ASK THE RABBI VOLUME II ASK THE RABBI VOLUME II A Sampling of Real World Halachic Questions that Were Sent to the Eretz Hemdah Beit Midrash Headed by Harav Moshe Ehrenreich and Harav Yosef Carmel By The Eretz Hemdah Students and Faculty Ask the Rabbi ,Volume 2 Eretz Hemdah Institute © Eretz Hemdah Institute 2015 Additional copies of this book are available at Eretz Hemdah: 2 Brurya St. P.O.B. 8178 Jerusalem 9108101 Israel (972-2) 537-1485 fax (972-2) 537-9626 [email protected] Also available at the Eretz Hemdah website: www.eretzhemdah.org Editor: Rabbi Daniel Rosenfeld Cover design: Renana Pinis הוצא לאור בהשתתפות המשרד לענייני דתות All rights reserved. However, since the purpose of this publication is educational, the copyright holder permits the limited reproduction of sections of this book for non-commercial educational purposes. ISBN , 978-965-436-029-6 hardcover Printed in Israel It is our privilege to present the second volume of Ask the Rabbi. Each year, Eretz Hemdah, through its partnership with the Orthodox Union’s “Ask the Rabbi” program, receives thousands of questions. The questions are sent from rabbis and laity in Israel, America, and across the world. In Eretz Hemdah, a small group of extraordinary graduates from the finest National-Religious yeshivot learn to prepare for the Israeli Rabbinate’s rigorous Yadin Yadin examinations. We believe that true greatness in Torah can never be disconnected from involvement with the needs and concerns of the broader Jewish community. Therefore, we require our young rabbis to devote some of their time to teaching and answering questions. As part of that vision, our young rabbis help answer some of the “Ask the Rabbi” questions we receive. The “Ask the Rabbi” questions cover all imaginable issues. In this volume, we bring together some of the select questions and answers from the most relevant areas of halacha. We hope and pray that this book will be used to teach and enlighten. That it will help people observe halacha, while giving them a sense of the impressive and infinite world of the Talmud and Shulchan Aruch, which serve as the basis and context for our halachic practice. With Torah Blessings, Rabbi Yosef Carmel Rabbi Moshe Ehrenreich Rabbinical Deans of Eretz Hemdah CONTENTS SHABBAT: 1. Doing Work After Shabbat for Someone for Whom it Is 2 Shabbat 2. Relighting Shabbat Candles that Went Out 4 3. Diapers With Disappearing Ink 6 4. Undoing Mistaken Early Acceptance of Shabbat 9 5. Using a Shabbat Clock for an Urn 10 6. Using a Dishwasher on a Timer on Shabbat 12 7. Reheating Cooked Liquids Right Before Shabbat 14 8. Eating Questionably Reheated Kugel 16 9. An Oven Used for Chillul Shabbat 18 10. How Can We Say Things of Minhag Before Kiddush? 20 11. Drinking Water Before Kiddush 22 12. Who Drinks Kiddush/Havdala Wine and Why? 24 13. How Much Does One Need to Eat From the Lechem 26 Mishneh? 14. Methods of Receiving Pay for Work on Shabbat 28 15. Raising Charitable Funds on Shabbat 30 16. Coin Collection on Shabbat 32 17. Muktzeh Machamat Chisaron Kis 34 18. Moving Potted Plants on Shabbat 36 19. Using a Spoon with Holes on Shabbat 38 20. Ice Cubes on Shabbat 40 21. Carrying a Child When There is no Eruv 42 22. Having Young Children do Melacha for Adults 44 23. Indirectly Enabling a Grown Child to Violate Shabbat 46 24. Using a Non-Jew to Shut Lights on Shabbat So a Jew Will 48 Not 25. Elevator Operated by Non-Jews on Shabbat 50 26. A Group Eiruv Techumin 52 27. Removing a Detached Hair from One’s Scalp on Shabbat 54 28. Using Mother's Millk for an Infant With Conjunctivitis, 56 on Shabbat 29. Sensors on Shabbat 58 30. Melaveh Malka for Women 60 MOADIM YOM TOV: 31. Eruv Tavshilin on Thursday and Friday 63 32. Special Halachot of Motzaei Shabbat Kiddush/Havdala 65 33. Burying on Yom Tov 68 MOADIM CHOL HAMOED: 34. Hachnasat Sefer Torah on Chol Hamoed 71 MOADIM ELUL AND ROSH HASHANA: 35. Reason for Blowing Shofar in Elul 74 36. Hatarat Nedarim by Skype 76 37. Is the Shofar Muktzeh After the Mitzvah is Completed 78 MOADIM YOM KIPPUR: 38. Washing Hands with Soap on Yom Kippur 81 39. Fitting in Birkat Kohanim of Neilah on Yom Kippur 83 40. Intravenous Nutrition on Yom Kippur 85 41. Havadala on Yom Kippur Which Falls on Shabbat 87 MOADIM SUKKOT: 42. Asking Someone to be His Shaliach (agent) to Hold the 90 Arba Minim 43. Conditons on Keeping a Restaurant Open During Sukkot 82 44. Problem with the Lulav and Etrog After the First Day 94 MOADIM CHANUKAH: 45. Latest Time to Light Chanukah Candles 97 46. Davening Mincha Before Lighting Candles on Erev 99 Shabbat? 47. Chanuka Candles and Havdala – Which Comes First? 101 MOADIM PURIM: 48. Ranking Mishloach Manot Stringencies 104 49. Family Members Requirement in Mishloach Manot 106 50. The Basis for Giving Machatzit Hashekel before Purim 108 51. Purim in Transit 110 MOADIM PESACH: 52. Checking Books for Chametz 113 53. Stovetop Grates for Pesach 115 54. Removing Chametz from "Out of Reach" Places 117 55. Siyum Participation Via Skype 119 56. Shabbat Erev Pesach 121 57. Forgetting to Drink Wine While Reclining 123 58. Must One Own Their Own Matza at the Seder? 125 59. The Effect of Sleeping on the Afikoman 127 MOADIM THE SEFIRAT HAOMER PERIOD: 60. Does Acknowledging Lag Ba’omer Count as Counting? 130 MOADIM SHAVUOT: 61. Eating Dairy on Shavuot 133 62. Morning Berachot on Shavuot 135 63. The Timing on the Beracha on Tzitzit After Being Up All 137 Night MOADIM THE THREE WEEKS, TISHA B’AV AND OTHER FAST DAYS: 64. Meat During the Nine Days 140 65. Tisha B’av Pushed Off till Sunday 142 66. Doing Dishes on Tisha B’Av 144 67. Restrictions of Motzaei Tisha B’Av 146 68. How Long Must One Fast When Flying on the 17th of 148 Tammuz FAMILY LAW: 69. A Fading Ketuba 150 70. Time of Chupa 152 71. Sheva Berachot Confusion 154 72. Previously Married Groom and Tachanun 156 73. How Many Times Can a Person Serve as a Sandek 158 MONETARY LAW: 74. Merchandise Received by Accident 161 75. How Much Effort Must one Expend to try to Return a 163 Lost Object? 76. Returning a Lost Item That the Owner Knows About 165 77. An Agent Who Bought More than he Was Authorized 167 78. Payment for One Who Collects for a Group Present and 169 Loses Money 79. Searching Another's Belongings 171 80. Obligations and Intentions of Purchasing from a Store 173 81. Receiving Multiple Offers When Selling a Car 175 82. Reacting to Summons from a Beit Din 177 83. Damages to a Borrowed Chair on Purim 179 84. Returning a Security Deposit with a Different Currency 181 85. Accountability for Damages when Moving Items 183 86. Whether one Must Repay a Debt Where There is a 185 Dispute about Prior Payment 87. How to Write a Halachically Valid Will 187 88. Is a Professional Believed About the Time He Put In 189 89. Charging for Incidental Work Not Originally Discussed 191 90. Finding a Credit Note 193 91. Payment for Deficiencies in Handling Items One Ships 195 for a Friend 92. Returning Gifts After a Broken Engagement 197 93. A Roommate Paying for Failing to Lock the Door 199 94. Requirement for the Seller to Fix the Situation 201 95. Stealing by Accident 203 96. Immoral Commercial Practices? 205 97. Use of Food from School Events 207 98. A Teacher’s Responsibility for Theft of Phones 209 99. Buying With Intention to Return 211 100. Compensating for Losses Due to Interest 213 101. A Loan/Investment that Needs a Heter Iska after Its 215 Inception 102. Going to the Courts Where There Is No Beit Din 217 103. Pay for Cancelled Summer Camps 219 104. Indirect Fire Damage 221 SHABBAT ASK THE RABBI II 1. Doing Work After Shabbat for Someone for Whom it Is Shabbat Question: My friend called me on Friday and asked me to do an internet flight check-in for him on my Motzaei Shabbat in Israel (his Shabbat afternoon) before his Saturday night flight in the US. Is it permitted for me to do so? Answer: We have permitted Israelis to make a stock order to be carried out on Friday afternoon in NY (Shabbat in Israel). We will review and see if this case is the same. The gemara (Shabbat 151a) says that Reuven may ask Shimon to watch Reuven’s fruit that are out of Reuven’s techum Shabbat but within Shimon’s. The Rashba (accepted by the Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 263:17) extrapolates from this that if Reuven accepted Shabbat early, he may ask Shimon, who did not yet accept it, to do work on his behalf. Why don’t we say that the action relates to the one who requested through shelichut (agency), as we do to forbid the work done by a non-Jew on behalf of a Jew on Shabbat (see Rashi, Shabbat 153a)? Three answers appear in the poskim: 1) The prohibition to ask others was not instituted when one has or had (in the past) a way to not be forbidden to do the work himself (Beit Yosef, ad loc.; Magen Avraham 263:30). In the above cases, Reuven could have not accepted Shabbat and could have gone to the fruit via “burgenin.” 2) One accepts Shabbat only regarding prohibitions he performs himself (Levush 263:17; see Shulchan Aruch Harav, K”A 253:8).