A Year of Blessing

Prepared for print by Faigy Peritzman

When eating the simanim on Rosh Hashanah night, I get confused when I should make ha’eitz. Most machzorim seem to have the apple and honey first, but shouldn’t it be the pomegranate, which is one of the Shivas Haminim?

There are different customs regarding the order of the simanim. If you don’t have a specific custom, here’s what to do: On the first night, ha’eitz is recited during the meal over the apple. The pomegranate and other Shivas Haminim fruits are not brought to the table until after the apple is eaten. On the second night, ha’eitz is recited right after Kiddush (before washing) on the fruit that you designated to be your shehecheyanu fruit. During the meal, ha’eitz is not repeated over the apple or any other fruit.

I arrived at shul right the brachos for Tekias Shofar, but I still heard all 30 tekios. Am I yotzei, or must I hear again?

You are yotzei, since missing out on the brachos doesn’t invalidate the mitzvah. But if time permits, recite the brachos yourself in an undertone, before the baal tokeia begins to blow. If there isn’t enough time, and you’re planning to stay for Mussaf, recite the brachos yourself before the tekios that are blown during Mussaf chazaras hashatz.

When I light candles on the second night of Rosh Hashanah, do I still say shehecheyanu even if the new fruit I bought is not in front of me? 

Bring the fruit you prepared to the table so that it’s present when you light candles. If the fruit isn’t available until your husband is ready to make Kiddush, then light your candles right before Kiddush, when the fruit is on the table. If you forgot to buy a new fruit (or a new outfit), and your minhag is to recite shehecheyanu at every Yom Tov candle-lighting, then you may do so now as well.

My daughter is in seminary this year. Can I bentsh her on Erev Yom Kippur over the phone?

Yes, you may. While most poskim rule that one cannot be motzi another person with an obligatory brachah over the phone — such as the brachah of Havdalah — bentshing children on Erev Yom Kippur is not an obligatory brachah, but merely a supplication to Hashem, which may be said over the phone.