Birkat Halevana: Difference between revisions
From Halachipedia
→Looking at the moon
No edit summary |
|||
| Line 26: | Line 26: | ||
#The strict halacha allows saying birkat halevana on Shabbat and Yom Tov, but since the kabbalists recommend against it one shouldn't do it unless one is running out of time to say it.<ref>The Rashba (responsa 4:48) quotes someone who said that it is forbidden to say birkat halevana on Friday night since it is like travelling out of the techum above ten tefachim. The Rashba doesn't understand that opinion. He argues that there is no techum above ten tefachim and also it is greeting Hashem and not the moon; therefore, it isn't at all like travelling out of the techum and is permissible to be recited on Shabbat. The Mishna Brurah 426:12 rules that it is permissible to say kiddush levana on Shabbat and Yom Tov if it is necessary. In the Shaar Hatziyun 426:12 he adds a reason that everyone can agree with; since it is a mitzvah filled with happiness a person might come to dance and it is forbidden to dance on Shabbat.</ref> | #The strict halacha allows saying birkat halevana on Shabbat and Yom Tov, but since the kabbalists recommend against it one shouldn't do it unless one is running out of time to say it.<ref>The Rashba (responsa 4:48) quotes someone who said that it is forbidden to say birkat halevana on Friday night since it is like travelling out of the techum above ten tefachim. The Rashba doesn't understand that opinion. He argues that there is no techum above ten tefachim and also it is greeting Hashem and not the moon; therefore, it isn't at all like travelling out of the techum and is permissible to be recited on Shabbat. The Mishna Brurah 426:12 rules that it is permissible to say kiddush levana on Shabbat and Yom Tov if it is necessary. In the Shaar Hatziyun 426:12 he adds a reason that everyone can agree with; since it is a mitzvah filled with happiness a person might come to dance and it is forbidden to dance on Shabbat.</ref> | ||
==Looking at the | ==Looking at the Moon== | ||
#One should look at the moon prior to saying the Bracha. Some hold that one should only look at the moon once and not look at it again, whereas others are lenient to allow looking at it anytime during [[the Seder]] of Birkat HaLevana except during the Bracha itself. <ref>*Shulchan Aruch 426:2 writes that one should look at the moon prior to making the Bracha. Magen Avraham 426:8 quotes the Shlah who says that one should only look once and then it’s forbidden to look again (for Kabbalistic reasons). Shaarei Knesset HaGedolah 426:5 quotes the Sefer Charedim that one may only look at the moon at the time of the Bracha. | #One should look at the moon prior to saying the Bracha. Some hold that one should only look at the moon once and not look at it again, whereas others are lenient to allow looking at it anytime during [[the Seder]] of Birkat HaLevana except during the Bracha itself. <ref>*Shulchan Aruch 426:2 writes that one should look at the moon prior to making the Bracha. Magen Avraham 426:8 quotes the Shlah who says that one should only look once and then it’s forbidden to look again (for Kabbalistic reasons). Shaarei Knesset HaGedolah 426:5 quotes the Sefer Charedim that one may only look at the moon at the time of the Bracha. | ||
