Due to the space limitations of a text message, please note that it is particularly important to read carefully, pay close attention to the context of the question, and use the answers as a springboard for further study.
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Q: What do you do if you can only daven before the earliest time?
A: Ideally one should don Talis and Tefilin and recite Shema no earlier than Misheyakir (approximately 50 minutes before sunrise) and recite the Shemoneh Esrei at sunrise. If that is too late, one may don Talis and Tefilin recite Shema and the Shemoneh Esrei after Alot Hashachar (72 minutes before sunrise) (Shulachan Aruch O.C. 58:3). If even that will not be possible and one will not have an opportunity to put on Tefilin the entire day, they should be put on even earlier after waking up ( even when it is still night) with a bracha but Shema and Shemoneh Esrei cannot be recited until after Alot (Iggrot Moshe O.C. I:10).
Q: Hi Rabbi, would you agree with this article [that says that there is no source for “bouncing” after taking the three steps back at the conclusion of the Shemoneh Esrei]? I see people doing this all the time, but I’ve never seen anything about it
A: It is correct there is no source for bouncing at the end of the shemona esrei
Q: My wife baked eggplant in the oven at the same time we were baking our Thanksgiving turkey. The turkey was closed in a roaster. She now wants melt cheese over the eggplant to make eggplant parmesan. Is that allowed?
A: Since the turkey was covered the eggplant is not affected and it would be at least be permitted once the eggplant was already cooked (S.A. Y.D. 108).
Q: I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night, can’t fall asleep immediately but intend to go back to sleep before morning. In the meantime, I want to learn. Should I say birchat HaTorah or not? If I do, do I repeat it by shacharit?
A: You would definitely recite Birkat Hatorah upon waking up in the middle of the night before studying Torah (S.A. 47:13 and M.B. 28), and you would only repeat the bracha in the morning if you really went back to sleep again (but not if you just took a short nap. R. A. Nebenzal in the name of RSZA on M.B. ibid, and R. Chaim Kaniefsky in Sheilat Rav Part II 3: 21).
Q: Does Sushi have to be eaten in a succah?
A: If it doesn’t contain any flour it would only be an optional/praiseworthy mitzvah to do so rather than an obligatory mitzvah. If it is a variety that does contain flour (e.g. tempura) it is likely that it doesn’t contain enough to change its halacha.
Source: Rabbi Isaacs Blog