עשרת ימי תשובה תש"ע Chizuk Thought of the Day for Aseres Yemei Teshuva:
Try to take today very seriously - more seriously that you have in the past. And try to stay serious for the whole day, while you do each thing that you need to do today, no matter how big or small.
For if you have done teshuvah properly, any bad decree that was decreed against you on Rosh HaShonah will be torn up tomorrow - but if you haven’t, it won’t be. And if it is not torn up, you will have to live through its consequences sometime during this year.
And also, make sure you seriously exert yourself to appease anyone whom you may have wronged or slighted during the past year, for tomorrow will not atone for those sins, and you will have to pay for them. Of course, you’ll say you’re working as hard as you can on everything already. But nevertheless, take it even more seriously and work even harder - for your well-being depends on it. And if that’s not enough of a reason for you, then do it for our sakes, for since we are all interdependent, the better you get, the easier it is for each one of us to get better as well.
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1) Another common situation is being in a workplace together.
When one man is in an office alone with one or two women, it is a transgression of Yichud. (According to many Rishonim, even with 3 women, it can still be a problem of Yichud as we have discussed previously and it is best to be stringent.)
Although the husbands of the women are in the city, it may not be sufficient, as usually men and women who work in the same office are considered "Libo Gas Ba" and thus we cannot rely on the leniency of "Ba’alah B’ir".
Likewise, since it’s Libo Gas Ba, the leniency of an open door may not work either.
In cases of necessity (e.g. they need to be in the office to meet a work related deadline etc.) other men must be in the building and told that the man and the women will be in that particular office, and asked to walk in without knocking from time to time.
2) In situations where no one else is in the building (e.g. late nights, Sundays, weekends etc.) there is no real way to allow one man to be alone with one or two women in an office. If there are 3 or more women, it can be better. In any case, a competent Rav must be consulted for Halacha L’ma’aseh, as these transgressions are very serious.
Halachos for Yom Kippur
1) When a man and a woman work together in an office or similar work environment, even though her husband is in the city, the door is left open and other precautions are put in place to prevent anything inappropriate from happening, unfortunately, even if "halachically" it isn’t Yichud, all too often many unfortunate things have been known to happen due to men and women getting "too close" to one another.
Therefore it is incumbent on each and every Jewish man and women to not get emotionally or otherwise connected, involved or fall into a "friendship" with members of the opposite gender that work in the same workplace, or anywhere.
2) A large part of the "Al Cheits" that we beg forgiveness from Hashem on Yom Kippur, also referred to as Yom HaKadosh, the holy day, revolve around iniquities relating to inappropriate seeing, talking, involvement etc. with members of the opposite sex and other sins related to not retaining our holiness.
In fact, the Torah reading on Yom Kippur is the portion that deals with the forbidden "Arayos- relations". This just goes to show the gravity of being complacent in these areas and the importance of making sure we improve in these areas, which unfortunately we have become desensitized to in our world which thrives on immorality at every turn.
There is no question that the Nisayon, the heavenly test, of this generation are the Nisyonos of immorality. It is everywhere around us and it is all too easy to fall into the deepest depths of sin with the click of a button. The Yetzer Hara lurks everywhere.
The generation before Mashiach (which is the generation we are living in) will sink to a lower depth of Tumah than the generation that was redeemed from Mitzrayim (See Ohr HaChaim Parshas Shmos Perek 3:8).
If we aren’t actively working to protect ourselves, our spouses and our children we are all but certainly going to fail on one level or another; we must pass these tests in order to merit going with Mashiach when he arrives!
In the merit of strengthening ourselves in the areas of Kedushas HaAinayim, Kedushas HaBris, Kedushas HaPeh, Kedushas HaGuf and Kedushas HaBayis (Holiness of our eyes, covenant, tongue, body and home) may we all merit the speedy arrival of Mashiach Tzidkeinu and may we once again be worthy of being called the Am Kadosh, the holy nation and may we see the true fulfillment of "V’Haya Machanecha Kadosh", May your camp be holy.
If anyone is struggling with any of these areas of Kedusha, or knows someone who is, I implore them to visit the wonderful website www.guardyoureyes.org as if their lives depended on it, because it does!
I personally know many people-men and women- who have been helped in various areas of life thanks to the righteous people on that site.
May we all be forgiven for all our sins this Yom Kippur and may we live our lives forward as Hashem wants and expects of us; as a holy nation.
QUESTION & ANSWER CORNER:
Reader Submitted Questions of interest on topics related to Halachos we covered, as well as other interesting topic and Answers. Taken from the Q & A pages on the Halacha For Todaywebsite.
Although the answers I give to questions are taken directly from the Sifrei HaPoskim, and aren’t my own, they are still for study purposes only, NOT for Psak Halacha.
Where is it brought down in the seforim that one indeed can use kesef(money)for kaparos as opposed to a tarnagol (chicken), and if one had a choice between the two, is it better to use the tarnagol?
Answer:
The Mateh Efraim alludes to it (in Siman 245). See also Chayei Adam (Klal 144:4 ) who was against the practice of using chickens (especially on Erev Yom Kippur) as they were slaughtered in haste and thus were eaten un-kosher. He says that it is better to use money or a fish, where there is no issue of eating neveilos etc. He elaborates on this, and it would be worthwhile to take a look.
Also, the Seforim say that even when using a chicken,it is better to give the money that the chicken is worth to a poor person rather than the chicken, which he may not need, and which may not be kosher (as above), which may also be where the minhag to use money originated.
Our holy sages, the Chazal tell us
תנא דבי אליהו כל השונה הלכות בכל יום מובטח לו שהוא בן עולם הבא, שנאמר הליכות עולם לו, אל תקרי הליכות אלא הלכות - one who studies [at least two] Halachos daily is assured a portion in Olam Haba - the world to come. (:מגילה כ"ח )
Important Numbers
