I have $30,000 of credit debt (in the US). I lost my job, and my new job pays less. I do not see how I can pay the debt. What does Jewish law say about filing for bankruptcy?
I am a kohen who comes from America, where a kohen does not duchen (do Birkat Kohanim) if he is chazan. At the yeshiva I am at, even the chazan duchens. What should I do if I am asked to be chazan?
My friend picked up a trempist (hitchhiker) who did not put on his seatbelt. Police pulled the car over and gave a ticket to the driver (not the passenger) for driving with someone not buckled. Should the passenger reimburse my friend?
Is it indeed proper to wear white clothes and not wear gold on Yom Kippur? Is there a difference between men and women? Should one wear or avoid nice clothes on Yom Kippur?
Is it permitted for an avel (mourner) to serve as a chazan for Yamim Noraim (Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur)? Whose decision is it – the shul’s or the avel’s?
I found a discarded wooden box, which someone who sold their apartment left outside a storage room. The neighbors want to throw it out. After opening it, I could tell it was used to store a small sefer Torah. What should to do with it?
Unfortunately, I did not look at a siddur last night when reciting Al Hamichya. I made a couple mistakes along the way, and I remember specifically leaving out the words “al ha’aretz” in the chatimah (end part). Was I yotzeh?
My student asked me the following. Shimon buys a house from Reuven at a normal price even though he knows (and Reuven does not) that there are many gold coins hidden in the attic walls. Is the sale valid? Why/Why not?
The last time my wife was away for Shabbat, my oldest daughter (under bat mitzva) wanted to light Shabbat candles instead of me. Can a minor daughter do so, and does she have precedence over me?
As a speech therapist, I was wondering whether Kri’at Shema can be done in a whisper. In a whisper, the “z” sound is produced as an “s” and the “v” sound is produced as a “f” (and all voiced sounds become devoiced). Scientifically, this is because the vocal chords do not vibrate when whispering. Doesn’t one need vocalize to truly produce a “zayin”, “vav”, or any voiced sound, when saying Shema?
I run a camp for children under bar mitzva during a period that includes the Nine Days. We usually take them on trips off campus once a week. Is it permitted to do so during the Nine Days?
What is the Halacha in the following scenario? I am on an intercity bus, in which the price depends on how far you go. I fall asleep and miss my stop. Should I go to the driver to pay for the additional distance I will end up going?
I made a beracha before toveling several utensils, primarily glass, which I started with. Then I noticed that one of the utensils was metal. Since toveling metal is a Torah obligation and for glass it is Rabbinic, could the beracha on the glass utensil count for metal? Should I have made another beracha on the metal utensil?
