Ba'al Teshuva

Question

I have been a baal teshuvah for 11 years. Before I became a baal teshuvah, I had no order in my life. I want to bring as much seder as I can to my life. I have a busy schedule and would like to have tefillah and Torah as much as possible in my life.

1. I would like to recite korbanos in the most optimal way. Can the rov advise me which korbanos I should say?

2. Right now, I work a long day, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and it is very difficult for me to find time to learn. How can I get Torah into my schedule and what should I learn?

3. My wife was toivel a pot on Erev Pesach, and afterwards we found a sticker on it that was not from the store where we bought it. My wife is pretty sure that the sticker came on to it afterwards. May she assume that the sticker was not there when she was toivel it?

4. We had a question at the end of the Seder. What do we do with the wine from the Kos Shel Eliyahu?

5. Is it worthwhile for me to attend Birkas Kohanim at the Kosel where many kohanim gather to recite Birkas Kohanim together?

Thank you.

R. M.

Rav Auerbach 

First of all, you should know that if you have already been religious for 11 years, then you are not in the category of a baal teshuvah anymore. There is no need to tell anyone that you are a baal teshuvah.

You speak about your life lacking order and you are looking to make seder in your life. The truth is that we just completed the Pesach Seder, and Pesach is all about making order. Before Yetzias Mitzrayim, we had no order in our lives, not in our eating, not in our tefillah, not in Torah. Only after Yetzias Mitzrayim and Kabbolas HaTorah did we get order in our lives in all areas.

As far as tefillah goes, it is extremely commendable that you want to say korbanos, for many people skip this part of tefillah. The most critical parts of korbanos are the Tomid and the pesukim of the Ketores.

After that, if you have time, you should recite the Mishnayos of Eizehu Mekoman. These are very important Mishnayos, for many of them parallel actual korbanos. Furthermore, there is no machlokes in these Mishnayos, and this gives them an exalted status over other Mishnayos. 

As far as your Torah study is concerned, it is critical that you find at least an hour a day to learn. I suggest that you try to “steal” a half hour in the morning and a half an hour in the evening. Perhaps get up a half hour before davening to learn and also study for half an hour after Maariv. It is a good idea to learn Maseches Brachos, for this will strengthen your tefillah and brachos.

If your wife is quite sure that the sticker was not on the pot when she toiveled it, and the sticker was from a different store than the one where you purchased the pot, then you don’t need to toivel the pot again.

As far as your question regarding the Kos Shel Eliyahu, the “drinking” of Eliyahu Hanovi does not raise many issues of pagum regarding the wine. You can most definitely pour the wine from the Kos Shel Eliyahu right back into the bottle.

Regarding Birkas Kohanim at the Kosel, many people attend this gathering. I am not sure if there is a source for this, but perhaps a reason for attending is that when you have so many kohanim together, it makes sense that the brachos of at least one of them are effective.

I am not a kohein, but I give you a brocha to have great success in all of your endeavors and be successful in strengthening yourself in Torah and tefillah.