Ask the Rabbi

Question: May someone who desecrates the Sabbath lead the services if he has yahrzeit? If yes, may he replace someone else who has yahrzeit? Hayim Grosz (Via E-Mail)

Question: Why do some people eat matzah on Pesach Sheni? Harry Koenig

Question: When a stranger approaches a congregant in shul asking for tzedakah, should the congregant verify that the person’s need is genuine? Furthermore, what constitutes tzedakah? Is a donation to a synagogue, yeshiva, or hospital considered tzedakah? Zvi Kirschner (Via E-Mail)

Question: I have long wondered why we don’t say Shehecheyanu when we start counting the Omer. Can you explain the reasoning behind this practice? M. Schwartz

Question: In the many shuls that I've attended, I observe that there are people who recite the Kaddish silently. Is this correct? I’ve also seen Kaddish recited by some at a cemetery without a minyan. Is there any reason to sanction this? Charles Rosen Via Email

Question: If someone heard Megillat Esther in shul, and he then has to read the Megillah at home for his wife and other members of his household, does he recite the blessings again? Menachem Via E-mail

Question: Is it permitted on the Sabbath or holidays to take a shuttle to synagogue? The neighborhood shuttle runs from 9-5 daily, is driven by a gentile, has a designated stop schedule, and is free of charge.

Question: When a stranger approaches a congregant in shul asking for tzedakah, should the congregant verify that the person’s need is genuine? Furthermore, what constitutes tzedakah? Is a donation to a synagogue, yeshiva, or hospital considered tzedakah? Zvi Kirschner (Via E-Mail)

QUESTION: I am presently nursing. I would like to know until what age it is permissible to nurse my child soon after feeding him chicken. In general, how long do we wait betweeneating meat and dairy?A Concerned MotherNew York City

Question: How do we know there is an olam haba – a world to come? L. Papirmeister

Question: When reciting a berachah in English, does a person fulfill his obligation if he says “Hashem” instead of “L-rd” or “G-d”? Yosef

Question: In the many shuls that I've attended I observe that there are people who recite the Kaddish silently. Is this correct? I’ve also seen Kaddish recited by some at a cemetery without a minyan is there any reason to sanction this? Charles Rosen Via email

Question: I anticipate soon dissolving a business partnership. How should I expect to be treated in a beit din? No Name Please

Question: How should one do teshuvah during this Elul and Yamim Nora’im season? Zvi Unger

Question: May someone who desecrates the Sabbath lead the services if he has yahrzeit? If yes, may he replace someone else who has yahrzeit? Hayim Grosz (Via E-Mail)

Question: The famous Iggeret of Rav Sherira Gaon references Yerushalmi Kilaim 9:3 and Kesubos 12:3 and states that Rabbi Judah the Prince descended from Hillel who, in turn, descended from the tribe of Binyamin – not Yehudah. The Iggeret also discusses how the Mishnah was written and how Rabbi Judah worked on it. Had Menachem read this Iggeret by Rav Sherira Gaon – who, incidentally, was a direct descendant of King David – I don’t think he would have asked his question. Yehuda T. (Via E-Mail)

QUESTION: Does a katan (minor) exempt the father or leader of the Seder from having to recite the Mah Nishtanah? The father could continue with Avadim hayyinu, as stated in the Shulchan Aruch (473:7, Hilchot Pesach). The poskim bring proof from Tractate Pesachim (116a), where R. Nachman continued with Avadim hayyinu, as did Abaye and Rava. I put this question to my grandfather, Reb Beryl Ackerman, and he responded that in the margin of the Shulchan Aruch the Chatam Sofer quotes Rambam, who states that the reader of the Haggadah must repeat the Mah Nishtanah. His Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Binyomin Paler, understands Rambam to mean that since a child is not a bar chiyyuva, the father must repeat the Mah Nishtanah, and the cases cited in the Talmud do not deal with a minor. In light of the above, why do certain poskim such as the Mishna Berura state that he does not have to repeat the Mah Nishtanah?Pinchus CynamonBais Medrash of Flatbush

Question: I see that some people refer to the month of Cheshvan as Marcheshvan. What’s the month’s real name? Nachman M.

Question: Is one permitted to boil water in an electric hot water urn on Shabbos if the urn is controlled by a Shabbos clock? Yisrael W.

Question: What preparations must one do to have a kosher Pesach amidst this Covid-19 pandemic? Wolf Sender Deerfield Beach, FL

Question: A number of years back, when I was still unmarried, I had yahrzeit, but in the shul where I davened they wouldn’t let me serve as shaliach tzibbur as they had a rule that no one unmarried was allowed to daven from the amud. Obviously, I could still say Kaddish, but I wanted to lead the services for the sake of the neshama. My question is: Did they have the right to deny me what I felt was my yahrzeit obligation to my departed parent? Mark Halberstam Esq. Brooklyn, N.Y. Via email

Question: I have two questions regarding Pirkei Avot. First, is there a specific reason that the last chapter is read on the Sabbath before Shavuot, or is this just a quirk of the calendar? Second, in that last chapter we find a list of qualities that enable one to acquire Torah knowledge, including anavah, humility. I find this difficult to believe in light of the Gemara in Gittin that chastises one of the scholars for his anavah, saying that it ultimately caused the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash. Zvi Kirschner (Via E-Mail)

Your explanation would explain why it was proper for him to use the name Avraham (presumably one is not permitted to call a grandparent by a first name just as one is forbidden to call a parent by his first name) but it seems Yitzchak is no more a respectful title any than other name, so how did Yaakov use his father’s first name twice? Leonard Ziegler Via email

Question: May a cheresh, a deaf mute, who exhibits other signs of intelligence, be included in a minyan? I live in a small town where this is a very relevant question, where we struggle to put together a minyan. Are there any halachic implications for including such a person? Name Withheld Small Town, USA

QUESTION: Recently, as I was studying the weekly portions of the Torah, I noticed a seeming anomaly. In Parashat Balak, Pinchas does what Moses did not do and zealously killed Zimri, a tribal prince who had sinned. We find in the following portion, Parashat Pinchas, that Pinchas was rewarded for this act. Yet after that, in Parashat Mattot, Pinchas is rebuked for not fulfilling Moses' command. Can you reconcile this apparent contradiction in the way Pinchas is described?M. Goldblumvia e-mail

Rabbi Senter is the founder of KOF-K Kosher Supervision, one of the largest kosher certification agencies serving the Jewish community worldwide.

Over the last several years, a number of European countries have outlawed shechitah (Jewish ritual slaughter). The latest, disturbingly, is Poland where shechitah opponents portray it as being cruel. Is there anything that we in the Jewish community can do to counter this trend? Jay Alt (Via E-Mail)

Question: I would like to have a better understanding of a practice that I and many others are a party to every year before Passover. How does the sale of chametz to a gentile take effect if it is returned to the original owner within a very short period after the festival’s conclusion? M. Goldblum Via Email

Question: We are ba’alei teshuvah in the process of becoming more observant. We wish to kasher our home and utensils for Passover with minimal expense. Do you have any suggestions? Names withheld by request

Question: How do we know that there is an olam haba – a world to come? L. Papirmeister