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Everyone wants to know the secret to wisdom. I can’t share it with you, because then it wouldn’t be a secret anymore. (To be fair, that statement isn’t necessarily true. Everyone wants to know the secret to wealth. Only some people want to know the secret to wisdom.)

Question:

May a person prevent a neighbor from smoking outside their joint courtyard?

Question: May a person deduct necessary household expenditures, such as food and clothing, before giving maaser k’safim?

Short Answer: Some poskim allow a deduction for necessary personal and household expenses. However, the consensus of the contemporary poskim is to the contrary, that no such deduction is allowed.

Question: There is a plumbing leak from an upper-floor apartment that is causing damage to a lower apartment. Must the owner of the upper floor pay to have the leak fixed?

Short Answer: The Rama rules that the owner of the top apartment is obligated to fix the leak where there is a lot of water seeping into the lower apartment. However, there are many other factors to consider, including any document setting forth maintenance provisions for the building.

A young avreich from Jerusalem fell ill and had to undergo a complex brain operation at a medical center located in the former Yugoslavia. In order to translate from English what the medical team was saying, the father of the avreich asked his friend R’ Yosef Rafoul, shlita, to accompany them on their journey. Upon arrival, they immediately made an appointment to see a top surgeon at the prestigious Institute for Neurosurgery in Belgrade, Serbia, who specialized in brain operations of the type required by the avreich. After days of exhaustive tests, the surgeon fixed a date for the operation.

(For p’sak halachah, please ask your own rav.)

Neighbor vs. Relative