Hot answers tagged employment
14
Anecdotally, I've heard that it is common for shluchim, as one of their first acts upon arrival in a new community, to purchase burial plots for themselves - thus demonstrating that they intend to remain there for the rest of their lives. Most of them do in fact do so. One example is R' Yehuda Leib Raskin, shliach in Casablanca, Morocco, who passed away in ...
14
It depends on your boss and on local custom.
If local custom generally accepts short personal business during work hours, and your boss never stipulated otherwise when you were hired, then it's OK. If local custom can't be determined, then you need to honestly assess whether your boss would mind.
A posek once provided a rule of thumb: if the boss would ...
14
A buffet-style standing meal, or wine-and-cheese mixer, or the like, in the office: Just don't eat. No one will notice, or, if anyone does, you can explain why you're not eating. (Presumably, if you work there for more than a short while, someone will eventually cotton on to the fact that you keep kosher anyway.) (Note: I don't see why it'd be impermissible ...
13
An employer is paying the premiums on an employee's insurance policy, which will then pay the medical expenses incurred by the employee committing a halachically-unacceptable act. With respect to "Lifnei Iver" or "placing a stumbling block before the blind," there are multiple mitigating factors:
The prohibited act may never happen. The employee may never ...
10
It's not either/or but "both, and".
Judaism has a system of rules, halacha, by which we are to live our lives. Halacha is not negotiable, so that might sound like "all or nothing". Instead, think of it as what you aspire to, even if it's not what you currently do, which is closer to "do what you can" (but not a free pass :-) ).
As Dan noted, there are ...
9
There are 5 main avenues for finding a job in Israel.
1. LinkedIn
Many people in Israel use linkedIn and there are many Israel centric groups for all sorts of fields. (Mostly related to "white colar" jobs) There are few manual labor or blue collar jobs on LinkedIn but there are some.
2. NefeshB'Nefesh's Employment Resources
These resources will help ...
9
Judaism is indeed a religion with a large number of rules, but it is certainly not "all or nothing." On one hand, the mitzvot are not considered to be simply guidelines. They are strict rules that every Jew should be careful to follow. So, in your example, Judaism says that you should not go to work on Shabbat. We have faith that we will be able to care ...
8
There are a lot of factors involved, but starting with one of the more basic ones: Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 243:1ff) rules that if the store is known to belong to a Jew and that it's not the kind of business that is typically sublet to someone else, then it is indeed forbidden to have non-Jews work there on Shabbos, because then it becomes apparent that ...
8
Firstly, I don't know of anyone who requires a kippa as opposed to some other head covering. So if at work he could wear a beret, hard-hat, baseball cap, coonskin cap, deerstalker, you name it, by all means do that.
There's the issue of head coverings for praying; for making blessings; for eating; and then at all other times.
Much of yarmulka as we know ...
8
This is awkward, particularly if you have behaved differently in the past (so people who knew you then will be confused by the change).
I would not send pre-emptive email; I don't think it will reduce the face-to-face confusion and it risks seeming to make a mountain out of a mole-hill. You're also going to be leaving early on Fridays, not eating the ...
8
You don't need to jump straight to declining the invitation. There might be things you can eat, and even if not you won't be impolite to the restaurant by joining a paying group. The key is to communicate clearly. You can explain to the person who invited you -- or, more likely, his administrative assistant -- that you would be delighted to come to the ...
7
Shlichus, like described in the Gemara, means that one is sent on a mission and accepts to fulfill it. The Rebbe sent his emissaries out on their mission (and Shliach Oseh Shliach) to make this world a holier, more G-dly place and to usher in the final Redemption, Moshiach.
This explains why Shluchim do not retire, leave their positions, or make Aliyah to ...
7
I work at a job in sales where I deal with contracts and large amounts of money. I am also one of the few people on the team who are Jewish.
My rav reasoned that due to the fact that some people are unhappy with the service we provide (and would immediately blame the fact that I was Jewish on their dissatisfaction) that wearing a kippah would cause a ...
6
The first thing I would do in that situation is to try to provide the halachic options. For example, in setting up the lunch, I would order in some kosher food and set up a separate table for it, making sure it's well-labelled. This might be enough to entice the people who don't keep kosher to eat the kosher food, because they didn't have to make special ...
6
Per this article at ohr.edu there are 2 possibilities where one may cook meat with milk.
One solution (which should only be done with the parents' permission)
is that your daughter put the pot on the stove and supervise while one
of the children lights the fire; or that she first light the fire and
supervise while the child places the pot.
By ...
6
The difficulty you are experiencing comes about because according to the religious viewpoint, one who does not observe the commandments is a sinning Jew, but still a Jew. The Sages stated, "A Jew, even if he sins, is a Jew" Sanhedrin 44a.
As Rabbi Yaakov Menken expresses it:
A person who is born into the Jewish people, even a sincere convert
who ...
6
If you have a chance, listen to this fantastic lecture (mp3) by Rabbi Michael Broyde.
He discusses, for instance, a lawyer who does very boring, standard real-estate contracts, but his employer is a "men's entertainment company."
Inherently it's basically permissible; in most circumstances, it's questionable to what degree you're really facilitating ...
5
I don't know if I'd call it typical, but Rabbi Zalman Posner was sent to Nashville Tennessee by the Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe in 1949. He retired 53 years later, in 2002. It appears he still lives in Nashville, and continues to serve as Rabbi Emeritus at Congregation Sherith Israel.
5
What I heard from Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz is as follows:
If I provide a charity with $100 worth of services (let's assume that the standard going rate, had they paid for these services, is $100), I can take $90 off my maaser kesafim (tithing of funds). Had I done the work for-fee, I would have made $100, of which $10 would have gone towards tzedaka and ...
5
Having worked at a large University, and a consulting firm, I have yet to have any real issues. If you ask in advance, it is usually possible to get kosher food.
It feels a bit odd, since it comes wrapped and looks different, but it is not that bad really.
I have yet to find an instance where people give me a hard time about it. I am also big, ...
5
I would read the following research paper regarding the effects of touching people.
If you feel awkward about saying that it's a religious requirement and leave it at that, then you might want to try to use the findings of the research to explain to people that you do not wish to bias their opinions of you by giving subconscious feelings of connection, ...
5
Quoting from "Rubashkin Revenge: Ethical Certificates at Center of Dispute" (Jewish Journal, Los Angeles, July 25, 2012:
Although the pushback against the Tav appears to be coming primarily, if not exclusively, from individuals affiliated with the Chabad Lubavitch movement, there is no evidence that any official encouragement came from Chabad, according ...
5
Don't forget that Kohelet said "For there isn't a righteous person on earth who does only good and never sins". Do as much as you can and always strive to do better. If not being able to keep Shabbat properly upsets you enough, you will find another job that enables you to keep Shabbat, and so on for all the rest. I heard once "How can a Tzaddik sin?" - and ...
5
For the general rule, Shulchan Aruch Yore Dei’ah Simon 117 reads like this (parentheses are RaMah): “Anything that is forbidden by Torah law, even if it is something that one may derive pleasure thereof, if it is something specifically for food – it is forbidden to do business with it (or to borrow against it. Even to buy it to feed it to his non-Jewish ...
4
What are the relevant Halachot for participating in a “Secret Santa” at your location of employment?
A lot of leniencies have been given over the years, with the goal of not causing ill-will among non-Jewish co-workers, and improving work relationships. (It's quite amazing how many of the prohibitions in the first chapter of Avoda Zara are circumvented in one way or another by the Tosafists, which led one thinker to pen a monograph entitled "Was Rabbeinu ...
4
I wrote a piece on another blog about 3 years ago, that I think is still valid as a general rule with regard to wearing a Kippah at job interviews or at work. And I still believe that if an employer won't tolerate your wearing a Kippah you may not want to work there, but everyone needs to make his own decision. However, in your particular case, it sounds ...
4
I'm not sure if this is an answer or a comment, since I don't actually know R' Yitzchok of Vorki's source.
In a story published in Parshat Yitro of Shlomo Yosef Zevin's book, translated by Artscroll as "A Treasury of Chassidic Tales", a story that addresses this is brought.
In short, R' Yitzchok of Vorki (before he became Rebbe) once said that "when one is ...
4
I am not sure why people are opposed, as different people give different reasons, and there is no "official" opposition front. Moreover, while no one (to the best of my knowledge) forbids one to place a sticker saying "R' Yanklowitz likes this company", there are several sticky points in this particular case, most stemming from a lack of honesty as to their ...
4
When I was an EMT I lived in a place where there were many Jews in the rescue squad. The local rabbis told us to arrange a rotation which ensured that there was always someone to answer calls but that we didnt have more people than we need.
I would say that Jewish firefighters should try not to be on-call on shabbat but if they need to respond to life ...
Only top voted, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible
