Daily Halakha - Laws of Bein HaMetzarim, 14th of Tammuz 5777
Expert guidance on the laws of fasting during the Three Weeks period
How many fasting individuals need to be in the synagogue in order to take out the Torah scroll on a fast day?
If there is a majority of a minyan [six] who are fasting in the synagogue, and the rest are eating due to their physical constraints, a Torah scroll is taken out and read with its blessings. However, if those four are not fasting due to illness but rather because they disregard the fast, a Torah scroll should not be taken out at all, and on Mondays and Thursdays they should read from the Torah scroll with the regular weekly portion [Yalkut Yosef Siman 550].
Do the Kohanim perform the Priestly Blessing during Mincha on fast days?
The Kohanim perform the Priestly Blessing during the Mincha prayer if they pray approximately forty minutes before sunset. Kohanim who rise to bless before Plag HaMincha should be reprimanded, as their blessing is in vain [Yalkut Yosef Siman 550, Chazon Ovadia Taaniyot, p. 94].
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