Chanukah Gelt for Children Question I see children going around Yerushalayim on Chanukah collecting Chanukah gelt. I was wondering if there is a source for this custom. If there is a valid source for this custom, should I give money to every child who comes by and asks me? Is there a deeper meaning to this custom that I should be aware of? Thank you. L. S. Rav Auerbach The Magein Avrohom (670) brings the custom to give demei Chanukah to ne’arim ha’aniyim, needy children, and

Question My brother and I are baalei teshuvah and we have a very interesting question to ask the rov. Before my father married our mother, he was engaged to a non-Jew. When his fiancée discovered that my father was Jewish, she got cold feet. Although he was able to convince her to go ahead with the wedding, she insisted that before they married, he first had to get baptized, Rachmana litzlan. My father very much wanted to marry this woman and he agreed. On the day the baptism

AI Programs and Robots on Shabbos Question I am involved in the development of AI systems, and it seems to me that in the very near future, there will be major breakthroughs in this field. For example, on the horizon are robots that can be instructed to do work before Shabbos and then, on Shabbos, to do all 39 melachos. These robots can cook, clean, write, sew, and perform whatever melacha one desires. My question is: Will it be permitted to instruct these robots before Shabb

Question I am a single girl, and I have been in shidduchim for a number of years. I recently sent an email to a choshuve rebbetzin praising a Torah book that she co-authored and asking a question. After the rebbetzin dealt with my question, she wrote to me that she is not only davening at the Kosel for my success in shidduchim, but she is also giving me all of the merit from the book that she authored, and in that zechus, I should find a shidduch quickly. I was quite surprise

Question My child has a disease that is life-threatening, and for many years we have been searching for a cure. There are numerous medicines available to lessen the symptoms of this condition and prevent it from getting worse, but they all have terrible side effects. They do, however, prevent the patient from entering a life-threatening situation. For many years, we have been discussing this situation with people we trust in our community, who eventually told us about someone

Making a Brocha on Non-Kosher Food Question I work in a company where I share an office with a non-religious Jew and a non-Jew. I am assuming that it goes without saying that if we all eat together, we would not make a zimun with someone non-Jewish as the third party. Should I teach my non-religious partner to make brachos, even though he eats non-kosher food? Thank you. Tzvi Kahn Lawrence, NY Rav Auerbach Exclusion of Non-Jews in Zimun As far as your first question is conce

Question I really enjoy your column and I have the following question: My family stayed at a kosher hotel in a place where it was nearly impossible to get hold of kosher food. On the day of our flight back, we realized that we might not have access to kosher food for many hours and thought that perhaps we could take food from the hotel dining room. However, there was a large sign in the dining room stating very clearly that, under all circumstances, it was forbidden to take f

Feeding Workers Basar B'Chalav Question I run a big store in New Jersey where the workers are not Jewish. Every day, I make sure we have food for the workers, but today I forgot to take care of this. This morning, I gave a sum of money to the manager to purchase food for the workers, and he purchased food that was real bosor b’cholov, i.e., milk and meat that were actually cooked together. I know that in addition to the prohibition to eat bosor b’cholov, it is also prohibited

Rabbis in Bais Din Question I am the rabbi of a large shul in America. Recently, I was summoned to bais din by some of my congregants who were upset with me, and I feel that the head of the bais din spoke to me with a tremendous lack of respect. He called me “adon,” a colloquial term for “Mr.,” and did not show even the slightest drop of respect for me. I understand that the dayanim are supposed to be impartial, but I really feel hurt by the way I was treated in bais din. Is

Benefiting From Withholding Tzedokah Question I have a relative who is struggling financially and needs a significant amount of money each month just to get by. I have a certain amount of money that I give every month, and if I take care of his needs, I will not be able to give to anyone else. Since relatives come first, I would like to know if I am obligated to give him all of my tzedokah money and not give to any other tzedakos. While we are on the subject of tzedokah, I ha

Hot Dog Eating Contests Question I am running a camp this summer, and we are trying to decide which activities we should plan. One person suggested that we have a hot dog eating contest, i.e., a contest to see who can eat the most hot dogs within a ten-minute span of time. My question is: If a person eats a massive number of hot dogs all at once, e.g., 20 hot dogs in buns within ten minutes, does he need to recite Birkas Hamazon afterward or is this included in what Chazal ca

Question I am a yungerman learning Gemara and halacha b’iyun with the she’ifah (goal) to, be”H, eventually serve as a posek. Recently, I came across two klalei hora’ah that are unclear to me, and if possible, I would like to ask Rav Auerbach to clarify them. D. Halevi Yerushalayim Safeik Pelugta Question My first question is in regard to one of the klalei hora’ah cited by the Mishnah Berurah (318:2). The Mishnah Berurah explains that when there is a case of doubt involving a