Search results for: ""Rabbi""

Attire: Girls: Age for Modest Dress
Girls should dress modestly from the age of gil chinuch, when they can understand the concept of why to dress modestly. This may start at 6 years old but may be older depending on the girl. Consult a rabbi.
Note The requirement that girls dress modestly from gil chinuch includes girls' wearing bathing suits around adult males.
Shalom Bayit or Honoring One's Parents (Kibud Av Va'Eim)
The only type of laws that may sometimes be overridden to help with shalom bayit (promoting peaceful family relations) or kibud av va'eim (honoring parents) is rabbinic law, not Torah law. A rabbi should be consulted in these cases.
Stockholder in Business that Violates Torah Law
You may be a minority owner or shareholder in a business that violates Torah law, but not if the majority of the business is owned by Jews (even if they are not shomer Shabbat Jews). Consult a rabbi for details and exceptions.
 
Jewish Festivals: Applying Makeup
Girls and women may not put on any nail polish or makeup on Jewish festivals (and Shabbat), including mascara and lipstick.
Note Regarding makeup that consists only of powder (no oil or liquid ingredients) and that comes off easily, ask your rabbi. Beware of “Shabbat makeup” that stays on longer than normal makeup but is forbidden to be applied on Shabbat or Jewish festivals.
Honor an Abusive Jewish Parent but Not Suffer
A child is not required to suffer from any type of abuse (not physical, emotional, psychological…) from a parent, but the child should honor his or her Jewish parents as much as possible without suffering.
Note Consult a rabbi to define individual cases of abuse by parents because the issues are complex.
Shabbat: Opening Refrigerator with Light or LED
On Shabbat, do not open a refrigerator door that has LEDs that illuminate when the door is opened.  If you forgot to turn off the refrigerator light or if LEDs light up when you open the refrigerator door, consult a rabbi about what to do.
 
Muktza: Feeding Animals that Do Not Belong To You
You may not feed animals that do not belong to you on Shabbat (even if they are tame).
Exception  It may be permissible to feed dogs on Shabbat even if they do not belong to you. Consult a rabbi.
Sink Racks and Dairy/Meat
Two racks or other utensils, one dairy and the other meat--that are used in a single sink (whether together or sequentially) may become non-kosher if they ever reach more than 120° F (49° C) while in the sink. Consult a rabbi.
Dairy/Milk Food Falls into/onto Meat or Meat Falls into/onto Dairy/Milk Food
WERE BOTH FOODS LESS THAN 120° F?
YES

ARE BOTH FOODS SOLID?
YES
Status If you can separate them (there are no cracks in the meat), both foods are kosher.  Consult a rabbi.
What to Do
  • If one or both of the foods were already cooked, separate them and wash with soap and water (if possible).
  • If it is not possible to separate them, just cut off the thinnest slice possible from each surface of each food which had been in contact with the opposite gender food and you may use the food.
NO
SOLID FOOD FALLS INTO LIQUID FOOD OR LIQUID FOOD FALLS ONTO SOLID FOOD
Status If both foods are cold and you can separate them (there are no cracks in the meat), they MAY be kosher.  Consult a rabbi.
 
  • Both foods are non-kosher if they cannot be separated.
  • If you can separate them enough that one becomes less than 1/60th the volume of the other:
    • The larger food is kosher.
    • The lesser one is non-kosher
What To Do
  • Once the two foods are separated, wash or otherwise remove the smaller food from the larger one.
  • If not possible, cut off the thinnest slice possible and you may eat the remaining food.
Note If there are cracks in raw or cooked meat, and if you can clean off enough of the dairy spill so that the remainder is less than 1/60th, it may be kosher--ask a rabbi.
 
LIQUID FOOD FALLS INTO LIQUID FOOD
Status Both liquid foods are non-kosher.
Exception If one liquid food is less than 1/60th the volume of the other one, the mixture is kosher.
Note If non-kosher wine is involved, see below.
 
SOLID FOODS, ONE OR BOTH ARE HOT
Status If one (or both) of the foods is hotter than 120° F, both foods are non-kosher.
Exception If one food is less than 1/60th of the volume of the other:
  • The larger-volume food may be kosher (consult a rabbi).
  • The smaller-volume food remains not kosher.
Possible Exception  If the food on the bottom is cold and thick, consult a rabbi.

If either food is spicy, see above.
If any combination (solid and liquid; solid and solid which are in any liquid; or liquid and liquid) of dairy and meat were soaked together for 24 hours or more, even if cold, they are all not kosher.
Exception In any of these three cases, in which one is less than 1/60th the volume of the other:
  • The larger food is kosher.
  • The lesser one is non-kosher.
Note You must remove the smaller food from the larger one and wash off the larger one, if possible. If you don't know how long the foods soaked together but it may have been less than 24 hours, you may use the foods.
 
Shabbat: Flushing Toilet
Flushing a toilet on Shabbat is not a violation of transferring from domain to domain.
Reason It is considered too small a space to be a domain.
Note If the water comes from a pump-operated well, such as in rural or remote areas, consult a rabbi.
Sukka: Overhangs: Vines/Trees
Vines or tree branches that overhang even a small part of a sukka may make it not kosher. A tree that overhangs a large part of the sukka invalidates the portion below the tree and may invalidate an entire side or even more. Consult a rabbi.
Jewish Festivals: Toilet
Flushing a toilet on a Jewish festival is not a violation of transferring from domains.
Reason The pipe is considered too small a space to be a domain.
Note If the water comes from a pump-operated well, such as in rural or remote areas, consult a rabbi.
Hot Springs as Mikva
Here are requirements for a hot spring as a mikva:
  1. The temperature may not be above 98° F.
  2. If the spring and immersing area are separate, any pipes used to bring water into the immersing area from the spring must be at least 3" in diameter. Consult a rabbi.
  3. The mikva area must contain at least 40 seah of the spring water.
  4. The mikva area must be hewn of rock or poured concrete, etc., but may not be prefabricated in one piece, like a hot tub.
  5. The water may not reach the mikva area via a pump.
Starting Shabbat outside Shabbat Domain/Techum Shabbat
If you are outside techum Shabbat (which may be as little as 0.7 miles, or 1 km, past the last house of an inhabited area—city, village, etc.), you may start Shabbat at sunset even if the nearby community starts early, as long as the rabbi from that community does not have authority over your area.
 
Timing of Giving
Property may be given away in any manner and amounts desired during a person's lifetime. A Jew must give his property away before death if he does not want to make the inheritance according to Jewish law (such as double portion to a father's first-born son, etc.--consult a rabbi for details). A person should reserve some money to fulfill the Torah commandment of inheritance. Consult a rabbi.
Note In inheritance issues, the first-born son means the first-born son of the father (although pidyon ha'ben refers to the first-born son of the mother).
Note A mother can leave whatever she wants to her children without being required to give twice as much to a son who is the first-born of his father.
American Will
Since a person cannot give away property after his/her death (since he/she does not own it anymore), an American will has no halachic validity. An American will should be written to keep the inheritance out of the hands of the government and lawyers. In order for a secular will to be effective under halacha, an acquisition should be made that starts to take effect beginning at the time of the kinyan and finalize one hour before the person's death. 
Rabbinic guidance is recommended.