Author: Rav Baruch Rubanowitz

Question: In your weekly Chumash class, you raised the following question: If Hashem only sends one mal'och per task (see Rashi on Bereishis 18:2), why did the angels tell Lot that "we" are destroying this area (Bereishis 19:13)? In response to your question about "mashchisim anachnu" (in the plural), you mentioned an opinion that the…

Question: What are we supposed to learn from the way Eliezer suggested the shidduch to Lovon? I have been wondering why he put the emphasis on the money and property Avrohom Avinu had promised his son. If we had had to guess what Eliezer said we might have imagined he would have emphasized Yitzchok's good…

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, aside from the occasional noise – which doesn't disturb us much, although it does bother her next-door neighbors – and they are locked in her…

Question: In a recent Q&A, the Rav quoted the Ramo and the Mechaber as stating that one should not drink wine and listen to music –even with one's wife. When my wife and I lived in Jerusalem, we tried to go out for a nice meal once a month. When we moved to RBS, we…

Question: נולד בכורנו קצת לפני שעלינו לארצנו הקדושה ואין אני מכיר הרבה אנשים שיבאו למצות וסעודת פדיון הבן שנערוך בכשבוע. אשתי לומדת רפואה ומכירה תלמידי רפואה שלמדו איתה מלפני שנתיים. הם לחוצים בזמן בשעות היום ואינם פנויים להגיע לפדיון הבן אלא בשעות הערב. אנו יכולים לארגן פדיון הבן לאמצע היום אבל לא יהיה מנין של…

Question: My wife gave me a ring that I cherish. It helps remind me of my commitment to care for her in every way and my responsibilities as delineated in the kesuva. Do my rings act as a chatzitza regarding netillas yodayim, requiring me to remove them? Answer: A woman who wears a ring should…

Question: My mother-in-law, who lives abroad, has a serious medical problem. She has dangerously high blood pressure, for which she has been prescribed medication and requires regular medical examinations. The problem is – whether due to psychological denial, depression, or lack of will to live – she is unwilling to comply with her medical treatment:…

Question: לאחר הברית של בננו קבלנו מתנה מרב המיועדת לשימוש בננו לכשיגדל. המתנה היתה כוס של כסף שחרוט עליו שמו, עקיבה מאיר. הרבה אנשים העוסקים בשמות כמו במשרד הפנים ורופאים, וכמעט כל אדם שצריך לכתוב שמו, אומרים לנו שהדרך הנכונה לכתוב עקיבא היא עם האות אלף בסוף ולא ה''א. האם יש הלכות איך לכתוב שמות?…

Question: The Kehilla had considered the idea of a tiyul to catch the Chilazon, used to make techeles. Rav Rubanowitz had the following email discussion with the tour guide and the tour guide's Rav regarding whether this was permitted or not. Answer: בס"ד ה' תשרי תשס"ה כבוד הרב פטרובר, בעקבות שיחתנו אני שולח מכתב זה…