Anyone who lives in Har Nof walks down Rechov Nofim and sees the beis kevaros of Har HaMenuchos — every single day. Anyone driving into Lakewood on 9, or up the highway into Merkaz Ha'ir, passes a beis kevaros too. So when you actually go to a beis kevaros, are you still mechuyav in "asher yatzar eschem b'din," or has the daily seeing already been mafkia you toch sheloshim yom? The Rav finishes the last halachos of siman 224 — kevarim, when the berachah is said and from how far, whether kivrei tzaddikim are included at all — and closes with a milsa d'agadata on me'ah berachos. In this episode: - Do you make the berachah on a single kever, or only on kivrei Yisrael b'lashon rabim? - Does a second beis kevaros — a different city, a different country — obligate a new berachah, or does one beis kevaros patur the next toch sheloshim yom? - How close do you have to be — b'toch daled amos, or is a kohen (or someone in a car) mevarech me'rachok? - Kivrei tzaddikim: Kever Rachel, Ma'aras Ha'Machpelah, Rashbi in Meron — why is the minhag not to bentch, and what does "nikkar she'hu kever" versus just a matzeivah have to do with it? - Binoculars, a telescope, a mirror, the video clip of the Chofetz Chaim — which count as re'iyah? - An onen in the beis kevaros — once he was patur at the moment of chiyuv, can he bentch after stimas ha'golel? - Why does the Bach say a person who misses me'ah berachos enters a sakanah of mageifah? Sources: OC 224 sif yud-gimmel and yud-daled (Mishnah Berurah), Halachos Ketanos, Radvaz, Birkei Yosef, Aruch HaShulchan (end of the siman), Eliyahu Rabbah, Piskei Teshuvos, Be'er Heitiv, Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, Tosfos Bava Basra, Be'er Moshe (Rav Moshe Stern), Igros Moshe OC chelek 5, Rav Akiva Eiger, Drashos Maharash, Arizal, Halichos Shlomo perek 23, OC 225. Machshavah section: Rashi on "Ma Hashem sho'el me'imach," Rambam Hilchos Berachos and Hilchos Tefillah, Reb Yaakov Kamenetsky on Berachos, Abudraham, Ba'al HaTurim (Va'eschanan), Tur OC 46, Bach, Pri Megadim, Rema OC 1, Rabbeinu Yonah.

There was a Jewish physicist, Albert Einstein, who wasn't shomer Torah u'mitzvos at all and at one point was married to a woman who wasn't Jewish. Nobody would make she'chalak me'chochmaso l'yerei'av on him — that bracha belongs to chachmei Yisrael — but what about she'nasan me'chochmaso l'basar vadam, the bracha on chachmei umos ha'olam? Some say no: a Yisrael's ikar chochma is meant to be chochmas haTorah, and if he isn't oisek in it, k'ilu chasro lei, so he isn't counted among chachmei umos ha'olam either; others hold the bracha stands. That machlokes opens shiur Beis on birkas pratis in siman 224, given over Bein Hazmanim, when these are the brachos that actually come up. In this episode: - Do you make a bracha on the King of England or on the President of the United States — and why does R' Moshe Shternbuch lean one way while the maskana brought down in Igros Moshe leans the other? - Why is a Prime Minister — including a Rosh Memshala in Eretz Yisrael — out of the discussion entirely, and what does the Radvaz's shilton who is dan v'horeg b'mishpat add? - Mitzvah l'hishtadel lir'os melachim: may you be oiver an issur d'rabanan for it, and once you've seen a melech one time, may you keep being mevatel Torah to see another? - Why did R' Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld refuse to go out and see the Kaiser of Germany when he came to Eretz Yisrael? - Matziv gvul almana — is it said on batei ashirei Yisrael of bayis sheni, or on a beis kneses b'yofyo u'v'sikuno, and what was held b'shem Rav Elyashiv when the Hurva was rebuilt? Sources: OC 224 (se'if Tes, se'if Yud), Tur, Mishnah Berurah, Radvaz (brought in Sefer Keilim), Shevet HaLevi cheilek Alef, R' Moshe Shternbuch, Rashi (Berachos 58a), Magen Avraham, Maharsha (Berachos 58), Sefer Chasidim, Ritva, Pri Megadim. Machshavah section: Devarim 10:12 with Rashi and Gemara Menachos 43, Maharsha (Menachos 43), Rambam Hilchos Berachos perek Alef, Rambam Hilchos De'os, Redak (Tehillim 145:10).

Bein Hasmanim is when everyone travels — bochurim are out of yeshiva, families are on trips — and the road is full of things you're supposed to say a brocho on and things you're not. So the Rav goes through siman 224 systematically: markulis and avodah zarah, churches and mosques, and the brochos on seeing people. Along the way two real cases: a teshuva in Ein Yitzchak from Rav Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor about German-Jewish soldiers who davened in a mosque they captured in a war against Turkey, and the machlokes among today's poskim about whether Chacham HaRazim is said at a mass asifa of 600,000 Yidden. It closes with Tu B'Av and why it attaches to Shabbos Nachamu. In this episode: - Is a mosque avodah zarah? Why the Ein Yitzchak paskens it isn't — and what that meant for soldiers davening inside one. - Do you make Chacham HaRazim at an asifa of 600,000 Jews? Why Rav Chaim Kanievsky, Rav Yitzchak Zilberstein and Rav Mordechai Ezrachi held as they did. - Who is a "chochom" for she'chalak m'chachmaso l'yerei'av — and where do chachmei umos ha'olam fit in? - What brochos will we make when Melech HaMashiach comes? Rav Shmuel Hominer's question and Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach's answer in Minchas Shlomo. - Why were Tu B'Av and Yom Kippur the greatest yamim tovim — and what does "kalu bo meisei midbar" really mean? Sources: OC 224, Rambam, Rosh, Ein Yitzchak (Rav Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor), Minchas Shlomo (Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach / Rav Shmuel Hominer), Rav Chaim Kanievsky, Rav Yitzchak Zilberstein, Rav Mordechai Ezrachi. Machshavah section: Mishnah Taanis (last mishnah), Ramban (Ki Sisa 33:6), Biurim U'Maadim (Rav Yosef Epstein, Yeshivas Karlin), Ritva (Taanis).

This year Tisha B'Av is on Thursday, and Friday morning the Rav's own daughter came and asked if she could go swimming. Normally the dinim of shavua shechal bo — no haircuts or shaving, no laundry, no bathing — stretch past the fast into Motzei Tisha B'Av until chatzos of the next day. But this year that next day is the 10th of Av falling on Erev Shabbos, and l'kavod Shabbos there is room to be meikel, so every detail — from when the heter starts to whether it even has to be for Shabbos — has to be re-decided. In this episode: - Kiddush Levana after Tisha B'Av — do you say it still fasting or only after eating, and does it need na'alayim or bigdei Shabbos to be royked? Which dinim of shavua shechal bo carry over into Motzei Tisha B'Av until chatzos — istaper, kibbus, rachitzah, and even sewing and binyan? Since the 10th is Erev Shabbos, when does the l'kavod Shabbos heter begin — miyad at night or only Friday morning — and is kibbus different from istaper and rachitzah?May she actually go swimming Friday morning, even shelo l'kavod Shabbos? Music and shehecheyanu on Motzei Tisha B'Av — permitted or not?Sources: OC 426 (Rama; Mishnah Brurah s"k 11, Pri Megadim), Siddur HaYa'avetz, Zichnecha V'Yomru Lach (Rav Chaim Mintz b'shem Rav Moshe), Teshuvos v'Hanhagos (Rav Moshe Sternbach); OC 558 (Mechaber and Rama; Mishnah Brurah s"k 3, Magen Avraham b'shem Maharshal), Gemara Taanis 29a, Sha'arei Teshuvah, Eli Rabbah, Levush 551, Tosefos, Beis Yosef, takanas Ezra (Bava Kama 82), Shmiras Shabbos K'Hilchasa perek 42 (Rav Shlomo Zalman), Halichos Shlomo, Shmaita d'Moshe / Reshimas Aides (Rav Moshe), Rav Nissan Karelitz, Karlei Moed b'shem Rav Elyashiv; OC 551 se'if 17 (shehecheyanu), Sha'arei Teshuvah, Aish Avraham (Buchach) b'shem Kedushas Levi, Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky. Machshavah section: Gemara Taanis 29a (Rav Yochanan on Yud B'Av), Maharal, Netzach Yisroel perek 8, OC 559 se'if 4 (Tisha B'Av k'moed, "Karah alai moed"), Sfas Emes (agados al haYerushalmi, Taanis perek 4), Gemara Sanhedrin 97a with Rashi (Tanna d'vei Eliyahu).

This week a father came with a problem: his son's pidyon haben fell on Shabbos, which means the pidyon lands on the Sunday of the week of Tisha B'Av. But Sunday isn't yom lamed alef anymore — it's yom lamed beis, a pidyon haben shelo bizmano. Now the simcha and the mourning of shvua shechal bo have to share a single day, and every detail has to be re-decided. In this episode: Meat and wine at the seuda — for whom, and where do the "friends" end and the minyan metzumtzam begin? Bigdei Shabbos on a weekday of mourning — does the avi haben get what the ba'al bris gets? The haircut question — may he shave or trim the beard, and if so, Friday or Sunday? Why a pidyon haben can be a private "yom tov shelahem" even shelo bizmano — and why the Chasam Sofer says it can't. Sources: OC 551, 559, 568 (with Sha'ar Tziyon), Chasam Sofer OC 158, Sha'arei Teshuvah, Rama, Teshuvah m'Ahava, Noda BiYehuda. Machshavah section: Ramban (Terumah), Medrash Tanchuma (Tzav), Ben Ish Chai.

A shiur for Parshas Tazria-Metzora on the minhagei aveilus of Sefirah, timed to Rosh Chodesh Iyar falling on Erev Shabbos that year. In this episode: - Whether you may take a haircut or shave on Erev Shabbos Rosh Chodesh, and Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky's view on pushing off Kavod Shabbos versus Rebbi Yehudah HaChassid's minhag - Who counts as a "baal bris" allowed to take a haircut during Sefirah — the father, sandek, and mohel, and where a chasan or bar mitzvah boy fits in - Why ladies were never noheg the aveilus of Sefirah to begin with, and where the line is drawn for shidduchim and nivul - A machshava piece on why we don't say Shehecheyanu on Sefiras HaOmer, and the Ran's difficult question about it

A Chol HaMoed Pesach shiur on the halachos of Sefiras HaOmer, said the night after the first day of the count. In this episode: - The Ritva's chiddush that counting the days and counting the weeks are really one mitzvah, with the days serving the counting of the weeks toward Shavuos - The Magen Avraham's position that you must understand what you're saying when you count — and why he compares it to Talmud Torah - Whether a katan who becomes bar mitzvah partway through the count can rely on the days he counted before, and what it means to be "masker cheshbono" - What happens if you counted by day instead of by night, or missed a day entirely because of illness or aveilus

A Shabbos HaGadol shiur for Parshas Tzav on the halachos of Achilas Afikoman. In this episode: - The machlokes Rashi/Rashbam and the Rosh on whether the afikoman is zecher to the matzah eaten together with the Korban Pesach, or zecher to the Korban Pesach itself — and why that changes whether it carries its own brachah - The Rambam's own shitah, and the Maharal's chiddush that every kezayis of matzah eaten all night fulfills the mitzvah, with the afikoman's specific purpose being to leave ta'am matzah in your mouth - Why the Magen Avraham holds you should eat two kezaysim at the afikoman - What to do if you accidentally ate something after the afikoman, and whether you need to eat matzah again

A shiur for Parshas Vayakhel-Pekudei and Parshas HaChodesh. In this episode: - The Ramban's difficult mechilta on "lo sevaru eish," and why the possibility that melachos oneg Shabbos might be permitted only makes sense in light of the building of the Mishkan - Why women are chayav in the melachos of Shabbos despite it being a mitzvas asei shehazman grama, and the Ramban's proof from their involvement in building the Mishkan - The two components of Shabbos, kodesh (the issurim) and shabason (the oneg), and the Chasam Sofer's chiddush about someone absorbed in his store all Shabbos being a "mumar l'chlal Shabbos" - The Ramban's explanation for why the Torah calls the months "Rishon, Sheni" rather than using names, and where Nissan, Iyar, and the rest actually come from

A Purim-eve shiur recorded live in Yerushalayim during rocket sirens, working through the halachos of an interrupted megillah reading. In this episode: - Whether stopping to go to a miklat counts as a hefsek, and how long you can wait before having to restart or repeat the brachah - Whether talking to organize people during the siren invalidates the reading, and what kind of speech is permitted - What to do if the tzibbur scatters and can't reconvene — reading alone, reading part b'al peh, and how much needs to come from a kosher text - The zman for krias hamegillah at night, and heters for those on call (soldiers, doctors) who may only be able to read it early

A shiur for Parshas Tetzaveh, the Shabbos of Parshas Zachor. In this episode: - Whether the mitzvah of zechiras Michiyas Amalek requires hearing it read from a Sefer Torah with a minyan, and the Terumas HaDeshen's proof that it's d'Oraisa - The Chasam Sofer's practice of having people focus specifically on Michiyas Amalek during the brachos and the krias haTorah - The machlokes between the Rambam and the Ramban on what the mitzvah actually requires — remembering, or bringing yourself to feel eivah - Whether it's better to hear Parshas Zachor or Vayavo Amalek read on Purim, and a personal psak on bringing a Sefer Torah to someone housebound

A shiur for Parshas Trumah on the halachos of building a shul, tied to the mitzvah of "v'asu li mikdash v'shochanti b'socham." In this episode: - Rav Moshe Feinstein's chiddush that every town needs a shul with kedushas beis hamikdash, even after there was a Beis Hamikdash - Whether the space above a shul (an aliyah) carries the same kedusha, and why some batei medrash are built without it - The issur of nitzitzah — taking anything away from a shul without a clear purpose — and whether it applies to a basement shul without kedusha - Whether the ezras nashim carries the same kedusha as the ezras anashim, and what that means for renovations - A haftarah piece on Shlomo Hamelech's relationship with Chiram and the source of his chochmah

A shiur for Parshas Yisro on the mitzvah of Kiddush Hayom, connecting "zachor es yom haShabbos" to the halachos of how the mitzvah is actually fulfilled. In this episode: - The machlokes whether Kiddush requires wine (ala kois) — Rashi's view versus the Ramban's, that it can be fulfilled through speech, or even through davening itself - Why the Ramban holds Zachor is one continuous mitzvah running from the start of the week through Shabbos, not a once-a-week obligation - The Rebbi Akiva Eiger question: how can a man who already davened (and is patur from the Torah-level Kiddush) be motzi a woman who hasn't, given areivus - A haftarah piece on Yeshayahu's vision of Hashem "yoshev al kisei ram v'nisa" and what it teaches about Uziyahu's tzaraas

A shiur for Parshas Beshalach connecting the parsha's "vayaseiv" — Hashem's roundabout route out of Egypt — to the halachos of hesibah, reclining at the Seder. In this episode: - The Rambam's three levels of the hesibah obligation: the kezayis matzah and daled kosos, the extra matzah and wine, and the rest of the meal - Whether an onen (a mourner before burial) is obligated in hesibah, and what counts as reclining for him - Why the Rambam requires a table in front of you, not just a place to lean - Rav Moshe Feinstein's heter for someone uncomfortable reclining nowadays - A haftarah piece on Shiras Devorah: why Devorah told Barak that victory over Sisera would be credited to a woman, and what the Arizal says that teaches about this redemption versus the final one