A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraDi Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

The Shulhan Aruch (siman 242) discusses the importance of the Misva of Oneg Shabbat (Pleasure on Shabbat). This Misva is already mentioned by the Navi Yeshaya, "And you shall call the Shabbat enjoyable." Oneg Shabbat is fulfilled by enjoying fine foods and beverages. The Rambam cites the custom to partake of "basar shamen"- choice cuts of fat meats…

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraDi Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraDi Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraDi Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

There is a time-honored custom to remain awake throughout the night of Shabuot to recite the "Tikkun" and study Torah. Synagogues commonly provide refreshments and drinks, particularly tea, coffee and soft drinks, throughout the night, and people often drink several times over the course of the night. The question arises, must such a person recite …

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraDi Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

There is a time-honored tradition to remain awake throughout the night of Shabuot and read the special "Tikkun Lel Shabuot" text that is printed in the Mahzorim. Hacham Ben Sion Abba Shaul (Israel, 1924-1998), in his work Or Le'siyon (vol. 3, 18:11), discusses the importance of this custom and presents numerous laws and guidelines relevant to the p…

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraDi Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

Rav Haim Palachi (Turkey, 1788-1869), amid his discussion of the month of Sivan in his Mo'ed Le'chol Hai (listen to audio recording for precise citation), writes that it is proper to allocate money for charity on Ereb Shabuot. He says that one should designate 91 coins for charity, and then add 13 additional coins, one coin at a time, for a total o…

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraDi Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraDi Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

Rav Haim Palachi (Izmir, Turkey, 1788-1869) composed a work entitled Mo'ed Le'chol Hai, in which he discusses the unique qualities of every Hebrew month and the significant days in each month. In his discussion of the month of Sivan – the month in which we received the Torah, as we celebrate on Shabuot – he writes that this month is especially suit…

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraDi Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

The holiday of Shabuot is one of the three "Regalim," and, as such, the Misva of "Ve'samahta Be'hagecha" (rejoicing on the holidays) applies. In fact, the Gemara in Masechet Pesahim (68b) comments that with regard to the holiday of Shabuot, all opinions agree that the observance must include an element of "Lachem" – physical enjoyment – because thi…

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What is the status of a rented home vis-à-vis the obligation of Mezuza? If one rents the residence for no specified period of time, then he is not required to affix Mezuzot until he has lived in the residence for thirty days. At that point, he must affix the Mezuzot with a Beracha. If he chooses to place Mezuzot within the first thirty days of livi…

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The obligation of Mezuza requires a person to affix Mezuzot on the residence in which he lives. The Gemara describes this obligation as "Hobat Ha'dar" (literally, "an obligation of the resident"), which means that the Misva applies only to the resident. If a person purchases a property but it remains vacant for a period of time, it does not require…

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The Gemara in Masechet Shabbat (48) addresses the question of whether it is permissible to fill a pillow with feathers or other material on Shabbat. If the pillow had not been previously filled, the Gemara establishes, then filling it on Shabbat would constitute "Makke Ba'patish" – completing the process of making a functional item, one of the thir…

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One of the thirty-nine Melachot (categories of forbidden activity) that apply on Shabbat is "Koser" ("harvesting"). It is forbidden on Shabbat to detach something from the ground, such as stalks of wheat, or fruits from trees, such as grapes, olives dates and figs. It makes no difference whether the item that is picked is used as food for people or…

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraDi Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraDi Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

May a woman apply makeup to her face on Shabbat? Although one might argue that makeup should be permissible in the interest of Kevod Shabbat (showing honor to Shabbat), a person cannot show honor to Shabbat by doing something that constitutes a violation of Shabbat. Applying makeup to one's face violates the Shabbat prohibition of Tzovei'a, dyeing,…

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraDi Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

Is it permissible on Shabbat to eat or cut foods containing letters, such as crackers that have the company's name imprinted on its surface, or a birthday cake, or does this constitute erasing, which is forbidden on Shabbat? Most authorities agree that one may bite into and eat a cracker or piece of cake with lettering, even though he thereby "eras…

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraDi Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

May a person spray insect repellent in his home on Shabbat? One of thirty-nine categories of forbidden activity on Shabbat is "Ha'shochet," or slaughtering, which includes as well all cases of "Netilat Neshama" – taking the life of any living creature. Thus, it is forbidden to kill animals or insects on Shabbat. Hence, Halacha would forbid spraying…

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If a person set the light in his dining room on a timer before Shabbat, and during the meal he realizes that he will need the light in the room for longer than he had expected, may he adjust the timer so that the lights will turn off later than initially scheduled? Conversely, if a timer is set to turn lights off in a room at a certain time, and a …

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraDi Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

The Rama (Rabbi Moshe Isserles, Poland, 1525-1572), in his glosses to the Shulchan Aruch (336), rules that it is forbidden on Shabbat to place flowers in water if this will cause the flowers to bud. Many other authorities take this position, as well, including the Chida (Rabbi Chayim Yosef David Azulai, Israel, 1724-1806) and, more recently, Chacha…

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Is it permissible to invest in a non-Jewish company that conducts business on Shabbat? Rabbi Moshe Halevi, in his work Menuchat Ahava (vol. 1, p. 394), rules that Halacha would allow giving money to a gentile during the week as an investment, even if it is clear that the gentile will conduct his business on Shabbat. Since the gentile does his work …

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraDi Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraDi Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

Many people enjoy soup on Friday night, whether it's vegetable soup, chicken soup, or "kibbehamda" which contains meatballs and vegetables. Often, a person prefers eating only the broth, without vegetables. The question arises as to how he can separate the vegetables from the broth without violating the Shabbat prohibition of "Borer," which forbids…

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The Shabbat prohibition of "Borer" forbids separating between desirable and undesirable items, such as between foods which one wants to eat and foods which he does not want to eat. Separating is allowed on Shabbat only if one removes the food he wants to eat from the food he does not want to eat (and not the other way around), and he does not use a…

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Is it permissible to fill an urn with cold water just before the onset of Shabbat, such that the water will be heated on Shabbat? Halacha imposes certain restrictions on placing raw or partially cooked food on the fire before Shabbat. The Rabbis were concerned that since the food is not fully cooked when Shabbat begins, one might stoke the coals to…

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A "Keli Rishon" – a utensil in which food or liquid has been cooked – has the capacity to effectuate "cooking" in the Halachic sense of the term. This means that placing raw food inside a "Keli Rishon" on Shabbat violates the Torah prohibition of cooking on Shabbat. This applies even after the utensil has been taken off the fire, so long as it is s…

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Regarding the laws of cooking and warming food on Shabbat, Halacha assigns different statuses to various kinds of utensils. The pot in which food had been cooked is called a "Keli Rishon" ("first utensil"). One may not place food in a Keli Rishon, even after it has been removed from the fire, so long as the pot is still hot. If, however, one poured…

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The Gemara in Masechet Shabbat (42) establishes a Halachic equation between hot liquid inside a Keli Rishon – the original utensil in which something was cooked – and hot liquid poured from a Keli Rishon (called "Iruy Keli Rishon"). Namely, as far as the laws of Shabbat are concerned, both liquid inside a Keli Rishon and liquid poured directly from…

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraDi Rabbi Eli J. Mansour