Note: These Halachos are just as important for men to learn and know, as they are for women.
When Reading in Shul, DO NOT Read During Davening or Krias HaTorah
...Continued from previous week
1) As we mentioned previously, male and female inhabitants in a house with a door that is open to the street (Reshus HaRabim), are permitted to be alone in the house.
This "street" need not be a real Reshus HaRabim, public thoroughfare, with all the criteria that we find by Hilchos Shabbos, nor does it need to even be a real street.
If the door is open to a courtyard, or to a hallway in an apartment building or to other similar areas where people come and go, it is considered a "street" for the purposes of being a deterrent to the inhabitants of the home being considered "safely alone" (where they do not fear someone walking in on them) and thus there is no problem of Yichud. (See Shu"t Binyan Tzion Vol. 1 Siman 138 and Chochmas Adam Klal 126:7 and in Binas Adam ibid Os 18)
2) The leniency of having a door that is open to the street only works during the daytime hours when people are around (or in some cases even during the nighttime in a place where people are around), but during the night time (or even in the daytime when people aren't around) the open door to the empty street will not remove the prohibitions of Yichud. (See Kitzur Shulchan Aruch Siman 152:5, Shu"t Chasam Sofer Even HaEzer Vol. 2 Siman 96. See also Sefer Nidchei Yisroel from the Chofetz Chaim Perek 24:7)
3) One who is in a room with a window that faces the street, and people from the street can see in to the room (i.e. There is no window shade or other means of obstructing the view), is not subject to the prohibitions of Yichud while in that room, as we consider it like an open door to the street. (See Shu"t Noda B'Yehuda Mahadura Kama Even HaEzer Siman 71 and Shu"t Or Sameach Vol. 1 Siman 4 Dibur Hamaschil Ata)
The above is true even if the door to the room is closed.
However, if there is any part of the room that cannot be seen from the street through the window, the prohibitions of Yichud will apply to those areas that cannot be seen.
Thus, if it is absolutely necessary for a man and a woman (e.g. patient and doctor) to meet [and thus be alone] in a building that does not have a door that opens to the street, they must meet in a room, where they will be clearly visible through the window to any passersby on the street.
4) Likewise, if one lives in a high-rise building and their window is opposite the window of a neighbor, as long as the windows are not obstructed and each neighbor can see into the others home, it is considered like a door that is open to the street and there would be no Yichud prohibitions [in the areas that can be seen in to] (Psak of Rav Yaakov Ephraim Forchheimer Shlita quoting Sefer Dvar Halacha Siman 3:12)
5) It is permissible, in cases of necessity, for a woman and a man to be in a car [alone] together, since any passersby can see in through the windows and thus it is considered like a door open to the street. (Psak of Rav Shlomo Zalmen Auerbach Zatzal quoted in Sefer Dvar Halacha page 185. See also Shu"t Shevet Haleivi Vol. 5 Siman 202:1. Rav Moshe Feinstein Zatzal does not allow this L'Chatchilah, and only B'dieved does he allow it in cases of great necessity)
However, if the windows of the car are tinted, or if they are driving at a time and/or in a place where no people are around (e.g. During the night in a quiet neighborhood where there are no people or other cars around, or even during the day while driving on a remote street) according to many Poskim the prohibition of Yichud applies to them and they may not be in the car [alone] together.(See Igros Moshe Yoreh Deah Vol. 2 Siman 82 and Even HaEzer Vol. 4 Siman 65:3)
6) Even in cases when it is Halachically permitted for a man and a woman to be in the same car together, it is best if the passenger sits in the back seat. (ibid.)
...To be continued B’Ezras Hashem next week
