Halacha & Hashkafa

Mr. Feder checked his initial communication with the agent. He had written the correct dates, and the error was clearly the agent's. "Why should we have to pay the surcharge?" Mrs. Feder asked her husband. "It was the agent's error, not ours!"

If it looks like bread, tastes like bread, and is used like bread, then it must be treated like bread, regardless of its level of sweetness.

There exists an unfair balance in our world between building and destroying. While building needs planning and painstaking attention, and is accomplished step by step and layer by layer, destroying is easier and quicker.

Is it proper for a husband/father or wife/mother to leave their family for an extended period of time?

It is entirely permissible for parents to find out the gender of their baby should they choose to do so. There is also nothing wrong with parents revealing to their friends and family their baby's gender.

I spent Shabbat in a Sefardi community, where cycling is common, and saw a teen whose bicycle chain had come off…. I exclaimed: “How great are the words of our Sages!”

What Constitutes Schach? “Schach Boards” (Sukkah 14a)

There is much discussion as to exactly when the first Beit HaMikdash was destroyed. According to one account, it was destroyed on the 7th of Av, while according to another account, it was destroyed on the 10th of Av.

My father did mention at one point that he owed you a few thousand dollars, acknowledged the son. That could be anything, though – two, three, four… How can you expect us to pay a large sum of $7,000 without any proof of how much was owed?

It is axiomatic that in Judaism we don’t merely commemorate or mark historical events. There is little purpose in celebrating or mourning the past.

Perhaps one should better go to sleep than engage in these pursuits, if he can't properly engage his focus on the sadness of the day.

The Face of Holiness “Inscribed on the Tzitz HaZahav” (Sukkah 5a)

In order to properly understand the prohibition of greeting others on Tisha B'Av and what it entails, one must first understand what the definition of sheilat shalom truly is.

"But I told you that we pay $12," replied Mrs. Sander. "When you said that you could babysit, I assumed you meant at the price I mentioned."

Ultimately, Yirmiyah was painfully vindicated. At that point, as the shamed nation was being led into exile, they cried. But by then it was too late.

I would be comfortable with nature hikes, short family trips, small gatherings – activities that are more contemplative in character and that do not undermine the character of these days.

All For The Boss ‘Praiseworthy Is One Whose Transgression Is Forgiven, Whose Sins Are Covered’ (Yoma 86b)

Furthermore, you deserve $10 for your effort on my behalf. I'm not giving the $10 because you laid out the money.

In some communities, Shalom Aleichem is not recited at all due to the halachic issues regarding addressing or praying to angels.

Creating an atmosphere of respect is more than teaching good manners. It is about transmitting a sense of kavod, honor and dignity within our home.

Is it proper to be overly familiar and casual with one’s parents?

Our lives have constant turbulence causing our internal selves to be constantly shifting. Because our lives are so transient and in flux, being strong in our convictions and beliefs is a formidable challenge.

A person who took several suits or dresses to a dressing room to try on might not even be considered a borrower, but a lesser guardian, since he has no clear intention of buying the item.

As the Shulchan Aruch does not discuss any requirement regarding how one should recite borei nefashot, it might just be that the manner in which one recites it is not important.8

To trigger a requirement for all Jews to fast, it would have to be that the Jewish people as a whole were experiencing shmad, which certainly did not exists in the Ramban’s day.

To our generation Rabbi Akiva might have said...vahavta lachem k'reiacha - love yourself like (you love) your friend.

Is it proper for an adult to change his/her given Hebrew name?

Point Of Ingestion “The size of an egg to satisfy… of a big date to recover…” (Yoma 79b)

Named for my father’s brother who had been taken away by the Nazi’s, I feel as if I am finally able to give my father a small nechama for all the pain he had suffered.

Worming Out Of This One! “On the hem they made pomegranates…twisted scarlet wool” (Yoma 71b)