HaRav Netanel Levihim - Question: I took my mezuzah off the doorpost to have it checked by a sofer. He informed me it was completely kasher. Do I need to recite a new berachah when re-installing it? Answer: The question is rooted in a broader debate about Talit. The Tur (Orah Haim, Siman 8) rules that removing a Talit with intent to return does not require a new … [Read more...]
The Betty Crocker Mix-Up
In yeshiva we have two Betty Crocker pizza makers, known as “Betties” — one for halavi and one besari. Someone accidentally put eggs and cheese into the besari Betty. The question is whether the eggs may be eaten, and whether the Betty has to be thrown out. After verifying that the Betty was not used for meat within the last 24 hours - eno ben yomo, and that it didn’t have … [Read more...]
Cream cheese and Lox
HaRav Yishai Natan - Can I eat fish and cheese? Maran, Bet Yosef (siman 87) writes clearly that one should not eat fish and milk together because it is dangerous for one’s health. The Rama, in Darche Moshe (4), writes: “Never in my life have I seen people be careful about eating fish and milk. It seems the Bet Yosef mixed Basar BeHalav together.” He is referring to a … [Read more...]
Q&A – Davar Gush in a Kli Sheni
Can I Pour Cold Gravy on Hot Rice on Shabbat? What if I Put a Hot Burger on a Dairy Plate? Both of these questions depend on the same halachic issue: Does a davar gush (a hot solid food) retain the ability to cook after being transferred into a kli sheni? Generally, a kli sheni does not cook because once food leaves the original pot, it begins to cool. However, the … [Read more...]
Halachot of Daily Living
I have a vitamin pill that contains kosher liver. If I take this vitamin, will I become meaty? HaRav Yitschak Yosef shlita in Yalkut Yosef (89:29) paskens like Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l (Igros Moshe YD 2:26) that if one swallows a meaty vitamin pill, one would not become meaty. The two reasons given for waiting six hours (i.e. that meat might be lodged between one’s teeth, … [Read more...]