Question:
Hello, last week I had a Choshen Mishpat case with a friend of mine. I asked a learned person at shul last week if he is qualified to answer my case and he said no and suggested I should wait for the rav of that Shul to return from out of town. I mentioned to him about your website that answers Choshen Mishpat Shailos and to my surprise he was like to me nicely “don’t bother” and quoted me a halacha from Shulchan Aruch I believe that monetary cases are supposed to be presented in person. If that is the case, forgive me for asking but is it allowed for there to be Rabbonim like yourselves answering monetary cases online. Perhaps it’s needed for those who live in areas where there really is no Rav to paskin or if the Rav is not available for a certain amount of time.
Answer:
Thank you for your question.
You are right, often Choshen Mishpat questioins cannot be answered without hearing both sides of the story, especially when one can tell from the question that there might be another side to the story, and another angle of looking at it. These questions are generally not answered, but the person is told that we need to hear both sides of the story. However there are many Choshen Mishpat related questions that the person is asking what he personally should do, that can be answered even if the person is coming by himself.
Best wishes
