Torah

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: Must a father teach his young child to refrain from eating in part on Yom Kippur?

Short Answer: Yes. According to the Rambam, there is a chinuch obligation to teach a child to refrain from violating prohibitions, even if the child will not fully refrain from violating the prohibition.

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: May one recite Kiddush before nightfall on Rosh HaShanah?

Short Answer: Yes, you may, even though the Maharil cites poskim who disagree.

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.

Question: Does the chazan need to repeat Sh’moneh Esrei from the beginning if he says HaKeil HaKadosh instead of HaMelech HaKadosh?