Author: Rav Baruch Rubanowitz

Question: Answer: סיכום של השיטות העיקריות בסוגית אסמכתא:   כל דאי הוה אסמכתא ולא קנה שאין גמירות דעת סומכת שיהיה או לא יהיה, ואפילו אמר בפני עדים ובשטר לא מהני (רמב''ם פי''א ממכירה ה''ו), וכ''ש בקנסות שקונס את עצמו. הרמב''ם כתב דכשהקנין נגמר ומחזיק בחפץ ומתנה תנאי שאם לא יתקיים יתבטל העסק, אי''ז אסמכתא אלא…

Question: Answer: מקור חסרון קנין דברים למדנו מריש ב''ב על הא דמוקמינן מתניתין בשותפין שרצו לעשות מחיצה בחצר שאין בה דין חלוקה הקשה הגמרא (ג.) כי רצו מאי הוי נהדרו בהו, א''ר אסי א''ר יוחנן שקנו מידן, וכי קנו מידן מאי הוי קנין דברים בעלמא הוא, כשקנו מידן ברוחות ופירש''י דאין חליפין קונין אלא דבר…

Question: I have read that one is not supposed to wear tefillin during Mussaf on Rosh Chodesh. How important is this? 1. Once I forgot to take them off and only realized in the middle of Shemoneh Esrei. Should I have stopped in the middle, removed them, and continued, or left them on? 2. Another…

Question: The Shabbos after I (Reuven) picked up my tallis from the dry cleaner I wore it in shul and realized that it wasn't mine. Can I continue using it? I (Reuven) took an umbrella from the coatroom at work, thinking it was mine, and realized two weeks later that it was somebody else's. What…

Question: My father passed away and he was not buried the day he died. How should we calculate the sheloshim? Our family wishes to gather friends and relatives for an azkoroh at the end of the sheloshim. When should we do this if the sheloshim ends on Shabbos? When can I bathe or cut hair?…

Question: Am I allowed to paint a moon with facial features and five pointed stars? Answer: The Torah prohibits making an image, whether two- or three-dimensional, of the sun, moon, stars and twelve constellations used in astrology. Chazal understand this to be alluded to in the verse lo saaasun iti (Shemos 20:20).[1] Nevertheless, it is…

Question: 1. If someone buys a house for $200,000, puts down $50,000 in equity, takes out a mortgage for $150,000, and then receives rent on the house for several years, how should he calculate his maaser? (Note: The mortgage payment includes tax, interest, and some repayment of the principal.) 2. If the person subsequently sells…

Question: When entering into a legal contract while leasing a car, purchasing tiles, or signing bank or insurance documents, what should be the agreed-upon venue for resolving disputes? Answer: You should not agree to resolve your dispute with another Jew in a secular court of law.[1] According to halochoh, the appropriate arena for making any…

Question: I am preparing a lease contract to rent out our car. I would like to include a clause stipulating that whenever a payment is late the renter will have to pay interest on the late fees. Does this involve a problem of ribbis or asmachta? Answer: Both issues you mentioned, ribbis and asmachta, are…