Ask the Rabbi: “Cooked” and Sweetened Wine for Kiddush

Kiddush – Why Some Sit, Why Some Stand

Lecha Dodi- Changing the Tune

Ask the rabbi: can I use a hand-held fan on shabbat?

Wanted Dead or Alive

Moral Culpability for Unintentional Actions on Shabbat

Carrying on Shabbos

Unicycles on Shabbat

Eiruv Chatzeirot at a Hospital

May we make the Kiddush before Kri’at Hatorah?

Cooking for Shabbat at the End of Yom Tov

Some of the Laws of Seudah Shelishis

Paying a Babysitter for Work on Shabbat

We need a babysitter for a few hours on Shabbat. Is there a problem paying her for Shabbat work?

Shabbat that Elevates Not Just the Secular but Even the Foreign

Ein Aya Shabbat 4, 8

It's common knowledge that Shabbat elevates the secular to be holy, but Rav Kook writes that the ideal Shabbat will elevate even concepts which are foreign to Judaism.

Responsive Baby Bassinet

There is a special bassinet that provides motion and soothing noise and reacts to an infant’s crying by intensifying them. Is it permitted to use this bassinet on Shabbat, and if so, are there special instructions?

A Deeper Take on Shabbat: Why is This Allowed & That Prohibited?

Ein Aya Shabbat 4, 4

This important lecture helps answer the classic question we all ask: Why are certain things allowed on Shabbat and others forbidden? Rav Kook, based on Kabbalistic sources, explains that the 6 days of creation and the Mishkan- the 2 classic "constrictions" (Tzimtzum) of God, are the anti-thesis of Shabbat. Accordingly only and precisely those 39 types of labor which were done to construct the mishkan correspond to the 6 days of creation, from which we want to rise above on Shabbat, to get a taste of the original Shabbat which preceded creation, and the final Shabbat, when all of creation will be like Shabbat. This basic and beautiful idea is clarified here in a very understandable way

An Agent Showing a House on Shabbat

A congregant of mine is trying to sell his house. His non-Jewish real estate agent suggested doing an open house on Shabbat, a good time for many buyers. If the owner goes away for Shabbat, may he do that?

Shabbat Meal for Shema/Sefira

When we make early Shabbat, is it better, when nighttime falls, to recite Kri’at Shema and sefirat ha’omer during the meal or to wait until after the meal?

Disposing of Tea Light Leftovers

I read that one should not throw directly into the garbage mitzva-related objects. Should I wrap in plastic the leftover shell and wax residue from “tea light” Shabbat candles?

Do You Hate Shabbat?

Is your Shabbat an out-of-this-world spiritual experience? Here's how to make it one.