Guide to Prayer for Visitors to Israel

madrich latfilah lamevakrim b'Yisra-el

מַדְרִיךְ לַתְּפִלָּה לַמְּבַקְּרִים בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל

Israeli: ' marks a reduced vowel that Israeli speech drops (b'rachah); when the vowel is pronounced it is written e (lefanecha). - separates syllables that would otherwise run together.

How to read the transliterations

A HALAKHIC PRAYER GUIDE FOR VISITORS TO ISRAEL

PUBLIC VS. PRIVATE CONDUCT: GENERAL RULES

474 For halakhic purposes, a "visitor" is defined as one who means to return to his place of origin within one year [משנ״ב, קיז: ה]. Unmarried students may count as visitors so long as they are maintained by their parents [שו״ת אגרות משה או״ח ח״ב, קא].

475 In general, a visitor to Israel ought to keep following his or her customs in private. In public, however, one ought to shun conduct that departs from local practice [שו״ע או״ח, תסח: ד; משנ״ב, שם: יד]. Thus, a visitor to Israel ought generally to pray according to his non-Israeli customs. This rule, however, is confined to one's private prayers.

476 If one is serving as Shaliaḥ Tzibbur, one must pray according to the local Israeli custom. This covers, for instance, repeating the Amida according to Israeli practice: for instance, reciting וְתֵן טַל וּמָטָר לִבְרָכָה from the 7th of Marḥeshvan onward.

477 If one is serving as Shaliaḥ Tzibbur for Musaf on Yom Tov among a congregation of Israelis, in the silent Amida one ought to recite the Korbanot as recited outside Israel, yet when repeating the Amida, recite them following the Israeli practice [יום טוב שני כהלכתו, א (בשם שערי יצחק)].

478 In Israel (and in certain congregations outside Israel), Taḥanun is not recited from Isru Ḥag of Simḥat Torah until Rosh Ḥodesh Marḥeshvan, and from Isru Ḥag of Shavuot until the 12th of Sivan.

479 Even should one not be serving as Shaliaḥ Tzibbur, a visitor praying with Israelis ought to recite the following prayers, given their public nature, following local Israeli custom:

a Birkat Kohanim is recited daily in Shaḥarit and Musaf, in Minḥa on fast days and Ne'ila on Yom Kippur, though not in certain communities in northern Israel.

b Birkat HaḤodesh ends with the lengthened version of יְחַדְּשֵׁהוּ (page 593).

c In the Rabbis' Kaddish, the word קַדִּישָׁא is inserted after the words דִּי בְּאַתְרָא.

Laws of Tefillin during Ḥol HaMo'ed

480 The custom in Israel is not to don tefillin on Ḥol HaMo'ed. One whose custom is to don tefillin on Ḥol HaMo'ed may, when visiting Israel, don tefillin in private, yet ought not do so when praying with a congregation [שו״ת אגרות משה או״ח ח״ד, קה: ה].

וְתֵן טַל וּמָטָר לִבְרָכָה

Laws of

481 Should one be visiting Israel on the 7th of Marḥeshvan, when Israeli residents start reciting וְתֵן טַל וּמָטָר לִבְרָכָה, and one means to stay in Israel until after the 4th (or 5th) of December, when nonresidents of Israel start reciting וְתֵן טַל וּמָטָר לִבְרָכָה, one ought likewise to start reciting וְתֵן טַל וּמָטָר לִבְרָכָה. If, however, one means to depart Israel before then, two opinions exist: (a) while one stays in Israel one ought to recite וְתֵן טַל וּמָטָר לִבְרָכָה, yet upon departing Israel one need not keep reciting it [בה״ט או״ח, קיז: ד], and (b) while one stays in Israel one ought to insert וְתֵן טַל וּמָטָר לִבְרָכָה into the blessing of שׁוֹמֵעַ תְּפִלָּה [אשי ישראל, כג: לו (בשם רש״ז אויערבאך)].

482 If, in the span from the 7th of Marḥeshvan to the 4th (or 5th) of December, one omits to recite וְתֵן טַל וּמָטָר לִבְרָכָה, one need not repeat the Amida [שו״ת בצל החכמה ח״א, סב].

יום טוב שני של גלויות

Laws of Yom Tov's Second Day

483 Most authorities require a visitor to Israel to keep two days of Yom Tov [משנ״ב, תצו: יג]. Some hold that one ought not publicly keep the second day, but recite the festival prayers in private [שם]. Others allow arranging a public service for visitors on the second day of Yom Tov, and this has become the received practice. If, however, fewer than ten visitors are present, they ought to pray privately, rather than enlist Israeli residents to complete a minyan [אשי ישראל, טו: יח (בשם רש״ז אויערבאך)].

484 Some authorities rule that a visitor to Israel ought to keep only one day of Yom Tov, yet, on the following day (Yom Tov outside Israel, but either Ḥol HaMo'ed or Isru Ḥag in Israel), one ought to refrain from labor and perform the מצוות עשה דאורייתא associated with Yom Tov [עיר הקודש והמקדש ח״ג, פ: יא]: