Selichos is upon us, providing an opportunity to present some background to the role of liturgical poetry that impacts immensely on our selichos and yomim nora’im prayers.
I have seen some chazanim wait, during their Modim, at “l’olam va’ed” for the tzibbur to finish Modim D’Rabanan. That seems to make the most sense, so everyone can hear all of Modim. Should everyone be doing that?
When minyanim closed, I started davening vatikin (starting Shemoneh Esrei (=SE) at hanetz hachama (sunrise=netz)). If I do not know precisely when netz is, is it better to err on the side of starting SE before or after netz?
When minyanim are taking place with the permission of health authorities under social distancing rules, what should be done to separate “functionaries”?
I showed my surprise to a serious young man who was drinking coffee during Shacharit. He said it helps him daven and is permitted. Can that be correct?
n my shul, at the end of An’im Zemirot, the chazan (child) does not say “Lecha Hashem hagedula …” I understand that it is not permitted to say Kaddish after a shir (song of praise) without p’sukim. Can you provide me with sources to prove this?
The chazan skipped Tachanun, and everyone assumed there was a chatan or a brit. After davening, the chazan said he just forgot Tachanun. People disagreed about whether we could/should say Tachanun at that point. What is the halacha?
Clients of mine want to rent out a building that has served for a family business to a religious group, who will use part of it as a shul. They are concerned that if things do not work out, they will get back control of the building with some of it having the restrictions of a shul, which would restrict their use of it. Is this a problem, and if so what can be done to obviate the problem?
In my small, Ashkenazi Shacharit minyan (without a rav), we now have two aveilim. They have been switching being chazan at Ashrei, but recently some people (mainly Sephardim) raised objections. I thought it was a standard practice. Is there a problem with it?
Is it permitted for an avel (mourner) to serve as a chazan for Yamim Noraim (Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur)? Whose decision is it – the shul’s or the avel’s?
As a speech therapist, I was wondering whether Kri’at Shema can be done in a whisper. In a whisper, the “z” sound is produced as an “s” and the “v” sound is produced as a “f” (and all voiced sounds become devoiced). Scientifically, this is because the vocal chords do not vibrate when whispering. Doesn’t one need vocalize to truly produce a “zayin”, “vav”, or any voiced sound, when saying Shema?
