Q&A From the Bais HaVaad Halacha Hotline
Swing State Dayan Daniel Dombroff May 13, 2021 Q I hung a swing from a tree in my backyard by screwing a two-by-four to the tree and connecting the swing to the beam. May the swing be used on Shabbos?…
Q&A From the Bais HaVaad Halacha Hotline
Flameout Dayan Yehoshua Grunwald May 6, 2021 Q We leave our Shabbos night soup on the stovetop, where a gust of wind from the window blew out the flame. May I ask a gentile to reignite the stove? A Asking a…
Q&A From the Bais HaVaad Halacha Hotline
Asleep at the Switch Dayan Yehoshua Grunwald April 29, 2021 Q We inadvertently left the light in the children’s bedroom on for Shabbos, and they will not sleep through the night if it stays that way. May we ask a…
Q&A From the Bais HaVaad Halacha Hotline
Doorbuster Dayan Daniel Dombroff April 22, 2021 Q My son was climbing on the fridge door on Shabbos night and the fridge began to tip over. My wife put herself in front of it to protect our son and began…
Q&A From the Bais HaVaad Halacha Hotline
Write of Passage Dayan Yosef Greenwald April 15, 2021 Q I sent someone a text message tonight that read “Today is ten days in the Omer.” May I still count tonight with a bracha, or did I already fulfill the…
Q&A From the Bais HaVaad Halacha Hotline
Point of Sale? Dayan Yehoshua Grunwald March 11, 2021 Q If a food store owned by a nonobservant Jew sells its chametz before Pesach through a rav, but the store continues to sell chametz on Pesach as usual, is the…
Q&A From the Bais HaVaad Halacha Hotline
Sales Tacks Dayan Yehoshua Grunwald March 4, 2021 Q Can one sell chametz over the phone or online? A Contemporary poskim permit a person to appoint a rav to sell his chametz over the phone. (See Mechiras Chametz Kehilchaso 17:11.) This verbal…
Q&A From the Bais HaVaad Halacha Hotline
Meal Ticket HaRav Chaim Weg February 25, 2021 Q I am strict not to eat on Purim morning before fulfilling the mitzvah of mishlo’ach manos (see Kovetz Halachos 17:1 and Mo’adim Uzmanim 2:186). This Purim, I plan to attend a…
Q&A From the Bais HaVaad Halacha Hotline
Constructive Criticism Dayan Yehoshua Grunwald February 18, 2021 Q My window shades fell down on Shabbos. Would I have been permitted to rehang them? A One of the 39 melachos of Shabbos is boneh (building). In addition to new construction, the melacha includes repairing or…
Q&A From the Bais HaVaad Halacha Hotline
Contract of Horseless Carriage Dayan Yehoshua Grunwald February 11, 2021 Q If I pass a man struggling to start his car in his driveway in the morning, am I obligated to assist him? A There is a mitzvah in the…