Ask The Rabbi
Halachic questions answered by Hagaon Rav Shlomo Miller Shlit'a
5,520 questions and answers
# 1895 A Minor Honor
Can you honor a minor with pesichat Aron Hakodesh? (As in Avinu Malkenu, Shema Kolenu or Shir Hamaalot, or when someone else takes out the Sefer Torah)...
# 1894 We'll Drink to This
I made a bris on Shabbos Chol Hamoed Sukkos. The milah itself was done in my house and the kiddush was at the neighbors sukka. Can the person making the brocho drink from the wine since it is not bemo...
# 1893 Mount an Olive Shaila
Shalom, In an online search, this site came up, but I can’t find a way here to search for the relevant post... I was asked if there’s a mekor to say that the Gemara in Horios re olives, is...
# 1892 Does This Add Up?
A person who is davening Maariv on motzoi Shabbos 50 minutes past sunset, and his custom is to prolong Shabbos for 72 minutes, or longer, should he skip ata chonantanu in SE, because once he says this...
# 1891 An Answer to an Answer
It says that one should answer Yehe Shmei Rabba with all his might, so he can answer louder than the one saying kaddish, does that include the Amen also?...
# 1890 Amein Restrain
When someone is in a kiddush and he hears someone else making a brocho at the same time he is also saying one, should he answer Amen? If he does is it a hefsek?...
# 1889 This is the Answer
If one did not hear the bracha being said, but he realizes what it was, as when people bow down for moddim or one has an apple in his hand that he is about to eat, can he answer Amen?...
# 1888 An Under Oath
Since we are to avoid making nedarim and oaths, can someone sign a document that ends with the following statement? "I solemnly declare that the foregoing statements are to the best of my knowledge a...
# 1887 Its A Fix
Are schach mats that have turn partially moldy kosher for schach? They do not smell to mold, but you can see the discoloration. Can you paint them?...
# 1886 Clear the Tablecloth
Good evening Rav, Is there an inyan or Halacha to have white tablecloths on Yom Tov. I believe there are sources for Shabbos that one should have a white tablecloth. Does the same apply for Yom Tov?...
# 1885 A Cover Up?
My schach mats have been damaged with the years and now the blades and reeds have become separated and they can hardly be used. Can I join them together again by using straps made from organic flexibl...
# 1884 One Shailah Paints a Thousand Words
To preserve the schach mats made of reeds from getting moldy when wet, or the strings and straps that keep them together from rotting, can one spray them with transparent shellac, lacquer or varnish, ...
# 1883 Write Your Own Ticket
A fellow, we’ll call him Reuven, reserved and booked a seat six months ago, meaning he paid the cheapest fee (since he reserved early) on a flight in the Economy section. He arrived for the fligh...
# 1882 A Throw Away Question
(See above question 1881) If you can’t use the unused hadassim, can you just throw them away in the regular garbage, since they were never used for a mitzva?...
# 1881 Hadassim Again?
Can you freeze hadassim still in their sealed plastic bags, that were not used, and use them next year?...
# 1880 Is This a Mitzva?
(See question 1879 above) If it isn’t correct but someone did it anyway and he did remind many, and was mezake the rabbim, does he get a mitzva or is it a mitzva habaah beaveira?...
# 1879 A Klap Will Do
Is it correct for someone to mention aloud during the quiet shemonesre mashiv haruach or yaaleh veyavo to remind others to also say, or is it a hefsek?...
# 1878 Rain Check
How many times does one have to have davened Tefilas Geshem for the amud, to be considered that he has a chazaka, and he has a right to demand he davens before anyone elase?...
# 1877 A Word on Honor
When you call to the Torah on Simchas Torah a minor that is a cohen, does he get a second aliya if there is no minor levy?...
# 1876 Major Minor Shaila
Can a minor read the Torah when he is given an aliya on Simchas Torah (just that portion)?...