Anash.org feature: A weekly shiur by Dayan Levi Yitzchok Raskin, Rov of Anash in London, explores interesting Torah questions and halachic dilemmas.
The following issues are discussed by Rabbi Raskin in this week’s episode:
- The exemption of Tachnun in a Shul where a Bris is to be held; is that the unanimous position of the Poskim? [1]
- Shimon visits Reuven and places his cellphone on the coffee table. Reuven’s dog got hold of the phone and damaged it. Is Reuven liable for the damage? [2]
- For those who are unable to hear Megila in the normal manner, is there value in them reading it from a printed Chumash, even in English? [3]
- Q. Which Brocho should I say upon receiving the vaccine? [4]
- Q. My elderly mother has a non-Jewish carer. Although my mother used to light the stove before the carer began cooking, she is longer able to do so. When visiting my mother, may I use the Keilim without Kashering them first? [5]
- I’ve heard that it’s our minhag not to cook or fry kashered liver. Is that right? [6]
- I opened a cage to feed the bird; is closing the door an issue of ‘trapping’? [7]
- In some circles, Shlishi is seen as a special Aliya. Is that because it’s the first one up after Kohen and Leivi? If so, in the absence of a Kohen, should the Yisroel chosen to be honoured be called up for Sheini (after the Leivi)? [8]
- As an alternative to a crock-pot, may one put a fully cooked and hot cholent in a roaster bag and place in a pan of hot water and leave on a hotplate?
- A lady had decided to give a large sum to a particular institution, in three instalments. This was a resolve in her heart; she never uttered a word to anyone about this. After her having given her 1st instalment, the director grossly mistreated her, to the degree that she doesn’t wish to contribute further to that institution. May she redirect her subsequent instalments to a different beneficiary? [9]
- One who missed having an Aliya on the Shabbos before his birthday, should he endeavour to have an Aliya on the following Shabbos? [10]
[1] משנה ברורה סי’ קלא ס”ק כב.
[2] בהמה שאכלה כלים הוי קרן – חו”מ סי’ שצא ס”ב. בחצר של מזיק, אם קיבל שמירה – שם סי’ שצח ס”ה וברמ”א.
[3] סי’ תרצא ס”ט.
[4] ספר המנהגים ע’ 79.
[5] בשו”ע יו”ד סי’ קיג ס”ד יש מתירים בישול שפחה נכרית בבית הישראל. רמ”א שם מתיר בדיעבד. מחלוקת בדין כלים שנתבשל בהם בישול עכו”ם – שם סט”ז. בצירוף השתיים יש להתיר השימוש בהכלים.
[6] ‘ליקוטי סיפורי התוועדויות’ (גרינגלס) ע’ 417. המו”ל ציין לדרכי תשובה (סי’ עג סק”ה). אך שם כתב רק להמתין עד שיצטנן.
[7] ראה שוע”ר סי’ שטז סכ”ד. ביאור הלכה שם סי”ב ד”ה דאסור.
[8] כף החיים סי’ רפב סק”ג. אבל ע”פ נגלה, כל המוקדם הוא החשוב (גיטין ס א; שו”ע סי’ קלו).
[9] שו”ע יו”ד סי’ רנח סי”ג בהגה; צדקה ומשפט פ”ד הערה יג.
[10] יחידות של הרד”ב בוימגארטען ע”ה, מנחם אב תשי”ד.
I think It should be noted that although the rabbi agrees with the questioner that if one with a kosher Megillah is following along with the reader over zoom that it’s a valid reading – it means that the listener is actually saying the words of the Megillah.