Approaching two Holy Days and Shabbat

Precis: Do not prepare from the first day of Rosh Hashanah for the second day until nightfall * Is it permissible to take food out of the freezer on the first day for the second day * How to prepare an Eruv Tavshilin before Rosh Hashanah for Shabbat, and what is the reason for this commandment * The commandment to place an Eruv Tavshilin applies to every family * Whether and how it is permissible to bathe on Yom Tov and Shabbat * Is it permissible to hear the sound of the shofar through a hearing aid, and what will happen when cochlear implants develops

Rejoice with Trembling

Some poskim (Jewish law arbiters) say it is a mitzvah to rejoice on Rosh Hashanah as we do on all holidays, by serving elegant meals and wearing the finest clothes (Yere'im, Maharil). Hence, Rosh Hashanah cancels the seven and thirty days of mourning for deceased relatives.

On the other hand, some say that since it is a Day of Judgment, there is no commandment to rejoice on it, except as on Shabbat, since it is a ‘mikra kodesh’ ('holy convocation') (Yam Shel Shlomo, Shulchan Aruch HaRav).

The custom is to rejoice on it more than on Shabbat, and less than on a festival (Shulchan Aruch 597:1; Peninei Halakha: Yamim Nora’im 3:4:4).

This joy of Rosh Hashanah is unique, for it is precisely through the trembling of the day of sounding the shofar that we can renew ourselves, rid ourselves of bad habits, and begin new beginnings. Through this, God's kingdom is revealed to repair the world in the kingdom of the Almighty, and we are partners in this.

Prohibition of Preparation from the First Day to the Second

Since the first day of Yom Tov is a biblical holiday, while the second is rabbinical, one may not cook or heat food and set the table from the first day of Yom Tov for the second day of Yom Tov (Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 503:1). This includes not washing dishes that were dirtied on the first day to eat from them on the second day.

Therefore, one should wait until tzeit ha-kochavim (nightfall), when the first day ends, and then it is permissible to prepare all the needs for the second holiday, including cooking dishes, preparing salad, washing dishes, and setting the table for the meal of the second Yom Tov night. This year, nightfall occurs at 18:50 in Israel.

One should not remove food from the freezer on the first day for the second night's meal. In case of urgency, when waiting for the end of the first day would cause distress and significant delay of the meal, it is permissible to remove the foods from the freezer (Peninei Halakha: Moadim 2:2; 12).

Lighting Candles on the Second Night

It is proper to light candles for the second day of Yom Tov after tzeit ha-kochavim, so as not to prepare from the first day of Yom Tov for the second day of Yom Tov. One who lights before twilight has authorities to rely on, since even at that time, there is some honor and enjoyment from the candles.

Since it is forbidden to light a new fire on the holiday, one should prepare before the holiday a candle that will burn for more than 48 hours, from which they can light candles on the second night and for Shabbat. If they didn't prepare, they should get help from neighbors who have a lit candle (Peninei Halakha: Moadim 2:2; 12; 9:5).

Eruv Tavshilin

This year, Shabbat comes immediately after Rosh Hashanah, and therefore it is a mitzvah to place an eruv tavshilin before the holiday begins, which will make it permissible to cook, bake, and prepare all our needs from Yom Tov for Shabbat.

The eruv tavshilin is a cooked dish that is prepared from the eve of Yom Tov for Shabbat. It is called an eruv because through it, the dishes of Yom Tov and Shabbat become mixed, and then just as it is permissible to cook and bake on Yom Tov for Yom Tov, so it is permissible to cook and bake on it for Shabbat. As long as the eruv exists, it is permissible to do on Yom Tov for Shabbat everything that is permissible to do for Yom Tov.

There are two reasons for placing an eruv tavshilin: 1) Honor of Yom Tov, for if it were permissible to cook from Yom Tov to Shabbat without restriction, people might come to disrespect Yom Tov, and consequently err in other years and prepare things from the holiday for a weekday, thereby transgressing a biblical prohibition of preparation from holiday to weekday. 2) Honor of Shabbat, for if they do not prepare an eruv tavshilin, there is concern that due to the busy time of preparing Yom Tov meals, they might forget that tomorrow is Shabbat, and finish all the best dishes on Yom Tov. And through the eruv tavshilin that needs to be prepared on the eve of Yom Tov, they will remember during Yom Tov that they need to leave nice portions for Shabbat.

It is a Mitzvah for Every Family to Prepare an Eruv Tavshilin

Even one who does not intend to cook on the holiday for Shabbat, it is a mitzvah to prepare an eruv tavshilin, since through the eruv tavshilin, one honors the holiday and remembers Shabbat. Additionally, thanks to the eruv, it is permissible to light candles on the holiday for Shabbat, to wash dishes for Shabbat, and to set the table for it.

How to Prepare an Eruv Tavshilin

On the eve of the holiday, take a cooked dish and bread, and recite the blessing: "Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us concerning the mitzvah of eruv." And say: "Through this eruv, it shall be permissible for us to bake, cook, kindle a light, and do all that is necessary from Yom Tov to Shabbat."

Ideally, it is good to place a nice and honorable portion for the eruv, and if possible, it is good to make the eruv with a full pot that was cooked on the eve of Yom Tov for the honor of Shabbat (Peninei Halakha: Moadim 8:2).

What to Do with the Eruv Dish

Many have the custom to eat the eruv dish in one of the Shabbat meals, for since one mitzvah was performed with it, it is fitting to continue and fulfill with it the mitzvah of oneg Shabbat (Sabbath delight). It is also customary to take the eruv bread as lechem mishneh (double loaf), and to use it for the third meal (Mishnah Berurah 527:11; 48).

If one began to eat from the eruv dish on Yom Tov, as long as a 'kazayit' (olive-sized portion) remains, it is permissible to cook and bake and prepare all the needs for Shabbat. But if less than a 'kazayit' remains, it is forbidden to do more work on Yom Tov for Shabbat. And even if the bread placed for the eruv remains, it does not help, because the main part of the eruv is the cooked dish (Peninei Halakha: Moadim 8:3).

Bathing on Yom Tov

Since the two days of Rosh Hashanah are adjacent to Shabbat, and many people are accustomed to bathing every day, it is appropriate to address the law of bathing on Yom Tov and Shabbat:

Due to various concerns associated with bathing, many have the custom not to bathe on Yom Tov. But when necessary, it is permissible to bathe in hot water that was heated on the eve of Yom Tov, or in hot water that was heated on Yom Tov by a solar water heater.

One who does not have a solar water heater can operate the electric water heater before the holiday using a timer, but on the holiday it is forbidden to operate the electric heater, because turning it on is considered lighting a fire, which is prohibited on Yom Tov.

Unlike on Shabbat, on Yom Tov it is permissible to open the hot water tap even when the water in the boiler is boiling, and even when the electric heating element is on, because there is no prohibition of cooking on Yom Tov (Peninei Halakha: Moadim 5:10).

Bathing on Shabbat

Our Sages decreed not to bathe the body in hot water on Shabbat, because there were people who, out of their eagerness to bathe in hot water, sinned and heated water on Shabbat, transgressing the prohibition of kindling and cooking, and when they were rebuked, they claimed that these waters were heated before Shabbat. Therefore, our Sages decreed not to bathe the body even in water that was permissibly heated before Shabbat.

However, in cold or lukewarm water, whose temperature is lower than body temperature (about 36.5 degrees Celsius), it is permissible to bathe the entire body. And for one who is distressed by not bathing in hot water - it is permissible to bathe their entire body in hot water that was heated before Shabbat, or by a solar water heater (Peninei Halakha: Shabbat 14:8).

Bathing, Shampooing, Soap, and Conditioner

It is permissible to use liquid soap on Shabbat and Yom Tov. But with hard or thick soap, many have the custom to be stringent (Peninei Halakha: Shabbat 14:6).

It is permissible to shampoo the hair, and it is also permissible to use shampoo and conditioner (liquid). One should be careful to shampoo gently, so as not to pluck hairs. However, when it is clear that shampooing will pluck even one hair - it is forbidden. But if there is no certainty that shampooing will pluck hairs, there is no prohibition. And even when finding hairs in the shower, as long as one shampoos very gently, there is still no certainty that hairs were plucked, because it is possible that these hairs were detached from their source beforehand, and now they were washed away with the water.

Combing the hair is forbidden in any case, because combing plucks hair, and there is a biblical prohibition in this.

One should be careful during shampooing of the head and beard not to squeeze the hair, as this squeezing is forbidden due to ‘dash’ ('threshing'), because it extracts water and soap from the hair that can be used for continued washing. But it is permissible to dry the hair with a towel, because since one is not interested in the water that comes out of the hair and is absorbed in the towel, there is no prohibition of squeezing (Peninei Halakha: Shabbat 14:8).

Shampooing for Women

A woman who has long hair and is accustomed to always combing it after washing, should not wash her hair on Shabbat or Yom Tov, so as not to err afterwards in the biblical prohibition of combing (Peninei Halakha: Shabbat 14:3). And one who really needs to shampoo her head, and knows with certainty that she will not err after shampooing by combing, can also shampoo her hair on Yom Tov. The advice for this is to use conditioner gently.

Hearing the Shofar for One Who Needs a Hearing Aid

A person who uses an electric hearing aid, who can hear the sound of the shofar without the device, should remove the device from their ear so that they hear the sound of the shofar naturally.

There are those who believe that all hearing mitzvot can be fulfilled with the help of an electric device (Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu ztz"l Responsa HaRav HaRashi; and so wrote my friend Rabbi Re’em HaCohen in Badei Ha'Aron OC 21, and that this was the opinion of Rabbi Lichtenstein ztz"l).

However, on the other hand, there are those who believe that it is not possible to fulfill the mitzvot of hearing with the help of an electric device, because one who hears through an electric device does not hear the original sound, but the device captures the sound as electrical signals and translates them into a new sound, and this is the sound of a machine (Rabbi Uziel and Rabbi SZ Auerbach).

And Maran HaRav Kook believed that although for other mitzvot hearing through a device is permissible, for the matter of shofar, one should be stringent (Orach Mishpat 48; and so wrote Rabbi Frank, Mikra'ei Kodesh: Purim 11).

Therefore, it is proper for one who can hear the shofar without the device, to hear it without the device. However, one who cannot hear the shofar without a device, should hear it with the device.

And it seems that in the coming years, when with God's help, they will succeed in perfecting hearing devices (or the cochlear implant), to the point where they hear through them as people hear with their ears, it will be possible to instruct people to hear through the device initially, without concern for the stringent opinion, which perhaps those decisors too will agree can be done (see Peninei Halakha: Yamim Noraim 4, note 4).

This article appears in the ‘Besheva’ newspaper and was translated from Hebrew.