Weekly Newsletter Volume 1, Issue 6

May 27, 2021; Sivan 16, 5781

Halacha – Jewish Law Question: During a charity appeal, may one pledge an amount of money greater than he intends to donate if he feels that the larger pledge will serve to encourage others who are participating in the appeal to donate more? The Gemara (Sukkah 29A-29B) says that there are four practices of the wealthy and influential that cause their assets to be expropriated by the government: 1) Retaining IOUs that have already been paid; 2) Lending money with interest; 3) Failing to use their influence to rebuke others when they witness wrongdoing; and 4) Not fulfilling their monetary pledges to charity...

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Weekly Newsletter Volume 1, Issue 5

May 13, 2021; Sivan 2, 5781

Halacha – Jewish Law Bringing Your Own Food into Arenas and Theaters: Some public places such as arenas and theaters have policies that prohibit patrons from bringing their own food. If you want to eat or drink at the event, you need to buy the food or drink from the arena (and often at inflated prices). Is it permissible to ignore this policy, and bring your own food anyway, perhaps hiding the food when you enter? Rabbi Yisroel Belsky ZT”L responds: The theater or arena sells you a ticket with certain conditions attached. You are paying for the use of their facilities, the use of their seat, etc. The arena sells you the ticket only on condition that you follow their rules. It is not an unreasonable condition to require you to purchase their food rather than bringing your own...

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Weekly Newsletter Volume 1, Issue 4

May 6, 2021; Iyar 24, 5781

Halacha – Jewish Law Rashi (Chullin 94b) maintains that the prohibition of deceiving another (Genaivas Daas) does not apply unless one says something to mislead or deceive another. According to the Ran (Chullin 33a) the prohibition of Genaivas Daas does not apply unless one intended to mislead another. Tosafos (Chullin 94b) says that in a situation in which the deceived party should have known on his own to make a relevant inquiry but instead relied upon unwarranted assumptions, then an unintentional deceiver does not violate Genaivas Daas as this is the deceived party’s own mistake...

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