Business Halacha Daily

  Questions? Comments? We love feedback! Email us at info@baishavaad.org     Rav Shmuel Honigwachs Question: Reuven bought a house in a development. When he moved in, he noticed that the house he bought already has a window that overlooks his neighbor’s backyard. Does he have to close off the window or is he allowed to leave it the way it is?  Answer : In the halachos of hezek riya, the Halacha wi...

  Questions? Comments? We love feedback! Email us at info@baishavaad.org   Rav Shmuel Honigwachs Question: We previously said that in typical circumstances one should not open a window that allows him to see into a neighbor’s yard. What if the yard is already visible to a public area? For example, what if someone lives on a corner and his backyard faces the street? In such a case, if I live next d...

  Questions? Comments? We love feedback! Email us at info@baishavaad.org     Rav Shmuel Honigwachs Question: Reuven is making an extension to his house. After the extension is complete, the house will have a window that overlooks his neighbor’s backyard. Is that permitted?  Answer : The Mishnah and Gemara in Bava Basra discuss the concept of “ hezek riya ” (infringing on someone’s privacy). It is...

  Questions? Comments? We love feedback! Email us at info@baishavaad.org     Rav Aryeh Finkel Question : Yankel made a birthday party for his child, which included helium balloons. Afterwards, he released some balloons in the street. The balloons went straight up and struck some electric wires, which caused a short. What type of mazik is he?   Answer: This definitely is the hezek of aish . What Ya...

Questions? Comments? We love feedback! Email us at info@baishavaad.org   Rav Aryeh Finkel Question : I built an extension on my house and made a new laundry room. My wife put the first load of laundry into the new washing machine and set the machine on the cold cycle. When she opened it at the end of the cycle, she realized that the plumber had mixed up the hot and cold water pipes, which had caus...

  Questions? Comments? We love feedback! Email us at info@baishavaad.org     Rav Aryeh Finkel Question: Someone removed a railing from a second-floor balcony and someone else fell and got hurt. Is he liable as a mazik ? Similarly, someone opened a safety gate on top of the stairs and a child fell and got hurt. Is the one who opened the gate liable? Answer: The chiyuv of bor is not only when one di...

  Questions? Comments? We love feedback! Email us at info@baishavaad.org Rav Aryeh Finkel Question: Someone is driving and suddenly stops in the middle of the road. The driver behind him isn’t able to brake in time and hits him from behind, which causes substantial damage to the second driver’s car. Is the car that is parked in the middle of the road considered a bor , which would mean that he is...

  Questions? Comments? We love feedback! Email us at info@baishavaad.org Rav Aryeh Finkel Question: Someone dug a hole in the middle of the street. A fellow walks by and falls in. The fall causes him to chip his tooth. This tooth happened to be an implant. Since bor is potur on keilim , would the digger be exempt from paying for the damage to the implant? Answer: The question is if something attac...

  Questions? Comments? We love feedback! Email us at info@baishavaad.org   Rav Aryeh Finkel Question: Reuven owns a Roomba vacuum cleaner, which rolls by itself across the floor of his house. He brought it over to his neighbor’s house to demonstrate to them how it works. During his demonstration, it vacuumed up a child’s gold earring and they were unable to retrieve it. Is Reuven liable to pay for...

  Questions? Comments? We love feedback! Email us at info@baishavaad.org     Question: Yaakov and Yehuda are friends who enjoy playing pranks on each other. One day, Yaakov put down his cell phone on the edge of a table. Yehuda noticed this and called the phone, causing it to vibrate and fall of the table. It hit the ground and the screen shattered. Is Yehuda liable to pay for the damages? Answer:...

  Questions? Comments? We love feedback! Email us at info@baishavaad.org     Rav Aryeh Finkel Question: My bank offered a $750 promotion to any account holder who keeps $20,000 in his account for 90 days. I deposited that amount of money and told my secretary to make sure not to pay any bills from that account for 90 days. She didn’t listen and paid a bill from that account, which caused me to los...

Questions? Comments? We love feedback! Email us at info@baishavaad.org   Rav Aryeh Finkel Question: There is a threshold of how much investment income a taxpayer can have and still be eligible for the Earned Income Credit. Reuven told his money manager to make sure he doesn’t go over that threshold, as it would not be worthwhile to lose out on the credit. The money manager disobeyed his instructio...

  Questions? Comments? We love feedback! Email us at info@baishavaad.org     Question: A man owns a factory which doesn’t allow employees to bring cell phones onto the floor. He has a big clock – the only clock on the floor – which everything runs in accordance to. He hired someone to put up the clock and that worker didn’t set the time correctly. As a result of the clock being half an hour slow,...

Questions? Comments? We love feedback! Email us at info@baishavaad.org Rav Aryeh Finkel Question: A driver makes a turn and accidentally sideswipes a parked car. He leaves a note on the windshield with his phone number and starts to drive away. Suddenly, he sees another car plow into the same parked car and total it. The owner of the car has his vehicle declared a total loss by the insurance compa...

Questions? Comments? We love feedback! Email us at info@baishavaad.org Rav Aryeh Finkel Question: I went away for the summer and rented out my house to some tenants. I informed them that I wouldn’t be coming home until a few weeks after they left; therefore, I asked them to turn off the air conditioner before they leave. They did not do so, and instead left the air conditioning running at 65 degre...

Questions? Comments? We love feedback! Email us at info@baishavaad.org   Rav Aryeh Finkel Question : Reuven is driving around at 4 am. He comes to a red light and stops. He doesn’t see anyone around, so he goes through the red. Unfortunately, a kid on a scooter comes flying out of nowhere and is struck by Reuven’s car. Boruch Hashem , the boy is unhurt. The scooter, however, is destroyed. Is Reuve...

The Laws of Torts Week 1 Questions? Comments? We love feedback! Email us at info@baishavaad.org   Rav Aryeh Finkel TEXT VERSION: Question: Reuven’s neighbor went away for Shabbos. Before he left, he forgot to shut the hose that was running in his backyard. Over Shabbos, the water flowed into Reuven’s property and flooded his basement. Is the neighbor liable as an odom hamazik?   Answer: He definit...

  Questions? Comments? We love feedback! Email us at info@baishavaad.org     Question : If someone passes away suddenly and leaves behind a considerable estate, who is in charge of that estate according to Halacha? Answer : If there are adult children, they take over the estate. If the children are minors, an apotropus can be appointed to serve as the executive of the estate. There are four ways t...

  Questions? Comments? We love feedback! Email us at info@baishavaad.org     Rav Baruch Fried Question : One of the people who is considered by halacha to be unable to participate in commerce is a “ cheresh ”. I have a business partner who is deaf and hears through a cochlear implant. Does he have the status of a cheresh ? Answer : Generally, this question is not so relevant because just like ther...

Questions? Comments? We love feedback! Email us at info@baishavaad.org  

Questions? Comments? We love feedback! Email us at info@baishavaad.org  

Questions? Comments? We love feedback! Email us at info@baishavaad.org  

Can a Camp Withhold Payment from a Worker If His Father Owes Them Money? Rav Baruch Fried Question : A bochur spent a summer working in a camp. At the end of the summer, he goes over to the director and asks for his pay. The director informs the boy that his father still owes the camp money, so he is withholding his paycheck to cover the balance, and he should feel free to ask his father to pay hi...

Questions? Comments? We love feedback! Email us at info@baishavaad.org  

Questions? Comments? We love feedback! Email us at info@baishavaad.org