Ask the Rabbi: The Chazan’s Pre-Birkat Kohanim Practice

Finding Out Late about the Presence of a Kohen or Levi

As a gabbai, sometimes I do not realize either that a kohen is present and I give the first aliya to a non-kohen, or that a levi is present and I give the second aliya to the kohen. What do we do when this is discovered?

Kri’at HaTorah in the Shadow of Corona

When minyanim are taking place with the permission of health authorities under social distancing rules, what should be done to separate “functionaries”?

Switching Chazanim at Ashrei

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?

An Avel as a Chazan for Yamim Noraim

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?

Kri’at HaTorah at Mincha

When it is not possible to get a minyan together for a weekday Shacharit, may we lain at Mincha?

Alerting People to Stand

At our minyan, we take a sefer Torah from a beit midrash in which people are learning and return it to there. Sometimes when we return the sefer Torah, someone bangs so that everyone will stand up for it. Is this necessary?

Davening Late with a Minyan

I went for Shabbat for a family simcha to a community with one shul, which started tefilla at 10:00 AM, after sof z’man tefilla. Was it better to daven with a minyan or by myself at the right time?

Making Up a Skipped Beracha during Shemoneh Esrei

After Kedusha of chazarat hashatz, the chazan went to “R’ei v’onyeinu” instead of “Ata chonen” and finished the beracha before people succeeded to correct him. He went back to “Ata chonen.” When he got up to “R’ei v’oyneinu,” he did not recite it, reasoning that it was incorrect to repeat it. Was he correct, and why?

Waiting Between the Beracha and the Kri’at Hatorah

In my shul (I am the rav), it is often too noisy to start laining right after the beracha. (How long/) may we delay the beginning of the aliya?