Levi lives in Bet Shemesh. On weekdays he davens Shacharis in Masas Mordechai shul. But on Shabbos, he loves davening at the Aish Kodesh.
When he and his friend Chaim were on their way to Aish Kodesh on Shabbos, Levi stopped, turned to Chaim and said: “In last week’s parsha, we learned from Avraham Avinu that one should daven in makom kavua. So maybe I should go and daven in Masas Mordechai now, because that’s where I daven during the week.”
“Hmm, I hear what you are saying,” said Chaim, “But we always daven in Aish Kodesh on Shabbos. So maybe that’s your makom kavua for Shabbos.”
Question: Should Levi go to Masas Mordechai or Aish Kodesh?
Hints & Answers
HALACHA CHALLENGE: According to HaRav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt”l one still fulfills the halacha of having makom kavua for tefilla even though he davens Shacharis in one shul during the week and in another shul on Shabbos. [source: Halichos Shlomo, Tefilla chapter 5, Devar Halacha #2]
Electronic RHYMES: “above”
RIDDLE: The minhag in such situation is to label the milchik utensils. The reason is as follows: Suppose the custom had been to mark the meat plates. Let’s say someone forgot to do it and served his guest a dish with meat sauce (in meat plates), but it was not obvious that the sauce was fleishig. A guest, who noticed that the host has plates of the same pattern for both meat and dairy, did not assume that the host forgot to do label the meat plates. So when he was served that dish in a non-labeled plate, he assumed that it was dairy or parve food. When he came home, he ate dairy food, without waiting the required time between meat and dairy. That’s why, to avoid such situations, the custom has become to label dairy plates.
*Menucha answers are not to be taken as final decisions in halacha.
