur O.H. 46 regarding kaddish). However, when one davens with a tzibur, Hashem Himself listens to his prayers and there is no need for the help of the Malachim.
Therefore, Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit'a advises, that if possible one should pray his own tefilos to Hashem in Hebrew when davening at home without a minyan.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as advised by Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit'a
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Posted 4/8/2020 5:43 PM |
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# 2622 Don't Have an Alcohol Problem
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Q. Can one use during Pesach this year the sanitizers that contain alcohol, that could be chometz?
A. Alcohol-based versions of the commercially available sanitizers typically contain some combination of isopropyl alcohol, ethanol (ethyl alcohol), or n-propanol which are usually not chometz. Even the ethanol is most likely corn alcohol.
Therefore, Horav Shlomo Miller's Shlit'a opinion, as expressed during the Shabbos Hagadol drosho, that during this difficult pandemic days, one can and should use those sanitizers.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as advised by Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit'a
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Posted 4/8/2020 1:29 AM |
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# 2621 If you Can't Burn Them, Join Them
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Q. I heard that Horav Miller Shlit'a ruled that if you are burning little pieces of chometz that may not contain each separate one the full size of a kezais as required, you should place all those small pieces in a container that will be metzaref (join) them as one. Since if you place them all in a bag, the bag that joins them will burn first, what should one then do?
A. Horav Shlomo Miller's opinion is that if the fire is contained, as is often done inside a metal drum, that drum is a utensil that will be metzaref the small pieces into a kezais that you place inside. If one does not have such a drum. he can use an aluminum disposable baking tray, where he may place the pieces of wood etc. to fuel the fire, and that tray will serve as a unifying container. The Rov added that when the pieces are inside a paper bag at the beginning of the burning it is considered as being a complete kezais.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as advised by Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit'a
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Posted 4/8/2020 1:27 AM |
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# 2620 The More The Better?
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Q. If one has many pieces of chometz left, is it better to burn them all, or is it enough to just burn a kezais and the rest he can throw out or flush down?
A. Moadim Uzmanim (3: 194) asserts that one complies with the mitzva of burning chometz only with the last kezais of chometz one has. However, he quotes that the Kehilos Yaakov disagrees with him and maintains that one complies with the mitzva on every kezais one burns.
Horav Shlomo Miller's Shlit'a opinion is that if it is possible, he may burn as many as he can, as each kezais may be part of a new mitzva.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as advised by Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit'a
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Posted 4/8/2020 1:24 AM |
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# 2619 Moves on Cloves
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Q. (See question 2618 above - regarding a person that is prone to seizures). I also started eating cloves ie tziporen because has been B'H helping me with stopping the seizures from starting. Can I get a heter for that too?
Can one use cloves for besamin on havdalah during Pesach?
A. Rema (O.H. 467: 8) mentions that it is tradition in his country not to consume "neglach" or cloves , Mishna Berura (24) explains that they would wash them with mei seorim or barley water, Sidur Pesach Kehilchoso (16: 3, p.336), Shulchan Aruch Harav, Shemiras Hamoadim (p.246) and others maintain that the minhag is to abstain from them. Chometz Mashehu (p. 102) opines that it can be consumed with a hechsher, since it is not common to be washed these days with barley water.
Horav Shlomo Miller's Shlit'a opinion is that you can certainly eat cloves if it has a good effect on you.
The Rov also maintains they can be used as besamim for havdalah.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as advised by Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit'a
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Posted 4/8/2020 1:21 AM |
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# 2618 Why Not Kitniot?
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Q. Can I (a person that is prone to serious seizures) get a heter for buckwheat and or quinoa and or chick peas during Pesach. Because I eat buckwheat every day and its a part of kitniot. I was told by doctors that I need to avoid carbohydrates and eat as much as protein as possible.
A. Despite the name, buckwheat is not related to wheat, as it is not a grass. Buckwheat is referred to as a pseudocereal because its seeds' culinary use is the same as cereals, owing to their composition of complex carbohydrates. Therefore, as quinoa or chick peas, it is kitnios.
Horav Shlomo Miller's Shlit'a opinion is that for someone who is clearly chronically ill and subject to seizures, it is permitted to consume kitnios, especially in our dangerous pandemic times when one has to do everything possible to preserve one's health.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as advised by Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit'a
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Posted 4/8/2020 1:17 AM |
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# 2617 You'll Drink to That
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Q. I'm a frum physician working in a hospital... (See question 2616 above). I probably will have to be working in the hospital, during the first or even the second seder this week. I'll probably reach home by uber around 11.00 pm. My wife will make kiddush for the children and I will join them later on.
I will eat something during the afternoon before Yom Tov starts, but I cannot be many hours without drinking something. What is the right procedure to do on that special night?
A. Horav Shlomo Miller's Shlit'a opinion is that you should take with you to the hospital a bottle of grape juice and at the proper time recite kiddush of Yom Tov and drink a second extra cup of juice, so it will be considered bemakom seuda or in the place of eating a meal. You should have in mind that this cup will be the first of the four cups of wine that one has to drink during the seder night.
When you go home, you may join your family and drink the remaining three cups.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as advised by Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit'a
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Posted 4/6/2020 5:47 PM |
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# 2616 Man Alive!
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Q. I'm a frum physician working in a hospital that is very busy these days and I have a few shailos. There is a significant number of Jewish patients that I with the rest of the staff attend to. Due to the great need for room in our hospital these days, the DNR instructions are strictly enforced. I have requested other doctors and nurses, that at least when a Jewish patient, that I can point to them, is about to pass on, I should be informed, so at least he/she will not die all alone, since family members are not allowed in. I carry a pager that vibrates when a message is sent. Can I do that on Shabbos and Yom Tov?
A. Horav Shlomo Miller's Shlit'a opinion is that you may give those instructions and follow them, since as is the pager is on anyway and needed constantly for pikuach nefesh and saving lives. Besides, the Rov pointed out, that if a patient is near death, your presence may actually save his life or at least extended it, by taking on a proper decision, that others may avoid during these extreme covid times.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as advised by Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit'a
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Posted 4/6/2020 4:54 PM |
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# 2615 Let All the Hungry Come and Eat?
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Q. May one invite someone for the seder or Yom Tov meals if the guest does not have any symptoms and would have nowhere else to go, due to everyone else's reluctance to invite people during this time? May one trust in the merit of the mitzvah to protect him?
A. The question has significant variables. Although the guest may not have any symptoms yet, if he was exposed to the virus he may be a carrier. Not only the health condition of the visitor is an issue, so is the status of the hosts as they may also be carriers or aged and frail and susceptible to became easily ill.
Horav Shlomo Miller's Shlit'a opinion is that a great amount of common sense is necessary to render a correct psak and a competent Rabbi familiar with both, the host and the guest should render a decision.
One may definitely try to find other ways or proper accommodation for the ones in need. The community or friends may provide a location where a few needy guest can celebrate the seder with proper separation or in different rooms.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as advised by Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit'a
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Posted 4/6/2020 4:05 PM |
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# 2614 A Peace of the Moon
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Q. when saying kiddush levana, if you are by yourself as we mostly are in this (covid) crisis, can you call a friend by phone and say shalom alechem to him? Can you tell it to your wife?
A. Horav Shlomo Miller's Shlit'a opinion is that under the circumstances you can greet Shalom Aleichem by phone in order to maintain the minhag. You may also greet your spouse, but you have to change the greeting to the feminine, sholom aleichen.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as advised by Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit'a
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Posted 4/5/2020 1:58 AM |
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# 2613 Disposal At Your Disposal
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Q. Is it true that Rav Shlomo Shlit'a paskened (ruled) that one can dispose of the chometz by just throwing it out on the garbage containers when they will be collected during Pesach? Really!!
A. Indeed on the drasha of Shabbos Hagodol yesterday, (4/2/20), Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit'a indicated that in Toronto the garbage bins are owned by the city and one pays a yearly fee for their use and disposal. Therefore, when the bins with chometz in them, are placed by the curb outside the homeowners property, before the time when the chometz prohibition begins (this year on Wednesday), even if they are emptied on Thursday (first day of Pesach), it is permitted, since the chometz is off one's property and not inside one's utensil.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as advised by Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit'a
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Posted 4/3/2020 5:13 PM |
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# 2612 The Party Line?
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Q. What to do about the siyum Erev Pesach? Can it be done by phone, online or zoom?
A. On question 531 regarding someone joining a siyum Erev Pesach while still traveling via telephone we wrote; "On question 198 we mentioned: If you learned together (a tractate of the Talmud) with a group but now are on vacation somewhere else, can you join (the siyum fleishig banquet during the nine days) via telephone? We answered; Horav Shlomo Miller’s Shlit”a ruled that if you learned the whole tractate you can join the siyum via telephone. However, if you did not study, you cannot just dial – a- siyum. Similar opinions are to be found in other Poiskim (Mekadesh Yisroel, Pesach 256, et al.).
Likewise if one learned the Masechta to be finished and is on his way to the siyum he could join the siyum via telephone or online."
In our singular situation when a very dangerous pandemic is raging the Rov's opinion is that since there are grounds as is for people not fasting, one may join in need, a siyum on the phone or online.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as advised by Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit'a
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Posted 4/3/2020 2:00 PM |
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# 2611 The Longest Aliya Ever?
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Q. When the Eibeshter will have rachamnus (compassion) on us and the shuls will be able to resume, should we lein (read) all the missed parshiyos?
A. Remah (O.H. 135: 2) rules that if we missed the reading of a parsha, the next Shabbos it should be read together wit the next parsha. Mishna Berura (ibid. 6-7) quotes different opinions regarding if several parshios were omitted. Some Poskim including Maharam Mintz and seemingly Hagra, maintain that only the last missed parsha should be read. Other Poskim (Eliahu Rabba, Magen Giborim, Meorei Ohr, Chida and others opine that all missed parshios should be read in order.
Horav Shlomo Miller's Shlit'a opinion is that even if c"v it turns out that many parshios were missed, they could be leined during one single Shabbos, as some read the complete Sefer Devarim on the night of Hoshana Rabbah. The Rov mentioned that the Cohen gets that prolonged aliya until the beginning of the current parsha.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as advised by Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit'a.
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Posted 4/1/2020 1:45 PM |
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Important Numbers
