Question: A next door neighbor recently installed a high power LED security light on the side of his house which is side by side with my house. The light shines… Read more »
Category: Neighbours
Din chazakah / din kedimah
Question: We are a group of about 15 people, we have been renting in the summer bungalows for the last 3 years from someone… with no previous notice we found… Read more »
What is the halacha of use of a challal (empty space) located directly under their apartment?
Question: We live in a multi-family apartment in Israel (just beyond the green line). Our apartment building was built on a hillside so it is setup in such a way… Read more »
A leak in the apt upstairs
Question: There is a leak on my ceiling. a painter came down and after many months he said that it is still wet and not drying. he brought down a… Read more »
Bar meitzra
Question: Does the halacha of bar meitzra apply when the seller is a non-Jew allowing the Jewish neighbor to have first rights? Second question does hilchos bar meitzra give a… Read more »
Shutfim – Partnerships
Question: Dear Rabbi, I live in a wonderful building. My neighbors are always doing favors to one another and there are never any fights. If we don’t see eye-to-eye… Read more »
EXTENDING ON MY BACKYARD
Question: My neighbor would like to extend his house illegally into the backyard. For various reasons such as, reducing the air and sunlight in our backyard, I am not happy… Read more »
Uninvited Guest
Hi, If someone is only invited to a wedding for the chuppah, is one allowed to stay for the entire wedding and eat the meal? Usually, the baal simcha will… Read more »
Preference of Caterer
I have the privilege of giving weekly shiurim in a shul in brooklyn. They asked me to speak about the following issue that has come up. As any good shul… Read more »
Rebuking a Theif
I saw another Jew stealing from a kosher restaurant and didn’t know if I should tell the owners or confront the person. I happen to know the person and didn’t… Read more »
Looking into Neighbor’s Property
I’m learning Siman 153 and I’m trying to figure out if there’s Hezek Re’iya if I spy on my neighbor in a way I know 100% Yediah Berura that there… Read more »
Bar Metzra in Case of Houses
Regarding the Din of Bar Metzra. In my area I am trying to buy a house. The house i am trying to buy is attached to a friend of mine… Read more »
Killing the Neighbor’s Cat
My neighbor has cat that likes to come on my front yard. This bothers my wife, who doesn’t like animals, and also makes a bad smell as the cat is using… Read more »
Payment for Cutting Down Tree
My Jewish neighbor is flattening his front garden to make it street level. There was a three story tree on the boundary that belongs to me. We knew that al… Read more »
Joint Property of Building
We bought an apartment from someone who build his sukkah on an adjoining mirpeset (actually at ground level as the apartment is built into the side of a mountain). A… Read more »
Store Causing Disturbance
A kosher supermarket opened in a quiet residential neighborhood. He circumvented the zoning laws by questionable means and doubled the size of the store. His business is built on volume… Read more »
Must You Clear the Snow from Sidewalk
Is a person obligated to shovel his sidewalk after a snow storm? Is that considered a “Bor B’rishus Harabim”, even though he obviously didn’t put it there? What if the… Read more »
Parking in Vacant Spot
Can I park in a private parking spot if I know the owner won’t be coming in that day. Street parking costs money and I know that the man’s business… Read more »
Potential Hezek Re’iya
My house is adjacent to a house where they are doing changes. The area between the 2 houses was never used and therefore no one ever need to pass through…. Read more »
Gezel Sheina – “Stealing Sleep”
What is the actual issur of gezel sheina and is there a specific story of a gadol who was makpid on this? thank you Answer: Waking somebody up or preventing… Read more »
Vaad Bayit for Vacant Apartment
We own an apartment that was vacant for several weeks. The vaad bayit told us that we have to pay for this time – is this correct? The apartment has… Read more »
Vaad Bayit Questions
Hi I was wondering if you could help please. We have a question with regards to Vaad Bayit. We live in an area where there is a row of houses… Read more »
Building in Chalal
I am thinking of buying a home in Ramat Bet Shemesh that is being built with a large chalal within it. It seems that officially I need an ishur to… Read more »
Following the Majority Vote
The Rema in c. m. 163:1 says when a city votes the people get together and voice their vote. Also the beer heitiv in 231 says the same and adds… Read more »
Cat Disturbance
For years my neighbor has been acquiring cats. The cats breed and often the kittens run in the building. Does my neighbor have ownership on these cats or am I… Read more »
Company Hired for Collection
The Vad of the building that I live in uses a 3rd party management company to run the building. This management company works according to secular law, and levies fines… Read more »
Going to Beis Din over Building Extension
We want to enclose our balcony to make a second bedroom for our children and build a new balcony off of the living room. Our downstairs neighbors refused to sign… Read more »
Deciding the Vaad Bayit Payments
We are in a new building and after 6 months they are looking into setting up a vaad bayit and monthly payments. The complex is divided into 3 separate buildings,… Read more »
Disconnecting from Heating System
This is a common shailo every year in the winter here in Eretz Yisrael. Those buildings that still use the hasakot that are heated with a method of oil (“solar”… Read more »
Voting on Communal Heating System
Continuing the questions in regards to the “hasakot” powered by oil (“solar”)…. In recent years this has become a ridiculously expensive system to run. Many buildings have already switched over… Read more »
Using Chalalim of Building
On the other side of the wall of our machsan there is a chalal. We are the only ones who theoretically could have access to the chalal. Do we only… Read more »
Payment for Damages of Clogged Pipe
I live in a three family condo where the sewer is located in the basement of the first floor apartment and if the sewer pipe becomes clogged the basement becomes… Read more »
Opening the Windows in Spring
Its the time of the year again when its neither hot nor cold. Some people want the window open and some people want it closed. Who does the halachah go… Read more »
Disturbance of Passive Smoking
My new neighbor is a smoker, and wherever it is that he’s smoking, it blows into my house if I leave my bedroom window open. Do I have the right… Read more »
Illegal Construction
My neighbor extended his apartment. According to the city plans, besides the area of expansion that was allocated to him by law – he built about 80cm sideways into the… Read more »
Expanding Space on Balcony
Hello. We would like to expand the “usable space” on our merpeset sheirut, by breaking down a one meter high wall, and then laying a proper floor where there is… Read more »
Opening Windows in the Spring/Autumn
Now that the weather is getting colder here, but it still isnt that cold, there are always problems with having the windows open or closed. Some people are colder than… Read more »
Noise Disturbance from Basketball
MY COTTAGE IS SITUATED NEXT TO AN APPARTMENT BLOCK. We have ajoining car parks [parking lots]. A neighbour from the building next door placed in concrete a professional basketball stand… Read more »
Doors Across the Hallway
How do we apply the Halacha nowadays about opening a window / door opposite your neighbors? Shouldn’t this also apply to not building an apartment with one door opposite the… Read more »
Who Decides Over the Window?
During the winter, who has priority – those who want to open a window or those who want the window closed (In shul or a work environment)? Answer: In the… Read more »
Double Apartment for Vaad Bayit
I have asked a similar sheila in the past but I would like to re-ask the sheila with more accurate details. My building was built about twenty years ago. The… Read more »
Paying for Elevator
In my apartment building there are 13 neighbours. Originally, 15 units were marketed. One person bought two and put them together, installing an internal staircase between the two units. Another… Read more »
Nosy Neighbor
Question: Is it forbidden to look into someone else’s garden just as it is forbidden to look into someone’s house? Answer: It is forbidden to look into another Jew’s yard… Read more »
Washing the Car With Communal Water
Question: May I wash my car using the water from the fire hose found in the parking lot? There is a main water meter for the building, and then the… Read more »
Noisy Neighbours
Question: Two families live in a duplex (two family home) and share a wall on the ground floor and first floor. Family A complains that Family B is noisy and… Read more »
The Mixed-up Machson & the Sukkah Walls
Question: Just over a year ago, we were told that the machsan we were using did not belong to us, so we switched to a different machsan, which the vaad habayit “thinks” is… Read more »
Cats (hopefully with a plot)
Question: A woman on our block is quite a nuisance to all the neighbors. She owns about 20 cats and about five dogs. The dogs are not such a problem,… Read more »
Barking Dog
Question: My neighbors have a dog that barks into the night, waking up my kids sometimes, and disturbing everyone in the area both day and night. They are two k’nisas… Read more »
Overhanging branches
A neighbor’s tree has branches extending over my property and inhibit the growth of trees on my side of the property line. Am I allowed to trim back the neighbor’s… Read more »
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