Corporations and interest

Hi,

The prohibition against borrowing money with interest payments does not apply if the borrower is actually a corporation, assuming that the individual members of the corporation are legally shielded from becoming personally liable for re-payment of the debt.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 2:62)

כתיבה וחתימה טובה,
Mordechai

Dangerous surgery

Hi,

[There is a lot to say here, and this responsum only begins to address it, but I thought it still worth bringing here:]

In a situation in which doctors believe that a patient will die in a short time [Rabbi Feinstein does not define 'short' here], the patient may pursue a dangerous surgery even if the odds given for its success are less than 50%.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 2:58)

Have a good day,
Mordechai

Church music

Hello,

[Please see the disclaimer atop this blog; I am aware that there are other views, besides that of Rav Moshe, in this matter.]

A Jew may not listen to music used in church services, whether it is in contemporary use or not. Listening is, at least, an action which could tempt a person to participate in such services; singing along could actually constitute a violation of biblical law.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 2:56)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Sculpting forms of animals

Hi,

A Jew may sculpt forms of animals for aesthetic purposes, and keep such forms; an example would be the eagle found atop the pole of many American flags.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 2:55)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Relying on the Rabbi's eruv tavshilin

Hi,

I know that the Rabbi makes an eruv tavshilin and includes those who have forgotten to prepare one themselves. May I choose to rely on the Rabbi's eruv tavshilin from the outset?

The sage Shemuel once disqualified someone from relying on his eruv tavshilin, apparently because that person had repeatedly failed to prepare his own eruv tavshilin. There is some debate as to whether this was Shemuel's unique stance, or whether this disqualification is inherent in the laws of eruv tavshilin.

In practice, all agree that each household should set up its own eruv tavshilin, and not rely on another person having them in mind. Further, many halachic authorities write that one who intentionally skips preparing his own eruv tavshilin is not able to rely on the eruv tavshilin of the Rabbi.

One whose eruv tavshilin is eaten or goes bad before Friday may rely on the Rabbi's eruv tavshilin.

(Beitzah 16b; Rashi ibid l'didach assur; Rosh Beitzah 2:2; Rashba 1:683; Kol Bo 59; Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 527:7-8)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

A durable eruv tavshilin?

Hi,

This year, we will need an eruv tavshilin for Rosh haShanah, the start of Succos, and Shemini Atzeres. May I create one eruv tavshilin and keep it through all three occasions?

In the Talmud, Rava explains that an eruv tavshilin ensures that we will have good food for the Shabbos following Yom Tov. Another sage, Rav Ashi, contends that an eruv tavshilin reminds people not to use Yom Tov to prepare for a weekday. Rava requires a new eruv tavshilin for each occasion, but Rav Ashi would permit us to recycle an eruv tavshilin.

In practice, we avoid relying on Rav Ashi's view; even one who sets up an eruv tavshilin with intent to re-use it should still set up a new one [without a berachah] for the following occasion. However, one who sets up an eruv tavshilin with intent to re-use it, and then forgets to set up a new one, may rely on Rav Ashi's view.

It is considered appropriate to eat the eruv tavshilin on Shabbos, especially within Rava's view. Some prefer to use the bread at seudah shlishis.

(Beitzah 15b; Rosh Beitzah 2:1; Kol Bo 59; Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 527:14; Mishneh Berurah 527:45; Shemirat Shabbat k'Hilchatah 2:13)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

Making a statue

Hello,

A Jew is not permitted to make a statue of a human being, even if it is done solely for aesthetic purposes.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 2:54)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Temperature for wine to be considered "mevushal"

Hello,

Due to a rabbinic prohibition intended to encourage intramarriage by limiting Jews' ability to socialize with non-Jews, wine which is handled by people who are not Jewish is not kosher. However, due to reasons beyond the scope of this email, wine which was heated to a certain level before any prohibited contact does not lose its kosher status; this wine is called "yayin mevushal".

The temperature wine must reach in order to be termed mevushal is the one termed yad soledet bo, which is certainly achieved by 175 degrees Fahrenheit. For those who require that the heating process diminish the volume of wine, this is certainly achieved at that temperature.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 2:52)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Gloves and Non-mevushal Wine

Hi,

Due to a rabbinic prohibition intended to encourage intramarriage by limiting Jews' ability to socialize with non-Jews, wine which is handled by people who are not Jewish is not kosher. However, due to reasons beyond the scope of this email, wine which has been boiled does not lose its kosher status; this wine is called "yayin mevushal".

Wearing gloves does not help regarding handling wine which is not mevushal.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 2:51)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Giving a smoker a match

Hi,

Giving a smoker a match does not violate the prohibition against causing the blind to stumble, even if one personally believes smoking to be dangerous. This is because many people have smoked and have not experienced harm.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 2:49)

[Note: Please see the disclaimer atop this blog - this is one view, and there are others. But I did not bring this responsum in order to court controversy. Rather, I think it is worth recognizing within Rav Moshe's words the following two points: 1) If research would reveal an overwhelmingly large risk, then the prohitibition would apply. 2) Also, if research would be able to identify which people are not at risk and which people are, then offering a match to a person who is in the "at risk" category would violate this prohibition.]

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Kashering porcelain

Hi,

Expensive porcelain dishes which have not been used in more than 12 months may be kashered via three successive acts of hagalah, in a case in which this will aid people in becoming observant of kashrut.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 2:46)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Civil Marriage

Hi,

[This case is not as practical as the ones I usually cite, but the lesson is important.]

In a case  in which a couple received a civil divorce but not a Jewish divorce, and then they wish to remain together but they do not want to have a secular official "marry" them civilly, a rabbi may not perform a Jewish wedding for them. The concern is lest people think that the civil divorce constituted a valid Jewish divorce as well.

A rabbi may fill out their marriage license, with witnesses; it is only the religious ceremony that we avoid.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 2:44)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Who is trustworthy?

Hi,

In the Jewish legal system, we only trust someone for matters of Jewish law if that individually is personally observant of Jewish law. [There are nuances in cases in which an individual violates only particular laws, or violates Jewish law only in private.]

Theoretically, one could trust someone who was not personally observant of Jewish law, if one knew through long-term experience with this person that he never lied, regardless of his own good. However, this would require intimate knowledge of the person over an extended period of time, with recent information as well as knowledge of his behaviour in the past.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 2:43)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Re-starting a religious practice

Hi,

[Jewish law prohibits eating the gid hanasheh, a neurovascular bundle found in the hindquarters of an animal.]

In a community where the hindquarters of animals have been sold to non-Jews for generations, rather than expend the effort to remove the gid hanasheh, one who needs the hindquarters would be permitted to bring in a certified expert to remove the gid hanasheh. The non-practice does not constitute a minhag, and doing so could increase the number of Jews who opt for kosher meat over non-kosher meat.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 2:42)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Oversight of sin

Hi,

One may not appoint a mashgiach [kashrut supervisor] for a food production facility in which a particular process requires a Jew to violate Jewish law, even where the end result will be a kosher product. Assigning a mashgiach there would give the false impression of approving the violation of Jewish law, and so violate the lifnei iver prohibition against causing the blind to stumble.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 2:41)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Was the manufacturer Jewish?

Hi,

Where food utensils are purchased from a Jewish-owned store, but one isn't certain whether they were produced by Jews, one should immerse them in a mikvah without a berachah. However, where the material [like glass] is such that immersion is only required rabbinically in the first place, and one cannot ascertain whether the manufacturer was Jewish, and there are great obstacles to immersion, then immersion is not required.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 2:40)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Re-using a jar or bottle

Hi,

When a factory produces and markets a bottled drink or food in a container, the essence is the drink or food, and the container is subsidiary and not viewed as having any sort of independent existence. Therefore, a Jew who purchases such a product and then decides to re-use the container is said to be creating the container, and no immersion of the container in a mikvah would be required.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 2:4)

[Note that I am not sure whether this would apply to containers which the company sought to re-claim for cleaning and re-use. Also note the disclaimer atop this blog; this is Rav Moshe's view, but prominent others disagree.]

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Tevilah of government property

Hi,

Food utensils which a Jew acquires from government ownership require immersion in a mikvah, where the general population is not Jewish.

[I believe this is Rav Moshe's intent. I don't think he can be talking about Jewish use of a utensil while it is still government-owned, as in the case of a Communist society.]

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 2:39)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Two belts

Hi,

One may not wear a second belt, in addition to his pants, when walking in a public area without an eruv on Shabbat. One may only do so when the belt is needed for his garb while walking.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 2:35)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Running hot water on Shabbat

Hi,

One may not run hot water on Shabbat, if this will cause cold water to enter the boiler and be heated. Doing so might even be considered intentionally heating the water that enters, since if the water wouldn't enter, he wouldn't have hot water later.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 2:33)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Bagels and bishul akum

Hi,

Bagels which are boiled and then baked are not subject to the laws of bishul akum, only the laws of pat akum, despite their boiling. This is because the boiling does not bring the dough to edibility.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 2:33)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

Ice Cream Emulsifiers

Hello,

Ice cream produced with a non-kosher emulsifier is itself non-kosher. Where a non-kosher emulsifier was already used, and its non-kosher status was a result of rabbinic law rather than biblical law, then there may be room to permit the resulting ice cream - but one could not utilize this to permit doing so ab initio.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 2:32)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Hypnosis in halachah

Hi,

Hypnotism works through natural means on the body's nervous system; therefore, it is not considered any form of "magic", and one may practice it. Whether it works for particular purposes is another matter.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 2:29 [end])

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Animal gelatin

Hi,

Gelatin derived from the hides of kosher animals is not considered "meat" in Jewish law, and may be used with dairy products.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 2:27)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Waiting after meat-derived pills

Hello,

One who swallows a pill derived from meat need not wait any length of time before consuming dairy.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 2:26)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The berachah for fruit juice

Hi,

There is some debate regarding the proper blessing to be recited before drinking fruit juice, where the juice is produced by boiling the fruit, and this is the normal procedure for consuming that kind of fruit. Our practice is to recite shehakol.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 2:25)

Have a great day,
Mordechai