CHILDREN

A)

Question:  Am I allowed to prepare food tomorrow for my kids or if I need everything made today?

Reply: Food for the children should ideally be prepared before hand, but may be done on Y.K. if no cooking is involved.

HAND WASHING

A)

Question: A thought related to Yom Kippur and science and halakhah, in part jumping off of prior discussions of kashruth and bugs.

On Yom Kippur one is forbidden to wash any part of the body (there is some debate as to whether ritual hand-washing is permitted, required, or forbidden). An exception is made where a person's hands have become dirty. Can germs be considered dirt for these purposes?

When I am on the pulpit (which I am this High Holiday season) and we make rounds with Torah, I generally will apply hand sanitizer to my hands both before and after we go around (I am presuming for this musing that use of hand sanitizer is included in the prohibition of washing and/or related prohibitions of anointing). Would this be permitted on Yom Kippur as shaking hands with multiple people would likely lace my hands with germs?

I think the answer is yes, and that halakhah can take note of microbial infestation of my hands being a form of dirtiness. On the other hand, as I expressed in some of the prior discussions, I wonder if it is mighty convenient that I will recognize science here, but not when it comes to the reality that, for instance, there are organisms in my water. I can't think of a terribly structured way to distinguish between the two cases, other than my gut instinct, and as my teacher Rabbi Alan Yuter would say, one shouldn't "pasken one's puppick."

REPY: Whereas RAMBAM specifically writers in the laws of Tish'ah B'Av that only washing for pleasure is forbidden, he makes no such distinction regarding Yom Kippur. On the other hand, (No pun intended), he writes that "a woman washes one hand and feeds her child". Why is she washing? RAMBAM certainly wasn't worried about "nagel vasser". He doesn't write "if her hands are dirty". It seems to me that he means that she is uncomfortable with touching food without a modicum of cleanliness, even with unseen "dirt". It woulkd be the same with your hand sanitizer. Now, writing not as a rabbi, but as one who has done considerable research on the subject, I only use sanitizer when visiting a person with an active communicable disease, or when visiting the hospital. .

ILLNESS'

A)

Question:  Fasting is fine but lack of fluids makes me sick to skip

Reply:  It would be best to pray at home, stay in bed as much as possible, and keep the air conditioning on. Discomfort would not be an exemption for Yom Kippur. If there are, G-d forbid, complications, that is a different story. (For minor fasts, the rules are all different). If one has a condition that is not actually a danger to life, but is nevertheless serious, small amounts of food and drink may be taken throughout the day. That would be solid food of 25 gm, or 30 ml of liquid., (Estimates vary)The solid and liquid may be taken together, but 9 minutes should elapse between these amounts until more is consumed.

MEDICATION

A)

Question:  Since I take pills throughout the day, will it be ok to have just a sip of water to swallow them, tomorrow? Sometimes I can swallow without the water but if I need it????

Reply:  If it is a case of possible life and death, you my take medication (or eat) as needed. If it is not, preferably, you should take your medication without water. (I do). If water is needed, you may rely on the opinions that a few drops of vinegar may be added to the water, so as to impart an unpleasant taste.

PRAYERS

A)

Question:  Rabbi. If one is doing Yom Kippur solo, are there prayers one should skip?

Reply:  As on any day, when praying without a minyan, one skips barchu, kaddish, kedushah, and the reader's repetition. Kol Nidrei would not be appropriate. I have prayed without a minyan every Shabbat and Holy Day since my illness six years ago. It can be done.

PREGNANT OR NURSING

A)

Question:  How do you observe Yom Kippur if you aren't fasting because of frequent nursing or pregnancy?

Reply: Nursing and pregnant women need to fast Yom Kippur, unless there is some medical reason not to. Make sure that you are well hydrated before the fast, and do not exert yourself. Stay in bed as much as possible. Pray sitting or lying down. The fast is far more important than going to synagogue. There is a letter circulating online about a certain rabbi who was a medical expert, who said not to fast. I knew him. He was an expert in hocus pocus folk medicine only. Ignore.

VOWS

A)

Question:  Dear Rabbi Siegel, With Yom Kippur coming up, I have a question about a vow. Which of the following is a vow?

1.Speaking to myself:
“I’m not going to do A on Shabbat any more”

Or 
2. Addressing Hashem in prayer:
“I promise I will never do A on Shabbat again”

If #1 Is a vow, then are all resolutions regarded as vows?

Reply: A thought does not constitute a vow, except in the case of sacrifices (e.g., I will bring a thanksgiving offering to the Temple), or, according to many, a firm decision to give charity which is like a sacrifice). Any resolution that is verbalized is a vow. However, one can, and should, say "bli neder" (without making a vow) after speaking of some good thing one plans to do. In that way, it does not become a vow. There is a formula that can be said in front of a Beit Din of three (in many communities, it is put into the Kol Nidrei prayer of Yom Kippur Eve), that disavows any vows that we may make unintentionally.

Follow-up:  if a vow is never verbalized, is it ok to take part in Kol Nidre even though one has not made any vows? Or are we making it collectively as a nation? Since the plural is used?

Reply: It is collective, but also covers vows we may have made but forgotten.

"Bli Neder"   “no promises, but I hope to . . . “

YOM KIPPUR AND SHABBAT

A)

Question:  A Halacha question: There were several things at synagogue that were slightly different yesterday because of Yom Kippur (the Aveinu for example) and so when my family and I got home to break the fast, the subject of Havdalah came up, and we couldn't really tell if we should or shouldnt do it "as per usual" or if some modified version was required in that instance. It will be a few years before shabbat and Yom Kippur share a day again, but I was curious about whether we should have done Havdalah, and why or why not...

Reply:  Most Sepharadim do say Avinu Malkeinu on Shabbat. (I do). For Ashkenazim, this would seem weird. Havadalah is almost per usual. Exception is the candle; we only light it from a fire that has been burning all day, not from a match. Ashkenazim use spices when Yom Kipppur comes out on Shabbat; whereas Sepharadim do not.

Follow-up: So, the only fire I had going yesterday was my yizkor candle (lit before sunset Friday) and the pilot light on my furnace. Would it be appropriate to use either of those, both?

Reply:   Either is fine

Follow up:  If my hubby did havdallah at shul and I was at home..(unfortunately I was sick in bed over yom kippur but it's OK there must be a reason BH ) who does havdallah..me or do I wait till he comes home and he dies it again  

Reply: If he heard it at Shul, and had in mind to fulfill his obligation, it would be better to do it yourself. Some ALWAYS do it for their wives, because of a folk belief that a woman drinking the havdalah wine cause barrenness. Rav Ovadia Yosef said to ignore this in favor of fulfilling the mitzvah.

B)

Question:   I thought we couldn't fast on shabbat? Or is that ONLY for Yom Kippur that fasting is allowed on a shabbat?

Reply:  Yes, Yom Kippur is the only exception.