Tashlich

Halacha Moment
Sep 20, 2022
3 min read

Updated: Sep 12, 2023

The Daily Halacha Moment - Tashlich 🏖

‎״כל השונה הלכות בכל יום - מובטח לו שהוא בן העולם הבא״ (נידה עג ע״א, מגילה כח:)

“Anyone who studies Halachot every day is guaranteed that he is destined for the world-to-come” (Megilla 28b, Niddah 73a)

Question:

When do we recite Tashlich?

Where may one recite Tashlich?

Answer:

On Rosh HaShanah after Minchah, the custom is to go to a river and recite the prayer of Tashlich. Tashlich may also be said by a well, a stream, or even a bucket of water or a running sink if there is no river in the area. [1]

While women may also recite Tashlich, many poskim write that it is better that they refrain from reciting it in a public place, since the communal Tashlich gatherings may lead to mingling between men and women — this is certainly not praiseworthy, especially on Rosh HaShanah, which is the day when one is trying to attain more merits, not more sins. Therefore, a woman who wants to recite Tashlich

should either recite it at home over a running sink, or recite it modestly after Rosh HaShanah by a pond, not in the presence of men. [2] Contrary to the custom of some people, many poskim rule that it is forbidden to throw crumbs of food into the water. This is because one is not allowed to feed animals or fish that are not dependent on him for their sustenance on Yom Tov. [3]

Adapted From R' Yonatan Nacsons "Laws Of The Holidays"

Sources:

[1]. Shaar HaKavanot 90b; Maharil, Hilchot Rosh HaShanah, p. 38. See also Moed LeChol Chai 13:70, which praises the custom and states that Tashlich should specifically be recited on the first day of Rosh HaShanah. See also Chazon Ovadia, Yamim Nora’im, p. 186 and Yalkut Yosef, Yamim Nora’im, pages 301–303.

In regards to where Tashlich may be performed, see Kaf HaChaim 583:30 and Ohr LeTzion, vol. 4, 4:9, which state that one may even recite Tashlich at a dried-out well. The custom of Chacham Ovadia Yosef, as brought in Yalkut Yosef, Yamim Nora’im, p. 303, end of footnote 4, was to recite Tashlich on a bucket of water, since there are no flowing rivers or streams in Har Nof, which is situated on a mountain. After using the bucket, Chacham Ovadia would instruct someone to pour out the water into a toilet.

[2]. See Aruch HaShulchan 583:4, which says that women should not recite Tashlich at all. See also Yalkut Yosef, Yamim Nora’im, p. 306 and Torat HaMoadim, Yamim Nora’im, p. 58, which state that women should stay at home instead of going to recite Tashlich, and thus avoid mingling with men who are also at the river reciting Tashlich. See also Ashrei HaIsh, vol. 3, O.C. 14:13, which says that women should recite Tashlich modestly on the side, away from any men.

[3]. Shulchan Aruch, O.C. 497:2; Mateh Ephraim 598:5.

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