JERUSALEM – Rabbi Avraham Yosef, the son of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef ztsl, criticized worshippers who drink coffee inside the shul during Shacharit.
In his remarks, he responded to someone who asked whether a tired person is permitted to sip coffee during the Korbanot section before “Baruch She’amar.”
“It’s unthinkable,” he said on Kol Chai radio. “If you want to drink coffee, you can do it outside the synagogue walls, not inside. A synagogue is not a coffee shop.”
The rabbi warned that this has become a widespread phenomenon. “This affliction has spread in quite a few communities,” and he recommended that anyone who needs coffee should “drink it outside. Open a window and listen to the prayer from outside.”
He emphasized the sanctity of the synagogue: “The place is holy. We refer to it as a ‘miniature Temple.’ One must not use it as a shortcut. Idle chatter is forbidden. It’s prohibited to wander around inside.”
He was especially critical of this behavior when a worshipper is wearing a tallit and tefillin. “With tefillin on, you’re behaving as if you’re at home?”
The rabbi clarified that there is only one exception allowing food or drink inside the synagogue: “For the sake of Torah study, in order to prevent Bittul Torah—but not during prayer.”
As reported by VINnews