Search results for: ""Kri'a""

Kri'a: How Often for Non-Parents
When mourning for any of the five categories of people other than parents (spouse; son; daughter; brother; sister), tear only one time and only the outermost garment (but not coats) and tear on the right side.
Kri'a: How Often for a Parent
When mourning for a parent, you must tear kri'a throughout the shiv'a week whenever you change shirts, so it is best to change garments as little as possible! You must wear the torn garment during the entire week of shiv'a. Coats do not require kri'a.
Note Wearing a torn black ribbon pinned to a garment does not fulfill the requirement of kri'a.
Tearing (Kri'a) on Seeing Temple Ruins
You must tear four vertical inches at the neck of your shirt (and jacket, too, if you wear one) when seeing the ruins of the Temple in Jerusalem for the first time in more than 30 days. You do not need to be close by; do kri'a even if you see the mosques that are on top of the Temple mount.
Note A woman should not tear her garment if it would result in her being immodestly exposed in public. Don't tear your garment on Shabbat, Jewish festivals, chol ha'moed, Rosh Hashana, and Yom Kippur. Do tear even on the afternoons before Shabbat and Jewish festivals.
Women: Kri'a
For women and kri'a, see Women and Kri'a.
Women and Kri'a
Women do kri'a. To avoid exposing her body when tearing, a woman may wait until she is in a private place.  After tearing, she might need to pin the torn area closed for tzni'ut (modest attire).
Children and Kri'a
When a parent has died, the children must tear “kr'ia,” that is, tearing any garments that they wear during shiv'a.
How To Tear Kri'a
If you are in mourning for a parent, whether you are a man or woman, tear a vertical tear 4 inches (10.2 cm) long on your outermost garments (shirt and jacket, if you wear one) at the neck on the left side. The bulk of the tear must be made by hand, not with scissors or a knife, although you may start the tear with a sharp implement.
What To Tear for Kri'a
When tearing kri'a, do not tear underwear, a coat or sweater worn for warmth, or talit katan. To avoid ruining good or expensive clothing, you may change to other clothes before doing kri'a.
You may tear the same garment more than once if you need to do kriya for more than one dead person or for seeing the Temple mount more than once (in more than 30 days).
Tear at News or Funeral Home
Do the tearing/kri'a when you hear the news of a death. If not, tear at the funeral home before the funeral.
Shacharit: Might Return To Sleep and Miss Latest Time To Say Shema
SITUATION You wake up after daybreak, but you might go back to sleep and thereby miss the time for saying mekadeish et shimcha ba'rabim and shema (both of which must be said by the third halachic hour of the day).
WHAT TO DOYou should say at least the:
  • Blessing on washing your hands,
  • Blessings on studying Torah, including Elohai neshama and all other related sayings, and
  • Complete shema--with the condition that:
    • If you sleep past the latest time for shema (sof zman kriat shema), this shema fulfills your obligation; but
    • If you do not go back to sleep, this shema does not fulfill your obligation.
    Then, whether you go back to sleep or not, having made the condition allows you to say the full blessing of mekadeish et shimcha ba'rabim, including God's name, if you get to l'olam yihei adam... before the third hour of the day.
    NOTE If you said the shema when you woke up but did not made the condition, you would not be able to say the concluding blessing mekadeish et shimcha ba'rabim with God's name when repeating the shema (but you may say it without using God's name: see When To Say Mekadeish et Shimcha BaRabim).
    NOTE If you go back to sleep, don't repeat the blessings on washing hands and studying Torah when you wake up.