Mitzvah #251 - Communicating with the dead

It is forbidden to communicate with those who are no longer alive.

For example, one who starves himself and then sleeps in a cemetery so that the deceased comes to him in a dream and answers his questions, has transgressed this Mitzva.

No matter what method is used to communicate with the dead, they are all forbidden.

Applies to everybody, everywhere, always.

Verse: There shall not be among you... one who communicates with the dead" (Devarim 18:10-11)

Source: The Chafetz-Chaim's Sefer haMitzvot haKatzar; Prohibition 174

- Danny
Wednesday, 12 Marcheshvan 5771

Mitzvah #241 - Ripping out your hair

One may not rip out hair from one's head while grieving over a deceased person.

Applies to everybody, everywhere, always.

Verse: "Do not make a bald spot... because of a death." (Devarim 14:1)

Source: The Chafetz-Chaim's Sefer haMitzvot haKatzar; Prohibition 164

- Danny
Wednesday, 28 Tishrei 5771

Mitzvah #226 - Setting a good example

Any behavior which causes a Chillul Hashem - a desecration of Gcd's name - is forbidden.

There are 3 aspects to this prohibition:

1. If one is being coerced to sin with the intention of profaning one's religion, then one has to be prepared to be killed rather than sin. In the case of idolatry, adultery and idol worship, even if the intention is not religiously oriented one has to be prepared to die rather than sin. One who sins rather than dies has done a Chillul Hashem.

2. One who does any sin merely for the sake of rebelling against Gcd, and not because he will benefit from the sin, has done a Chillul Hashem.

3. When a person who people look up to (like a Rabbi or teacher) does something which most people assume is wrong (even if technically it's permitted) then he has done a Chillul Hashem.

The sin of Chillul Hashem - desecrating Gcd's name - is so severe that Teshuva (repentance) and Yom Kippur are not sufficient to eradicate it; and only death completes the atonement.

Applies to everybody, everywhere, always.

Verse: "Do not desecrate My Holy Name" (Vayikra 22:32)

Source: The Chafetz-Chaim's Sefer haMitzvot haKatzar; Prohibition 155

- Danny
Monday, 27 Elul 5770

Mitzvah #206 - Keep the Cohen away from corpses

A Cohen is not allowed to become ritually impure - except for his parents, his father's sons and unmarried daughters, his own children and his wife.

He may not touch nor carry corpses, nor be under the same roof nor hover over a corpse.

The same applies to body parts as well as to blood from a corpse.

A Cohen who becomes ritually impure deserves 39 lashes by Bet Din.

A Cohen may help in the burial of a מת מצוה - if the burial will not happen without his assistance.

Applies everywhere, always, to Kosher male Cohanim, but not to a Chalal

Verse: "He may not become impure for a non relative" (Vayikra 21:1)

Source: The Chafetz-Chaim's Sefer haMitzvot haKatzar; Prohibition 141

- Danny
Sunday, 28 Av 5770

Mitzvah #197 - Marrying a childless widow

If a person dies without children, his widow is not allowed to marry anybody except for one of her late husband's brothers.

If somebody other than a brother marries her, they have both transgressed.

The prohibition applies until she does Chalitza with one of the brothers, as per positive Mitzvah #140 - Chalitza, an alternative to Yibum.

Applies to everybody, everywhere, always

Verse: "...the widow shall not be allowed to marry a non-brother..." (Devarim 25:5)

Source: The Chafetz-Chaim's Sefer haMitzvot haKatzar; Prohibition 135

- Danny
Monday, 15 Av 5770

Mitzvah #140 - Chalitza, an alternative to Yibum

If a childless widow and her late husband's brother do now want to get married, she must perform Chalitza.

Chalitza must be done in the presence of knowledgeable Rabbis. It consists of the widow and the brother saying certain verses after which she removes his right shoe and spits on the floor in front of him.

Applies to everybody, everywhere, always.

Verse: "If she does not want to marry him... she shall remove his shoe..." (Devarim 25:7)

Source: The Chafetz-Chaim's Sefer haMitzvot haKatzar; Positive Mitzvah 46

- Danny
Monday, 19 Iyar 5770 - 34th day of the Omer

Mitzvah #64 - Denying a wife her rights

A husband is forbidden to deny his wife her Torah-given rights: food, clothes and conjugal rights.

One who denies his wife any of these has transgressed.

By Rabbinic decree a husband owes his wife another 7 rights, as needed: Her Ketuba, medical attention, redeeming her from captivity, a decent burial, the use of his estate as long as she's widowed, her daughters' use of the estate until they get married, her dowry get bequeathed only to her descendants.

Applies to husbands, everywhere, always.

Verse: "He may not deny his wife her food, clothing and conjugal rights" (Shemot 21:10)

Source: The Chafetz-Chaim's Sefer haMitzvot haKatzar; Prohibition 42

- Danny
Sunday, 17 Tevet 5770

Mitzvah #43 - Injuring oneself / cliques

One may not scratch or otherwise injure oneself "in honor" of an idol, nor as a sign of grief over the death of a beloved one.

This is forbidden whether done by hand or with an instrument.

Included in this Mitzva is the prohibition of dividing oneself into groups with different Minhagim, in the same location.

Applies to everybody, always ,everywhere.

Pasuk: "Lo Thisgodedu" (Devorim 14:1) which can mean "Do not scratch" and "do not create groups"

Source: The Chafetz-Chaim's Sefer haMitzvot haKatzar; Negative Mitzvah 28

Shabbat Shalom,

- Danny
Thursday, 16 Kislev 5770