Jewish Laws and Customs for High Holidays

• ספרדים start reciting סליחות from ב' אלול until יום הכפורים.
• אשכנזים start reciting סליחות the Sunday before ראש השנה, if ראש השנה falls out on Thursday or Shabbat.
• Before learning תורה, one needs to say ברכות התורה.
• אשכנזים start blowing the שופר from ראש חודש אלול.
• Ten people are needed to say something considered דבר שבקדושה.
• י"ג מדות considered a דבר שבקדושה.
• יחיד is allowed to recite the י"ג מדות only if one says them with their proper טעמים.
• התרת נדרים means absolving an oath.
• התרת נדרים is done on ערב ראש השנה.
  • Syrian custom to do התרת נדרים three times: 40 days before ראש השנה, prior to ראש השנה, and prior to יום הכפורים.
• עירוב תבשילין allows cooking/preparing for Shabbat on a Friday which is a יום טוב.
• עירוב תבשילין involves preparing food on ערב יום טוב for Shabbat to continue cooking for Shabbat on יום טוב.
• The literal translation of the word "ערב" is "mixture."
• Customary to use bread and a cooked food for עירוב תבשילין.
• One needs to put aside a כזית of cooked food and a כביצה of bread for עירוב תבשילין.
• Best time to cook from יום טוב to Shabbat is as early as possible on Friday with enough time for the food to be ready to be eaten before Shabbat.
• Make the עירוב תבשילין after the cooked and baked food: first say a ברכה of על מצות עירוב then say בדין עירובא וכו.
• Understanding the meaning of בדין עירובא is not imperative. If one does not understand it, they should say it in a language they understand.
• Besides cooking from יום טוב to Shabbat, the עירוב תבשילין permits one to make one's bed, wash dishes, and roll the Torah for the proper Torah reading.
• When performing a מצוה, the concept is that ברכות should be said עובר לעשייתן - before the action of the מצוה.
• When lighting יום טוב candles, one should say the ברכה before lighting the candles.
• תוך כדי דבור means the time it takes to say שלום עליך רבי.
• If one forgot to say המלך הקדוש during עשרת ימי תשובה and realized their mistake, one can correct their mistake and continue the עמידה within תוך כדי דיבור.
• Hearing the שופר on the first day of ראש השנה is a מצוה דאורייתא.
• שומע כעונה means when listening to someone say a ברכה and having in mind to fulfill their obligation, it is as if they said those words themselves.
• הפסק is an interruption, like saying a ברכה and then talking (interrupting) before eating.
• Men are obligated to hear the Shofar Blasts.
• מצות עשה שהזמן גרמא means a positive, time-bound מצוה
• Women are not obligated in מצות שופר because it is a מצות עשה שהזמן גרמא.
• גדול המצווה ועושה יותר ממי שאינו מצווה ועושה means one who is obligated in a מצוה receives a greater reward for fulfilling it than someone who performs it but is not obligated to do so.
• While it can be a good idea for women to hear שופר, it should not be at the expense of bringing her little children to shul and causing a disturbance.
• One is not allowed to prepare from the first day of ראש השנה to the second.
• נר ששבת is a candle that was kindled before יום הכפורים and is still burning after יום הכפורים is over.
• On מוצאי יום הכפורים one needs to use for הבדלה a נֵר שֶׁשֶׁבַת or a candle that was kindled from a נר ששבת.
• The first מלאכה of the ל"ט מלאכות– is חורש (plowing).
• פסיק רישיה is doing an action that will definitely cause a side effect
  • Example: opening a refrigerator door will cause the light to go on.
• דָבָר שֶׁאֵינוֹ מִתְכַּוֵן is doing an action on Shabbat that may or may not result in a מלאכה
  • Example: dragging a chair across the lawn.
• One is allowed to walk on grass on Shabbat since there is no guarantee that the grass will uproot.
• The מלאכה of קוצר means removing produce from where it grew.
• One is not allowed to lean on a tree on Shabbat.
• מעמר is raking leaves to form a compost pile and/or collecting fruits into one's pockets.
• אוֹכֵל מִתּוֹךְ פְּסוֹלֶת means separating the good from the bad.
• One is allowed to sort on שבת separating good from the bad, by hand and for now.
• אין טוחן אחר טוחן refers to crumbling bread into small crumbs.
• When something is cut too thin regarding טוחן, the exact size is unclear.
• לש is kneading - combining particles into a solid/semisolid by means of a liquid medium.
• בשול is cooking - to use heat to make the substance more edible or potable than before.
• מרקד is sifting, separating a mixture by means of a sifting device.
• טוחן is grinding, reducing an object to small particles whereby it becomes suitable for a new use.
• בורר is sorting, separating the bad from the good.
• זורה is winnowing, using the natural force of the wind to separate the bad from the good.
• דש/מפרק extraction of fruit, vegetable or earth-grown commodity from its natural inedible shell, peel or similar attachment.
• מעמר is the collection or combining of scattered fruits, produce or any other substance in the place of their growth into a pile.
• the מלאכה of זוֹרֵעַ involves the initiation or promotion of plant growth in any way.
• מצות עשה is a positive מצוה, where the Torah commands us to do something, like give צדקה.
• מצות לא עשה is a negative מצוה, where the Torah commands us not to do something, like don't eat non-Kosher animals.
• שמירת שבת includes both a מצות לא תעשה and a מצות עשה.
• מלאכת עבודה is work not for preparing food for human consumption.
• מלאכת אוכל נפש is work for preparing food for human consumption.
• On שבת, the Torah prohibits מלאכת עבודה and מלאכת אוכל נפש.
• On יום טוב the Torah prohibits only מלאכת עבודה.
• Cooking is an example of מלאכת אוכל נפש.
• מזיד means intentionally doing an action with full knowledge that this is אסור.
• שוגג means intentionally doing an action without knowing that the action is prohibited.
  • Someone who knows that one cannot do מלאכה today because it's Shabbat but did not know the מלאכה carries a punishment of כרת.
• The punishment for doing a מלאכה on שבת on purpose not in front of two witnesses is כרת.
• The punishment for doing a מלאכה on שבת on purpose in front of two witnesses and was warned beforehand is סקילה.
• The punishment for doing a מלאכה on שבת by accident (שוגג) is to bring a קרבן.
• There are 39 אבות מלאכה we are commanded to keep on Shabbat.
• מומר is a person who is known to not keep a certain מצוה and is only if he commits the sin with the intent of angering God.
  • Example: a person continually cuts his פאות.
• מומר לכל התורה is one who rejects the whole Torah.
• One is not allowed to eat the meat of an animal that was slaughtered by a מחלל שבת בפרהסיא.
• Violating Shabbat is severe because it's a denial of HaShem's creation of the world, akin to עבודה זרה.
• The two מצות that are equivalent to all other מצות are Shabbat and עבודה זרה.
• Someone who violates Shabbat is considered an עכו"ם when he violates it in public without any embarrassment.

Overview of Jewish laws (halakha) and customs related to Selichot, blowing the Shofar, blessings before Torah study, the requirement of a minyan for saying something of kedusha, and the laws of Eruv Tavshilin. Additionally, the laws of hatarat nedarim are discussed.