Yom Kipur Installment: Halacha and Tips

1. Fasting:

I already covered this is the chapter on all the fasts. Here are the links: https://mommyshulchanaruch.blogspot.com/2019/07/fasting-installment-1-halacha.html AND https://mommyshulchanaruch.blogspot.com/2019/07/fasting-installment-2-tips-mommys.html

For additional cool stuff re: the halacha of Yom Kipur (like what if you must eat, do you make kidush? Do you bentsch?) can be found here: https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/528963/jewish/What-is-the-procedure-for-one-who-must-eat-on-Yom-Kippur.htm

2. Hiring help

Hiring help for oneself (if one is concerned she might become sick from fasting) or to help watch the baby and/or children is permitted, but one needs to adhere to the following guidelines in order not to desecrate Yom Kipur. (The following are also guidelines for Shabbos.)

Whom to Hire and How:

You need to delineate carefully which tasks the job entails, primarily if it is going to entail actual melacha or not. If you think you will require actual melacha to be performed, then it is preferable to hire a gentile. However if no melacha is required, then it doesn't matter (although Rabbi Weiner said it's better to give parnasa to a Jew). Whomever you end up hiring, it is important to meet with them in advance and instruct them before YK (or Shabbos) re: the various tasks they will be expected to perform. For tasks that do not involve melacha, bedieved (post facto) it is permitted to instruct them even on YK itself.

Payment: For this not to be considered working/getting paid for work done on YK - the caretaker must commence working for you either before Yom Kipur (or Shabbos) OR continue afterwards. The pay must be a global wage for the service; it shouldn't be by hour.

3. Davening

A woman needs to prioritize whichever Amidahs she is able to say. So in order of priority: shacharit, musaf and neilah. They are long, so whatever you get through - makes sure to pat yourself on the back AND I high-five you all the way from Ramot!!

Tips:

-Don't forget to leave the Shabbos urn on if you'll need to sterilize bottles and other baby paraphernalia.

-If you plan on serving your kids warm food, don't forget to leave the hot plate/blech on.

-Even when my kids were little, I used to read the "Seder avodah" part of musaf with them as a story, painting a picture of what Yom Kipur was (and IS SUPPOSED TO BE) like. The amount depended on their patience and attention span. We used to discuss the seder avodah, instead of mumbling it like prayer.