Each of the following questions is an actual situation that people have asked me:

Question #1: My car needs repair work and the most convenient time to drop it off at Angelo’s Service Station is Friday afternoon. May I bring Angelo the car then knowing that he is going to repair it on Shabbos?

Question #2: A gala Shabbos sheva brachos is being held at an apartment several flights of stairs below street level, a very common situation in hilly Yerushalayim. The kallah’s elderly grandmother arrived before Shabbos by elevator, intending to return home by using the Shabbos elevator (a subject we will discuss at a different time iy’H). Indeed, the building’s elevator actually has a Shabbos setting, but we discovered on Shabbos that the Shabbos setting is not working. How does Grandma get home?

Writing and erasing are two of the thirty-nine melachos of Shabbos that were performed in the building of the mishkan. Each board used in constructing the mishkan was marked so that it would be returned to its correct place when the mishkan was reassembled (Rashi Shabbos 73a; Gemara Shabbos 103b). (The Talmud Yerushalmi emphasizes the importance that each board be kept in the same place [Shabbos 12:3].) The numbers written on the boards were also sometimes erased if someone made a mistake.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN WHEN THE COHEN SAYS “MAI BA-IS TEFAY?” — DOES THE FATHER REALLY HAVE A CHOICE?

The wording of the cohen’s question, “Which do you prefer?” — implying that the father has a choice — i­­s extremely strange. Halachically, there is no choice or option. The father has a mitzvah to fulfill, which he is required to observe. So why does the cohen suggest to the father that he has a choice?

In our parsha, the midwives tell Pharaoh that the Jewish women handle their own childbirths without any assistance. Such women would have no need to go to the hospital on Shabbos. However, the rest of us need to know what to do about Shabbos emergencies. I once received the following communication: “As an active member [...]

Question #1: “Rabbi,” asked Mr. Greenberg, “My neighbor, Mrs. Friedman is having an operation. Is it appropriate for me to visit her?” Question #2: Does Dr. Strauss fulfill the mitzvah of bikur cholim when he makes his hospital rounds? Question #3: “My sister-in-law is hospitalized for a few days for a minor procedure. I should [...]

Are there halachic or hashkafic concerns about purchasing life insurance or annuities? Should this practice be encouraged or discouraged from a Torah perspective? Poskim who discuss this shaylah raise the following considerations: “Al yiftach adam piv l’satan.” One should not say something that might cause evil to occur. Is buying life insurance included under this [...]

  “I know that I only eat from certain hechsherim. However, my sister-in-law, who is a very frum person, was told by her Rav that she can use a certain hechsher that I was told not to use. Don’t all the rabbonim follow the same Shulchan Aruch?” “I have been told that it isn’t possible [...]

Today, I will be meeting someone who is extremely concerned and knowledgeable about halacha, yet doesn’t even keep a kosher home. Neither has he ever observed Shabbos. On the other hand, he is meticulous to observe every detail of Choshen Mishpat. Who is this individual? Allow me to introduce you to John Adams who is [...]