The Right of Return
Dayan Baruch Meir Levin May 14, 2020 Q: As a retailer, am I obligated to refund a purchase of defective merchandise if I know I will not be reimbursed, in turn, by my supplier? A: A seller is required to…
Fine China? A Perpetrator Payment Plan
Adapted from a shiur by Dayan Yosef Greenwald May 14, 2020 U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently announced that there is “significant evidence” that the virus behind the current plague emerged from a Chinese government lab in Wuhan, capital…
Bais HaVaad on the Parsha, Parshas Emor
Opportunity Costs Excerpted and adapted from a shiur by Dayan Yosef Greenwald May 7, 2020 The Gemara (Pesachim 3b) relates that the Chachamim praised Rabbi Yehuda ben Beseira for his ability to prevent a non-Jew in Yerushalayim from eating…
Q&A from the Bais HaVaad Halacha Hotline
The Case of the Fleeting Flat HaRav Chaim Weg May 7, 2020 Q: The two-year rental agreement I signed with my landlord ended some time ago. The standard practice is that when that happens, the arrangement continues until either party…
Foreseen Circumstances: If The Contract Contemplated The Closure
What happens to tuition if the agreement provided for pandemics? Adapted from the writings of Dayan Yitzhak Grossman May 7, 2020 The previous installment in this series focused on the rule that an employee is generally not entitled to compensation…
Bais HaVaad on the Parsha, Parshas Acharei Mos-Kedoshim
A Mixed Blessing Excerpted and adapted from a shiur by Rav Yosef Jacobovits …[H]oly, praises to Hashem. (Vayikra 19:24) The Gemara (Berachos 35a) connects this pasuk to bracha rishonah, in which one praises Hashem for the food he is about…
Q&A from the Bais HaVaad Halacha Hotline
The Case of the Late Bloomer By Rav Avraham Yeshaya Cohen Q: I did not say birkas ha’ilanos in the month of Nisan. May I still say it in Iyar? A: The Gemara (Brachos 43b) and the Shulchan Aruch (O.C.…
Bais HaVaad on the Parsha
Parshas Tazria-Metzora Writing on the Wall Excerpted and adapted from a shiur by Rav Moshe Zev Granek Alone shall he sit, outside of the camp is his dwelling place. (Vayikra 13:46) According to the Torah, a metzora must remain outside…