Questions tagged [business]
Questions pertaining to business.
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Business vs. Family Obligations
Under Jewish law, what are one's financial obligations to a business versus obligations to family? Can one take on extensive debts and other financial obligations with respect to a business that would ...
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Can costs allowed to be written off for tax purposes also be written off for maaser?
As a freelancer, it is very tempting to use tax returns as a way to track the total maaserable income.
The only thing is that people tend to write off all kinds of stuff that "could be used for ...
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May Jews do business in non kosher animal food
The halacha generally prohibits Jews from doing commerce in non kosher foods, although they are not always issur hanaah they are prohibited from regular business in. However, is it permissible for ...
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Is onaah prohibited for mitzvah items
According to Halacha, Jews should not overcharge significantly when selling items (Onaah) on the principle it’s bad to price higher than a product’s value. However, there are statements throughout ...
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Does geneivat daat mean guaranteed refund
If someone bought something that was sold to them by means of geneivat daat (though they were not technically lied to), do they have an inherent right to get refunded?
By geneivat daat I mean ...
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Are exaggerated bad reviews subject to nezikin
According to Halacha, if somebody speaks negatively about a product or device in an exaggerated manner (that would constitute Lashon harah) is that subject to Nezikin and actionable in a Beit Din? In ...
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Antitrust in Halacha
In Halacha, is there a notion of antitrust in the sense of there being a problem with a business starting up in an area to compete against another business and buying up that business? Antitrust in ...
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Does fiduciary responsibility exist in Halacha
Putting aside Dina D’malchuta Dina, is someone liable for violations of fiduciary responsibility in Halacha. So does Halacha have a notion of fiduciary responsibility (which means not poorly managing ...
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Is advertising ever Lifnei iver for lo tachmod
Do a lot of advertisements ever constitute Lifnei iver for lo tachmod? The reason I ask is because the prohibition of coveting someone else’s goods (Lo Tachmod) seems more likely if one is culturally ...
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Onaah with variations of an item
There is a Halachic prohibition of Onaah, overcharging the price of a commodity in a market above market price (Choshen Mishpat 227).
Halacha does permit setting a high pricing on new types of goods ...
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Is it permissible for a Jew to hire a gentile to operate a business during Shabbat?
This question is pretty straightforward.
Say that I own a business which is commonly open on shabbat (A mechanic or law firm or similar common business practice)
Is it permissible for me to hire on a ...
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Texting/phone calls greetings and business
Is one allowed to text/call someone else before shacharit to greet them or do business? Would it be different from regular speech or no? And this is in a case without financial loss to be clear.
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Mezuzah on a store door?
If a Jewish person owned a store as a small business, do they have to put a mezuzah on their store doors? Or would this not be considered a “dwelling place” which requires a mezuzah?
This is all of ...
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Working for a church
Is it muttar to work for a church? Does it matter if you are an employee or a contractor?
The example I'm thinking of is an accountant hired to do a churches taxes.
I saw someone asked a similar ...
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Can one send messages in another person's name?
Is one allowed to write texts/send messages in the name of another person, who has given his permission for this?
Concrete example: Jack (a boss of a company) hires a marketing firm to go into his (...
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Is copywriting allowed according to halacha
Is it allowed (or not allowed) according to halacha to do copywriting? That means you use certain words and write a certain way that makes people more likely to buy a product for example. You are not ...
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Stock trading Chol Hamoed
From what I understand, one is not allowed to do “commerce”, in the sense of having a business open, on chol hamoed (with the exception of it being open for a mitzvah).
Is one allowed to trade, buy ...
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Rambam seems to say that a craftsmen's Union may restrict competition. Is this in line with Chazal's thinking?
Rambam Hilchos Mechirah 14 (10) states:
Similarly, craftsmen in a specific profession may establish provisions
and agree that one should not work on the day on which another is
working or the like, ...
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What is the difference between these two phrases used by Poskim?
I have seen both Mekach U’Memchar and Masa U’Masan used by various Rabbis and Poskim to mean, what I think, is business or business dealings. Is there a difference between these two phrases in meaning?...
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What halachic issues are involved in using a recruiter to poach a currently employed employee?
What halachic issues are involved in permitting or forbidding the use of a recruiter that will approach currently employed employees to attempt to poach them for a rival business?
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Can a person talk about past business deals on Shabbos?
Can someone ask about past business events on Shabbos?
An example would be: I bought an investment property two years ago for a crazy good price because the seller just wanted to offload the property ...
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Books about business and Torah
Friends regularly ask me for recommendations of great Torah books for business people, focused on halakha or hashkafa, as inspiration for people straddling the line between a busy professional life ...
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If revenge is prohibited, how can there be business contracts?
The Rambam brings this down in his discussion of the negative commandment of revenge :
In the words of the Sifra, "How far does the prohibition against
taking revenge go? If a person requests, '...
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How does a Jewish operated bank make money if the clientele are all Jewish?
As it was/is forbidden for the Israelites to charge usury/interest to a fellow Israelite, I began researching the banking practices of the Israelites in the Torah. That being said/written, interest ...
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Is there a teaching that states, those who work deserve to be paid?
Is there a teaching that states, those who work deserve to be paid?
The longer version is:
Where in the Torah, as according to the rabbis, is there a concept or a mitzvah that states, something like, ...
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Handling food valued as currency on Shabbos
What is the status of a food item on Shabbos which a country declares as legal tender? For example, if a developing country designates chocolate as legal tender, may one consume, handle, or "...
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Buying commodities of lean hogs
Is there any halachic problem with buying or selling commodities of lean hogs?
Commodities are similar to the stock exchange, except one trades commodities such as wheat or crude oil.
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Volunteering to pay for an ulterior motive
I have been trying to put into words what I think might be wrong with this hypothetical -- I'm not even ready to ask about a halachic answer because I'm not clear on what the halachic question is:
I ...
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Hiring idolaters
Is one allowed to hire idolaters, if it is known that part of their salary is donated to idolatrous activities?
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Paying taxes to a corrupted government [duplicate]
There are many countries with corrupted governments who steal taxpayers' money. Is one still obliged to pay taxes if the government is corrupted and steals a big fraction of the taxes one pays? What's ...
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Is one allowed to take advantage of free-trial offers without the intention to actually purchase?
Many products and services (especially digital ones) are often sold via the so-called free-trial offers which allow customers to use the offered services and products for free during the specified ...
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Who owns Superman? [duplicate]
In the 1930s, two Jewish boys, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, created the comic book character Superman. In 1938, badly in need of money, they sold the rights to the character for $130, to what would ...
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Can one sell a future contract?
In the modern marketplace, to protect against volatility and risk, people negotiate contracts that deal with things that are yet to become a reality.
However, as I read the gemara in Bava Metzia 33b, ...
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Issues with owning publicly-traded stock of certain companies and deriving benefit from it? [duplicate]
Is it prohibited to own publicly-traded stock in a company that owns and runs restaurants that sell cheeseburgers and/or other foods where the meat and milk is mixed together while cooking or owns ...
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What are the 10 kinyanim with buying and selling? [closed]
Can someone please provide for me a list of the 10 kinyanim with their names in Hebrew? I can't find one anywhere! thanks.
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Does a broker keep the leads he worked on?
A broker works at a Merchant Cash Advance Company and the company provides leads to the broker. The broker's job is to sort through those leads, identify the ones that are really interested, build ...
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Would you be permitted to sell a house that was built for idol worship?
Suppose you purchased a house and subsequently discovered it had been built for the express purpose of idol worship (a nice suburban Ba'al Peor temple right outside of Lakewood, say, or the Avodah ...
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"Daber Davar" and appeals / auctions [duplicate]
As I understand, the verse in Yeshayahu (58:13) states that one must refrain from Daber Davr on Shabbat, from which we learn the halacha that one should not discuss monetary matters on Shabbat (...
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Drop-shipping Non Kosher Food Products?
I own a drop-shipping business where I sell both food and non food products. As a drop shipper I do not keep the products I sell in stock. Instead, when I sell a product I purchase the item from a ...
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Is one allowed to short sell stock?
Short selling stock involves borrowing the shares for a fee. Would doing so contravene Devarim 23:20 which prohibits borrowing with interest (assume the Jewishness of all parties involved is such to ...
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Doing Business with a Jew
The Gemorah in Bava Metzia 71a teaches that one must give preference to a Jew when offering out loans even when it will cause a loss to the lender since he won't be able to charge interest.
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Halachic issues with buying an item for cheap when owner doesnt know true value
What are the halachic problems that arise when one buys an item at a discount but the owner is unaware of the true value? This can apply to a yard sale where one buys a coin that they know is worth ...
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Operating a business on Shabbat with a non-Jewish partner
Let's say me and John the non-Jew are partners in a business owning 50 percent each. Can I...
tell John that as far as I'm concerned we'll close on Shabbos but if he wants to keep the business open (...
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Lashon Hara about a business [duplicate]
Would it be Lashon Hara to say something bad about a business? For example, saying a certain school is bad or a restaurant serves bad food. Would this be considered speaking Lashon Hara?
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Buying items on Shabbos and paying after
Is it permissible to make up with a non-Jewish store owner before Shabbos that you will take items from his store on Shabbos and pay for them after Shabbos?
If not - is it rabbinic or biblical? May ...
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Can one invest in a Jewish-controlled company which performs work on Shabbas?
Is a Jew permitted to invest in shares of a company if the company performs work on shabbas and a non-orthodox Jew started the company and is a major shareholder yet owns less than 50% of the shares ...
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Real money trading in online games
Is farming virtual currencies(like world of warcraft gold) in online games and then selling it for real money allowed?
Is it considered like stealing from the company that owns the game?
Is boosting ...
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Internet shopping after browsing in a store
This question is acutely relevant today. You are shopping for something. Your plan is to go to a lot of brick-and-mortar stores, see the item, feel it, ask the salespersons lots of questions, then ...
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A case of business ethics - pricing a matchable antique
A certain piece of art is worth $10,000 for a matched pair. A single is only worth $100. You own an antique shop and have a single in the back. A poor widow with ten children walks in and offers to ...
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Can a village / shtetl rabbi require the merchants to close their shops for a funeral?
I'm trying to help a co-worker decipher some history about his great grandfather.
He showed me a picture of a poster - notice written in Hebrew that announced the funeral of his great grandfather. In ...
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