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SPITTING IN ALEINU

The Rav Name: Rabbi Yehuda Leib Nachmanson

Why is there a custom to spit during the Aleinu prayer?Is it to obliterate evil? Is it permissible to erase the spit with one’s shoe?

I haven’t heard that one spits in the Aleinu prayer in order to obliterate evil. In the book of HaYom Yom the Rebbe explains that we do not want to benefit from the spittle that forms in our mouth while saying “vehem mishtachavim lehevel velarik” (they bow down to vanity and emptiness). On Shabbat we do not erase the spittle with our foot.

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SPITTING IN ALEINU

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DAAT CENTER - JUDAISM IN THE LIGHT OF KABALA AND CHASSIDUS

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