This week, Rabbi Mansour shall be in South Florida. On Tuesday, March 20th through Thursday March 22nd, the Rabbi shall give the Daf class each morning at 6:00 AM from The Safra Synagogue in Turnberry. Rabbi Mansour shall be speaking on Tuesday night March 20th at 8:15pm at Netive Ezra.
** We would like to inform our listeners of a new publication just written by Rabbi David Sutton. The book, "Stories of Spirit and Faith" contains over 130 fascinating stories about our ancestors in Aleppo. The stories are heartwarming, wholesome, spiritual, clever and witty.
Click "Stories of Spirit and Faith" to order it directly from its publisher ArtScroll at a special 20% discount. You can also order the Sephardic Heritage Haggadah co-authored with Rabbi Eli Mansour at the same 20% discount. For the discount, use the promotion code "yadyosef" when you check out. **
Today’s Halacha…
Women light candles eighteen minutes prior to sundown on Erev Yom Tov, just as on Erev Shabbat. Before lighting on Erev Yom Tov they recite the Beracha of "Asher Kideshanu Be'mitzvotav Ve'tzivanu Le'hadlik Ner Shel Yom Tov." Should a woman recite the Beracha of "She'hecheyanu" when she lights the Yom Tov candles, or is it proper for her to fulfill her obligation by listening to her husband's recitation of this Beracha at Kiddush?
The Chesed Le'alafim (work of Halacha by Rabbi Eliezer Papo, Bulgaria, 1785-1828) writes (263:5) that women should not recite "She'hecheyanu" when lighting candles on Erev Yom Tov, and should instead hear their husbands' recitation during Kiddush. Many women, he observes, make the mistake of reciting this Beracha at the time of candle lighting, rather than waiting to hear its recitation from their husbands at Kiddush.
If a woman did, for whatever reason, recite "She'hechyanu" at the time of candle lighting, should she answer "Amen" to her husband's recitation of this Beracha during Kiddush?
Chacham Ovadia Yosef (Chazon Ovadia, p. 25) writes that the recitation of "She'hecheyanu" during Kiddush refers not only to the actual holiday observance, but also to the special Mitzvot performed that night: Matza, Marror, and telling the story of the Exodus. Women are included in these obligations, and are therefore required to hear the recitation of "She'hecheyanu" during Kiddush even if they had already recited this Beracha at candle lighting. On the first nights of Pesach, then, a woman must, indeed, answer "Amen" to the Beracha of "She'hecheyanu" at Kiddush, even if she had already recited this Beracha at candle lighting.
Summary: It is preferable for women not to recite the Beracha of "She'hecheyanu" at candle lighting on Erev Yom Tov, and to instead listen to their husbands' recitation of this Beracha during Kiddush. If a woman did recite "She'hecheyanu" during candle lighting, she should answer "Amen" to her husband's recitation of this Beracha during Kiddush, even if she had already recited "She'hecheyanu" at candle lighting.
