Question I am a marbitz Torah  and I use my voice heavily to give many shiurim . I have also written many seforim . Recently, I came across difficulty with both of these issues, and I needed to hire people to help me with them. I wanted to ask the rov about problems I encountered. I was getting very hoarse from so much speaking, so I hired someone to give me voice lessons. I looked into a specific individual who offers private voice lessons, and I was told by someone else who

Question I am working at a camp this summer where there is only one minyan for Mincha. Sometimes, due to the nature of my job, I find myself without a hat and jacket during the time for that one Mincha minyan. Should I daven with that minyan without a hat and jacket, or should I daven later with a hat and jacket (as I do at all other times) without a minyan. Tuvia Rav Auerbach  You would never even consider going in front of a king without the proper attire. In the same lig

Question I was recently offered to purchase a laundromat in a non-Jewish neighborhood. The business consists of a number of washing machines and dryers that are coin-operated. It sounds like a good investment and I would like to go ahead with it. However, this operation is open 7 days a week and 24 hours a day. My question is: What should I do about Shabbos ? Thank you. A. D. Rav Auerbach   You may certainly go ahead with this deal and I give you my brocha that it should brin

Question This week, the weather reports are predicting that there will be a snowstorm here in Yerushalayim. My children are very excited about the possibility of snow and have been davening with great passion for the weather forecasters to be right and that there should be a snowstorm. One of them asked me if they could say mashiv horuach umorid hasheleg to daven for snow instead of the regular wording of mashiv hiruach umorid hageshem. Thanks. G. Y. Rav Auerbach  The chach

Question I have been working for the last three years on writing a novel based on Rabbi Travis’s Torah series “Thanking Hashem When Things Look Bad.” Boruch Hashem , after much work, we finished the manuscript, hired a top designer to produce a stunning cover, and were finally ready to go to print…or so we thought. Our shailah relates to the cover of the book . The top half of the cover has the title of the book, Yedidya , written on a dark blue background of a star-filled ni

Question My wife runs a gan  in our home, and I have the following question. At the end of siman  21 in Even Ha’ezer , se’if  20, the Shulchan Aruch  rules that women should not teach boys, as this could lead to a problem of yichud  when the father comes to pick them up. My wife runs a gan  in our home and I was wondering if the same issur  applies to her. Thank You Rav Zafrani There are many schools today that have women teaching younger boys. The reason this does not confli

Question My wife goes crazy when the dishes are in the sink over Shabbos . She heard that there is a heter  to wash them if it bothers her. Is this the halacha ? Thanks. Rav Zafrani The first thing you need to do is make sure that the dishes are being washed without a problem of meleches sechitah , such as by using netting and not a sponge. Even if that is the case, I do not feel that the mess justifies washing the dishes on Shabbos . If one will not need the dishes for the r

Question I am a yungerman  who just got married, and I am currently living and learning in Yerushalayim. I was studying here in Yerushalayim as a bochur , and I have to tell the rov  that I am completely confused about when the proper time to light Chanukah  candles is. On one hand, I see many people literally running home early to light the menorah  exactly at shkiah . They look at their watches and are makpid  to the second to light the menorah  at shkiah . On the other han

Question Last year on the second night of Chanukah, after reciting l’hadlik ner shel Chanukah I accidentally recited the beracha of shechiyanu . After I realized my mistake, I recited she’asah nisim .  This year I was studying the Gemara Shabbos 23a that says that on the second night of Chanukah we only make two berachos, and there is a question in the Gemara which one to leave out. This got me wondering, since last year I already made two berachos , did I act correctly by

I have been studying the halachos  of borer  for the past three months and have come across some very fine points. There are a number of questions I would like to ask the rov , if possible. Thank you. Chaim Tzvi Uzvolk Rubik’s Cube Revisited Question A number of years ago, I read an article in the Yated  where the rov permitted playing with a Rubik’s Cube on Shabbos . Recently, there was a sefer  published on borer  which cites, in the rov ’s name, that it is forbidden to pla

Question I am the director of a summer camp for yeshuiva bachurim . We ordered caps for the boys to protect them from the sun when they are involved in outdoor sports, but their delivery got delayed and they are only arriving on the 2nd of Av. Can we give these new caps to the boys to wear during the nine days or is this a problem of wearing a new garment? Rav Auerbach  It is prohibited to wear a new garment during the Nine Days (see Shulchan Aruch 551,6). If it is a new garm

Question I want to ask the esteemed rabbonim  of the Yated  about the following idea. I got a list of 4,000 synagogues in the USA. I want to send them a prayer that, with the help of other great rabbonim , was composed to promote unity amongst the Jewish people. Do the rabbonim  think that this is a good idea, and what advice can the rabbonim  give to help this initiative work? Thank you. Name withheld by request  Rav Auerbach  Kol hakavod  for this initiative to try and uni