Tefillah Archives | Rosh Yeshiva Responds

23 08, 2026

Yom Kippur Selichot and Vidui Without a Minyan

August 23rd, 2026|Minyan, Orach Chayim, Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, Shulchan Arukh, Synagogue|

QUESTION

What should a congregation do if it does not have a minyan for Yom Kippur services, particularly regarding the Selichot and Vidui normally recited during Chazarat HaShatz?

ANSWER

Without a minyan, you cannot do Chazarat HaShatz. However, each person should recite Vidui as part of the silent Amidah. There is also no problem with reciting an additional Vidui together after the Amidah.

The Selichot may also be recited without a minyan, but the Yud-Gimel Middot HaRachamim (Thirteen Attributes of Mercy) cannot be said in their regular way without a minyan. Rather, they should be read with trope (

31 07, 2026

Earliest Time for Reciting Selichot

July 31st, 2026|Moadim, Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, Tefillah|

QUESTION

What is the earliest time that we can begin saying Selichot? Is there a ma’alah (advantage) to beginning twenty minutes before chatzot so that the final Yud-Gimmel Middot (Thirteen Attributes of Mercy) are recited after chatzot?

ANSWER

The original practice for Selichot is to rise early, before alot ha-shachar (dawn), and recite Selichot during the ashmoret (the final watch of the night;

21 07, 2026

Kohen with Physical Disabilities Performing Birkat Kohanim

July 21st, 2026|Birkat Kohanim/Duchening, Kohanim, Orach Chayim, Tefillah|

QUESTION

A kohen who suffered a stroke several years ago and currently has injuries affecting his right arm and leg is staying temporarily at a rehabilitation facility that serves assisted-living, nursing-care, and independent-living residents. He has been attending the facility’s minyan for the past couple of weeks and would like to duchen—recite the priestly blessing—on Yom Tov. He has continued to duchen at his regular synagogue since his stroke.

How do we determine whether a community is considered “accustomed to” a kohen with a mum—a physical blemish or impairment? In this case, he

19 07, 2026

Resuming Kriyat Shema After Long Interruption for Security Emergency

July 19th, 2026|Orach Chayim, Shacharit, Mincha and Ma'ariv, Shema and Shemoneh Esrei, Shulchan Arukh, Tefillah|

QUESTION

While davening on military duty, I was called away to deal with a security situation in the middle of tefillah. I finished Shema while putting away my tefillin. About an hour and a half later I became available to finish my tefillah.

Where should I resume?

The beginning of Birkhot Kriyat Shema
The beginning of Shema
Emet v’Yatziv
The Amidah

What is the guidance for future situations like this?

ANSWER

This is

14 07, 2026

Repurposing Men’s Section as Women’s Section in Shul

July 14th, 2026|Mechitza, Orach Chayim, Synagogue, Tefillah, Women|

QUESTION

Is there any halakhic issue with reconfiguring a synagogue’s davening space so that part of what was previously the men’s section is now designated as the women’s section, while the former women’s section is no longer regularly used for davening? Alternatively, may the men’s and women’s sections be treated as flexible spaces, with their respective sizes adjusted according to immediate need?

For context, the former women’s section was always explicitly designated as a multi-purpose space rather than exclusively as a place for davening.

ANSWER

This is an issue that has come up in

14 07, 2026

Counting Visitors for Minyan Without Investigating Jewish Status

July 14th, 2026|Minyan, Non-Jews and Other Religions, Orach Chayim, Status, Tefillah|

QUESTION

In a tourist town with only one synagogue, many visitors — both Jewish and non-Jewish — may attend services. Is there an obligation to ascertain the Jewish status of visitors before counting them toward a minyan? Or does the general principle apply that, absent specific grounds for doubt, one may rely on a person’s statement that he is Jewish without investigating further?

ANSWER

The general principle applies. The fact that non-Jewish visitors also attend services does not change this. If a person says that he is Jewish, he may be counted for a minyan. Without specific grounds for doubt (leidat ha-safek) regarding

14 07, 2026

Questions Regarding Tzitzit for Young Boys

July 14th, 2026|Chinukh - Education, Clothing and Appearance, Orach Chayim, Shulchan Arukh, Tallit and Tefillin|

Question

I’d love to hear your perspective on tzitzit for young children.

I have three boys, two of whom already wear tzitzit daily. I constantly notice that their tzitzit are not kosher by normative halakhic standards. The boys are active, their tzitzit get dirty quickly, and I need to wash them very frequently, which I am sure contributes to the wear and tear.

So here are my questions:

Many have the custom to begin putting a boy in tzitzit around age three. Is that also the age at which

10 05, 2026

Can a Child or Woman Blow the Shofar in Elul

May 10th, 2026|Minhag, Moadim, Orach Chayim, Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, Shacharit, Mincha and Ma'ariv, Synagogue, Tefillah, Women|

QUESTION

Can a woman or child blow the shofar at the end of Shacharit during Elul?

ANSWER

I have not found much discussion of this question in the poskim. For some background, there is a widespread Ashkenazi minhag (custom) to blow the shofar at the end of Shacharit during the month of Elul (Rema, Orach Chayim 581:1). The purpose of this practice is not to fulfill the Torah mitzvah of shofar, which applies on Rosh Hashanah, but rather to awaken us spiritually as we prepare for the Yamim Nora’im (Tur OH 581). The sound of the shofar reminds us that Rosh Hashanah is

26 04, 2026

Counting the Omer Early

April 26th, 2026|Moadim, Orach Chayim, Sefirah, Tefillah|

QUESTION

Do you have any guidance on counting sefirat ha’omer at shul on erev Shabbat or erev yom tov when we daven early?

ANSWER

It depends on how early you are planning to count.

If you will be counting after shekiyah, then I think that, given how easy and common it is for people to forget and miss counting, one should definitely count with a berakhah, and say: “If you remember, please count again after X:XX.” This is not to suggest that there is any problem if they do not count again.

This is

19 04, 2026

When the Rabbi Forgets to Count the Omer

April 19th, 2026|Orach Chayim, Pesach, Sefirah, Tefillah|

QUESTION

If a rabbi forgets to count Sefirat HaOmer for an entire day, may he continue counting with a berakhah?

ANSWER

This question arises more often than one might expect. At times, even rabbis forget and miss a day. The standard halakhah is that one who misses a full day of counting the Omer continues counting without a berakhah (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 489:8;

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