Drinking Water During the Tekufah

Drinking Water during the “Tekufah”

There is a halachah in Shulchan Aruch that one should not drink water b’sha’as hatekufah (four moments throughout the year, the two equinoxes and the two solstices, which mark when the seasons of Tishrei, Teves, Nissan and Tammuz begin), since it is a sakanah (hazard). There are many different explanations in seforim regarding the precise nature of the sakanah.

If one made a brachah on water and then realized that it’s the moment of the tekufah, one should wait until the tekufah passes to drink the water.

Some aren’t cautious about this anymore, saying that the principle of “Shomer pesa’im Hashem” (Hashem protects the ignorant) applies, and that if they pay no heed to the issue nothing negative will befall them. However, there are many poskim who rule that one should not drink water during the precise moment of the tekufah, which is marked on many calendars.

This sakanah doesn’t apply to water that has been boiled, water that has a piece of metal in it, or water stored in a metal container. #494

https://halacha2go.com?number=494

Practical Halacha: One minute a day. By Horav Yosef Yeshaya Braun, shlita, Mara D'asra and member of the Badatz of Crown Heights.