Question: Hi My Mother is sitting Shiva On a Friday , Can I shower and Shave for Shabbos ? Based on כל שמתאבל אליו מתאבל אמו Answer: If you are… Read more »
Category: Mourning and burial
Year of mourning for a parent, buying used clothes
Question: My father passed away six months ago. May I buy and wear second hand skirts, they look new to me, and I usually buy clothes in second hand shops…. Read more »
My mother is sitting Shiva for a sister
Question: My mother is sitting Shiva for a sister. May I take a shower? Answer: If you are in the same city as your mother then you should not shower… Read more »
Eating a meal with others outside my home during aveilus
Question: I am in the year of aveilut for a parent. My mother-in-law does not understand many of the halachot of aveilut. She comes to us all the time but… Read more »
Kriyah when a relative is reinterred
Question: Shalom, if a long dead relative, in whom Keriyah was made, and his body needs to be transported from that place to another, after a long time, by the… Read more »
Sale item during year of aveilus
Question: Can you buy an item (that brings you joy) during the year of aveilus – if it’s on sale and you don’t think will be available for that price… Read more »
Kovod HaMes (Honoring the Dead) and keeping the monument grassy
Question: My wife and I live in Eretz Yisroel with all our children et al. We have no family in America. As we are older, we no longer travel back… Read more »
Purchased a grave but was not buried in it.
Question: A certain man purchased a grave in our cemetery, he moved away and was buried in another cemetery. His family was asked what should be done with his plot… Read more »
Din on family after family member passes
Question: Regarding my previous question about din on a family after a death, again I was told that having a baby lifts the din? Where can I read more about… Read more »
Curse when family member dies?
Question: Hi again, I was told that when a family member passes away in Judaism , it means there’s a curse on the family? What exactly does this mean? And… Read more »
Are pajamas considered an article of clothing for aveilus?
Question: Are pajamas or a nightgown considered an article of clothing for aveilus? Answer: My assumption is that you mean to ask if an avel is allowed to wear a… Read more »
Can I attend a levaya during year of mourning my mother?
Question: My mother died 3 months ago. Can I attend a close family friend’s funeral? Answer: Hamakom yinachem eshchem btoch shar aveilei Zion V’yerushalayim. Yes you can. There is no… Read more »
Does a nefel have a nefesh
Question: Is there an inyan to say tehilim or give tzedaka or do mitzvos liluyi nishmas a nefel (who was given a name and buried) or is it considered in… Read more »
Calculating Shloshim after Shevuos
Question: Shiva for my father began during the day on Sunday, May 24, 2020. Shavuos “stopped the Shiva” a few days later. When will the Sh’loshim end for me, in… Read more »
Misibah, Hazkarah, Kaddish, Visit the grave when Yom Tov cancels Shloshim
Question: If someone passed was buried erev chag Shavuout, I understand that the spouse mourning ends before 30 calendar days (shiva 1 day=7 days + chag = 7 days, +… Read more »
Fasting when yartzheit is on Shabbos
Question: For someone who is Ashkenazi and usually fasts on one’s father’s yartzheit, if it comes out on Shabbos this year, do we not fast at all or do we… Read more »
How long is availus for a brother?
Question: how long is availus for a brother? Answer: Hamakom yinachem eschem btoch shar aveiliy Tzion V’yerushalayiom. The aveilus period for all relative, except a parent, is for thirty days…. Read more »
Gifts During Aveilus
Question: Is there a manner in which I or my children may purchase for my wife a birthday gift during her year of aveilus for her father? Does it make… Read more »
Kaddish for 1st wife
Question: I was married for many years to my first wife who died childless. Since her death 5 years ago I have been saying Kaddish daily. I remarried almost 3… Read more »
Giving Gifts to aveilim.
Question: Are you allowed to give a gift to someone that is in aveilus for their father? And if not, is a photo book considered a gift that one is… Read more »
Calculating Shloshim
Question: My mother passed away on Shabbos haGadol, Yud Nissan (April 4) and was buried motsei Shabbos yud-alef Nissan (before midnight April 4). as Pesach interrupted shiva, has shloshim already… Read more »
What dates should you avoid arranging a matzeivah?
Question: Apart from Chol HaMoed, are there any other dates that it is not recommended to arrange a matzeivah? Answer: To do the actual erecting and say tehillim at that… Read more »
When to start avelus
Question: Relative died in America. I am in Israel. Cannot go to funeral because of corona. They might consult me about burial (where to did it ect.) When does ז’… Read more »
Aveilus for person who was niftar from Corona
Question: Thank you so much for your reply. This machla has been devastating to klal Yisroel. So, in regard to my question. In the Mourning in Halacha book on page… Read more »
Shloshim ending early due to pesach?
Question: My father passed away last week and was buried on 20 March 2020. The Shiva has just ended and the Shloshim would usually end on 18 April (I think)… Read more »
Relations while parent is sitting shiva
Question: Can I have marital relations when my mother is sitting Shiva? Answer: Yes it is permitted, as the restrictions on a person who has a relative sitting shiva are… Read more »
haircut on a yahrzeit
Question: May I get a haircut on the day of my father’s yahrzeit? (It.s not the first one.) Many thanks Answer: It is permitted for a person to get a… Read more »
kel moleh rachamim
Question: When making reference to the nifter during keil malei rachamim is it ploni ben/bas mother or father? Answer: Thank you for your question. The Ashkenazi minhag (including chassidim) is… Read more »
What possible reasons would a burial and matzeva be moved elsewhere?
Question: My wife was nifter over two years ago. Directly behind her plot I recognized the name of a person I worked with back in the mid-1960s. My last recent… Read more »
Aveilus
Question: On the day of my father’s Yahrzeit can i go to my grandson’s Bar Mitzvah with Music and dance? I see the Rov writes not to a chasuna, Is… Read more »
Kiddush donation for a yahrzeit
Question: The yahrzeit Of my mother a”h is Tévet 26th. What is the better minhag : to donate the breakfast at the synagogue on the yahrzeit day so brachot could… Read more »
Bais Hachaim
Question: Hello, could you please provide me the source in halacha that a woman is not allowed to go to the kevurah of a niftar? I think I remember hearing… Read more »
Nichum Aveilim
Question: Shalom Harav I like to send a text to a rabbi who is sitting shiva who just lost his son since I can’t attend being too far what’s the… Read more »
Talit buried
Question: BS”D Shalom dear Rabbi, Question: A fearful Jew can be buried with his talit, tefillin and tzitzit? Answer: Many of the minhagim that are done to the niftar and… Read more »
Watching TV/playing games on tablet during Shloshim and the year
Question: During Shloshim and the Year, while mourning for my mother, may I watch television or movies at home, and/or play games on my tablet either alone or with friends?… Read more »
Aveilus
Question: Is a mourner allowed to sit in a regular chair while eating a meal – both seudas ha’vraah and all other meals during shiva? Answer: The mourner sits on… Read more »
purchasing a watch
Question: As an Avel for a parent, can I purchase a wrist watch? Answer: If it is needed, it is permitted for an avel to buy a wrist watch and… Read more »
Listening to ambient music during aveilus
Question: During the year of mourning for a parent, is it permissible to listen to the so called “ambient” music, which is not really music but sounds, often repetitive, played… Read more »
Can I invite guests for shabbat meal during year of avelut for my father
Question: Can I invite guests for shabbat meal during year of avelut for my father Answer: Hamakom yinachem eschem b’toch shar aveilei Tzion v’Yerushalayim Regarding your question, it is permitted,… Read more »
playing in an orchestra during aveilut
Question: Hi, A congregant of mine recently learned to play the violin (during the last 4 years). Since then he has been invited to join an orchestra for people learning… Read more »
When would Shloshim Be
Question: My uncle was buried the first second day of Succos (on Yom Tov itself). When would the shloshim be? Answer: The morning of 20th of Cheshvan would be the… Read more »
Grandmother during sheloshim at grandchild’s vort
Question: Can a women in Avelus still in the shloshim for her father go to a granddaughters vort and if yes can she have a manicure and get her face… Read more »
Relieving oneself near Jewish graves
Question: please help me and clarify this question. a friend of mine. who is good jew, we went together to kever tsaddikim to visit in Ukraine. and he wanted to… Read more »
Children attend simchos when a parent is sitting shiva
Question: Can children attend a Simcha when their parent is sitting shiva Answer: The halachos of “misablim imo” that the child or relative of a mourner, mourns together with them,… Read more »
yahrtzeit seuda
Question: My father z”l’s 1st yahrtzeit is coming up on Tzom Gedala. When should the seudas yartzeit/siyum take place? Motzei Rosh hashana, very late and after 2 days of eating… Read more »
Learning mishnayos for two people
Question: Again sorry for asking a third time My question was actually concerning learning mishnayos for my parents who were nifter a few months apart, I tell the family to… Read more »
laws of mourning
Question: Hello, Thank you so much for your help. The question relates to a daughter of a Jewish mother and non-Jewish father. When the father passes away, is the daughter… Read more »
Going to a close friend’s son’s aufruf
Question: Going to a close friend’s son’s aufruf 1. The kiddush in shul – not a sit down. 2. A luncheon with several tables. Answer: My apologies that it took… Read more »
A child mourning the death of a parent
Question: Is it permitted to purchase a new car for oneself or to request it as a gift during the year after the loss of a parent, purely for pleasure… Read more »
aveilut
Question: שלום אני מגיע לקראת סוף הי”ב חדש של אבילות לאבי ז”ל שנפטר בצום גדלי’ שעבר. רציתי לדעת אם יש מה שהוא מיוחד ליום שנגמר אבילות בשנה מעוברת שאניו יום… Read more »
