When is Challah not Challah?

For everyone who bakes and loves to eat challah this blogpost is for you.

When is Challah not Challah? Quite simply when you can taste the sugar! Halachically speaking the taste of a challah and the amount of sugar in a challah make a big difference to how it should be treated. If it is too sweet, ideally one should not make Hamotzi on it unless one eats about half a pound of it!

You might be scratching your head at this moment thinking I regularly eat sweet challah or my spouse often puts sugar in our challah what's the problem?

Rav Yosef Caro writes in the Shulkhan Arukh (Chapter 168) Kisnin bread. Some say that this refers to dough in which honey, sugar, oil, or spices were mixed and the taste of the item mixed in the dough is recognizable in the dough. This is indeed the Halacha and such an item is given the halachic status of Kisnin bread on which a “Boreh Minei Mezonot” blessing is recited. 

Rav Moshe Isserles makes an additional note explaining Ashkenazic custom. Some say this is considered actual bread (on which a “Hamotzi” blessing is recited) unless there was a copious amount of honey mixed into it similar to a sweet baked good which we call “Lekach” in which the honey and spices are primary. This is indeed the prevalent custom.

As such for Sephardim, if one can taste sweetness the beracha is mezonot, for Ashkenazim it is only if the bread is actually like cake that the beracha would be mezonot. Therefore the Ashkenazic custom is to have sweet challah without there being any halakhic problem whatsoever for them. However, in today's world where Ashkenazic and Sephardic families are well blended (no pun intended) there is a problem for Sephardim eating this "bread".

Ideally, (lechatchila) for Sephardim sugar should only be used to aid in the baking process. I.e. anything more than a tablespoon is too much. That is the difference between a plain role and a paneziko! If you can taste the sweetness it isn't fit for hamotzi. However, since it is very common to come to a house that serves sweet challah what can you do?

1. Eat half a pound of it - A little known halacha is that if you eat half a pound (216g) of cake (even though the beracha is normally mezonot) one must wash and say hamotzi and do birkat hamazon. 

2. That is very hard to do and not necessarily very healthy. One can rely on the lenient position that the food one eats with the "bread" can combine. Therefore one needs to eat half a pound of food total. 

All this is after the fact (bediavad), if one is able to ask (without offending one's host) for non sweet challah that is of course preferable. 

One should also note that one should be careful when eating too much cake that one doesn't obligate oneself to make birkat hamazon on what they ate! Based on the lenient position that cake and food can combine to the half a pound amount. It is conceivable that many of us would need to do birkat hamazon after a big kiddush in synagogue!

Wearing Tzitzit

What are the origins of the mitzvah of Tzitzit? Why do men wear Tzitzit? Do they always need to be worn? Should they be seen? Why are there differences for Ashkenazim and Sephardim?

(This article is written with the understanding that wearing Tzitzit is a mitzvah only for men)

A few people have asked me to go into the commandment of tzitzit. So I thought I would write something although I must admit that there is far more to be written about them than I will be putting in this blog. Tzitzit are the tassels or strings that are tied to the corners of four cornered garments. Although when someone is talking about Tzitzit they normally are referring to an item of clothing called a Talet Katan which is worn under a man's clothing. 

There are two sources for wearing Tzitzit the first is Bemidbar at the end of Parashat Shelach:

דַּבֵּר אֶל-בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם, וְעָשׂוּ לָהֶם צִיצִת עַל-כַּנְפֵי בִגְדֵיהֶם, לְדֹרֹתָם; וְנָתְנו עַל-צִיצִת הַכָּנָף, פְּתִיל תְּכֵלֶת.

וְהָיָה לָכֶם, לְצִיצִת, וּרְאִיתֶם אֹתוֹ וּזְכַרְתֶּם אֶת-כָּל-מִצְוֹת ה', וַעֲשִׂיתֶם אֹתָם; וְלֹא- תָתוּרוּ אַחֲרֵי לְבַבְכֶם, וְאַחֲרֵי עֵינֵיכֶם, אֲשֶׁר-אַתֶּם זֹנִים, אַחֲרֵיהֶם.

Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: They shall make for themselves throughout their generations fringes on the corners of their garments; and that they put with the fringe of each corner a thread of blue. This shall be fringes for you, and when you see it, you will remember all the commandments of the Lord to perform them. And you will not turn after your heart and after your eyes, after which you tend to stray.

In Devarim 22:12 it says גְּדִלִים, תַּעֲשֶׂה-לָּךְ, עַל-אַרְבַּע כַּנְפוֹת כְּסוּתְךָ, אֲשֶׁר תְּכַסֶּה-בָּהּ

You shall make for yourself twisted cords upon the four corners of your covering, with which you cover yourself.

On the question of should the tzitzit be seen or not this is one of the few time where Sephardic practice goes against Rav Yosef Caro (Maran). Maran writes in Shulkhan Arukh (O.H. 8:11) that one should wear the tzitzit over his other garments so that he can constantly see them and be reminded of the mitzvot.

On the other hand, the great Kabbalist, the Arizal, would wear his tzitzit under his other garments. His student, Rabbi Chaim Vital explained that this was because the tallit kattan and the tallit gadol relate to two kinds of reality: the internal reality and the external reality. The tallit kattan represents the internal level and is therefore worn within other garments, while the tallit gadol represents the external and is therefore worn over the other garments. 

Sephardim follow the Arizal and Ashkenazim follow Maran. 

There are number of different ways for tying the Tzitzit. Most Sephardim tie10,5,6,5 which is Yud, hey, vav, hey, which spells God's name on the talet katan and they tie 7,8,11,13 on the Talet Gadol. Ashkenazim tie 7,8,11,13 for both. Rav Messas notes (Shut Mekor Hayim Chelek Bet Chapters 69 and 120) that there are many different customs for tying and they are all valid.

Are men obligated to wear Tzitzit or only when they are wearing a four cornered garment? The Rambam writes (Laws of Tzitzit 3:11) "Even though a person is not obligated to purchase a tallit and wrap himself in it so that he must attach tzitzit to it, it is not proper for a person to release himself from this commandment. Instead, he should always try to be wrapped in a garment which requires tzitzit so that he will fulfill this mitzvah. In particular, care should be taken regarding this matter during prayer. It is very shameful for a Torah scholar to pray without being wrapped in a talet."

Sephardic custom has been that only Torah Scholars  wear a Talet Katan. Rav Yosef Messas(1892-1974, Algeria, Morocco and Israel) wrote in Hod Yosef Hai (p.43) that since it is only worn out of piety since strictly one only needs to wear tzitzit if one has a four cornered garment, one should abstain from wearing them because:

1. They may become soiled in the bathroom

2. The strings could become pasul/invalid (because some of the knots became untied or strings were cut off) in that case one would be in breach of the mitzvah of having tzitzit on a four cornered garment. 

However, Ashkenazic custom is somewhat different boys are taught to wear tzitzit from as young as three. Indeed in some schools boys can be reprimanded for not wearing tzitzit even though there is no obligation to wear them. (Although, my dad told me that in Gibraltar the Hebrew school did enforce tzitzit wearing).

Although technically one does not need to wear tzitzit and historically in some Sephardic countries the practice was not to do so times have changed. In today's world we look to be able to do mitzvot whenever we can and Tzitzit is such an easy one to do especially if it is one of the T-shirt varieties. I encourage men of all ages to wear tzitzit as much as possible.

Why so much Kabbalah in Halakha

Apologies for those looking for Madonna.

In my last blog I mentioned that the custom of Turkish Jews was to wear Talet and Tefillin on a fast day even when the fast falls out on a Friday. Subsequently there has been much debate whether that minhag is a correct custom or not. I would like to state that this blog is not here to make halakhic rulings on particular minhagim or practices. It is here for the process of debate, discussion and food for thought. As such please feel free to comment on the blog or to send me a private email.

Let's start with an introduction. Levantine Sephardim and Sephardim from Western Europe have the custom of wearing Talet and Tefillin on the afternoon of all fast days (except for Yom Kippur of course). Some people have the custom to wear Talet and Tefillin every mincha.

The Be'er Hetev in his commentary to the Shulkhan Arukh (O.C. 37:3) writes that one does not wear Talet and Tefillin on Friday afternoons because of the sanctity of Shabbat. However Rabbi Mordechai Margoliot in his commentary to the Shulkhan Arukh called Sha'arei Teshuva (O.C. 37:3) writes that from a purely halakhic position there is absolutely no problem with wearing Tefillin erev Shabbat and one should not protest if someone wears tefillin on Friday afternoon. However, he adds that he asked many great Rabbis in Israel and they said not to wear Tefillin erev Shabbat. The Kaf HaChaim on the Shulkan Arukh (O.C. 25:100 and 37:11) first writes that there are those who do wear Talet and Tefillin Erev Shabbat but that the minhag in Beit El synagogue was not to wear Talet and Tefillin Erev Shabbat.

The reason given for not wearing Talet and Tefillin Erev Shabbat was Kabbalistic in nature that the holiness of Shabbat already starts from Friday afternoon and already permeates the feel of Friday afternoon especially late on Friday afternoon. This Kabbalistic teaching is held as law by the majority of great Sephardic Rabbis such as the Hida, Kaf HaChaim and Rav Palachi.

The Moroccan Poskim are in debate whether the Talet and Tefillin problem is all Friday afternoon or just late Friday afternoon. The consensus of the Moroccan authorities is that if Mincha Gedola is done on Friday there is no problem of Shabbat's holiness already taking hold. 

Nevertheless according to Maran if a person wishes to wear tefillin all day or even just Shacharit and Minha there is no problem with a person doing this on Friday afternoon from a halakhic perspective. The only issue is kabbalistic. 

My question which I don't really have an answer to is why does Kabbalah play such a central role in halacha? Maran was also a great kabbalist. But he took great pains not to bring too much Kabbalah into halakha. However, the Arizal, the Hida, the Kaf Hachaim, Rav Palachi and others saw Kabbalah and Halakha so intertwined that they always based their halachic rulings in Kabbalistic sources.

For example in my class last Wednesday night we were discussing whether it was permissible to wake up early before the fast started and eat breakfast if one made a declaration before going to bed? From Maran it was clear that this was acceptable to do but Rav Ben Zion Abba Shaul brings the Kabbalah that says even with a declaration once a person goes to bed they cannot get up to eat as the halakha. Now I'm not knocking Kabbalah I just find it strange that Maran would try and keep it away from halakha but in the last few hundred years it has been brought to the forefront.

As a postscript for future years: The next time that Asara Be'Tevet falls on Friday is Dec 25th 2020. There would be no problem having an early mincha on that Friday and that may resolve the problem a little. But there are many who hold even an early mincha is problematic.

Removing the Shel

This is my first time writing a blog. In this blog I'd like to answer any questions that people have in Judaism in the form of a She'ela u'teshuva - a question and a developed answer. First up is a question raised on the exact wording of the berakhot recited on the festival Hanukah.

Q: What is the significance of having the word של/shel in the first berakha of lighting the Hanukah candles?

A: There is a disagreement over the text of the first berakha said before lighting the Hanukah lights. Ashkenazi and a minority of Sephardim (Spanish and Portuguese communities, Gibraltar and others) say the berakha is להדליק נר של חנוכה while most Sephardim recite להדליק נר חנוכה. So what's the significance of one little word של meaning of? To light the Hanukah candle or to light the candle of Hanukah? There doesn't seem to be too big a difference in English or in the simple understanding of the Hebrew.

One of my favorite books to look up when it comes to differences in text or custom are the books of Rabbi Shem Tov Gaguine. His set of sefarim are called the Keter Shem Tov and are an encyclopedia of explanations of different texts and minhagim. He writes (volumes 1-2 p.515) that the text in the gemara (Shabbat 23a)  uses the word של and that is followed by the Rambam, Rav Amram Gaon, The Tur and others. Haham Ovadiah Yosef zt"l also adds in Hazon Ovadiah that the Rif and the Rosh follow the text of the gemara.

However, Maran Rav Yosef Caro in Shulkan Arukh brings the berakha without the word של. Rav Gaguine explains why Rav Caro does not follow the gemara and the Rif and the Rambam by explaining that although the text of the Babylonian Talmud uses the word של the Yerushalmi version is על מצות הדלקת נר חנוכה (which no one uses today) and the version in Masekhet Soferim is להדליק נר חנוכה.

So how did the version of Masekhet Soferim which is not the usual source for halakha become the position of the majority of Sephardic communities? Haham Ovadiah writes (Hazon Ovadiah on Hanukah p.125 footnote 1) that Maran Caro bases his position on the words of the Arizal. The reason that the Arizal prefers the berakha without the word של is because the phrase להדליק נר חנוכה can be rearranged to be the abbreviation נח"ל. נח"ל in turn is an abbreviation of נצר חסד לאלפים and נפשנו חכתה לה. 

The Hida in Birkei Yosef gives a beautiful explanation of the significance of not using של. He explains that when we use the word של when lighting Shabbat candles it is because we are using the light and it provides shalom bayit - peace in the home. But on Hanukah we are not permitted to use the light for anything just to look at them. A second reason is that on Shabbat there are other mitzvot like making kiddush and having 3 meals but on Hanukah the lights are the only mitzvah so no connective word is needed.

To add to the Kabbalistic direction there are 13 words without using the word shel which is the gematria for the word אחד meaning Hashem is one. There are also 13 words in the second berakha too. 13+13 = 26 which is the gematria for the name of G0d which is not pronounced. The Maharshal combines the two words to form שלחנוכה in order to keep the best of both worlds of keeping the version of the gemara and also having 13 words for kabbalah.

I ponder to think if before the Arizal all Sephardim said של. But such is the influence of Kabbalah in our liturgy it is hard to imagine a world without it. But it wasn't just the Arizal that brought Kabbalah to our liturgy the Hida had a huge impact. Today with the Iraqi dominance of Sephardic practice, especially in Israel, Sephardic siddurim no longer even mention the word shel. 

Everyone should light the hanukiah in accordance with their tradition. Turkish Jews today do not use the word של while lighting the hanukiah. I hope you all found this illuminating! Special thanks to Yossi Babani for asking the question and Jack Babani for research on this topic.