11
votes
Accepted
Is it disrespectful to have a raffle where the prize is a Sefer Torah?
I got interested in the question because we did once win a sefer Torah at such a raffle during a tsedaka dinner for a school. It was organized by an organization run by a well-respected and very ...
- 47.9k
10
votes
Accepted
Midrash on the sale of the Machpelah Cave
You're perhaps referring to the Sefer Hayashar on Chayei Sarah:
ויכתוב אברהם את הדבר הזה בספר ויחתום, ויעד ארבעה עדים. ואלה שמות העדים: אמיגל בן אבישוע החתי אליחורף בן אשונה החוי, עדון בן אחירע הגרדי,...
- 17.7k
8
votes
Do the Sources include any halacha on insurance companies?
Two beraitot quoted in Bava Kamma 116b discuss forms of mutual insurance:
רשאין החמרין להתנות שכל מי שיאבד לו חמורו יעמיד לו חמור אחר בכוסיא אין מעמידין שלא בכוסיא מעמידין לו ואם אמר תנו לי ואני ...
- 41.8k
7
votes
Accepted
Do you have to re-tovel non-Pesach dishware after buying it back?
As with many questions of this type, the answer is "it is a machlokes" You would have to consult your specific Rav.
The OU actually goes into some details on this.
What’s the Truth about . . . the ...
- 42.9k
7
votes
Mechirat Chametz on Internet
Dovid Grossman was told by R’ Zalman Nechamia Goldberg that although it is preferable, per the Rambam, to make a kinyan sudar when appointing a shaliach, if it is difficult it is not required.
A ...
- 945
5
votes
Is it disrespectful to have a raffle where the prize is a Sefer Torah?
Harav Ratzon Arusi,
Wrote as an answer to such question:
"If this lottery is intended to finance things that are sacred, Torah, or Gemach, it is permissible to participate in it, because the ...
- 187
5
votes
Asara Haruge Malchut (Ten Martyrs), why were 10 Rabbis killed?
Yalkut Reuveini brings several answers. Here (end of the first full paragraph) he says Reuven was actually punished for moving the beds by Bilhah.
Here he says that Yishmael Kohen Gadol (who was very ...
- 5,365
5
votes
Can you shop at a church-owned thrift store?
There is a health food store in Maryland owned by the 7th Day Adventists Church; many of their canned products are certified kosher by well-respected kashrut organizations. Nevertheless, Rabbi Hillel ...
- 15.9k
5
votes
Accepted
How long must you attempt to return a mistakenly shipped item?
This is a complex question and you need to ask a rav if this had practical implications.
If this is a theoretical question, one might learn from the laws of lost objects (asheivat aveida), second ...
- 47.9k
5
votes
Can you acquire land merely by using it?
Hazaka only works with the original owner's consent.
Rambam, Laws of Sales Chapter 1:
א,ז [ח] כיצד בחזקה: מכר לו בית או שדה, או נתן אותן מתנה--כיון שנעל או גדר או פרץ כל שהוא, והוא שיועיל במעשיו-...
- 131k
4
votes
Who sells Yosef? Who brings him to Egypt?
If you simply read the "pshat" as recorded, it seems to work quite nicely (partly taken from Rav Menachem Leibtag).
The brothers see Yishmaelim and therefore decide to sell Yosef.
Before they get to ...
- 2,461
4
votes
Accepted
Can you shop at a church-owned thrift store?
I asked my questions to one of the rabbis who worked for a local synagogue. He's a charedi Ashkenazi rabbi.
He said the following:
I shouldn't shop at a church-owned thrift store — that it's ...
4
votes
Paying more for an item -- Ribis?
There is a disagreement among the poskim, when there is a debt resulting from a purchase (chov machmas mekach) whether one may add extra payment at the time of the payment of the debt (if no condition ...
- 6,919
4
votes
Do you have to re-tovel non-Pesach dishware after buying it back?
The lubovitcher rebbe discussed this and made a chiddush that tevilah is only required where the non jew had access to the utensils. He also suggested that because of today's manufacturing processes ...
- 1,730
4
votes
Selling Gemara to non-Jews
You definitely need to ask a rav. It is possible this is permitted in case of non-Jews who will handle the sefarim with respect but likely this is NOT permitted in case of messianic Jews.
Two ...
- 47.9k
4
votes
Can I place cryptocurrency / stock buy or sell orders over Shabbos?
I do not see a difference between placing an order for stock or (crypto-)currency. Maybe the question arises because crypto-currency trades 24/24 7/7 unlike certain stocks.
The question of putting in ...
- 47.9k
4
votes
Can you accept money for your chametz items during Pesach?
Being that the non-Jew owns the scotch already, it is perfectly permitted for him/her to take it, drink it, and pay the remainder of the balance to you for it.
- 20.9k
4
votes
Internet shopping after browsing in a store
From an article by Rabbi Meir Orlian, answering this question
It is permissible to browse, though, if there is a possibility that
you might buy there. Any store owner knows that potential ...
- 3,849
4
votes
Can one invest in a Jewish-controlled company which performs work on Shabbas?
This is a good and difficult question that needs some introduction to those less familiar with the relevant laws. Skip to the line break below if you don't want the intro.
A preview of the answer is ...
- 47.9k
4
votes
Would buying kosher meat serve as identifying one as being a "religious jew"?
Buyers of kosher products in the US are not necessarily Jews. To take just two examples
Star-K writes
Millions of Muslims throughout the world follow a dietary regimen
similar to the kosher code....
- 47.9k
3
votes
Accepted
Do reward tokens qualify halachically as money?
Regarding fake money (tokens) being Muktzah, as mentioned in the answer below, the answer is yes - it is Muktzah, because the whole reason why money is Muktzah is because you can’t use it for ...
- 3,197
3
votes
Accepted
Is Esther's comment in Esther 7:4 a reference to one of the curses in Devarim 28:68?
In addition to what @Isaac Moses says above, the Midrash Esther Rabbah, Petihta Guimel also brings:
ר' יצחק אמר: לעבדים ולשפחות אי אתם נקנין, אבל אתם נקנין להשמיד להרוג
ולאבד, שכן אסתר אומרת ...
- 6,864
3
votes
Do you have to re-tovel non-Pesach dishware after buying it back?
Qiẓur Shulḥan 'Arukh - Yalqut Yosef (Yoreh De'ah 120:24) states (my translation):
כלים של חמץ שנכללו בשטר המכירה של מכירת החמץ, ראוי להחמיר הטבילם בלי ברכה
For Ḥameẓ utensils included in one's Sale ...
- 7,423
3
votes
How did Hevel acquire his flock?
See Midrash Rabba Besraishis 22:7
וַיֹּאמֶר קַיִן אֶל הֶבֶל אָחִיו וַיְהִי בִּהְיוֹתָם וגו' (בראשית ד,
ח), עַל מָה הָיוּ מִדַּיְּנִים, אָמְרוּ בּוֹאוּ וְנַחֲלֹק אֶת
הָעוֹלָם, אֶחָד נָטַל ...
- 6,919
3
votes
Halachic issues with buying an item for cheap when owner doesnt know true value
Upon investigation, I found in the sefer Mishpetei HaTorah from Dayan Tzvi Shpitz Chelek 2:26 a similar type case.
He relates that Reuvein found an old copy of the Rambam in genizah. He then sold it ...
- 41k
3
votes
How to understand this Tosfos in Megila 5b
My understanding of this is as follows:
The Talmud here is citing a Mishnah in Ta'anit (12b) which discusses the progression of fasts when there is a lack of rain:
עברו אלו ולא נענו ממעטין במשא ומתן ...
- 49.1k
3
votes
When do you own the food in your farm-share box?
How different objects are acquired is covered in Kiddushin Chapter 1. I expect produce to be in the category of property for which there is not corresponding responsibility, assuming you pay for your ...
- 3,961
3
votes
"A y'vama acquires herself through chalitza", really?
I'd think it would say she acquires herself through get or the husband's death.
There would be no point of writing the Mishnah this way, because it would be redundant. We already have been told that ...
- 49.1k
3
votes
Buying commodities of lean hogs
It would seem from the Halachic literature that the problem of selling non-kosher food or animals is only if there's a risk of eating the non-kosher things one sells.
If one is a middle-man then it's ...
- 42.8k
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