Table of Contents
Acknowledgments xxi
Introduction xxv
Tefilla
1 Synagogue Conformity: An Exploration of ho Titgodedu 3
2 Kaddish - Sitting or Standing? 11
3 Hochma Bina VaDa'at or De'ah Bina V'Haskel? 16
4 Machnia Zedim or Machnia Minim 19
5 HaNoten LaYa'ef Ko'ah 22
6 Nefilat Apayim 25
7 Pronunciation of Hashem's Name 29
8 The Attraction of Morid HaTal 33
9 Counting a Katan Towards a Minyan and Zimun 37
10 Different Conclusions of Wednesday's Shir Shel Yom 42
11 V'Yatzmah Purkaneh V'Karev Meshiheh 46
Bet Kenesset
12 Ashkenazic Single Men Without a Tallit at a Sephardic Congregation 53
13 The Special Spiritual Energy at Sephardic Tefilla 57
Tefillin
14 Rabbenu Tarn's Tefillin 63
15 Berachot on Tefillin at a Sephardic Bet Kenesset 69
Birkat Kohanim
16 An Ashkenazic Kohen Visiting a Sephardic Kehilla 75
17 Who Begins Birkat Kohanim? 80
Keri'at Hatorah
18 Standing or Sitting for Keri'at HaTorah? 87
19 B'Simana Tava on Simhat Torah 90
10 Amen After the Berachot of the Haftara 93
21 The Haftara of Parashat Shemot 96
22 Hashem Imachem 99
Berachot
23 The Beracha on Matza 105
24 The Question of Egg Halla 109
25 Earliest Time for Birkat HaLevana 114
26 Women Reciting a Beracha on Mitzvot Aseh SheHaZeman Gerama 118
27 Responding Baruch Hu UVaruch Shemo 123
B'rit Mila
28 The Beracha of L'Hachniso B'Vrito shel Avraham Avinu 131
29 Shehehiyanu at a B'rit Mila 135
30 Delayed B'rit Mila on Thursday or Friday 137
Shabbat
31 The Timing of the Beracha on Shabbat Candle-Lighting 145
32 A Guest Lighting Shabbat Candles 152
33 Warming Food on Shabbat Sephardic-Style 156
34 Save the Hamin! 160
35 Clapping on Shabbat 163
36 May a Sephardic Jew Rely on a Community Eruv? 166
37 Eruv Standards According to Sephardic Measurements 171
38 A Sephardic Approach to the International Dateline 176
Yom Tov
39 A Beracha on Hatzi Hallel 183
40 Tefillin on Hol HaMo'ed 187
41 Visitors to Israel and Yom Tov Sheni 192
42 Earlv Acceptance of the Second Day of Yom Tov 196
Yamim Nora'im
43 Forty Days of Selihot 203
44 Hani HaMa'agel: A Hero to Sephardic Jews 207
45 Forgetting HaMelech HaMishpat 210
46 Sephardic Tekiat Shofar 214
47 Avinu Malkenu on Shabhat 217
Sukkot
45 Rain on the First Night of Sukkot 223
49 Differences Between Sephardic and Ashkenazic Na'anuim 226
Pesah
50 Kitniyot and Eating Out on Pesah 231
51 Matza Ashira: Serving Egg Matza to Ashkenazim 236
52 Soft Matza for Sephardim and for Ashkenazim 240
53 Glass Utensils 244
54 Sephardic Jews Hosting Ashkenazim on Pesah: A Summary 251
55 Hallel During Arvit of the First Night of Pesah 253
56 Yehalelucha at the Seder 258
Shavuot
57 Early Start to the First Night of Shavuot 265
58 Standing or Sitting for the Aseret HaDibrot? 268
Hanukka and Purim
59 Yeshiva and University Students Lighting Hanukka Candles 273
60 Birkat Kohanim in Hanukka Keriat HáTorah 277
61 Where the Rambam Lives (Especially on Purim)! 281
62 My Favorite Sephardic Purim Practice: The King Could Not Sleep 284
Lag B'Omer
63 Haircut Day 289
Fast Days, Three Weeks, Nine Days, and Tisha B'Av
64 The Three Weeks and Nine Days Sephardic-Style 295
65 Anenu on a Ta'anit Tzibur 298
66 Nahem at Every Tefilla 303
67 Haftara at Minha of a Ta'anit Tzibur 306
68 Tefillin at Shaharit of Tisha B'Av 310
Yom HaAtzma'ut
69 Sephardic Rabbinical Approaches to Zionism 317
70 Hallel on Yom HaAtzma'ut 322
Kashrut
71 Sephardic Bishul Akum Standards 329
72 Halak Bet Yosef 335
73 Hadash in Hutz LaAretz 339
74 Cheese, Milk, and Fish 347
75 Nat Bar Nat 350
76 Dishwashers for Meat and Milk 353
Mezuza
77 Sephardic and Ashkenazic Roommates 361
Marriage
78 The Sephardic Ketuba 367
79 The Great Sephardic Yihud Controversy 371
80 Sephardic Standards for Sheva Berachot 375
81 One Cup or Two for Sheva Berachot? 380
82 A Kohen Marrying the Daughter of a Jewish Woman and a Non-Jewish Man 385
83 Rav Ovadia Yosef's Ruling Confirming the Status of Ethiopian Jews 390
84 Rabbinical Council of America Prenuptial Agreement for Sephardic Jews 394
85 Sephardic Gtttin Standards 398
Avelut
86 Hilchot Avelut: Differences Between Sephardic and Ashkenazic Practice 407
Monetary Matters
87 Sephardic and Ashkenazic Prozbol 413
88 Gambling: The Stricter Sephardic Approach 416
Hilchot Nidda
89 Differences Between Sephardic and Ashkenazic Practices 425
Sephardic Jewry
90 Why are all Eastern Jews Referred to as Sephardic? 431
Moroccan Jews
91 Navigating the World of Moroccan Halachic Practices 439
92 Three Secrets of Moroccan P'sak Halacha 442
Yemenite Jews
93 Four Distinct Elements of Yemenite Practice 449
94 A Brief Sketch of Yemenite Halachic History 454
95 A Yemenite Sefer Torah 459
96 Must Moroccan and Yemenite Jews Abandon their Ancestral Practices in Israel? 463
Tributes
97 Rav Ovadia Yosef: In a Class by Himself 469
98 Rav Shalom Messas: The Most Under-Appreciated Posek of the Generation 485
99 Rav Mordechai Eliyahu: A Major Twentieth Century Sephardic Posek 488
100 Rav Ben Tzion Abba Sha'ul: The Quintessential Sephardic Rosh Yeshiva 494
101 Rav Haim David HaLevy. The Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv 499
Epilogue: Four Common Questions about Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jews 505
Appendix A Comments Rabbi Mordechai Lebhar 509
