Q&A: Several Questions
Several Questions
Question
Hello Rabbi, and happy holidays.
I have several questions, and I would appreciate it if you could address them. Thank you very much in advance.
1. In your view, is the practice of reading the weekly portion twice and the Aramaic translation once obligatory?
2. Is it permitted to study during the repetition of the Amidah?
3. I understood that you study during the recitation of psalms and the like, where there is no obligation to recite them. My question is: is there a practical way to do this without it looking like throwing off the yoke? (For example, I feel uncomfortable doing it, even though that is what I do.)
4. On the night of Hoshana Rabbah, do you customarily read the book of Deuteronomy or the other things from the established tikkun?
5. If someone suffers from staying awake, can he still do the tikkun, or is it forbidden because of the holiday joy?
6. Is there an obligation to do hakafot on Hol HaMoed, and likewise on Hoshana Rabbah?
7. Is there an obligation to say the hoshanot in the Shacharit prayer of Hoshana Rabbah?
8. Are the hakafot done on the night of Shemini Atzeret, and on the night after Shemini Atzeret, obligatory? Do you observe them?
Answer
1. It is commonly accepted that this is obligatory (in the wording of the Talmud, this is not clear).
2. Yes.
3. That is a practical question. I have nothing to say about it.
4. No.
5. I assume it is permitted, unless the suffering is great.
6. Custom.
7. Custom.
8. Custom. On the night after, it is not even a custom.
Discussion on Answer
You are listening, but while reading at the same time. The repetition really is unnecessary, but it is not clear whether it can be abolished.
Regarding studying during the repetition of the Amidah, is it:
A. Based on the assumption that the repetition is unnecessary and it would have been better to abolish it, and therefore I am allowed not to “play along”.
B. Based on the assumption that the repetition is binding (as an ordinance or custom), but that it does not obligate the individual to listen to it.
And does this also apply when there are not nine others besides him listening (or even, say, six, if that makes a difference).