Laws of Rosh Hashana: Candle Lighting

Candle Lighting (הדלקת נרות)

Women have taken it upon themselves to light the candles for Yom Tov and Shabbat. On Shabbat this takes place 18 minutes before Shekiah[1]. After Shekiah, it’s already Shabbat and one is thus not alloed to light candles anymore. On Yom Tov however, since one can light from a pre-existing flame, should one light before Shekiah or can one wait until it is night-time and the family is ready to make Kiddush?

There are differing opinions. Some say, it's good to light the candles early, like when it is Shabbat, because one is then doing something nice in preparation for Yom Tov. Others say it is perfectly acceptable to light candles later on when Yom Tov has already started.

Rosh Hashana is always two days. Since one is not allowed to prepare for the Second day on the First day of Yom Tov, one has to wait until night-time (Tzeit Hakochavim, literally ‘when the stars appear’) of the Second day to light candles. Preparations for the Second day that don’t constitute Melacha[2], e.g. setting the table, can be done 30 minutes after Shekiah of the First day.

The blessing when lighting the candles is “asher kideshanu bemitzvotav ve’tzivanu lehadlik ner shel yom tov”[3]. Traditionally, we say a blessing and then perform the mitzvah. On Shabbat however, women light the candles first and then say the blessing[4]. This is because once the blessing is said, the woman has accepted Shabbat upon herself and can no longer strike a match and light candles. Therefore, she lights the candles, closes her eyes, and then says the blessing without having benefited from the candles before having said the blessing.

The question is, if on Yom Tov she is allowed to light candles from a pre-existing flame, then can she not say the blessing and then light the candles?

The Magen Avraham states that one should light Yom Tov candles the same way as Shabbat candles as this creates less confusion, even though one could technically reverse the order and say the blessing first and then light the candles.

Some modern Poskim[5] say that since our well-lit homes don’t require the light of the candles anymore, we should fulfil the mitzvah of lighting candles properly but first turning off the electric lighting in the room, then switching it on again and lighting the candles and then saying the blessing over all the lights that have just been created to light up the room.

Many women have the Minhag[6] to say Shehecheyanu when lighting the candles. This is not obligatory[7] as they will hear Shehecheyanu during Kiddush. Of course anyone who has this Minhag can happily continue to do this.

Notes

[1] Sunset
[2] Actions prohibited on Shabbat
[3] Shulchan Aruch
[4] Or HaChaim
[5] Halachic authorities
[6] Custom
[7] Mishna Brura

Ellul Shmellul II

Ellul in the Torah

אני לדודי ודודי לי (Song of Songs 6:3)

איש לרעהו ומתנות לאבונים (Book of Esther 9:22)

Whenever we find a group of words in the Torah that spell out an acronym, warning lights should pop up and we should analyse how the passage relates to the acronym, the present one being Ellul.

Today I learned that the two verses above speak about two equally important aspects of Ellul:

The verse in Song of Songs (Shir HaShirim), I am to my Beloved and my Beloved is to me refers to our relationship with Hashem (see here) and how we should work on spiritual development and our personal connection to our Creator during Ellul.

The second verse, which is much less cited in articles and books discussing the High Holy Days, comes straight out of Megillat Esther, read on Purim. We are commanded to make ourselves days of feasting and joy, and of sending choice food portions to one another, and monetary gifts to the poor.

How is this related to Ellul, apart from spelling out the letters of the month in a further verse in a holy script?

The idea is that whilst building a relationship with Hashem is all very fine, we are equally commanded to build and support the people around us. Respecting other people, working on our personal relationships, supporting the needy, being helpful, compassionate, friendly, kind - this is also the essence of Ellul and is made clear in the verse in the Book of Esther.

Laws of Rosh Hashana: Pri Chadash (Eating new fruit)

Eating a new fruit (פרי חדש)

Outside of Israel we are used to celebrating each Yom Tov for two days, whilst Israelis only celebrate one day. Rosh Hashana however, is celebrated for two days both inside and outside of Israel. The Talmud considers this two-day unit to be one long day (yoma arichta) rather than two separate days. Therefore we must ask,

Does the Second day of Rosh Hashana require a Shehecheyanu?

Opinions differ, some Rabbis of the Talmud argued that one must say Shehecheyanu on both days, others argued that since one should not say Shehecheyanu twice on this yoma arichta. Because of this safek (doubt) as to whether we count Rosh Hashana as one or two days, we eat a new fruit, or wear new clothing, on the Second day to make sure we have something to say Shehecheyanu on. Some also say that even if you don't have new fruit/clothing, you should still say Shehecheyanu.

The problem with the new fruit is that we are often taught that it must be a fruit that we haven’t eaten all year, i.e. that is new to us since last Rosh Hashana. This is a common misconception. The Mishna Brura rules that a new fruit is one that is new for that season, i.e. new for the general public, not new for you personally. Since nowadays all fruits seem to be available all year round, it can be very difficult to find a fruit that is new in season! Since the halacha says that you can say Shehecheyanu even without a new fruit, it seems as though it’s not so crucial after all whether the fruit is actually a pri chadash or not. Seems all very strange to me...

What's Ellul all about?

Rosh Chodesh, the first day of the month of Ellul.

Moshe has just witnessed how the Jewish People are serving the golden calf. In his anger, he breaks the two tablets containing the 10 commandments. Moshe ascends Mount Sinai a second time, and spends 40 days there doing Teshuva for the Jewish People and asking Hashem to forgive them.

40 days later, through successful completion of the Teshuva process, Moshe descends the mountain and leads the People through the desert (albeit for another 38 years) to the Land of Israel. In the same way as Moshe's Teshuva convinced Hashem to give us another go at being a nation, we hope that Hashem will forgive us too, like He forgave us after the sin of the golden calf.


The 40 days

1st Ellul	1	Rosh Chodesh	Sin of Golden Calf: Moshe ascends mountain
	2
	3
	4
(30 days)	…
	27
	28
	29
1st Tishrei	30	Rosh Hashana
	31
	32
	33
	34
(10 days)	35
	36
	37
	38
	39
10th Tishrei	40	Yom Kippur	Teshuva process complete! Moshe descends mountain

Ani Le Dodi, Ve Dodi Li

אני לדודי ודודי לי
I am to my Beloved (Hashem), and my Beloved is to me [1] ... that is Ellul (אלול).

What does Ellul, the abbreviation of this verse mean? Why is an entire month, the month of Teshuva, named after this verse?

The idea is that through our repentance we come closer to Hashem.

אני לדודי (Ani Le Dodi)
We take a big leap, make an effort, repent, go through personal spiritual development and growth, reach out for Hashem

ודודי לי (Ve Dodi Li)
By making an effort on our part, Hashem will listen to our prayers, our asking for forgiveness, and as a result will come closer to us.

For any relationship you need at least two sides that interact with each other. We are one side, and give from ourselves, and as a result the other side, Hashem, will turn to us, support us, and provide us with what we need for our personal development.


Notes

[1] Song of Songs 6:3

Do you ever wonder like me, how...

... we are supposed to emulate Hashem, if we aren't allowed to judge people like Hashem does?

If Hashem can reward or punish us, why are we not allowed to do this with regard to another person’s behaviour? *

Why do the Sages specifically mention that we should judge favourably (dan lechaf zechut [1]), when in reality, people often do really bad things which affect not only themselves but also others?

How can we judge someone favourably if we are so sure that their behaviour is causing harm?

Many times, I have learned that there are two sides to Hashem's Judgement:

1. Din דין is strict, rational Justice.

Nature is ruled by Din:

If you eat sugar, you get fat; if you stick your hand in a fire, you burn; etc.

2. Rachamim רחמים is Mercy.

Spirituality is ruled by Rachamim:

If you make mistakes, you get another chance, etc.

Not only that, I have also learned in the past that we should
a) emulate His ways (see here)
b) only judge a person with Rachamim (mercy), but not with Din (justice)

To me, that made very little sense until today. How come we are supposed to emulate Hashem’s ways, but then actually we’re told not to after all, “Just do the mercy part, not the justice part”. To me that has always seemed a bit like “half the package deal”, which in turn put the entire package in question...

But, fear not! The wonderful JLE provided me with an insightful class on this topic with Reb Ziskind, who mentioned the following:

The Sfat Emet [2] mentions that the world was created through Hashem’s Din (justice). Only through this purely rational, logical (scientific?) power could nature come into being. However, it was not possible for human beings to live in a pure “Din world”. Every small step would cause an immediate din effect (e.g. you kill someone – you yourself die instantly; you hurt someone – you get punished immediately; etc.).

Therefore, in order to give us a chance to survive in Hashem’s world, Rachamim (mercy) also needed to be created.

The Sfat Emet asks, how could Din and Rachamim coexist? Do they not contradict each other? He answers the following:

Din became restricted to THOUGHT

Rachamim became restricted to ACTION

This was my fascinating insight. On Rosh Hashana, we stand in front of Hashem, and we are judged with DIN. What exactly does Hashem judge with Din (justice)? Our THOUGHTS. No thoughts from the past year count – all that counts, are the thoughts on the day.

Have I thought about my mistakes?

Am I prepared to work on myself?

What are my aspirations, what is my agenda for the coming year?

Would I like to try to develop my relationship with Hashem?

Do I have the correct intentions when I am standing in front of Hashem doing Teshuva and pleading my case?

What are my priorities, what is the purpose of my life?

Have I given Hashem enough reasons to judge me favourably?

On Yom Kippur, Hashem judges with RACHAMIM. What does He judge with Rachamim (mercy)? Our ACTIONS.

Have I made an effort during the 10 days of repentance to correct my behaviour?

Have I decided to take a step towards Hashem and do an extra good deed?

Will I put my thoughts from Rosh Hashana into action?

To me, this explained to me how we are told by the Sages to emulate Hashem’s Rachamim, but not His Din. We are in no position to judge another person’s actions, as people do things for all different reasons, and only Hashem knows the whole picture.

We are in a position however, to judge a person’s thoughts and intentions, and to affect them. If we see a person with low self-esteem, with hateful thoughts towards a different person, or with a negative attitude, we should make all efforts to make them rethink, and judge themselves and others favourably.

Notes

* Obviously a society requires a Justice System which judges people – without it society would run havoc. My thoughts on this blog are meant to reflect our personal daily lives, not legal or illegal situations.

[1] Ethics of the Fathers 1:6

[2] Rebbe Yehudah Leib Alter (1847-1905) was the 2^nd Rebbe of the Gerer Chassidim

Laws of Rosh Hashana: Blowing the Shofar

Blowing the Shofar (תקיעת שופר)

Women are exempt from time-bound mitzvot, e.g. Lulav, Sukah, Shofar. However, women have accepted upon themselves the stringency to hear the Shofar.
There is a Machlokes Poskim[1] whether women should say a blessing before hearing the Shofar, since they are not halachically commanded to perform this mitzva. How can they say ...Asher Kideshanu Bemitzvotav ('...Who sanctified us with His Mitzvot'), if they aren’t actually commanded to it in the first place?

• According to Ashkenazi custom[2], in the same way that women volunteer to do the mitzva, they should also volunteer to say the blessing.
• According to Sefardi custom[3], women should not say the blessing, as they are not commanded to perform this mitzva.

What if the woman did not go to Synagogue and her husband comes home to blow the Shofar for her. Shall the man say the blessing for her, in the same way as he would say Kiddush for her at home even if he heard it in Synagogue?

• According to Ashkenazi custom[4], the woman rather than the man should say the blessing.
• According to Sefardi custom[5], the woman should not say the blessing, because as already mentioned, she is not obligated in this mitzva.

Notes

[1] Disagreement between the halachic authorities
[2] Rabbeinu Tam
[3] Rambam
[4] Rama
[5] Rav Yosef Karo