This article (Hebrew) brings a few customs that were observed by some communities on Tisha b’Av. Among them are the following: 1. The Torah scroll would be put on the back of a person who would be sitting on their knees. (Birkhei Yosef 559:76) 2. In Yemen, ashes would be put on the Torah scroll. [...]
In this interesting responsum, Rabbi Yuval Cherlow explained why he didn’t tear his garment upon Rav Amital’s z”l death. Rabbi Cherlow was asked the following question. Upon receiving an email last Friday about the death of Our Teacher Rav Amital zt”l, I rent my shirt (on the basis of my feeling and according to what [...]
For a humorous take on customs associated with Yom ha-Atzmaut, see this article (Hebrew) by Gil Slovik. Here are two of them. זריזין מקדימין למצוות, ועל כן נהגו הרשויות להתחיל לתלות דגלים ברחובה של עיר שלושים יום קודם החג. פתח רבנו תם ואמר: ראו מה נאים מעשיה של רשות זו, שתולה דגלים בכל שדרה ועל [...]
Since the establishment of the State of Israel, Jews have been witnesses to the formative period of a liturgical response to this momentous event. This process is continuing to this very day, and may continue for years to come. The many different liturgical responses that have been composed are reflective of different religious, cultural, and [...]
On the Main Line has posted some very interesting sources about the way in which some Jewish travelers ate kosher food on their journeys. I would add the following from this exhibit (see under “Jews and the Liquor Trade”), By the end of the eighteenth century about 80 percent of rural Jews in Poland-Lithuania were [...]
Rav Ovadiah Yosef has paskened that if a man dies and doesn’t leave behind any sons, a daughter may say kaddish if there is a minyan that gathers in her home to study Torah or after psalms are read somewhere else. He explicitly forbids a woman to say kaddish in the synagogue. A little opening [...]
I have been teaching a course in which we are examining two different questions relating to the lighting of shabbat candles, whether a blessing is required and if the lighting of shabbat candles is considered kabbalat shabbat, i.e. if lighting shabbat candles initiates the accepting upon oneself of shabbat prohibitions. I won’t be going over [...]
Whether Ashkenazim should continue to observe the prohibition of eating kitniyot on Passover has been discussed ad nauseam for quite some time. IMHO, do whatever you want and get over it. Personally, I eat any kitniyot which were not known in Ashkenaz during the 12-13th centuries, e.g. corn, when this custom took root and derivatives [...]
My Djerban-born friend Yael G. introduced my family to a custom observed on Rosh Hodesh Nissan by Jews from Libya and Tunisia. The custom is called פשישה/בסיסה. See here and here. There are three reasons given for this custom: 1. According to Megillat Ta’anit, from Rosh Hodesh Nisan until the eighth of the month the [...]
R. Shelomo Toledono (his dissertation on R. Betzalel Ashkenazi is available to download from here) has authored a number of books and articles which discuss the difference in customs among Sepharadim and their relationship to R. Yosef Karo. Much of his work is devoted to defending the customs from North Africa against R. Ovadiah Yosef’s [...]
You are currently browsing the archives for the Customs category.