l have learned that a hot solid piece of food, such as a chunk of meat or a potato, has special halachot because it holds in the heat. How do we consider something like vegetable soup, which has both significant broth and solid pieces of vegetables?
I have muscle pain in my back, which sometimes becomes severe. Going to bed with a heating pad has made a big difference sometimes. May I use it on Shabbat, or is it a problem of muktzeh?
My friend and I both wear soft contact lens, but we received very different instructions how to care for them on Shabbos. Could you please explain the background to the shailohs involved?
The last time my wife was away for Shabbat, my oldest daughter (under bat mitzva) wanted to light Shabbat candles instead of me. Can a minor daughter do so, and does she have precedence over me?
Regarding the prohibition to reheat liquid foods on Shabbat (in cases where there is not a problem due to returning food to a heat source), what constitutes a liquid?
In my community (I am the rabbi), we daven Mincha during the week without a separate chazarat hashatz (=heiche Kedusha) because of people’s busy schedules. In the winter, we have the practice of davening Mincha of Shabbat after the shul Kiddush following Musaf. Some congregants have requested that we do short Mincha, as their wives wait to go home with them. Is there any basis to allow this?
May one “violate” muktzeh during bein hashemashot (=bhs; the time between sunset and nightfall treated as a doubt of day or night) based on the rule of sefika d’rabbanan l’kula (we are lenient in cases of doubt of a Rabbinic prohibition) even without a mitzva need. If not, why?
When my family has seuda shlishit before sheki’a (sunset), I join them. The amount I eat varies, but I do not like to have a full meal with bread. May I continue eating after sheki’a?
