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24 Jun 0Comments 0Likes

Travelling over Pesach

Dear Rabbi Simon, Can you please remind me and those travelling over Pesach, does one have to clean the home etc if one’s travelling before Yom Tov and not returning until after the Chag? Also, what happens to bedikat chametz? Many thanks, Daniel Dear Daniel, One who will be away for all of Pesach should adopt either of two approaches: a. Arrange…

24 Jun 0Comments 0Likes

Cup size, Kitniot

Dear Rabbi Simon, I hope you don’t mind me contacting you, but I have a couple of Pesach related questions that I would be grateful if you could answer for me please. The first is regarding the 4 cups for the seder-I just wanted to know what was the minimum requirement for these? I’m assuming the normal ‘l’chaim’ cups that…

22 Jun 0Comments 0Likes

Shabbat Delivery

Dear Rabbi Simon, I placed an online order on Thursday lunchtime, where it said estimated 2-3 days for delivery. The company is usually efficient and the orders normally arrive on Day 2. This was the case on this occasion, with the parcel being left outside my front door on Shabbat afternoon. Is there any issue with me using/benefiting from the…

22 Jun 0Comments 0Likes

La Rafle

Dear Rabbi Simon, You may have seen advertising for the French film “The Round Up”, a story based on the arrest and detention of Parisian Jews in Nazi-occupied Paris in 1942. Would one be able to go to see such a movie during the 3 Weeks / 9 Days? As an aside, the film has received rather average ratings, but…

22 Jun 0Comments 0Likes

Purchasing property in the 9 Days

Dear Rabbi Simon, We may have found a property to purchase. The property has tenants in who vacate on Friday 20 July and my lawyers are aiming to complete the purchase on this day. This is of course Erev Tisha B’Av. Would your advice be to complete on this day or to delay, and if so would completing on Monday 23 July…

22 Jun 0Comments 0Likes

Dangling by a hair(cut)

Dear Rabbi We go away on holiday on the morning after Tisha B’Av – I would really like to have my haircut before I go away – is there any basis for doing so? Can I do it for example on Friday 20 July [2018=8 Av] for the honour of Shabbat or does that not work? What about this Friday…

22 Jun 0Comments 0Likes

Fasting During Pregnancy

(Note the addendum for when 9 Av is on Shabbat and the Fast is delayed until Sunday) Dear Rabbi Simon, Is Fiona obligated to fast on Tisha’ B’Av as she will be at about 32 1/2 wks pregnant at that time?  Her obstetrician indicated that she should not fast & especially should consume fluids.  She is puzzled as she has…

22 Jun 0Comments 0Likes

When do we Eat?

Dear Rabbi Simon, If Plag haMincha is the earliest we can light candles, daven Maariv and bring in Shabbat, which is about 7.30pm currently, may those of us with young children start Shabbat dinner before then and light candles/daven during a break in the meal? Many thanks, Shabbetai Hi Shabbetai This is a perennial challenge. Some families have dinner for…

22 Jun 0Comments 0Likes

Easy as א-ב-ג?

Dear Rabbi Simon, I was listening to a shiur on Eichah on TorahAnytime.  As an aside, the speaker mentioned that the 1st chapter of Eichah is the source for the order of the Alef Bet as we know it.  Other chapters also follow the Alef Bet chronology but with Ayin and Peh interchanged. He quoted Rabbi Shimon Schwab as his…

Questions & Answers
this week

Questions and Answers

Ask the Rabbi: Quinoa on Pesach
Dear Rabbi Simon,
Where do you stand on quinoa (and the kitniyot ban) for Pesach?
Many thanks,
Tzippy
***
Dear Tzippy,
In line with other American authorities, I am in favour of quinoa. Although I reject completely the voices (mostly from Israel) seeking to abolish the ban on kitniyot entirely, IMO we do not need to include in the prohibition pseudo-grains that were unknown in the Old World until modern times. Best to buy with a Pesach hechsher though, to be free of any possible wheat contamination.
Rabbi Rashi Simon
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