Can You Take a Cold Shower in the Mikvah on Shabbos?

In this week’s episode, the topics discussed by Rabbi Braun include: **Dips and salads on the table before Kiddush** - Should the dips, salads, and other foods be on the Shabbos table before Kiddush, or brought only after it? - If they are on the table before Kiddush, must they be covered like the *challah*? - Does the reason given by the *She’iltos*, that the meal should be brought in honor of Shabbos, apply to all the food or only to the bread? - What can be learned from the Seder night, when the *kaarah* is set up before Kiddush with only the *matzos* covered? **Talking during *sheva brachos* at a wedding** - At a wedding, may one talk between *bentching* and the end of the *sheva brachos*? - Is *sheva brachos* an obligation on each individual present, or only on the group as a whole? - May guests leave the wedding meal before *sheva brachos*, whether or not they make their own *zimun*? - No one is supposed to talk from when the one leading *bentching* picks up the *kos* until he says *hagafen*. Does that rule cover the *sheva brachos* too? **How long a *bracha* on food lasts** - At what point does a *bracha* on food expire, so that more food needs a new *bracha rishona* and it’s too late for a *bracha acharona*? - After eating only a small amount, must the *bracha acharona* be said immediately, or is there a window of a few minutes? - What should one do if unsure whether the original *bracha* has expired? - Is it true that one generally has 72 minutes to say a *bracha acharona*? **Accompanying a widowed mother to a wedding during the year of *aveilus*** - May a woman in the year of *aveilus* for her father go to a wedding because her widowed mother wants her to drive her and sit with her? - Which comes first: *kibbud em* for the living mother, or *kibbud av* for the father who passed away? - Is this like a parent asking a child to violate halacha, where there is no obligation of *kibbud av va’em*? - Since the child is there to help the mother, are they like a waiter working at the *simcha*? **Measuring the place of the *tefillin shel yad* on a bar mitzvah boy** - On a bar mitzvah boy, should the spot for the *tefillin shel yad* be measured with his arm stretched out or bent? - Since Chabad *tefillin* are large, should smaller bar mitzvah boys get smaller *batim* so they fit in the right place? - Must the entire *tefillin* sit within that spot, or may the *ma’avarta* extend beyond it? **Showering in the *mikvah* on Shabbos and Yom Tov** - May one take a cold shower in the *mikvah* on Shabbos or Yom Tov? - How can a “cold” shower still involve *bishul* or other *melachos*, given how water tanks, single-lever mixers, and tankless heaters work? - Where does the *minhag* not to bathe even in cold water on Shabbos come from, and how binding is it? - Is there room to be lenient for someone in great discomfort (*tza’ar gadol*), and does it matter if the shower is private or public?