Halachic Highlights

Question: Should you hang a piece of your afikoman on the door?

Short Answer: There is minhag to hang a piece of the afikoman on your door for protection. Some challenge the minhag, but it is accepted by most poskim.

Question: May a person under the age of 40 publish a sefer on halachah?

Short Answer: While there was a takanah in Prague a few hundred years ago not to publish, there are many leniencies to allow a talmid chacham to publish a sefer halachah nowadays.

Question: If you forget to perform b’dikas chametz and you remember on Chol HaMoed, should you wait until the night to perform b’dikas chametz or do it right away?

Short Answer: It is a machlokes when the b’dikah should be done, but most poskim say it should be performed as soon as you remember. There is also a dispute whether a brachah is recited on this b’dikah.

Question: Should a person residing in Yerushalayim go to Tel Aviv (or the like) to hear Megillah a day early, on the 14^th of Adar?

Short Answer: Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik zt”l cites a machlokes Rambam and Ramban whether the 14^th or 15^th day of Adar is the main day of Purim. This author suggests that if the 14^th day is the main day, perhaps it is preferable for someone in Yerushalayim to hear the Megillah on 14 Adar.

Question: May a shaliach eat before doing b’dikas chametz in his friend’s house?

Short Answer: There is a dispute whether a shaliach may eat before performing someone else’s mitzvah for him. Practically, it is probably better for the shaliach to refrain from eating beforehand unless he must.

Question: May a bar mitzvah boy (a few days older than 13) lein Parshas Zachor?

Short Answer: The opinion of many poskim is that such a boy should not lein Parshas Zachor.