Question: My friend, who lives here, is making a bar mitzvah for his son on the Shabbos following Shavuos, which is the second day of Yom Tov for bnei chutz la'aretz. My friend's brother lives in the U.S. and will be at the bar mitzvah. Is there any problem with giving him an aliyoh on…
Question: Last week I purchased a sofa set, second-hand, from people who were about to leave the country. They told me that the sofas were leather and we agreed on a price of NIS 1200. I paid an additional NIS 240 to transport the sofas to my home. I just had an expert repairman over to give…
Question: Certain chocolate bars have a tiny bit of wafer inside but are mostly chocolate. Often the first bite is just chocolate (yummy!) and only afterwards do you hit the wafer. Is the berochoh shehakol or mezonos? Answer: The halachos of ikor and tafel are applicable when two or more foods are eaten together. If…
Question: Often I want to eat in a catering hall or restaurant and would like your opinion as to whether the kashrus is of a high enough standard for me. Can you give me a list of questions to ask that would help you to determine whether I should eat there? Answer: Choosing a restaurant…
Question: What berochoh is said on a dish of rice with meat sauce on top or mixed together? Is it true that rice cannot be the ikor because it is an inferior type of mezonos? What if the meat is the most exciting part of the dish (what a treat!)? Does that mean the shehakol…
Question: I am curious about the use of microwave ovens for both milchig and fleishig. Is it permissible to use a microwave for both as long as they are covered and the microwave is kept clean, or is it preferable to use it for only one or the other? Answer: The preferred method is to…
Question: We have a bunch of shaymos. Can we just dig a pit in our garden and bury them? Answer: Shaymos[1] can be buried anywhere. There is no need to bury them in a cemetery. Technically, one could bury shaymos in one’s own garden. There is no minimum depth as to how deep the genizoh…
Question: I recently came across some unkashered, frozen beef liver. When I kasher it, is it considered as if it had been kashered within 72 hours after shechitoh (since it was frozen during this time period)? Answer: Beef liver can only be broiled. Normal kashering with salt is insufficient.[1] It is permissible to wait more…
Question: אם הועילה תפלת מרע''ה לכפר על בנ''י מחטאם בעגל איך חזר וניעור החטא ונענשו עליו אח''כ? Answer: הרמב''ן בפרשת כי תשא (לב.יא) מפרש הפסוקים בכי תשא ובעקב שמשה רבינו התפלל פעמיים להקב''ה לטובת ישראל. טרם שירד מן ההר עם הלוחות ד' גילה לו כי שחת עמך וסרו מהר מן הדרך להשתחוות ולזבוח לעגל. מיד…
Question: Is 15 cups of flour enough to make a berochoh when taking challoh? It is 2 kilograms and a cup. Answer: Fifteen cups is a volume measurement and a kilogram is a measurement of weight or mass. They are difficult to convert unless dealing with water. Fifteen cups is equal to 3549 cc, which…