Halachic Highlights

Question: Does a person violate Bishul Akum on a food that he eats raw but the general population does not normally eat raw?

Short Answer: According to most poskim, Bishul Akum is based on the general populace’s eating preferences, and thus, the person would violate Bishul Akum. This has practical ramifications for sushi.

Question: Are you permitted to eat food cooked by an irreligious Jew?

Short Answer: Many poskim permit food cooked by an irreligious Jew. However, if the Jew has the status of “mumar” (heretic), there is reason to be strict.

Question: May a respected person (“adam chashuv”) eat foods that were cooked by an akum where the food is edible when eaten raw?

Short Answer: Many poskim are strict on this issue, but the OU appears to rely on the lenient poskim, including the Aruch HaShulchan.

Question: Is a woman obligated to return a lost object that she finds?

Short Answer: Unless it would be improper or inappropriate for a woman to pick up this specific lost item, a woman is obligated in hashavas aveidah like a man.

Question: Does the prohibition of Bishul Akum apply to a housekeeper or another akum in a Jew’s home?

Short Answer: According to many poskim, the prohibition of Bishul Akum applies to a housekeeper in a Jew’s home. However, b’dieved, if the food was accidentally cooked by a hired housekeeper in a Jew’s home, some poskim allow the food to be eaten.

Question: May a homeowner keep a valuable object that he finds buried in his yard?

Short Answer: Unless the owner knows that the object was there from before he purchased the property, many Acharonim rule that he may not keep the object, as his property acquired the object before yiush and now the property owner must return it or hold onto the object until Eliyahu HaNavi comes.