Situation #1: THE GREAT CRANBERRY DEBATE

Avrumie calls me with the following question: “We are presently studying the laws of bishul akum in kollel, and someone asked how we can buy canned cranberries that are not bishul Yisrael, that is, not cooked by Jews. They seem to fulfill all the requirements of the prohibition.”

While enslaved in Egypt, the Jews worked every day, and one of the special days celebrated to commemorate our Exodus is Shabbos. Observing Shabbos includes not only keeping the mitzvos ourselves, but also knowing when I may ask a non-Jew to perform prohibited activity, and when may I benefit from work performed by a gentile on Shabbos.

Question #1: A non-Jew turned on the lights for me on Shabbos. May I use this light to read?

Question #2: It is chilly in our house. May I ask a gentile neighbor to turn up the heat?

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.

I admit that I had no idea what the word meant when Yehudah asked me the following shaylah:

“To overcome the many problems that may be involved in purchasing products during shmittah, we want to purchase a large aeroponics kit and grow our own vegetables. Will this present us with any halachic problems in terms of either the laws of shmittah, or the laws of kilayim?”

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 [...]