Retrieving Your Yarmulke During Shemoneh Esrei

Q. I am davening Shemoneh Esrei outside and the wind blew off my yarmulke. Is it better to walk over and pick it up or to motion to someone to bring it to me?

A. Ordinarily, during Shemoneh Esrei, both walking and signaling to others are forbidden. However, if there is a pressing need, it is clear from the following Mishnah Berurah (104:1) that motioning is preferable rather than walking. The Mishnah Berurah writes that if a child is disrupting one’s tefillah, the first choice is to signal to him to be quiet. If this does not help, one should walk away from the child and continue davening in a different room. Poskim write that if the child is also bothering others, you may pick up the child and carry him into a different room. (In all cases one may not talk. Talking during Shemoneh Esrei is considered a hefsek [an interruption] and will invalidate the tefillah.) In any event, signaling is a better solution than walking. Therefore, in the case of the yarmulke, if possible, one should signal without talking rather than walking to pick up the yarmulke.

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The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.