Halachic Highlights

Question: Many outdoor minyanim are currently taking place throughout the neighborhood and, as a result, men and women in nearby houses often hear the davening from the privacy of their homes, even when not davening together with the minyan. Must such a person stop what he or she is doing and answer K’dushah together with the outdoor minyan?

Question: If someone has an infectious disease, such as COVID-19, and is hospitalized, Rachamana litzlan, may/should he bring his t’filin to the hospital if the t’filin will have to be burned afterwards because of the disease?

Question: How should the aliyos for k’rias haTorah be divided up in minyanim that adhere to social distancing?

Short Answer: There are two major options in the poskim: either (i) the participants receive the aliyos from afar and do not approach the Torah, or (ii) the baal k’riah receives all the aliyos and makes a brachah before and after each aliyah.

Question: When davening by himself at home on Friday night, must a husband say VaYechulu (after Sh’moneh Esrei in Maariv) together with his wife?

Question: When minyanim are allowed, should we make up the parshiyos that we missed; and if yes, how?

Short Answer: Many contemporary poskim have ruled that there is no need to make up any of the missed parshiyos, but it is virtuous to do so.

Question: You commit to learn one masechta of Mishnayos in memory of a recently departed person. May you also sign up to learn the same masechta in memory of another recently departed person? In other words, your learning will be in memory of both people. Does this work?