Rephael Cattan

We are beginning siman 16. In siman 15, we discussed the level of responsibility one has to a mitzvah prior to the mitzvah, such as taking tallis and tefillin on a trip even if the trip is not expected to require it. We will discuss other applications of this idea in siman 19, and how […]

 We are beginning siman 15. The Chayei Adam discusses the concept of anticipating and waiting for the opportunity to perform a mitzvah. Included in this concept is the idea of a person trying to bring themselves to become chayav to perform a mitzvah.  The Chayei Adam writes that a person should anticipate the opportunities to

 We are beginning siman 14, where the Chayei Adam discusses running after a mitzvah. The pasuk says nei’de’ah nirdefa la’daas es Hashem, we should run to gain our awareness of Hashem (Yehoshua 6:3). Another pasuk says derech mitzvosecha arutz, I will run towards your mitzvos (Tehillim 119:32).  The Gemara says that generally, one should not

 We are beginning siman 13, which discusses performing a mitzvah with simcha. The next few simanim all discuss the appropriate manner in which to do a mitzvah, such as running after mitzvos, anticipating mitzvos, spending money for mitzvos, doing mitzvos out of love of Hashem, and doing mitzvos out of fear of Hashem.   The Chayei

 We are beginning siman 12. The Chayei Adam writes that a person should be careful to perform a mitzvah with all of its details. The Chayei Adam quotes the Gemara which discusses the different places in which the blood of a korban must be placed on the mizbeach. For example, the blood of a chatas

 We are continuing in siman 11, discussing the concept of b’rov am hadras melech. Yesterday, we mentioned a psak by Rav Moshe regarding two aveilim who have a chiyuv to daven for the amud. Rav Moshe paskened that they should not separate into two minyanim, and they will split the davening. (If the shul already

 We are continuing in siman 11, discussing the concept of b’rov am hadras melech. We learned that the Chayei Adam considers three people b’rov am, and the Eshel Avraham says that 10 is considered b’rov am. We left off with the question of whether there is an advantage to joining a larger group over a

 We are continuing in siman 11, discussing the concept of b’rov am hadras melech. We left with a contradiction regarding the minimum amount of people considered b’rov am. The Chayei Adam says there must be a total of three people to be considered b’rov am, and the Mishnah Berurah quotes the Chayei Adam but writes

 We are beginning siman 11. The Chayei Adam writes that if a person has an opportunity to perform a mitzvah alone or with a group, they should perform the mitzvah with the group. The pasuk in Mishlei says b’rov am hadras melech (Mishlei 14:28), the larger the group the more kavod for Hashem. Chazal add

 We are continuing in siman 10, discussing the concept of mitzvah habaah b’aveirah. It is important to note that the rishonim and acharonim deal with a Yerushalmi. The Yerushalmi discusses a person who tore kriyah on Shabbos because he heard that one of his seven closest relatives was niftar. The gemara says that he is

We are continuing in siman 10, discussing the concept of mitzvah habaah b’aveirah. We left off discussing the practical application of tzoah. We learned that if one learns or davens in the presence of tzoah, it is a mitzvah habaah b’aveiah. Today, we will clarify the practical halachic issues of tzoah.  The issue of tzoah

 We are continuing in siman 10, discussing the concept of mitzvah habaah b’aveirah. We have learned that the aveirah affects the fulfillment of mitzvah to the extent and that one is not yotzei the mitzvah, even if the situation occurs unintentionally. The poskim discuss an application of this concept. A person is not allowed to

 We are continuing in siman 9, which discusses the concept of mitzvos tzrichos kavana. Today, we will discuss an interesting application of this concept.  One of the primary discussions about mitzvos tzrichos kavana is in Rosh Hashanah, daf 28-29. The Gemara implies that the concept of shomeah (listener) and mashmiah (speaker), where one person is

 We are continuing in siman 9, which discusses the concept of mitzvos tzrichos kavana. Yesterday, we learned that certain mitzvos have additional kavanos delineated by the Torah, besides for the general requirement of mitzvos tzrichos kavana. We also learned that certain mitzvos have kavanos based on the reason given by the Torah for the mitzvah,

 We are continuing in siman 9, which discusses the concept of mitzvos tzrichos kavana. Yesterday, we learned that both the opinion of mitzvos tzrichos kavana and mitzvos ain tzrichos kavana would agree that if one has kavana hafachis, kavana not to be yotzei the mitzvah, they would not be yotzei. The Chayei Adam will give

 We are continuing in siman 9, which discusses the concept of mitzvos tzrichos kavana.  The Chayei Adam writes that even according to the opinions that mitzvos do not require kavana, if one has explicit intent that they are not fulfilling a mitzvah, they are not yotzei.   Tosfos and the rishonim grapple with the question that

We are continuing in siman 9, which discusses the concept of mitzvos tzrichos kavana. We will clarify the idea that doing mitzvos without kavana may be considered not performing a mitzvah, as we learned yesterday.  There is a sefer which discusses the many mitzvos people do throughout the day for which they do not have

 We are continuing in siman 9, which discusses the concept of mitzvos tzrichos kavana. We left off with the opinion of the Magen Avraham, who differentiates between a mitzvah deoraysa and a mitzvah derabanan. According to the Magen Avrhaam, if one does not have the proper kavana for a mitzvah deoraysa, they must repeat the

We are continuing in siman 9, which discusses the concept of mitzvos tzrichos kavana. Before we see the language of the Chayei Adam, we have one more point to clarify.  Let us consider a mashal of a person who enters the army. Part of the training in the army will be to shoot a gun