Jewish Laws and Customs

Must I Immerse a Candy Dish?

I have a gift business in which I sell glass candy bowls filled with candies, fruits, and nuts. Must I toivel these dishes before I fill them?

The Milky Way or Does Chalav Yisrael Apply Today?

I do not understand why some people keep chalav Yisrael today. Do they really think that someone is adding pig's milk? My friend quoted his rav that it is more important to keep chalav Yisrael today than it ever was before. How could this be?

Mistake in Beracha on Delayed Laying of Tefillin – part I

After I fastened the tefillin shel yad, I realized that the beracha I had recited was not the one for tefillin but that I had instinctively said Yotzer Ohr. I continued davening with just the shel yad until the next semi-break, Yotzer Hame’orot, at which point I put on the shel rosh and the hand wrappings. Was that correct, and what should I have recited when?

Birkat Kohanim in a Shiva House

I was surprised to find, in a shiva minyan, an avel who did Birkat Kohanim. I didn’t know whether to tell him that I had never seen this before. Was it okay that he did so?

What Do We Do When No Kohen Is Present for Torah Reading?

Mechayei Hameitim after Long Separation

I will soon see my son-in-law after a more than two year Corona-forced separation. We have been in frequent contact and have seen each other often on Zoom. Should I say the beracha, “… mechayei hameitim”?

Must I Honor My Parents if They Tell Me Not to Live In Judea/Samaria?

What if one's parents tell him not to live in Judea/Samaria? Is living there considered an extra important mitzvah, and therefore he should ignore his parents, or is it only a "beautification" of the existing mitzvah of living in the Land of Israel?

Are “lefties” Left Out? Halachot for Left-handed People.