עברית
Women
Is a woman in her niddah days permitted to look at a real Sefer Torah in the synagogue?
Question
Hello esteemed Rabbi,
1. Is a woman in her niddah days forbidden to look at a real Sefer Torah when she is in the synagogue? Or is it simply forbidden for her to touch the scroll?
2. Is it permitted on Shabbat, before going to Shacharit at the synagogue, to eat something small?
3. From your words I understood that for bread that is sweet, one recites the Mezonot blessing. So, does a sweet challah—called by this name or bought as such—not require a Hamotzi blessing?
4. Is it permissible to assist a person in debt from Ma'aser funds?
5. During the days of the counting of the Omer, is it permitted to listen to chapters of Tehillim set to melody?
Thank you very much.
Answer
Greetings and blessings.
1. It is permitted for a woman in her niddah days to touch the Sefer Torah; however, great care must be taken that she does not look inside the scroll during her niddah days.
2. One may be lenient in this matter.
3. It is correct that, according to the Sephardic authorities, one recites Mezonot over sweet challah; however, if this challah constitutes the Shabbat meal, the blessing of Hamotzi is recited over it, as with any food whose blessing is Mezonot, when it is established as part of a meal and eaten in the required quantity one recites Hamotzi.
4. Certainly.
5. One should not be lenient in this matter.
Blessings - Binyamin Shmueli
