SHABBOS DURING CORONAVIRUS.pdf

By Rabbi Elchanan Poupko

AirFryer, the new device that is quietly making its way into the hearts and kitchens of people around the world is growing in its popularity day after day. More and more people are starting to use this unique form of culinary advancement with little knowledge of what its halachic status is. I will be honest, when I first got a Shayla about this device I myself did not know what it was and had never heard the name before. It is only after researching and asking several rabbinic colleagues that I began to understand the magnitude of the issue.

Some years ago, an unofficial poll taken in Far Rockaway, New York, revealed a startling and alarming fact. Over 90% of women polled were unaware of the halacha of “lochem.” The Torah tells us of a requirement in the laws of lulav and esrog that applies on the first day of Sukkos. The Arba Minim, the four kinds taken on Sukkos, must belong to the person who is performing the mitzvah. It may not be borrowed – it must be owned. One may, of course, rely on the concept of “Matana al menas lehachzir” – a conditional gift where the recipient will eventually give back the item – but this is not akin to borrowing. It is still considered ownership.

{Matzav.com}

Q. What if I made Kiddush in the sukkah and it began raining and I cannot see into my house. What should I do? Should I repeat Kiddush in the house? 

A. In this case, if one leaves the sukkah and enters his house, he will be required to repeat Kiddush. He will not have fulfilled the mitzvah of Kiddush with his recitation in the sukkah, unless he ate there a kezayis of bread. If in fact he leaves the sukkah and enters his home, it will turn out that the Kiddush said in the sukkah will have been a bracha livatala (a blessing recited in vain).

{Matzav.com}

Generally, the halacha is that when a person makes a bracha on a food, the bracha is in effect so long as he does not change his location. If one changes locations (i.e. leaves his house), the bracha is no longer in effect. There are however various instances in which a bracha can remain in effect even upon a change of location.Rav Moshe Feinstein writes (Igros Moshe O”C 2 57) that if one continuously eats a food while changing locations, no new bracha is required on that food. For example, if one made a bracha on a sucking candy while in his home and then leaves his house while still sucking the candy, no new bracha is required to finish the candy.

By Rabbi Y. Dov Krakowski
The following is meant as a convenient review of Halachos pertaining to Rosh Yom-Kippur. The Piskei Din for the most part are based purely on the Sugyos, Shulchan Aruch and Ramah, and the Mishna Berura, unless stated otherwise. They are based on my understanding of the aforementioned texts through the teachings of my Rebeim. As individual circumstances are often important in determining the psak in specific cases, and as there may be different approaches to some of the issues, one should always check with one’s Rov first.