The Lemaan Yilmedu Institute is pleased to announce the launch of Lemaan Yishmeu, a new weekly halacha podcast with Rabbi Yosef Y. Braun, Mara D’asra and member of the Crown Heights Beis Din.

Each week, Rabbi Braun will address intriguing halachic questions on a wide range of practical topics — real questions that have come to his desk, along with his clear and insightful responses.

The podcast is available on all major listening platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

In the opening week, the fascinating halachic discussions include:

• Is there a halachic problem when the lines of a mezuza (and by extension tefillin and Sefer Torah) are not exactly parallel, gradually becoming wider or narrower, and how many such lines constitute an issue?
• May one rely on correcting such non-parallel lines (e.g., by stretching or shrinking letters) without creating a problem of shelo kesidran?
• How should one deal with the halacha of not giving food to someone who will not make a bracha when this concerns non-frum siblings or guests, and what are acceptable solutions?
• Is it appropriate to use a large amount of water for netilas yadayim (washing “b’shefa”), or is this considered excess, gaavah, or bal tashchis in contemporary circumstances?
• When walking on Shabbos in the street, is there any prohibition in causing a car (even driven by a Jew) to stop or slow down because of your presence?
• If money was left in a coat pocket going into Shabbos, does the coat become a basis l’davar ha’asur and muktza, and does it depend on the type of pocket (shirt‑style vs. sewn-on pants pocket)?
• When a person makes a bracha on a mitzvah to be motzi others (e.g., kiddush, Chanukah candles, leishev baSukkah) and then speaks before doing the act, are the listeners still yotzei the bracha?
• In Chutz La’aretz, if one forgot to separate challah before Shabbos and leaves over bread for hafrashas challah after Shabbos, what is the correct way to leave that portion, and what if one mistakenly designated an entire loaf as challah?
• When separating challah after Shabbos from bread that was eaten on Shabbos without prior hafrashas challah (in Chutz La’aretz), does one recite a bracha at that time?

To listen to the podcast: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and Pocket Casts

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