Daily Halacha - Important Points for Travelers, 18 Sivan 5777

When staying at a hotel, is one permitted to wash their hands in the bathroom?

In hotel rooms, the sink is usually located in the bathroom, and one should not perform the morning hand washing (netilat yadayim) or bathroom hand washing in such a place. Only in pressing circumstances can one rely on the lenient opinions of later authorities when there is no other place to wash one's hands. [Yalkut Yosef on Morning Rising, page 441].

Is it permissible to eat before prayer?

The prohibition against eating before prayer is a severe one, and according to several authorities, it is a Torah prohibition derived from the verse "You shall not eat over the blood." Therefore, one should not be lenient about this at all [Yalkut Yosef, section 89].

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