Halachah For The Road

Derech Tzlacha offers clear, practical guidance for today’s Jewish traveler

What happens when a person begins a fast in one country and lands several hours later in a place where the fast has already ended?

Is it better to daven with a minyan before the proper z’man, or to wait and daven later on the plane without a minyan?

Where should one light Shabbos candles in a hotel that prohibits open flames?

May a tourist enter a building that was once used for avodah zarah?

Modern travel has made it possible to cross continents and time zones with remarkable ease. At the same time, it has created a wide range of halachic questions, many of which travelers may not even realize require clarification.

Derech Tzlacha, a new sefer by Rabbi Gidon Yaakov Katz, is a comprehensive and highly practical guide to the halachos encountered by passengers on planes and ships, as well as those staying in hotels, resorts, and short-term rentals, including Airbnbs.

The sefer addresses questions involving Shabbos, kashrus, amirah l’akum, tefillah, fast days, Yom TovSheini, and the technological systems travelers encounter in hotels and other unfamiliar settings. Electronic locks, automatic doors, sensors, and other automated systems have introduced she’eilos that were largely unknown in previous generations.

A talmid of Yeshivas Kol Torah, Rabbi Katz has been delivering shiurim on the halachos of travel for decades. An experienced world traveler himself, he writes with firsthand knowledge of the situations travelers actually face. Each halachah is presented clearly and accompanied by its sources, making the sefer accessible to the general reader while also enabling the serious learner to examine the reasoning of the poskim.

The author carefully researched the rulings of earlier and contemporary authorities and discussed the practical questions with renowned morei hora’ah, including Harav Amram Fried, a well-known posek in Bnei Brak, and Harav Avraham Tzvi Hakohen, a prominent talmid of the Shevet Halevi, zt’l. He primarily follows the rulings of Hagaon Harav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach and Hagaon Harav Moshe Feinstein, while also citing Sephardic rulings and differing opinions where relevant.

The sefer bears haskamos from Harav Ahron Lopiansky, Rosh Yeshivah of the Yeshiva of Greater Washington–Tiferes Gedaliah, and Harav Moshe Yehudah Schlesinger, Rosh Yeshivas Kol Torah, who praise its clarity and practical approach.

Derech Tzlacha is an invaluable resource for frequent travelers, rabbanim, and anyone seeking to navigate modern travel in full accordance with halachah.