Could you please clarify when a kos (cup of wine) should be used for Zimun? Maran in Shulhan Aruch (O.H. 182:1) quotes three different opinions as to when a kos is required for Birkat HaMazon: One opinion holds that anytime one recites Birkat HaMazon one must recite the it with a kos. This entails holding a full cup of wine during Birkat HaMazon, reciting Bore P’ri … [Read more...]
Avissar Family Ribbis Initiative: Ribbit and Heter Iska
What is a Heter Iska? Part I The Mitzva to lend is fulfilled when one lends without charging interest. If one’s business lends with interest he must ensure to structure a valid Heter Iska. Assuming the Heter Iska was executed in a proper fashion, he does not transgress an Issur of Ribbit. However, the Hafetz Hayim gives two reasons why it is preferable to lend without using … [Read more...]
Tainted Milk
Notes from a Parasha & Halacha Shiur on Parashat Shemot by Rabbi Yehoshua Sova In our Parasha, Batya, daughter of Pharaoh, finds Moshe and asks his sister whether she should fetch an Egyptian nursemaid for him, to which the sister refuses. The Midrash writes that the reason she refused was because Moshe Rabbenu would grow up and speak to the Shechina, and it is … [Read more...]
Running Interference
By: Dayan Dovid Grossman Can you intrude before a business deal is finalized? Whether you are selling groceries, wholesale supplies or healthcare services, all businesses are built upon relationships. If a businessman is in the process of developing a relationship with a customer, and a second businessman swoops in to take the deal, has he done anything wrong? If the deal … [Read more...]
Labor Party: The Year-End Challenges of a Jew in Office
Adapted from a Shiur by Rav Yosef Greenwald Professional party politics, properly played. Thanksgiving opens the American “holiday season,” which culminates in New Year’s Day. For a Jew working in a non-Jewish office, this period often features events and practices that occasion Halachic quandaries. Chief among those are office holiday parties and gift exchanges. We … [Read more...]