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Halachic questions answered by Hagaon Rav Shlomo Miller Shlit'a
5,521 questions and answers
#701 How Many Songs Does One Have to Sing? II
On question 687, as to how many shiros or divrei Torah one has to sing or say to turn a Chanuka regular meal into a seudas Mitzvo. What practical difference is there if this meal becomes a seudas Mitz...
#700 License to Shpil?
In Ontario, the law requires an organization to have a lottery license to run a lottery. Q1. Is it Mutar for a Moisad to run a lottery without getting a lottery license? Q2. May one purchase a tic...
#699 Kidush on Asarah BeTeveth?
Can you say kidush levanah on the eve of asarah beteveth, since it is not a happy time, which is required for kidush levanah?...
#698 The Sequence of the Incense
Why in Eretz Yisrael do they say pitum haketores before pizukai dizimra with korbanos and then repeat it at the end of davening?...
#697 How to Fix a Date
If you use the civil date, are they any preferences as to how you write the date? Thanks again....
#696 Date with Faith?
Is it better when not legally necessary to avoid using the Gregorian calendar and use the Hebrew date, or it does not matter today anymore since it is globally used as a civil non-Christian calendar?...
#695 Wishing Everyone a Gut''n Yohr
If someone greets me with a "Happy new year" can I respond likewise?...
#694 Oy Vei Mir in the New Year
I work I.T. in a company were I’m the only Frum Jew (ex yeshiva bochur). My managers and co-workers are really nice to me and respect my particular religious needs. I have a number of seasonal qu...
#693 Taking the Children in?
Do children from a prior marriage attend the chupa of their parents?...
#692 Expound the Second Time Around
What are the differences between the chupa ceremony of a first and a second marriage for both chosson and kallah?...
#691 Shift the Chanuka Gelt to Chanuka Gift?
Thank you so much for your fast response …On Q. 688, (Chanuka Gelt means a Velt). Why is it not prohibited to give Chanukkah gelt or presents, since after all it is a Chok Hoamim tradition during thei...
#690 Want to Face the Music?
Is there an actual prohibition about deriving any kind of enjoyment from Christmas lights?… What about benefiting from other Christmas things - like, is one allowed to enjoy the holiday music they pla...
#689 Lights that Radiate Darkness
Is there an actual prohibition about deriving any kind of enjoyment from Christmas lights? Can one use them for illumination? Can one comment on their beauty?...
#688 Chanukah Gelt Means a Velt
Someone who always gives Chanukkah gelt to his children and grand children, but this year is away on vacation, does he have to be matir neder? Can he give when he returns after Chanukkah?...
#687 How many songs does one have to sing?
Shulchan Aruch mentions that if you sing during the meals of Chanukkah shirot and praise tunes, the meal becomes a seudat mitzvah. How many songs do you have to sing? If you don’t sing but say a ...
#686 Is a Prolific Shamash Permited?
If many menorahs are placed on one table, as when someone has a large family, does each menorah require its own shamash?...
#685 Can You Smell the Miracle?
Could you add a few drops of aromatic oils to the Chanuka lights? (Would this be a hidur mitzvah or a greater persumei ness?)...
#684 Chanuka Showtime?
Dear Rabbi, I teach sciences in a frum school. I was teaching about the way you can create a variety of colors in flames by adding different chemicals to the fuel. One of my students was wondering if...
#683 Deserted Candles
Let us say, a guy is alone in a desert, without the necessary implements to make and light candles on Chanukah, and obviously will not see the lit Chanukah candles of another, does he make a Birkas Sh...
#682 Enlighten the Uncovered
Can you use oil for Chanuka lighting that was left uncovered overnight? Horav Shlomo Miller’s Shlit’a opinion is that it is permitted for a number of reasons. Firstly Poskim disagree w...