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17
votes
1answer
149 views
What do you do if you made a Tzedaka pledge and now the organization folded?
Recently a friend of mine asked me the following question. He pledged $500- to a Yeshiva, yet before he paid the pledge the Yeshiva closed. Does he still have to pay his pledge to another Tzedaka or ...
15
votes
3answers
412 views
Why must prophets be wealthy?
I was studying in Sefer Ha-Aggadah with a chevruta this morning and we came across a passage about prophets having to have certain qualities, including wealth. I followed the reference to Nedarim ...
15
votes
4answers
277 views
Train ticket not collected: destroy?
Assuming a train line where single-ride tickets are normally collected or cancelled manually by train crew circulating among seated passengers, and it is physically possible to use them later if they ...
15
votes
3answers
292 views
Can I lend out a Library Book?
I just borrowed a wonderful book from the local library (let's assume Jewish library - but does it matter?). My friend sees the book and wants to read it. My library lets me keep the book for a week, ...
14
votes
2answers
154 views
Does Jewish Law Recognize Bankruptcy?
If someone borrowed money and then declared bankruptcy, does he still have a halachic obligation to pay it back?
If the lender was a corporation (bank, etc.).
If the lender was a friend.
Do we say ...
11
votes
2answers
79 views
Why does Ezekiel describe the maneh as 20 + 25 + 10 + 5 shekels instead of just saying 60?
Ezekiel 45:12, in discussing just weights and measures, says:
וְהַשֶּׁקֶל, עֶשְׂרִים גֵּרָה; עֶשְׂרִים שְׁקָלִים חֲמִשָּׁה וְעֶשְׂרִים שְׁקָלִים, עֲשָׂרָה וַחֲמִשָּׁה שֶׁקֶל--הַמָּנֶה, יִהְיֶה ...
11
votes
2answers
195 views
Receiving Too Much Change
Do I have an obligation to give back extra change I receive? Would it matter if the store owner or person giving it to me was a Jew?
11
votes
2answers
274 views
Giving Tzedakah with a Credit Card
If one gives a donation to a charity by using a credit card, the charity will only end up getting a percentage of the actual funds (e.g. 98%). In such a case, does the person giving get "credit" for ...
11
votes
3answers
197 views
Ma'aser kesafim on capital appreciation
If you own property (e.g. stocks or real estate) that increase in value over the course of the year, are you require to donate 10% of the increase to tzedaka, if you are merely holding on to the ...
10
votes
6answers
683 views
Wearing a kippa at work
If one has a job where his employer informs him that if he wears a kippa he will be fired, does he have to wear a kippa?
10
votes
2answers
122 views
ribis and foreign currency conversion
I am afraid that I have only recently started to study this kind of thing and I completely unlearned compared to most of the contributors here, so I apologize if my question is somewhat ...
10
votes
1answer
88 views
Can one take any money offered to him?
Is a tzedaka allowed to take money from people who earn their money in inappropriate way (say, the person worked on Shabbos, stole, cheated, etc.)
If not, is this a chumra or a halacha?
Please ...
10
votes
2answers
154 views
Do our sources address “strategic loan defaults”?
In the most recent episode of NPR's Planet Money Podcast, they interviewed a real estate lawyer in Arizona who talked about the large numbers of her clients who have been asking for advice about doing ...
10
votes
2answers
176 views
Does “foreign religious obligation” = “Takruvas Avodah Zarah”?
Background: There is a verse in the Christian scriptures (Luke 6:30) that, when read out of context, implies that a follower of osso ha’ish should give anything anyone asks for. I had heard an urban ...
9
votes
1answer
244 views
Where did the Egyptians get the wealth they brought to the sea?
In Shemot 15:22, Rashi says:
Moses led Israel away: lit., made Israel journey. He led them away against their will, for the Egyptians had adorned their steeds with ornaments of gold, silver, and ...
9
votes
2answers
217 views
Shliach Mitzva money
Many people give their friends money to give to Tzedakah when they are traveling. The reason they do this is that it says "Shluchei Mitzva Ainom Nizakim". If someone is travelling to Eretz Yisroel ...
8
votes
4answers
273 views
How does paying a Mohel work?
I have heard - do not know the source - that a Mohel is not supposed to charge an official price - however you are supposed to pay him.
1: Is it true that a Mohel is not supposed to charge an ...
8
votes
2answers
123 views
Mitzvah for fathers to buy things for dating-age daughters?
I heard that men whose daughters are dating have a mitzvah to supply them with things that will help them, i.e. dresses, jewelry, etc. Is there a source for this?
8
votes
1answer
95 views
Does one have to return the specific bills that one stole?
If one stole a hundred dollars in regular cash (e.g. no rare bill editions), and still has those bills, does he have to return those particular bills or can he return any hundred dollars?
8
votes
1answer
165 views
If you use money for kaparos pre-yom kipur, is it fungible or must those bills go directly to tzedaka?
When we do Kaparos, we say "this money shall go to charity" -- so I put that dollar bill in the tzedaka box; is it okay if a few days from now I count what's in my tzedaka box, write a check for the ...
8
votes
2answers
231 views
Lottery on Shabbos
Is one allowed to buy a lottery ticket if the lottery will be held on shabbos? Is it a problem of possibly making money on shabbos even though his chances are slim?
8
votes
1answer
100 views
What happens if you borrowed money and the currency became worthless?
In Israel in the late 70s early 80s the currency (Lira) became worthless. Suppose one day the American dollar would become worthless, and one owes another $1,000,000- would the borrower just pay back ...
8
votes
2answers
85 views
Is it still tzedakah if it is returned?
If a poor person asks for charity and I give some money to that person, but he then returns it to me, (because he doesn't feel it is enough, or any other reason) have I accomplished the mitzvah of ...
7
votes
3answers
568 views
7
votes
1answer
115 views
Beis Shammai's dinar for kiddushin - philosophy?
The Mishna in Kiddushin (1:1) outlines a machlokes regarding the minimum amount of money necessary to effect kiddushin (i.e. create a marriage).
According to Beis Hillel, the amount of money (or ...
7
votes
1answer
159 views
Are kickbacks prohibited?
Would a person be allowed to give/take bribes to a person responsible for purchasing in a company? Would it be forbidden directly as "shochad" (bribery) or under a general prohibition of Gnevas Daas, ...
7
votes
1answer
132 views
Transfer of loan / mortgage from non-Jew to Jew
What happens if a Jew borrows money on interest from a non-Jew, and then the lender turns around and sells the debt to a Jew? (Such transactions are very common in the mortgage industry.) Is it ...
7
votes
1answer
114 views
Kapparos on money - How much?
Is one does the Minhag of Kapparos on money - How much money should be used for each person? (sources)
7
votes
1answer
84 views
Why is it ok to pay the kids for the afikoman?
Most Pesach sedarim feature the afikoman hide-and-seek game; either the children steal it and ransom it back or the parents hide it and (in my experience) pay a prize to the child who finds it. At ...
7
votes
2answers
149 views
Are late or overdue fees Ribbis?
If I take out a library book, and they charge me $.10 per each additional day extra.
Or if I owe money on a bill, and they charge me a $10 late fee for being overdue.
Are these a case of Ribbis? Or ...
7
votes
2answers
124 views
Attaching Conditions to a Sale
If I sell someone an item (e.g. an orange), and I attach a condition (e.g. "you may not make orange juice"), is it successfully binding? What happens if that someone does violate the condition (e.g. ...
7
votes
1answer
81 views
Paying bill for aveirah already done
Is one allowed to pay a service fee for an aveirah which someone else has already done, in order to get some other good or service now? The case I had in mind is an animal adoption where the agency ...
7
votes
1answer
84 views
Boshes damages for a מלבין פני חברו ברבים
Asked by my kid (albeit less fleshed-out than the way I'm presenting it here):
One should rather submit himself to be burned alive than cause another to blanch in shame in public, according to Sota ...
7
votes
0answers
94 views
How were coins that were destined for the Dead Sea managed?
A mishna on Meila 11a talks about money that a nazarite set aside for his offerings; if he died before completing the term and had set money aside specifically for the sin-offering, those coins are ...
6
votes
2answers
92 views
Sell the shirt off his back for Menorah, but not for anything else?
Halacha brings that one who has no money for Chanukah Lights must sell the shirt off his back to acquire them why is this the case versus almost all other Mitzvos which require up to a fifth of his ...
6
votes
1answer
113 views
Depiction of the Menorah, the *Shulchan* and *Kadosh HaKadoshim* on ancient coins?
On some rare ancient coins of Matityah Antigonus, there are depictions of what seem to be the Menorah and the Shulchan (one obverse die even seems to show the Lechem HaPanim).
This coin has an ...
6
votes
1answer
103 views
Owning stock in companies that operate on shabbat
It is my understanding that one may only have ownership in a business that operates on shabbat if you co-own with a gentile and have an explicit arrangement that all profits derived on shabbat belong ...
6
votes
1answer
365 views
What does it cost to write one's own Sefer Torah - and how long would it take?
I'm wondering if anybody else has experience writing their own Sefer Torah, how long it took them and how much it cost.
It took me about 9 years and about $3,500 to write mine.
6
votes
1answer
154 views
Purchasing from a Jew
רמבם, הלכות מתנות עניים י:ז
שמנה מעלות יש בצדקה זו למעלה מזו, מעלה גדולה שאין למעלה ממנה זה המחזיק ביד ישראל שמך ונותן לו מתנה או הלואה או עושה עמו שותפות או ממציא לו מלאכה כדי לחזק את ידו עד שלא ...
6
votes
3answers
118 views
Sources discussing paying for Torah education
I am looking for sources that discuss the idea of paying tuition money ("schar limud") towards obtaining a Torah education. Topics of interest include: The importance of paying tuition for Torah; ...
6
votes
2answers
143 views
Is one allowed to cancel a check?
If I give a check to someone (as a gift) and I change my mind, am I halachically allowed to cancel it, or do we say that the check is a shtar, and by signing it is considered as if I gave him the ...
6
votes
3answers
212 views
Investing in Halacha
Does anyone know some halachik sources that discuss investing in stocks? There are many potential issues. For example, do you need to worry (about ribbis) if your money is used to lend with interest? ...
6
votes
0answers
137 views
Chad Gadya: The price of a kid goat
Was the fair market value of a kid goat really two zuzim? This piyyut is of course allegorical, but, if the value given is highly inaccurate, is the discrepancy in value symbolic beyond the symbolism ...
5
votes
4answers
110 views
5
votes
2answers
134 views
Double portion for firstborn
I need to designate beneficiaries for a life insurance plan. I've designated my wife as the primary beneficiary and my children as contingent beneficiaries. My son is a firstborn and he has two ...
5
votes
3answers
162 views
Is there any issue except for Dina Dmalchusa in counterfeiting money?
If someone were to find a way to make exact forgery of currency (in such a way that it would be impossible for anyone to find that it's counterfeit), would there be any prohibition to do so (except ...
5
votes
2answers
64 views
Bracha on giving Machatzis HaShekel
In the times of the Beis HaMikdash when the Machatzis HaShekel was given was a bracha recited?
5
votes
2answers
108 views
Check that did not clear
If I give a check in payment of an obligation or purchase and the check never cleared. The recipient never called me to say he lost it or misplaced it. Do I have to call the recipient and give him ...
5
votes
1answer
163 views
What is the value of a (Kesuba) marriage contract?
In a regular Kesuba we give total 200 Zekukim Kesef. What is the value of that currently in US dollars? Also do you pay the value when you got married or the value at either death/divorce?
5
votes
1answer
142 views
Car falls into my ditch- I'm not responsible?
Halacha dictates that if someone were to dig a huge hole in the middle of the street and a car fell into it, he would not be responsible to pay for the damage to the car. The language of the Talmud ...
