Halachah

by R. Daniel Mann Question: In our home, the health concerns of some and the taste concerns of others clash in regard to salt in our food. If I cook with less salt, may people add salt to their soup or cholent on Shabbat? Answer: We will discuss the issues that impact the different permutations of the question. The gemara ...

by R. Daniel Mann Question: Over the years, I have received cash gifts for birthdays, bar mitzva, etc. and never gave ma’aser kesafim (=mk) from them. I would like to do so now but do not remember the exact amounts I received. What should I do?  Answer: Indeed, the standard ruling is that in most cases, cash gifts are subject ...

by R. Daniel Mann Question: I am not consistent about saying “Hineni muchan u’mezuman” (=hmum) before sefirat ha’omer. Should I decide one way or the other, and which way is better?   Answer: The practice of saying “Hmum” before mitzvot, like many “extra” ritual recitations, can be traced to the Arizal (16th century) and a small elite group of his disciples ...

by R. Daniel Mann Question: Recently, the Citigroup “bank” mistakenly paid some $900 mil. to Revlon’s creditors before the loans were due. A few big creditors refused to return the money. A court ruled that since the creditors took the money (they were owed) in good faith, they need not return it. Citigroup cannot demand the money from Revlon and ...

by R. Daniel Mann Question: I, a lawyer, often need to write a contract with a clause for extra payment if the buyer pays late. How can I do this without making the client violate ribbit (usury)?  Answer: In some ways, such late payments are classic ribbit in that a person who needs to pay must pay extra because of ...

by R. Daniel Mann Question: We forgot to plug in our hot plate, and so we asked our child (9 years old) to plug it in 11 minutes after sunset. We second-guessed ourselves in the morning. Was it permitted? If not, could we have used the hot plate then and benefitted from the food that was on it? Answer: Some ...

by R. Daniel Mann Question: Is it permissible to use white wine for the arba kosot (four cups at the Seder)?  Answer: We dealt previously (Living the Halachic Process, II:C-7) with the question of white wine for Kiddush, which is pertinent because poskim generally equate between the requirements of the two (compare Orach Chayim 272 and 472). The gemara (Bava ...

by R. Daniel Mann Question: I am a man living alone. Last week, I forgot to light Shabbat candles. Must I light an extra one from now on?   Answer: The Rama (Orach Chayim 263:1) accepts the minhag presented by the Maharil (Hilchot Shabbat 1) that if a woman forgets to light Shabbat candles one week, she must add one from ...

by R. Daniel Mann Question: We are adding a floor to our house. At first, we will access it from the house, but we may eventually make it a separate unit with access via stairs from the street. Therefore, we made a door on the side of the street – during construction it is accessed by a temporary ramp, but ...

by R. Daniel Mann Question: Could you please review some of the rules and rationale of the practices of Purim Meshulash (Triple Purim) in Yerushalayim? [This is a re-edited repeat from 15 years ago.] Answer: When the fifteenth of Adar, celebrated as Purim in cities that were walled at the time of Yehoshua (notably including Yerushalayim), falls on Shabbat, when ...