Question: Is burning sage to get rid of bad energy avoda zora? Answer: While I am not familiar with this practice so I can’t say that it is avoda zara,… Read more »
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Can surgery eye be done in the three weeks
Question: Can I have eye surgery during the three weeks if I avoid the 9 days? Answer: If there is a need for it to be done then, then it… Read more »
Can someone come a nazir if he thinks about it
Question: Can someone come a nazir if he thinks about it Answer: A person cannot become a nazir simply by thinking about becoming a nazir. Becoming a nazir needs that… Read more »
Automatic dividend reinvestment that may occur on Yom Tov
Question: We own stocks and mutual fund shares that automatically reinvest dividends. Sometimes the purchase date or the settlement date (when the shares actually change ownership, generally 2 days after… Read more »
fish with garlic cooked in clean fleishig pan and reheated in clean milchig frying pan. Status of milchig pan?
Question: Fish was cooked in fleishig pan together with garlic. Next day reheated fish in milchig frying pan. Is milchig frying pan treif? Neither the fleishig nor the milchig pans… Read more »
Pseudo-Relatives as Eidim at a Wedding
Question: Can someone serve as an Eid along with his brother-in-law’s first cousin at a wedding? Answer: Yes they may be eidim together as this is not considered being related…. Read more »
can a person use an item without permission of all its owners?
Question: if 10 people own an item beshutfos, and the item is the type that does not get used up, e.g. a house, chair, table, land, etc. and one of… Read more »
הנחת מקצת חברים with a גוי
Question: With regard to the הלכות of הנחת מקצת חברים; 1) Would this concept apply if the person waiting there is a גוי? 2) Would this concept apply if the… Read more »
Nectarines are not a Hybrid
Question: I asked this question Do we say Shehechianu on Nectarines? You answered “Therefore we do say shehechiyanu on a peach, and most other fruits because of this reason.” I’m… Read more »
Do we say Shehechianu on Nectarines?
Question: Do we say Shehechianu on Nectarines, or are they a hybrid of a peach and something else? Are all hybrid fruits patur from Shehechianu? Today, all fruits are being… Read more »
Davening when soiled
Question: If someone davens and discovers that while he was davening his under garments had a small amount of fecal matter, does he need to daven over? Furthermore, if one… Read more »
Whose obligation is it to put up a fence
Question: I recently moved into a house that my neighbor is frum yid lets call him Moshe. The propertys are on two levels. My neighbors is higher & I am… Read more »
Hair covering
Question: How much of the hair is required to be covered to fulfill “Dat Moshe”? Is it only partial so that the hair in the back can remain entirely… Read more »
Chatzee kaddish after leining
Question: Can you provide sources for who says the kaddish-the baal kriya,the oleh, or anyone who is a chiyuv,even without an aliyah? Answer: There are poskim that are of the… Read more »
Asking for a raise in order to give it to maaser
Question: If I work for a yeshiva or charity and I get paid $10 an hour. Can I ask for a raise of $12 an hour, while promising to give… Read more »
Am I alowed to invest Maasar and/ or Tzedkoah money?
Question: I have a separate account where I put Maasar and Tzedakah money and give it out as needed. While the money is sitting in the account, can I invest… Read more »
Can a MATZEVA for a parent be put up during the 3 weeks/ 9 days?
Question: Can a MATZEVA for a parent be put up during the 3 weeks/ 9 days? Answer: It is permitted to put up a mateiva for a parent during the… Read more »
Can I attend a retirement dinner, accept appreiciation gift durng the year of aveilus?
Question: I am in the year of aveilus for my mother. Can I attend a retirement dinner for a fellow teacher? Also, can I use money that was given to… Read more »
Was Shlomo really wise
Question: On Makkos 23b, Rabbi Elazar quoting Melachim 1 3:27says that in three places, the Divine spirit made an appearance. Bereishis 38:26, Shmuel 1 12:3-5 and here. It was a… Read more »
See my wife’s hair
Question: Am I aloud to see my wife’s hair Answer: When she is tahor it is permitted, and when she is a nida it depends. If she usually walks around… Read more »
Permanent damage to myself because of my sins
Question: If a person permanently damaged their own abilities, either trough drug use or failing to address a medical/mental health condition, and now they are permanently changed by their mistakes,… Read more »
Still sorry after teshuva
Question: If we believe that Hashem forgives us when we do teshuva, then what should we do when we still feel remorse after doing teshuva? Isn’t that expected? After all… Read more »
Doing teshuva gradually
Question: Is it okay to do teshuva gradually? It feels too scary and shameful to face some of the things I’ve done in the past. Is it okay to tell… Read more »
Pets on Shabbos
Question: Assuming that pets are muktza on Shabbos, could one designate it before Shabbos similiar to a rock and one could play with them on Shabbos? And if one can’t,… Read more »
Birth Control – Only girls
Question: My wife and I have B’H 4 girls with the oldest being 7 years old. We have no boys yet. Our youngest girl was born afew months ago and… Read more »
Birth control after having a boy and a girl
Question: If a man has children from a previous a previous marriage, at least a boy and girl, is his second wife allowed, at the very beginning, to take birth… Read more »
Chametz after Pesach
Question: This question is partly hypothetical. A new kosher pizzeria owned by non-observant Jews opens a few weeks after Pesach. Would the kashrut agency check to see that the ingredients… Read more »
Credit card and Ribis
Question: Ruvein has a credit card in the name of Shimon. however all correspondents of the card is at Ruvein’s address, because according to the bank Shimon has a moved… Read more »
Tzedakah Money to Pay Wedding Expenses
Question: Can I use money I have put aside for Tzedakah to pay for my son’s wedding? Answer: My apologies that it took a while to get back to you…. Read more »
Organic chocolate with no kosher sign
Question: Does an organic chocolate bar require a a kosher sign? The ingredients are: raw cacao, raw agave nectar. With an allergy caution for coconuts and sesame seeds. If it… Read more »
Is it permissible to sieve hot milk to remove the skin which forms on it.
Question: Good morning Dear Rabbi, Is it permissible to sieve hot milk to remove the skin which forms on it. Obviously, the milk was in a thermos container before Erev… Read more »
Collecting a debt
Question: Some time ago, someone borrowed money (about $100,000) as a business loan with a heter iska. The man is evasive and unresponsive about repaying and has not kept his… Read more »
accidentally ate bugs
Question: Hi, I just ate mulberries off a tree without checking first to see if they had bugs. I know I should have. After eating a few, I looked closely… Read more »
Teshuva and accomplishments.
Question: Are there limits to teshuva? There are stories of people who lives sinful lives and did teshuva at the very end and Hashem accepted them, but did they really… Read more »
Davening Ma’ariv after Plag without a minyan
Question: Can a person daven Ma’ariv after Plag by himself if he davened Mincha before Plag, or is that only possible BeTzibur? Thank you. Answer: The minhag is that we… Read more »
May I pay an extra fare of 5.70 when I only owe a balance of 5.30 for a bus trip?
Question: I boarded a bus and inserted my pay-card into the pay machine to pay a fare of 11.00 Shekels. The driver accidentally pressed the wrong button and the machine… Read more »
grilling non pas Yisroel wraps to make them pas Yisroel?
Question: I am a chef and I work in the local farmers market with a skillet and grill and I make egg wraps. I bought non pas Yisroel wraps which… Read more »
these 2 prayers are good for a good night’s sleep
Question: it is true that before bedtime reading the shema Israel and hamapil together are 100 percent effective for having a great night’s sleep and warding off all nightmares and… Read more »
Is there any Avodah Zara issues involved in burning incense sticks made in India?
Question: Is there any Avodah Zara issues involved in burning incense sticks made in India? They are sold by www.darshanincense.com Answer: These incense sticks are often used as an offering… Read more »
Discharge during bowel movement
Question: When I use the restroom there are often times where I have hard-to-pass stool and need to use a lot of pressure in order for it to be released;… Read more »
Kids toys on Shabbos Muktzeh/Bosis
Question: Hi, I keep running into this issue on shabbos with kids toys and I am hoping you can clarify the situation. 1. When we clean the toys we put… Read more »
Metal peeler that was inherited from a non religious Jew, does it need to be kashered?
Question: We inherited a peeler, which has metal blade. The owner was not Shomer Shabbos. Aside from Tvilah issue, what about Kashering. Is there an issue of “duchka d’sakena’ or… Read more »
Why 12 months in Sheol
Question: Shalom Rabbi I was always wondering how do rabbies know that the soul of the departed, except for Czadikim who meet G-d immediately, go to sheol ( ie. purgatory)… Read more »
dinim of ktamim
Question: I am iy”H turning to a number of sources for clarification about this topic, I would appreciate the view of this site. We follow the psika of R’ Ovadia… Read more »
Covering head with Tallis for Aliya
Question: Are there any sources which specifically say to cover your head with the Tallis while getting an Aliya? (Some Shuls have this as their minhag and insist that all… Read more »
Why is there no concern that someone may travel with a sefer torah in a r’shus harabim on shabbos ?
Question: Why isn’t there any concern that someone may travel with a sefer torah in a r’shus harabim on shabbos in order to ask a chacham how to read it… Read more »
Are goyim metzuvah in the mitzvah of peru urevu?
Question: Are goyim metzuvah in the mitzvah of peru urevu? Answer: It is controversial if gentiles are commanded in the mitzvah of pru urvu. Although they were certainly commanded to… Read more »
Should Al netilas yadayim and asher yatzar when was up most of night
Question: Should Al Netillas Yadayim and Asher Yatzar be said when one didn’t use the bathroom in the morning and only slept about an hour unintentionally on his bed between… Read more »
saying birchot hashachar when one fell asleep unintentionally for about an hour
Question: When one was planning to stay up all night, but ended up falling asleep unintentionally on his bed for about an hour between midnight and alos hashachar, should birchos… Read more »
Ketuba What is the correct way to write the name leib. ליב או לייב ?
Question: What is the correct way to write the name leib. ליב או לייב ? Thank you Answer: In the seforim it seems to bee ליב with one yud. However… Read more »