Featured Articles - The Bais HaVaad Halacha Center

Going Public: Unauthorized Disclosure in Halacha

May secrets be revealed for the public good? Adapted from the writings of Dayan Yitzhak Grossman June 11, 2020 In the previous issue (tinyurl.com/y7ergrhk), we noted that software-based contact tracing of those infected by COVID-19 might entail privacy violations, and…

THE PRIVATE SECTOR: CORONAVIRUS, CONTAGION, AND CONTACT TRACING

Is There a Right to Privacy in Halacha? Adapted from the writings of Dayan Yitzhak Grossman June 4, 2020 One of the key tools for containing the spread of infectious diseases in general, and COVID-19 in particular, is contact tracing,…

Shiur Nonsense: Does One Who Can’t Taste or Smell Recite Birchos Hanehenin?

Adapted from a shiur by Dayan Yosef Greenwald May 27, 2020 One of the lesser symptoms experienced by many COVID-19 patients, lo aleinu, is the loss of taste and smell. Would a person so inflicted be required to recite a…

Fine China? A Perpetrator Payment Plan, Part II

Adapted from a shiur by Dayan Yosef Greenwald May 21, 2020 We established last week in Part 1 of this series (tinyurl.com/y87ua89o) that according to the Hagahos Ashri, although there is nothing that the earthly Bais Din can do today…

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…

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…

BIRKAS HAGOMEL: BENEDICTION AFTER AFFLICTION Should a recovered COVID-19 patient bentch gomel? Adapted from the writings of Dayan Yitzhak Grossman The Gemara states: “Four must offer thanks to Hashem.” One of these is “one who was ill and recovered.”[1] These…

VACATIONAL SCHOOL: MUST SHUTTERED SCHOOLS BE PAID?

When the best-laid plans of mice and men go awry. Adapted from the writings of Dayan Yitzhak Grossman In this article, we will consider whether parents are obligated to honor tuition commitments to schools that have temporarily closed. The fundamental…

Professional Courtesy: The Authority of Experts

Adapted from the writings of Dayan Yitzhak Grossman During the fifth cholera pandemic (1881-1896), governments banned the sale of “old” meat—where too much time had elapsed since slaughter—because it was believed to pose a cholera risk. Abiding by this regulation…

ILL, PREPARED: AVOIDING SOMETHING LIKE THE PLAGUE

Adapted from the writings of Dayan Yitzhak Grossman The current coronavirus outbreak is one of the worst international public-health emergencies in recent years, with more than 88,000 confirmed cases in 67 territories, resulting in more than 3,000 deaths as of…