26
votes
Accepted
Best way to explain to my boss that I cannot attend a team summit because it is on Rosh Hashana or any other Jewish Holiday
I have faced this problem several times - sometimes a holiday and sometimes Shabbat (directly, or not having time to get home). How I handle it depends in part on whether the plans can still be ...
- 56.4k
17
votes
Is there a teaching that states, those who work deserve to be paid?
Wages must be paid to an employee, and paid on time:
Vayikra 19:13:
לֹֽא־תַעֲשֹׁ֥ק אֶת־רֵֽעֲךָ֖ וְלֹ֣א תִגְזֹ֑ל לֹֽא־תָלִ֞ין פְּעֻלַּ֥ת שָׂכִ֛יר אִתְּךָ֖ עַד־בֹּֽקֶר׃
You shall not defraud your ...
- 41.8k
15
votes
Accepted
Where does Chassam Soffer say Hillel needed a job
You may be referring to the Chidushei Chasam Sofer on Bava Basra 57b. The gemara there states as follows:
בעא מיניה ר' יוחנן מרבי בנאה... שלחן של ת"ח כיצד שני שלישי גדיל ושליש גלאי ועליו קערות ...
- 16.9k
15
votes
Best way to explain to my boss that I cannot attend a team summit because it is on Rosh Hashana or any other Jewish Holiday
I have faced this issue many times myself - or advised younger colleagues facing the same. A few thoughts
I have found it critical to be very clear, direct and consistent. If you can explain that you ...
- 47.9k
13
votes
Why was Rachel shepherding instead of Leah?
Ramban there offers a couple of reasons:
Leah's eyes were weak (29:17), so the sun would be harmful to her.
Precisely because she was older, so there was more of a concern that the shepherds would ...
- 7,781
11
votes
Accepted
What's the Jewish attitude towards work and unionizing?
We do not glorify poverty, but we do view work as ennobling. G-d could have poof! given the people a Tabernacle in the desert, but the process of everyone working together to build one (and it was ...
- 131k
8
votes
Accepted
What is the greatest number of holiday days falling on weekdays in a year?
Between Purim and the next Shemini Atzeret the calendar is completely fixed (no leap years, leap days, etc.). The four possibilities are:
Purim (F), Pesach (S-Sh), Shavuot (M), Tisha b'Av (S), Rosh ...
- 97.3k
7
votes
May a man become a gynecologist?
R Abraham Abraham (Nishmat Avraham, vol. 2, p. 134) writes that "Rav (Shlomo Zalman) Auerbach told me that a man may learn a medical or paramedical profession, since they involve pikuach nefesh". He ...
- 47.9k
7
votes
Difference between the RamBam and Talmud Kiddushin 82a in list of jobs that posul a King/High Priest?
(If you're in a rush, skip to the last paragraph.)
Let us first compare the texts to see what the discrepancies actually are. The Talmudic passage reads as follows:
Kiddushin 82a
תנו רבנן כל ...
- 49.1k
7
votes
Accepted
Should you fire a Torah teacher if a better one is available?
The Talmud (Bava Batra 21a) presents the following dispute:
ואמר רבא האי מקרי ינוקי דגריס ואיכא אחרינא דגריס טפי מיניה לא מסלקינן ליה דלמא אתי לאיתרשולי רב דימי מנהרדעא אמר כ"ש דגריס טפי קנאת ...
- 49.1k
7
votes
Best way to explain to my boss that I cannot attend a team summit because it is on Rosh Hashana or any other Jewish Holiday
myjewishlearning.com has an article titled "How Do I Ask for the High Holidays Off?" which addresses how to handle this:
First, provide straightforward information. Say, “You probably know I’m ...
- 12k
7
votes
Accepted
Working from Friday morning until afternoon, before Shabbath
From a strict halachic point of view: If one hires Jewish full-day workers, they have to be sent home on Friday early enough to arrive home with enough time to do the following: Fill a barrel of water,...
- 42.8k
6
votes
Anywhere in Torah speak about specific professions being praiseworthy and why?
As noted by Danny Schoemann in a comment, Kiddushin 82a - 82b lists some professions that are seen as praiseworthy (along with others that are not):
Camel drivers (according to R. Yehudah) - because ...
- 41.8k
6
votes
Halakha book for modern working place
The book Making it Work was released by Rabbi Ari Wasserman which contains discussions of many Halachic questions that arise in the modern workplace. The description is as follows:
The modern day ...
- 1,203
5
votes
Talmudic personages and their occupations
I have not done my own detailed analysis by compiling an exhaustive and definitive review of the various rabbis mentioned in the Talmud and their respective vocations although a good reference is the ...
- 11.9k
5
votes
Choice between financial success and Torah study
This is a loaded question that I am sure will generate a lot of feedback. The plain and simple answer is that each and every situation is unique and different, and therefore needs to be asked to a ...
- 10.6k
4
votes
May one drink Diet Coke owned by a Jew and not sold over Pesach?
Sidestepping the issue as to whether or not diet soda uses artificial sweeteners or corn syrup, lets go with the assumption that it's corn syrup.
Yes you can drink it, because corn (and its ...
- 10.5k
4
votes
Accepted
Cannot speak Torah while working
His name was Abba Chilkiya the grandson of Choni HaMe'agel. The story is in Taanis 23a-b.
אבא חלקיה בר בריה דחוני המעגל הוה וכי מצטריך עלמא למיטרא הוו משדרי רבנן לגביה ובעי רחמי ואתי מיטרא זימנא חדא ...
- 1,723
4
votes
Can you use a "kosher" called microwave at work?
This is a rather broad question, and it seems like you're seeking advice rather than a strictly halachic perspective.
In general, if the microwave will definitely be used by only Jews and only kosher ...
- 70k
4
votes
Can you use a "kosher" called microwave at work?
I fully agree with DanF's answer, that unless we know for sure that it's not being used for now kosher food, we should not rely on non-Jews to keep to the rules, either because of carelessness or ...
- 3,849
4
votes
Is it permissible to accept payment for NOT doing something on Shabbos?
The Mishna in Kesubos 63a says:
A woman who rebels against her husband, [by withholding conjugal
rights from his wife] is fined; her marriage contract is reduced by
seven dinars each week... ...
- 6,919
4
votes
Can a shliach be paid?
One of the Mitzvos which is normally done through a Shaliach-emissary, is teaching your son Torah Kiddushin 29b:
ללמדו תורה:מנלן דכתיב (דברים יא, יט) ולמדתם אותם את בניכם.
Where do we know one ...
- 11.4k
4
votes
Accepted
Can a shliach be paid?
Sure. The first line of Choshen Mishpat 185:1 is
הסרסור שליח הוא אלא שנוטל שכר שליחותו
A broker is a shliach, except that he gets paid.
and he goes on to say that the same rules that apply to a ...
- 7,781
4
votes
Gemorah Baba Metzia 118A - Braisa about Employer 'paying' his worker with straw
Yes. The halacha seems to be that if you hire someone to guard hefker items, and the 'employee' knows that it is hefker and is not laboring under the impression that it is yours, then you do not owe ...
- 41.8k
4
votes
Accepted
What halachic issues are involved in using a recruiter to poach a currently employed employee?
It seems to be allowed, under circumstances. The following information can be found in great detail in the Sefer: Headlines Halachic Debates Of Current Events: Poaching Employees from Rival Companies ...
- 8,770
3
votes
Should Jews be self-employed?
I don't see quite how this question makes sense, as is there a real difference between employment and self employment besides in the modern legal sense?
If a person is "in business" aka self-...
- 127
3
votes
Hot water tap at work
The Star-K advises as follows:
In general, these are permissible. If one witnessed a co-worker submerging the spout into non-kosher food, the urn should not be used. In many cases, however, one does ...
- 1,761
3
votes
Is someone allowed to "defect" from forming a minyan to go to work?
There's a famous story of the Chazon Ish (will edit in the source), where he had nine men and the zman for Davening was about to end. A tenth man came by and said that he'd join the Minyan, but it ...
- 945
3
votes
Are there any halachik issues with reporting a Jewish co-worker to HR?
I will try to illustrate the problem.
In Gemara BM 83b, the Gemara says that Rabbi Eleazar son of Rabbi Shimeon was a kind of policeman who stops thiefs. Rabbi Yehoshua criticized him. RY said he that ...
- 22.7k
3
votes
What is the Jewish view of "work"?
(5) R Sheishes (Sanhesrin 24b) says that a gambler cannot testify because eino oseiq beyishuvo shel olam -- he isn't busy with domesticating the universe. (Terrible translation, I know.) The Rambam ...
- 9,388
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