Right before Hoshana Rabbah a man in Eretz Yisroel called with a shailah. Rain was expected over Shemini Atzeres and Simchas Torah, which in Eretz Yisroel are one day, and he was leaving to spend Yom Tov at his parents' house. He wanted to take his sukkah down before he went. The Mishnah says gamar le'echol, lo yatir es sukkaso, and the Rishonim give three different reasons for it.In this episode:- Rashi's ta'am, that the whole day is still for sleeping and learning in the sukkah, and why the Tur and the Mishnah Berurah bring only his reason- Whether eating in a sukkas chaveiro is a tza'ar, and whether a son at his parents' house is echad mi'bnei beisam- The Ran's chiddush that a person needs a sukkah kol shiv'a: a mitzvah of binyan sukkah or only a hechsher mitzvah, and why you are pocheis bo daled al daled- Reb Shlomo Zalman and Rav Elyashiv on the Ran, the Meiri's bizuy mitzvah and prikas ol, and the Chashukei Chemed on taking down the s'chach in the rain- Why the Torah begins with Bereishis: the Ramban on the geirushin of Adam HaRishon, the Dor HaMabul and the Dor HaFlaga, and ki ba'avodaso yinchaluhaSources: Mishnah Sukkah 48, Rashi, Ritva, Rema OC 640:4 and Mishnah Berurah, Tur and Mishnah Berurah OC 666, Ran, Divrei Menachem (Rav Menachem Mendel Kasher), Gemara and Rashi Makkos 8, Rema OC 624, Tosafos, Minchas Shlomo, Orchos Ish (Rav Elyashiv), Meiri, Rabbeinu Yonah, Semag, Rabbeinu Chananel, Chashukei Chemed (Rav Yitzchok Zilberstein, Sukkah 48), the Gra on the Rashba. Machshavah section: Rashi (Bereishis 1:1), Ramban (Bereishis 1:1 and 1:10).

An apartment building in Washington D.C. with no place to put up a sukkah, so the meals are eaten in the shul sukkah. Rav Hai Gaon was asked about exactly this case, and he answered that one makes the bracha there but is not yotzei his chiyuv. That answer opens up what the mitzvah of yeshivas sukkah for all seven days really is, beyond the k'zayis of the first night.In this episode:- The Rambam's "ochel v'shoseh v'dar," the Rema's "yashen u'metayel," and what metayel actually means in a sukkah of zayin al zayin- The sukkah takes the place of the dining room, living room and bedroom, but not the kitchen, and whether to set a tablecloth in the house- The Ramban on "kol ha'ezrach b'Yisrael," and why the shul sukkah earns a bracha but not the mitzvah- Why we make leishev basukkah every day of Sukkos but no bracha on matzah after the first night, and whether the other days carry a real chiyuv- Sukkah or lulav when you can only have one, and whether a family member building the sukkah is mitzvah bo yoser mib'shluchoSources: Rambam Hilchos Sukkah 6:5-6, Shulchan Aruch and Rema OC 639, Hilchos Chag B'Chag (Rav Moshe Mordechai Karp), Mishnah Berurah, Pri Megadim, Eliyahu Rabbah, Mateh Efraim, Rashba (Beitzah 30), Sifra with Raavad and Rashash, Ritz Geiyas citing Rav Hai Gaon, Magen Avraham citing the Maharil, Tosafos Rabbeinu Yehuda MiShirleon (Brachos), Abudraham (Birkas Sukkah), Ba'al HaMa'or (end of Pesachim) with Gilyonei HaShas (Sukkah 27), Chasam Sofer OC 639, Rav Shlomo Eiger (Sefer HaIkkarim), Ritva (Sukkah 27), K'tzei HaMateh, Pri Megadim 624-625. Machshavah section: Ramban (Emor 23:42).

On the first night of Sukkos there is a chiyuv to eat in the sukkah that no other night of the Yom Tov carries, learned from leil Pesach through the gezeirah shava of tes vav tes vav. The rishonim argue over what that limud brings along with it: the shiur, the zman, and whether it holds even when the rain is coming down. And when it does rain, a family and guests are sitting at the table waiting to eat.In this episode:- K'zayis or yoser mi'k'beitza, and why the Mishnah Berurah wants us to be choshesh for the other rishonim- Whether lechem oni, matzaschem and the zman of chatzos carry over from matzah to the sukkah, and whether honey on the challah is a problem- Why the Rema says not to eat from chatzos on Erev Sukkos, earlier than Erev Pesach- Rain on leil rishon: kiddush in the sukkah, shehecheyanu without leishev, and how long to wait for the rain to stop- The Sha'ar HaTziyun on guests and aniyim, and the issur of ba'al te'acher- Why Parshas Emor and Parshas Pinchas list sukkah and the daled minim only after closing the moadimSources: Tosafos (Brachos 49), Ran (Sukkah 27), Ritva, Tur, Shulchan Aruch and Rema OC 639:3 and 639:5, Darkei Moshe, Pri Megadim, Reb Shlomo Zalman Auerbach (Halichos Shlomo, Moadim) citing the Yad Eliyahu, Mateh Efraim 625, Taz, Rashba, Biur HaGra and Maaseh Rav, Chayei Adam, Mishnah Berurah and Sha'ar HaTziyun 639:67. Machshavah section: Vayikra 23 (Emor), Bamidbar 29 (Pinchas), Medrash on v'samachta, Vayikra Rabbah (Emor), Ramban (Emor).

In perek zayin of Hilchos Teshuvah the Rambam writes that since every person is a baal bechirah, he should be mishtadel to do teshuvah and lena'er kapav me'chet, so that he dies a baal teshuvah and merits chayei olam haba. One sentence, and four kashos: what bechirah has to do with it, why "yishtadel" when teshuvah is a chiyuv, why the ikar seems to be lifnei misasav when perek beis says teshuvah gemurah is miyad, and how olam haba can be the reason when perek yud calls avodah al menas lekabel schar a lower madreigah. In this Shabbos Shuva drasha the Rav works through each one.In this episode:- Why the Rambam says one must do teshuvah even from deos ra'os, when Hilchos Deos only asks us to keep recalibrating to the derech ha'emtza'is- What being b'tzelem Elokim means for the world a person builds with his own actions- Schar mitzvah mitzvah and the Ramban's pshat in al menas lekabel pras- Ya'azov rasha darko ve'ish aven machshevosav, and the shofar's call of uru yesheinim mi'shnaschem- Konam einai b'sheinah, mehalech k'omed, and a mussar on davening with chiyusSources: Rambam Hilchos Teshuvah 7:1-3, 1:1, 2:1-2, 3:4, 5, 10; Hilchos Deos 1; Avos 1:3; Yeshayahu 55; Nedarim (konam einai b'sheinah); Shabbos (mehalech k'omed, Ben Azzai) with Tosafos; Rebbe Akiva Eiger. Machshavah section: Gra on tzelem Elokim, Reb Chaim Volozhiner, hakdamah to Shir HaShirim attributed to the Ramban, Reb Leibele Eiger.

This year Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbos, and that changes the day from the inside out. There is no shofar. The tefillah runs five, six, sometimes eight hours, so the two Shabbos seudos are squeezed into what is left of the afternoon — and mitzad Shabbos a third seudah is still owed. The Mateh Efraim's answer is to take the one seudah you planned and split it into two, which the Rema in siman Reish Tzadi Aleph would rather you not do at all.In this episode:- If davening ends at two o'clock, how do you fit shalosh seudos in — and is splitting the morning seudah in half a genuine hefsek or a berachah she'eina tzricha?- Forgot Retzei, or Ya'aleh V'yavo, at shalosh seudos — do you go back and bentsch again?- Why do we say Zichron Teruah instead of Yom Teruah on Shabbos, and b'dieved, if you said the wrong one, are you yotzei?- Who was ever permitted to blow shofar on Shabbos after the churban — and what happened when the Lev Ivri tried to bring it back in Yerushalayim in 1882?- Why is there no Avinu Malkeinu on Shabbos, and may a person ask for his own private needs on the Yom HaDin at all?Sources: OC 291 (Rema, Mishnah Berurah, Kaf HaChaim b'sheim the mekubalim), Mateh Efraim Hilchos Rosh Hashanah, Ashrei Ish OC vol. 3 (minhag Rav Elyashiv), OC 588:5, OC 581:3 with Sha'ar HaTziyun s"k 35, Pri Chadash, Magen Avraham, Mishnah Rosh Hashanah perek 4 with Rashi, Rambam and Rif, Rosh (beginning of perek 4), Ir HaKodesh V'HaMikdash (Rav Yechiel Michel Tukachinsky). Machshavah section: the Ran and the Gra on the zman of Selichos, Medrash on briyas Adam HaRishon, Pesachim 118a with the Maharsha, Nefesh HaChaim sha'ar aleph, Avodah Zarah 8a.

The second shiur on inyanei Elul, a week before Selichos begin Motzei Shabbos Parshas Nitzavim. It starts with the four minhagim of when Selichos start — Rosh Chodesh Elul, the Sunday before Rosh Hashanah, Tes Vav Elul, or only in Aseres Yemei Teshuvah — and then works through the practical questions that come up every year: what hour of the night, what happens when a man has only one of the two options, and what a person who walks in late is actually obligated to say.In this episode:- Rav Moshe was asked about a place where it was dangerous to be out after chatzos — may they say Selichos early in the night, and why does he call it a hora'as sha'ah that has to be written down and not turned into a heter?- Chatzos halayla or ashmores haboker — is one the l'chatchila zman, and if the yeshiva davens at 7:30 and you get up at 7:00, is that enough?- Ashrei and the Kaddish before the Yud Gimmel Midos — do they also have to wait until chatzos, and if you came late, do you say Ashrei or catch up to the tzibur?- The shatz wraps in a tallis at night like Hakadosh Baruch Hu was misatef b'taliso — does he make a brachah, and why is it better that someone else hand it to him?- A minyan in an avel's house or the beis knesses — where is tefillah more mekubal, and when is going to the avel the right thing anyway?- Why the ba'al tefillah for Selichos also davens Shacharis, Mincha and Maariv — hamaschil b'mitzvah omrim lo g'mor on a tefillah that is a mitzvah bifnei atzmo?- Vidui on Motzei Shabbos before chatzos — the one thing everyone starting early has to be careful about.Sources: Tur OC 581, Shulchan Aruch and Rama OC 581, Rambam (Hilchos Teshuvah, and Hilchos De'os), Abudarham brought by the Mateh Efraim, Magen Avraham OC 565 s"k 5, Igros Moshe OC 2:105, Mateh Efraim, Aruch Hashulchan OC 581, Halichos Shlomo (Yomim Nora'im, Tishrei; and Tefillah), Sefer Mishmeres Shalom, Taz, Shaarei Efraim, Levush OC 581, Darkei Moshe, Chasam Sofer, Kovetz Halachos, Likkutei Maharich, Minhagei Maharil, with mesoros quoted b'shem Rav Elyashiv, Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach and Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky. Machshavah section: Rosh Hashanah 17b (and Rashi, daf 17), Maharsha, Maharal (Be'er Hagolah, Be'er Daled), Ramban (Parshas Mishpatim), Rabbeinu Bechaye (Parshas Ki Sisa), Tomer Devorah (Ramak), Gemara Shabbos on "ani v'hu," and a mesorah b'shem Rav Moshe Shapiro.

We're a week and a bit into Elul, and the shiur goes through siman 581 from the top — the minhagim everyone keeps without necessarily knowing where they come from. When exactly the tkias starts, whether it's once a day or twice, what happens when the shul has no shofar or no ba'al tokea, and where L'Dovid Hashem Ori sits in davening once Barchi Nafshi and Anim Zemiros are also on the table. The second half turns to the machshavah: why the remazim of Elul all point at tzedaka and ichud, and what that has to do with kabalas malchuyos on Rosh Hashanah.In this episode:- Tkias shofar by Arvis — does the Chayei Adam's "likras erev" mean Mincha, or is it Maariv mamash like the Mateh Efraim, even on Motzei Shabbos?- Your shul has no ba'al tokea by Shachris — do you blow b'yachid, do you catch it at Mincha, and may a katan be the one to blow?- Tashrat every day, or Tashrat-Tashat-Tarat, or 30 kolos on Rosh Chodesh — and why the first day of Rosh Chodesh is the nekudah?- L'Dovid Hashem Ori: until Yom Kippur, Hoshana Rabbah or Shmini Atzeres, before or after Barchi Nafshi and Anim Zemiros — and why minhag Frankfurt and the Gra don't say it at all?- Why "u'mishloach manos ish l're'ehu u'matanos la'evyonim" is a remez to Elul — and how becoming a "lo" is the hachana for malchuyos.Sources: Tur OC 581, Shulchan Aruch and Rama OC 581, Mishnah Berurah (incl. s"k 2), Magen Avraham, Chayei Adam (Hilchos Rosh Hashanah), Mateh Efraim, Bach (end of the siman) and Sefer HaAruch, Levush, Igros Moshe OC 4:21 os 9, Ma'aseh Rav (Gra), Nimukei Orach Chaim, Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer, with mesoros quoted from Rav Moshe Sternbuch and Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky. Machshavah section: Be'er Heitev 581:10 quoting Minhagei Maharil (Hilchos Yamim Noraim), Shem MiShmuel (Parshas Shoftim), Ba'al HaCharedim on Megillas Esther, Chasam Sofer, Rambam (Sefer HaMitzvos mitzvah 173, Hilchos Melachim), Megaleh Amukos.

You board in New York, look out the window at the Atlantic, and make "she'asah es hayam hagadol." The next day the plane comes in over the Yam Hatichon — do you make a bracha again, or did the first one already cover it? The mechaber says the "yam hagadol" of the mishna is the Mediterranean, the one you cross from Eretz Yisroel to Mitzrayim; most acharonim say it's davka the ukyanos. That machlokes turns into a safek on both ends, and it changes what you say on the Atlantic, on the Mediterranean, on the Kinneret you drive to the same afternoon, and on the Har Chermon you see on the way. Part two turns to Elul, and the Shem Mishmuel's remez in this week's parsha: "atem kreivim hayom lamilchama." In this episode: - If the mechaber and the acharonim are in a safek on both the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, why does the Biur Halacha say "oseh ma'aseh vereishis" is potur — and what does yayin and "ha'etz" have to do with it? - Gibraltar: if you can see the Mediterranean and the Atlantic at once, where is the gevul — and does it only work from an airplane? - You already made "she'asah es hayam hagadol" on the Atlantic; you land in Eretz Yisroel and see the Mediterranean. One connected yam or a new bracha? And what if you made "oseh ma'aseh vereishis" first, going the other direction? - Why is the minhag to bench on the Kinneret but not on the Yam Hamelach — min klalah, or because it wasn't there from ma'aseh vereishis? - Which harim are "meshunim" enough — Alps, Carpathians, Ararat, and Har Chermon as meyuchad b'mino in Eretz Yisroel? And a mapal like Niagara, which Chazal never listed? - Why does the Mishna Berura come out that we have no midbaros left to bench on? - If Moshe Rabbeinu's last arbaim yom were spent on tachanunim and not primarily on kabalas haTorah, what was he actually being mispallel for — and why does that make Elul yemei tachanunim? Sources: OC 228 (mechaber, Mishna Berura with seif katan hey, Biur Halacha, Pri Megadim), Aruch Hashulchan 228, sefer Vezos Habracha perek 17 (Rav Alexander Mandelbaum) b'shem Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv and Rav Moshe Sternbuch, Rav Yaakov Emden, Ohr Letziyon (Rav Ben Tzion Abba Shaul), Rav Chaim Kanievsky, Eishel Avraham (Butchatch), Rav Shmuel Wosner. Machshavah section: Shem Mishmuel (Shoftim), Zohar, Medrash Rabba (Emor), Tur OC 581 citing Pirkei D'Rabbi Eliezer, Vilna Gaon — Aderes Eliyahu perek 34 and his pirush l'Agados, Ohr HaTorah on sefer Ma'alos HaTorah (Rav Yitzchak Isaac Chaver).

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