DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

Click Here to Sponsor Daily Halacha
"Delivered to Over 6000 Registered Recipients Each Day"

      
(File size: 424 KB)
Rosh Hashanah – Women’s Recitation of Musaf; Reading Hallel as Part of Tehillim

Generally speaking, women are exempt from the Musaf prayer recited on Shabbat, Rosh Hodesh and festivals, and they should not recite this prayer even if they wish to. On Rosh Hashanah, however, the Musaf prayer includes numerous verses and passages relating to the theme of divine mercy and our prayers for a good year, and thus women may recite Musaf on Rosh Hashanah. In fact, according to some views, women are obligated to recite Musaf on Rosh Hashanah, as well as on Yom Kippur. It goes without saying that women may recite the Ne’ila prayer on Yom Kippur.

Even though Hallel is normally recited on Yom Tob, we do not recite Hallel on Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur. As these occasions are days of judgment when the books of life and death are opened before God, it is inappropriate to conduct the joyous reading of Hallel. And although we feel confident on Rosh Hashanah that we will be inscribed for a good year, we must nevertheless approach our judgment with fear and dread, emotions which are incompatible with the singing of Hallel.

However, if a person recites Tehillim on Rosh Hashanah, and over the course of his reading he reaches the chapters of Hallel, he may recite these chapters. Since he recites these chapters as part of his normal reading of Tehillim, and not in the context of the festive Hallel recitation, this is permissible.

Summary: Women may recite Musaf on Rosh Hashanah, and, according to some opinions, they are required to recite Musaf on Rosh Hashanah. Hallel is not recited on Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur, though one who recites Tehillim may recite the chapters of Hallel as part of his Tehillim reading.

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
May a Woman Apply Makeup During Abelut?
Nail-Cutting During Abelut
If Somebody Did Not Observe Abelut After a Parent’s Passing
If a Woman is in Mourning and Her Husband Insists That She Join Him at a Social Function
Extending a Greeting to a Mourner
Halachot of Proper Conduct in a Cemetery
Eulogies and Memorial Gatherings on Days When Tahanun is Omitted
The Obligation to Bury the Deceased
A Mourner’s Exemption From Misvot Before the Burial as it Applies to Sissit, Charity, Berachot and Sefirat Ha’omer
May a Mourner Attend His or Her Child’s Wedding?
Is it Permissible for a Mourner to Move Into a New Home or Renovate His Home?
Wigs Made From the Hair of a Deceased Person
Sheloshim – The Thirty-Day Mourning Period
May a Kohen Attend the Funeral of a Non-Jew?
Abelut: Reciting Birkat Ha'lebana, Studying Torah, Hallel, and Birkat Kohanim
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found