Is a Bracha Acharona (last blessing, to be recited after eating a snack) required after the consumption of a hard sweet, or lollipop?

Being that it is less than a kzayis (the size of an olive), and even if it is a Kzayis or more but it is consumed in more time than Kdei Achilas Pras (Lit. the time to eat a half-loaf - the volume of three or four eggs), no Bracha Achrona is recited.

Netilas Yadayim (washing one's hands prior to eating bread) should not be washed in a bathroom, even if the hands are dried only after walking out of the bathroom, as the hands will once again become impure from being in the bathroom.  

Likewise, if the hands were washed outside of the bathroom and the bathroom was then entered while the hands were still wet, the hands must be rewashed outside of the bathroom. 

In cases of extreme necessity (Sha'as HaDchak) some Poskim (Commentaries) allow the washing in a bathroom as long as the hands were not dried until after leaving the bathroom. This is common when traveling and the only sink available is in a rest stop bathroom or when on an airplane. 

One may take water from a bathroom sink, and wash with that water outside of the bathroom.

Unlike most other Jewish holidays, Shevuos has no prescribed Torah commandments other than the traditional festival observances, such as having joyous feasts, special holiday prayers and abstention from work. Shavuos does, however, have many customs.

All Night Torah Study: According to Midrash (Rabbinic literature), the Israelites went to bed early the night before receiving the Torah in order to be well-rested for the momentous day ahead, but then overslept and had to be woken by Moses himself. To atone for this national mistake, many Jews study Torah all night long, in symbolic anticipation for receiving the Torah on Shavuos day.

Greenery: According to Midrash, Mount Sinai suddenly blossomed with flowers and greenery in honour of the giving of the Torah. So today, many Jewish families decorate their homes and Synagogues with greenery in honour of the holiday.

Dairy Foods: It is customary to eat dairy foods on Shavuos for a number of reasons: 1) Shavuos occurs during the milking season. 2) Before receiving the Torah, the Israelites did not follow its laws of ritual animal slaughter, so their utensils were not yet purified for kosher meat use. So instead of meat, the Israelites celebrated with dairy foods. 3) King Solomon compares the Torah to milk in the Song of Songs: “Like honey and milk, it lies under your tongue” (4:11).

Just imagine if we had 24,000 and not just 5 individual students!

The first 33 days of the Omer are observed as a period of mourning. We do not take haircuts, perform weddings, or listen to music. What’s the mourning all about?

Rabbi Akiva, the towering sage of the Mishna, exerted a powerful influence on the Torah scholars of his day, to the point that he had 24,000 disciples. Great as the members of this group was, they had one short-coming: They failed to show proper love and respect for one another. The tragic consequence of this shortcoming was a brief but cataclysmic epidemic that claimed the lives of these students – all 24,000 of them. The period during which the epidemic took place was none other than the first 32 days of the Omer.

To get a better idea of the impact this tragedy had on the Jewish People for posterity, consider the following facts: All of the Torah that we possess and study today, with all of its interpretations, perspectives, dimensions and applications, is all the Torah of Rabbi Akiva. Although the Oral Torah always existed, each Torah personality who immerses himself in Torah adds his own understanding and flavor to Torah, thus enriching the Torah which will be passed on to the next generation. As we shall see, the Torah we have was transmitted to us by Rabbi Akiva via the five students whom he taught after the loss of his first group of disciples.

The Torah we study today is endless. One can study for a lifetime and not “finish” it. But it is not complete. There are whole areas and dimensions of Torah that are not satisfactorily explored; there is much argument and there are many areas of confusion. All of this might well have been different had we received the full breath of Rabbi Akiva’s Torah, as assimilated and interpreted by 24,000 disciples, along with their unique perspectives and understanding. The demise of the first group of students essentially resulted in our receiving only a fraction of Rabbi Akiva’s Torah. Instead of its full amplification by 24,000 great human beings, we have only the interpretations of five.