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The Everyday Judaism Podcast (formerly Living Jewishly Podcast) is dedicated to learning and understanding the laws and basic how-to of daily Jewish living. Presented by Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe in a simple and concise manner, easy for anyone to understand and connect.
This Podcast Series is Generously Underwritten by Marshall & Doreen Lerner.
00:01 - Intro (Announcement)
You are listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe of Torch in Houston, Texas. This is the Living Jewishly podcast.
00:08 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
All right, good morning everybody. Welcome back to the Everyday Judaism podcast. Today we are going to study Semen 20 in our practical halacha series, the laws of chazar sashatz, which is the repetition of the chazan. Now, previously we talked and we're going in order of the prayers. Previously we talked about the laws of the Shema, we talked about the laws of Shemona Esrei and last week we discussed the laws of the extra additions that are added into the Amidah, into the Shemona Esrei, like Mashiach HaRuach and Mordechai Gashem. And today we're going to talk about the laws of the Chazan's repetition. Now, after the silent Amidah, we're on number one.
00:51
After the silent Amidah, the Shemona Esrei of Shachar, esmincha and Mosaf, after it is concluded by the congregation, the Chazan repeats the Amidah aloud. There are three reasons for this. One, to assist one who cannot pray to fulfill their obligation of prayer by listening to the repetition. Number two, to give the opportunity for the Kedushah to be recited by the congregation. And number three, to assist one who may have not had the proper concentration during their silent Amidah. So A for someone who doesn't know how to pray. So they're just there in the synagogue but they don't know how to pray. So now the Chazan by them listening to what the Chazan says. They're sort of attaching themselves to that prayer. Number two, to give the opportunity for the congregation to recite the Kedushah. Number two, to give the opportunity for the congregation to recite the Kedushah. And number three is to assist someone who may not have had the proper concentration when they were praying. Number two when the Chazen concludes his silent Amidah, he takes his three steps back. He should stand in his place for a few moments and then return to his place. He should then begin the repetition by saying Hashem sefatai tiftach, silently, and then baruch ata aloud. So the Hashem sefatai, which is the introduction to the prayer where we're asking Hashem, hashem. Please open my lips so that I can sing your praise. That you say silently, but the baruch ata is already out loud. Everyone in the congregation should remain silent and listen, following along to every word pronounced by the Chazan and respond appropriately during and after each blessing. During the blessing, we say Baruch Hu, baruch Shema, as Halacha 4 says here. Baruch Hu, baruch Shema is said after Hashem's name is pronounced, and Amen at the conclusion of each blessing. As Halakha 4 says here, baruch Hu, baruch Shmo is said after Hashem's name is pronounced, and Amen at the conclusion of each blessing.
02:49
One should not be distracted during the Chazan's repetition, not even to study Torah, and certainly not for chatter, not for idle chatter. We shouldn't schmooze, we shouldn't talk in shul. That's not the place to say hi to our friends. You know that you can do before, you can do after, but during, when we're standing in front of God and praying, that shouldn't be interrupted with any other disturbances. Since the primary purpose of the chazen's repetition is for the others in the congregation, it is important for there to always be a quorum, a minion, of 10 male adults at all times during the repetition. Therefore, if it's a slim minion again autocorrect here I apologize of only ten. The repetition shouldn't begin before all ten conclude their Amida so all can reply Amen appropriately, since we endeavor to not say amin in vain, but only for a blessing. So we don't just randomly say the word amin. Right, it's, the halacha will get to it. Maybe we have spoken about it previously not to have an amin yisoma, not an orphaned amin or an amin chatufa, right? The chazen should pay attention not to begin a blessing until everyone has concluded their saying of each Amen. So, for example, at the conclusion of each blessing we say, let's say Baruch Atashem, everyone responds Baruch Hu, baruch Shema, magayin Avraham. Everyone answers Amen. The Chazen shouldn't continue Atag Yibor until everyone is done Amen. The Chazen shouldn't continue Atah Gibor until everyone is done saying Amen, because if you do, then nobody heard the beginning of the next blessing to which they're going to say Amen. But they didn't hear it. So you got to be careful that each blessing block should be in its own, that everyone can hear the beginning and end of each Number seven.
04:48
When the Kedusha is being recited, one should have their feet together as one, just like we do for the Amida, not to have their feet separated when saying Kaddosh, kaddosh, kaddosh and Baruch Kvod Hashem Mim Komo and Yimloch Hashem Lo'olam. It is proper by those parts to elevate one's tiptoes means to get up onto their tiptoes with eyes heavenward, or the halacha says it might be preferred for their eyes to be closed altogether. When the chazen reaches modim, the entire congregation bows and recites the modim. The entire congregation bows and recites the modim of the rabbis, right. So we all recite modim, we all say thank you together. Chazen says the regular version of modim and the congregation says the modim of the rabbis, modim derabbonon. It is proper to remain bowed till we reach the name of Hashem. We never say the name of Hashem while we are bowed. We say the name of Hashem only when we're standing upright, at which point we should stand upright If one is in the middle of their silent Amidah. When the Chazen reaches Modim, it is proper to bow, but not interrupt the Amidah or recite the Modim of the rabbis with the congregation. So again, someone is praying their silent Amidah. The Chazan now reaches. They're praying their own prayer. They're in the middle of their own individual silent Amidah. Meanwhile the Chazan had already begun doing the repetition and now he gets to Modim. Should the individual who's reciting alone, privately, should he join the congregation and say the modem aloud? It is proper to bow with everyone. Why? Because you don't want to be there when everyone is bowing thanking Hashem, that you're going to now just be standing upright and sort of, you know, being disrespectful to the honor of Hashem. So because it would be. So it is proper to bow but not interrupt the Amidah or recite the modem of the rabbis with the congregation, since not bowing with the congregation would appear to deny the authority of Hashem and his sovereignty.
07:01
Halacha, number 13, before the Chazan says Sim Shalom, which is towards the end of the Amidah, the priestly blessing is added and the congregation replies kein yihir ratzon. So should it be your will? Now we don't say amain after those parts, it's three parts. We say v'rechacha Hashem yishmerecha ya'er Hashem panavelecha, v'chuneka yissa Hashem pan. After each of those verses the congregation says, but we don't say ameen. The addition of the priestly blessings is added by shachris, musaf and mincha of a fast day. The priestly blessing is not added by mincha shachris of tishabav or a minyan in the house of a mourner. When the chazan concludes the repetition, he should say silently Yehulu Rotzon, but not take three steps back, as he will do so at the end of the Kaddish Shalem, at the full Kaddish, after Uvalitzion Number 17,.
08:09
On public fast days where there are 10 people fasting, a special prayer of Aneinu should be added by the Chazen before the blessing of Rifa'enu. Now remember, last week we discussed what happens if someone, if the chazen, forgot, or if an individual forgot to add certain parts to the prayer. Here we're going to see a similar thing. If the chazen forgot to add the anenu, if it was remembered prior to concluding the blessing with Baruch Atah and Hashem's name of the refainu blessing, then the chazen should return to recite Aneinu and then Rifa'enu in order. However, if the Chazen already concluded the blessing, the Chazen's Amida should resume and Aneinu should be inserted in the blessing of Shema Kol Aenu. And if the Chazen forgot to add the Aneinu in the Shema Kol Aenu, it should be recited at the end of the Amidah without its concluding blessing.
09:10
The Chazen only repeats the Amidah aloud in a minyan in a quorum where at least six the majority of people are actually praying. Meaning, what's if you have just a group of people there? Someone needs to say Kaddish, for example. This will happen sometimes. You'll be someplace and the person needs to recite a Kaddish. Because he's a mourner, he needs to recite a Kaddish. Most of the people may have davened already. So it's just one individual or two people, maybe four people, five people, but it's not the majority who are actually praying, because the others prayed already. So then what do you do? Okay, so in a scenario where less than six are praying, the repetition should be said aloud only for the first three blessings, to include Kedushah, and then the Amida is completed silently. So and this is a common custom in many places, like in Lakewood, new Jersey, where you have in the Yeshiva, they'll do what's called a short Kedushah. Okay, a short Kedushah, which means that the repetition, they say the Ashrei for Menchah, they have the regular Kaddish and then everyone remains silent. The Chazen begins the repetition before everybody else. He begins, he says the first two blessings, the Kedushah, the third blessing, and then is silent and the entire congregation then starts from the beginning, silently, and they all conclude at the end. So you don't have a full repetition of the Amidah at the end. So you don't have a full repetition of the Amidah.
10:50
Any time an individual would repeat their prayer for mistakenly omitting a part of davening, a Chazen would do the same. So if the individual repeats for forgetting something, the Chazen would also repeat for forgetting something, except for Shachris, on Rosh Chodesh or Chol Moed, when the Chazan forgot to add Yalav Yavol. So, for example, this Tuesday and Wednesday is going to be Rosh Chodesh, rosh Chodesh, teves. And what happens? If the Chazan forgot to add Yalav Yavol? He needs to repeat the Amidah just like anyone else. However, if he did so, he forgot it by shachris. He does not need to repeat why? Because we're going to have a musaf prayer, the musaf amida, since we can rely that during musaf, the sanctity of the day will be properly included in the amida. The chazen does not need to repeat the shachris amida, since this would be an inconvenience to the congregation. So we see something which is very, very central in halacha and that is the inconvenience of the congregation. It's something which plays a very central role.
12:04
Turcha de Tzibura is a very serious thing the inconvenience of the congregation. The congregation can get impatient, as anyone who has been in a synagogue can know, or any type of congregation, you know that people can get impatient. We recognize that and we want to give every person the opportunity to have an enjoyable experience in synagogue. And therefore, if the chazen's going to have to repeat the Amidah, when it's going to be repeated again by Musaf the sanctity of the day we don't need to repeat it. Okay, if, however, the chazen remembered, before the conclusion of the Amidah, he should return to Ritzei and continue from there, and this would not be considered an inconvenience to the congregation. Why? Because it's just a short inconvenience, a brief change, and therefore it's not considered an inconvenience to the entire congregation, since one is obligated to recite Kedusha, respond ameen to blessings and to Kaddish and be'amodim with the congregation.
13:10
Therefore, if one arrived late to synagogue and missed the opportunity to properly pray with the minyan, they should try to maximize their participation with the minyan as much as possible, while also ensuring that it not delay their own prayer and cause the proper time of prayer to pass. So it's a very interesting consideration that the halacha even talks about what happens if someone's late. Well, don't be late. No, we realize that people could be late. Someone can have something that comes up and the halacha recognizes with great sensitivity. What do you do if you come late? Well, there's halachas for that too. The halacha is very considerate of that. What do you do if you come late? Well, there's halachas for that too. The halacha is very considerate of that. So here, since you're obligated to recite Kedusha, to respond amin to blessings and to Kaddish, and to bow modem with the congregation, if one arrived late and missed the opportunity to pray properly with the minyan, they should try to maximize their participation with the minion as much as possible, while also ensuring that it not delay their own prayer and cause the proper time of prayer to pass, because there's a proper time for prayer. For example, right now in Houston it is almost 12 o'clock in the afternoon and that means that the proper time for prayer is about past. If you look on any of the Jewish calendars, the Zmanim, the times of proper time, so there's a constant. So midday is already 1224, which already begins the time for Mincha. The Mincha time is in one hour, 1255. That's afternoon prayer already. You can't pray the morning prayer properly. So if someone was going to miss their proper time for prayer, that you don't forego, you have to pray at the proper time, even though you have to also answer to what the Chazan is reciting.
15:12
Halacha 23,. Since one is forbidden to interrupt between Gal Yisroel and the beginning of the Amidah. Gal Yisroel is the last blessing prior to the Amidah. One should use caution to respond to the aforementioned parts by Shirah Hadashah, which is a paragraph before that, before the blessing of Gal Yisrael, so that he not interrupt between. He should not interrupt with Amayin or Yeheishmei Rabbah or with Modim prior to that, in between the part of Gal Yisrael and the Amidah.
15:43
If the individual concluded the Mechaya Mason blessing and heard Kedusha being recited by the Chazan. So someone is praying their own personal Amidah, their private, silent Amidah, and as they get to that part of Mechaya Mesim, that second blessing, the end of the second blessing of the Amidah, which is the correct time to have the Kedusha. If a person was listening to the repetition of the Amidah, which is the correct time to have the Kedushah, if a person was listening to the repetition of the Chazan, so now he overhears the Chazan, it happens to be up to that part, but not the Kedushah of the Amidah. Rather, it's the Kedushah of Uvalitzion or Yotzer or, which is different parts of the prayer. Yotzer or is an earlier part of the prayer. Uvalitzion is a later part of the prayer of davening. Since these Kedushahs are not at the same level of the Kedushah inside the Amidah, it should not be said along with the Chazan. However, if the Chazan was reciting Kedusha for Musaf, which is the later prayer, even though the individual is praying the Shachar Amidah, the Kedusha should be recited along with the chazen. There's a little shortcut You're during the Shachar service, the morning service, they're in the Musaf service, which is the additional prayer service, and they're up to Kedusha. You can say the Kedusha with your Shachras at the same time and then continue your silent Amidah. My dear friends, this concludes Semen 20 in the Kitzah Shulchan Aruch. I look forward to continuing next week with the chapter 21.
17:27
And now we're going to be open for questions, so I hope everyone came with at least one question. It looks like you came loaded with many questions. I'm really excited and please remind me to repeat the questions so those who are viewing this online, those who are listening on podcast, can hear the question as well. So go ahead. What's your question? Yes, any clean water.
17:50
So the good question, the question is is can you use water? I mean, what water could be used for washing our hands? The answer is any clean water. It doesn't have to come from a tap, it could be from a river, it could be from a lake, it could be from a stream, as long as it is clean water, that is not contaminated, that's not dirty, that is not defiled with other dirt. So it's an important question. But you cannot reuse water that was already used, meaning if you have a little pool of water and now you take water out of, let's say, you have a little bath that's outside, it gets rainwater. Great, it fills up. Now you scoop out with your cup water and you pour that water. You wash your hands on top of the bathtub. Now you've made that entire water not useful for future washing hands. So what you should do, you can go scoop it out. You've made that entire water not useful for future washing hands. So what you should do, you can go scoop it out, wash it on the side elsewhere. So that way, that water? It's a very good question. All right for an outdoorsman, that's very practical. Yes, so make sure you wash it on the side.
19:06
In general, a person should not wash their hands. If you remember when we learned these halakas previously, a person should not wash their hands. The dirty water shouldn't be where people are passing by, or you know, because it's considered, you know it's taking away the impurities of our hands, holiness, and you know you have to be careful with that. That's a good question. Oh, you're talking about for Kedusha to return back to their place, right? Okay, so you take the three steps back. You say your to the left, to the right and center, and then you stand there for the.
19:44
The halacha says the amount of time it takes to walk eight feet Right. So, whatever that amount of time is, now the halacha says that you should, if you can, you should stand there till the chazen reaches the kedushah and then right. So the thing is that, the reason why some people don't and they immediately go back, after waiting for eight feet distance of time to walk, is because they're afraid that someone's going to come to ask them something and they're going to need to respond and they're still in that. Or if someone needs to pass by, because no one can pass by. When you take the three steps back, no one can walk in front of you, so you got to move back so that people can walk in front or behind. It's like an open file. The file is still open until you take the three steps back. Correct? You can do that. Yes, again, it is proper to stay until the chazen reaches the kedushah and then take the three steps back. The proper thing. They're both correct. It is optimal for someone to go back. So again, the question here was I didn't repeat the question okay, when someone takes the three steps back after their silent amida, should they return back the three steps immediately or wait till the chazen begins the repetition and arrives at the kedushah? The latter is correct. It is proper to stay after you take the three steps back, wait till the chazen reaches the kedushah. You take your three steps forward and begin the kedushah with everyone, with the entire congregation. Now, if someone needs to pass in front of you, for whatever reasons, if you're standing in a walkway, that's where you're saying your Amidah you take your three steps back. And now people can't walk back because you just can't walk back, because you have, like this open file. So you got to close that file and so you can take the three steps back then so that people can pass and not be an inconvenience to the congregation. That's very important.
21:53
I will tell you, when I was a child very, very little child I we moved to a new city, moved to Muncie, and we were excited. My, my father was excited to go to one of these synagogues that he's heard of so many times. So we went there and I was again. I was like 10 years old and I was there with my father I remember this as clear as day and I prayed. I didn't have a seat. Everyone had their set seat. You know I didn't have a seat, so I just stood in the back and I prayed my Amidah prayer. And I prayed my Amidah prayer and this elderly man came to me and was giving me a beating, not physically, but a verbal beating. Why was I praying my Amidah in the walkway Now people can't walk by, like you're interrupting the entire congregation.
22:43
I'm sorry, I'm 10 years old, like, leave me alone, but either way, it's something that's important for a person to be sensitive to, because no one's going to be able to walk in front of you while you're praying or after you take the three steps back. They can't walk in front of you either, even though you're not praying. But again, you have that open file. Yeah, very good, very good. Any other questions? Oh, I love it. That's what halacha is all about. Halacha is about nuances, details. That's the beautiful part of studying halacha. Ooh, oh, that's right, you texted me and that's a great question. Okay, so here's the thing. So here's the thing. There's this entire concept of the question.
23:27
When someone converts, aside from knowing the halacha, knowing and going to the mikvah in front of a bezden and having a bris, what is required? We have to understand that Judaism is not about only the letter of the law, it's also the spirit of the law. I'll give you an example just so that you understand. It's not a good example, but it's an example so that you'll get into the frame of mind of what I'm talking about. So I went to visit someone once on Shabbos, I needed to drop off something at their house and they were in shul with me just prior and I went home, picked up whatever it was I needed to bring them, like a bottle of wine or something. And I come to their house and they're sitting there at their Shabbos table eating their meal, and they were in a shorts and t-shirt. Now, is there anything wrong with shorts and t-shirt? Nothing wrong, right? You want to be comfortable at your Shabbos table. By the letter of the law, there's nothing wrong with it. But by the spirit of the law, I think there's everything wrong with it, and that's my opinion. Why? Because it's not the way you sit at a Shabbos table. Now, there's nothing. Again, did they violate something? No, but the spirit of the law is definitely not honored, and that's a very, very important piece here. It's not just that I know the laws. I'll give you another example, and we talk about this a lot when we talk about conversion. It's an example I like to.
25:00
So I grew up my father was a pilot and my father was a hobby. He would have a hobby not hobby airport, but he would have a hobby of flying planes. He liked flying planes and it was a dream of his his whole life. And then eventually he got his pilot's license. We'd go flying a lot and when I grew up we had every bathroom in my house had flying magazines AOPA, flying, you name it, you name the flying magazine. We knew every plane, every Cessna. We knew every Piper, every type of plane there was. We knew about it. My father eventually had a plane of his own. He had the Cessna 172. And it was really an incredible experience. Growing up, you know all about planes. We knew everything about planes.
25:53
Now I'm a plane aficionado. Okay, I know a lot about planes. I feel very close to planes, right? Does that make me a pilot? Would you feel comfortable if I say, hey, I grew up with planes, I know everything about planes? Would you feel comfortable getting into a plane with me? I don't think so, even though I have many, many hours logged. But you'll say are you licensed? I'm like no, but come on, what do I need to be licensed for? I know everything there is to know about planes. Still, you won't trust your life in my hands at the yoke of a plane, but I've got the spirit of it. It doesn't make a difference.
26:36
So the fact and I've heard many people share this concern and question that I have a friend who, sadly, his son married a girl who was Mormon, jewish boy, mormon girl. So I said to him it's sad. I said, you know, congratulations, your son got engaged, but it's sad that he's marrying out of the faith. He said, oh rabbi, she's more Jewish than most Jews that I know. She's Jewish in spirit, she's like you know. Many Jews I know want nothing to do with their spirit of being Jewish. And I was explaining to him this analogy of the aviation I'm, in spirit, a pilot, but I'm not Okay.
27:26
So what I'm trying to say here is that it's not only that you know the rules and you know the instructions of how to actually act like a Jew. It has to be that it consumes the whole person, that they become the wholesomeness of the spirit of being a Jew. So they see that, and that's one of the things that I mentioned to you about asking questions. That's part. It takes humility to ask questions. A Jew needs to be able to ask questions. If we think we know it all, we're not in the right business. We have to be able to ask questions. A question means I don't know, and that's a very important, essential, fundamental principle in being a God-fearing Jew. So it's part of that process. Yes, we ask the questions, we reach out and if we don't get the answer that seems coherent to us, ask someone else, go till you find the answer that you're looking for. Now that doesn't mean that you go shopping around for an answer. I'm looking for it to be permitted for me to do this, rabbi. Well, that's not going to change, hopefully, because the Torah doesn't. You know the guidelines.
28:47
You know I once asked my rabbi. I told him I went to a rabbi. You know, I was in rabbinic school, right, so I was still not a rabbi. I was in the process of becoming a rabbi. And I went to ask another rabbi a question. This was not my regular rabbi, I just needed a quick, quick response. So I went to the rabbi. I was sure that I knew the answer, and I went to the rabbi. I was sure that I knew the answer and I went to the rabbi and the rabbi gave me an answer which was basically it's prohibited, you can't do it. And I said why not? And I started. I challenged the rabbi which is you're allowed to do it in halacha? You're allowed to. You have a source one way. I have a source another way. Let's talk, let's duke this out, let's come, because our goal is truth. And the rabbi then said you know what You're actually right. You're actually right, so I said so why did you say it was prohibited? He says because I wasn't sure. I went back to my rabbi and I asked him about this. He says people don't understand.
29:48
The role of a rabbi is not to say it's prohibited, that anyone can say Can you do this? No, can you do that? No, can you do this? No. That's not the goal of a rabbi, that's not our job. Our job is to know the halacha and tell a person and guide them A if it can be done and how it can be done.
30:09
Okay, that doesn't mean that you take something which is prohibited and you say that it's permitted, but rather there's so much leeway in halacha, within the confines of halacha, within the. We said it's the pathway. Halacha means halicha, like the pathway. Within that pathway there's a lot of flexibility, but there is an actual border to it, like the pathway. Within that pathway there's a lot of flexibility, but there is an actual border to it and it's an entire ecosystem of learning. It's not just learning facts that we do for school to pass a test to become a nurse, right. But we all know that when we become an actual practitioner in any field, it takes a whole mindset shift. And that mindset shift is what I believe the Besdan is looking for, not just the actual practical things, it's the mindset shift.
31:08
They tell that in conversation, they tell that in asking questions, they tell that in seeing the. I'll tell you I was once involved with someone who was converting and the Beddin came over to me and the Beddin asked me about this individual. The Betten asked me about this individual and they said that they told this individual that if they had stopped volunteering for whatever cause they were busy with, they won't convert him. Because if you're not giving of yourself to another that's not a Jewish trait you have to be giving of yourself to another and therefore to them. That was a line in the sand. Now there are many lines in the sand. We have to know what they are and every person is different and unique. That's the job of a bettin is to figure out the full picture of the person coming to them and to gauge whether or not they're ready for that transformation. That's really what it is and that's why I believe personally this is my personal ignorant opinion okay, I believe that the best-ins are rushing too fast in conversions.
32:27
There's no need for it to take a year, two year, three year. It could take ten years. Why shouldn't it take ten years? Become fully immersed. What's the rush? What's the rush? I don't know what the rush is. They can get married. Nothing's stopping them from getting married. Oh, you're saying, if someone wants to get married to a Jew, oh, okay, right, so that could be the only thing that I think of it rushing the process, but that's the only, that's the only the only scenario. Otherwise, like, why, why should it be rushed? I've seen, sadly, too many instances where people have regressed after they converted because I think it was done prematurely, it was too fast, it was too rushed. What's the rush? Just take your time, let them be fully acclimated, fully absorbed in the community, fully Take the whole ecosystem in and then do it, do the conversion.
33:26
So, being part of a Jewish community there's so many amazing aspects of being part of a Jewish community. Do you know that every single woman who has a baby in our community, there is a list surf that goes out to the entire community and everybody helps out and everybody helps out takes a night, that they provide dinner for that family. And I remember when my son was in the ICU, he was born very premature and my wife was in the hospital before the labor for many weeks and then, after the labor, the baby was in the ICU for many weeks and then the bris was a few months later. And throughout the entire process we needed babysitters. We needed people to take care of the children. Whether it be at night, or whether it be during the day, or whether it be for dinners, whether it be for whatever it was, the entire community was there to assist, to help, to be there for one another.
34:34
That's what I find as being an important part of being part of the community to be a giver in the community, to feel connected with the community, that your neighbor cares about you and that you care about your neighbor, and being part of a shul, being part of a shul. So you pray, you see other people. You know it's almost impossible to be. It's not impossible because I know many introverts in the Jewish community, but it's almost impossible to be an introvert. You've got to be part of a community, you've got to say hello to people. You've got to see people. It's part of being part of a Jewish community, right?
35:13
So I'll give you an example, one of the things that someone comes if someone comes to me now from I don't know, say Columbia, they say, hey, I'm Jewish. I'll say, really, were you part of a community? No, just know that I'm Jewish. Right, you have to be part of a community. It means we take, we believe someone, the words that they're saying. But you've got to if someone's part of a community. So let's say they say I'm coming from Memphis, okay, we'll call the community Memphis. Yeah, they've been active, been part of it. They're there for Shabbos, they're their children in the Jewish day school, okay, so that's, that's, it gives credence to their thing.
35:48
We don't just because someone is part of the community we say, oh, they say it so that that you know, because they say that they're part of the community, that they are actually part of it. You understand, it's important for us to to be very, very cautious in the process of someone converting, that they're integrated into a system, because they also need to feel comfortable. There's a lot of transformation that happens. What's if they're not going to feel comfortable being part of the community and then they convert and then they're like this is not for me, this is not what I signed up for. Well, it needs to be what you signed up for, because you're joining a people, you're joining a community, you're joining a congregation. Any questions from our online audience? Yes, someone on Zoom here.
36:37
So in chapter two we discussed in episode two, we talked about the laws of washing hands. We talked about washing hands after we wake up from sleep. We talked about the proper process of washing hands, but then at the end, activities that require washing of the hands after performance number one waking up, leaving the bathroom or the bathhouse, clipping or cutting nails, haircut, touching shoes, marital relations, scratching one's head or here, delousing garments, touching skin on usually covered parts of the body, bloodletting or blood donation, touching an animal, leaving a cemetery or a funeral. So these are reasons for one to wash their hands. If a person does not have a vessel they actually sell, you can probably find it on Amazon. They sell foldable washing cups, so they sell that. They have a lot of inventions that are really useful for Torah observance, but I mean, there you got to wash your hands, so they don't have usually, you know, the proper washing utensils of washing hands.
37:57
So there's tricks to it. See, the halacha says that it should be by the force, by human force. So our sages say that when you don't have a cup, you can turn the water on and off, on and off, and every time you do that it's human force. You're turning it on and off, but it's just for that first spritz of water. That's a good Jewish word spritz that first spray of water, so that you could do that three times on each hand. And then you, it's as if you use the vessel, because you're using human force for the washing of the hand. And it's the same whenever you don't have a vessel. Now I don't think it's practical to carry a little vessel inside your purse. You're going to have to walk around with a whole duffel bag with all the different things. But it's a great question and I love that way of thinking. But there is a custom, by the way. It's a very interesting custom that many people have to have a washing cup and a big vessel next to your bed.
39:00
When you wake up, the first thing you do is you wash your hands. Even before you walk to the restroom or do anything else, the first thing you do is you wash off the evil spirit that's on our hands. Okay, I'll repeat the question. Do you say blessed, is he blessed, is his name? Baruch Hu, baruch Shemo? Only when you're in the congregation? No, you say it also when you are hearing the name of Hashem anywhere. Anybody who says the name of Hashem, you say blessed, is he blessed is his name. It doesn't have to be loud at all. The idea is you want to glorify God's name, which is the only reason we say it out loud is that it brings honor to Hashem that other people hear that. But, yes, good question.
39:46
The person who's reciting that blessing should take a moment so that someone can respond Baruch Hu, baruch Shmo blessed, is he, blessed is his name? And then continue the remaining part of that blessing and then, after the blessing, to say amin. Now, this is a very important thing that many people make a mistake with. You don't recite amin to your own blessing. Amin means I agree, I approve. You just recited the blessing. What are you approving? You just said it. When someone else recites the blessing, then you can say amain, I approve. You don't need to approve the own statement that you said that you just you don't need to approve the own statement that you said, that you just okay, yes.
40:30
Next question If you are being included in the blessing that is being recited, you don't interrupt the blessing to say Baruch Hu, baruch Shmo, blessed. Is he, blessed is his name after the name of Hashem is recited, okay? So if someone is including you in a blessing for example, you're at someone's house for Shabbat dinner and they're reciting the Hamotzi blessing you don't interrupt when they say the blessing to say Baruch Hu, baruch Shema, okay, because they're including you in that blessing. Interrupting them would negate they're including you, okay. It would be a, a hefsik, a interruption that would not assist in your being fulfilled in that mitzvah, in that blessing. Okay, these were excellent questions.
41:25
Thank you everybody. I look forward to our friends online. You can listen to these, to all of our previous episodes. I believe we have 45 or 46 episodes, I don't recall how many episodes. We're trying every week to put out another episode of our Everyday Judaism podcast. Please join us every Sunday morning, 11 am, right here at the Torch Center and bring questions, please. That's the most important part of learning. It's not to hear me read off an entire summary of a simmon in halacha, but rather, it's the questions that really help crystallize and clarify things in our Jewish law. My dear friends, have a remarkable, magnificent week.
42:12 - Intro (Announcement)
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