יום שישי, כ״א תשרי תשפ״זFriday, October 2, 2026
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Rabbi Meir Orlian is a faculty member of the Business Halacha Institute, headed by HaRav Chaim Kohn, a noted dayan. To receive BHI’s free newsletter, Business Weekly, send an e-mail to subscribe@businesshalacha.com. For questions regarding business halacha issues, or to bring a BHI lecturer to your business or shul, call the confidential hotline at 877-845-8455 or e-mail ask@businesshalacha.com.
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Mr. Brayer thought for a minute. "I'm happy to charge it to your credit card," he said, "but I'm concerned about ribbis."
If two of you are of the same opinion, the case is effectively decided!
After listening to both sides present their case, Rabbi Dayan said, “The sale of defective merchandise is void from the beginning.
The issue here is the close connection between the dayan and his constituent and the question of whether his judgment will be affected by this relationship.
The two thought the request was unfair, especially since Reuven later got someone else to pay him $10, so they went to Rabbi Dayan to get his opinion.
Mr. Chovel interjected, "But beis din is not halachically authorized nowadays to adjudicate cases of bodily injury!"
He had an hour until his next appointment, but there wasn't much he could do meanwhile. It didn't pay to go home. He took out his Gemara and began learning Daf Yomi.
"It feels wrong to work all day with non-kosher food," replied Mrs. Fleishman. "Are you sure it's allowed?"
When there is an apparent mistake, there is a mitzvah of hashavas aveidah to alert the store manager or staff to the error.
Mechilah requires a willingness to forgo and release the other party of liability.
The Rif offers a different rationale. He writes that the agent must share the extra items with the sender because the benefit came about through his money.
"What a waste that I bought the bookcases last week!" he exclaimed. "I could have ordered them now for almost half the price and saved myself $800!"
On Shabbos morning, Moshe decided to serve the kiddush food since it would mostly go to waste otherwise.
If a person incurred expenses on his own initiative to save someone's life, he can ask to be compensated
It’s prohibited to destroy even part of G-d's sacred name. Thus, one cannot usually cut between the letters of G-d's name in a siddur or Chumash.
Sara felt bad but thought her friend should compensate her for at least some of the money.
"Mrs. Stern plans to work on Yom Tov," Mrs. Alter said to her husband afterwards. "I tried to dissuade her, but she didn't pick up on it. Are we allowed to process the billing and keep our percentage?"
"I asked Rabbi Dayan and he said I shouldn't seat you near Mr. Fine," explained the gabbai. Mr. Gold approached Rabbi Dayan and asked him the reasoning behind his directive.
"Charging a price significantly different from the norm is a violation of ona'ah," explained Rabbi Dayan.
A lender holding a loan document acknowledged that he received payment, but claimed that the payment was for another, undocumented, loan.
David called Rabbi Dayan and asked, "Can a non-Jew and Jew form a partnership and lend money to Jews with interest?"
Usually you cannot double-bill, but the answer to your question depends on the contractual arrangement or local custom.
"Thank you very much for the recommendations," Mr. Weiner replied. "I have to speak to a rabbi, though, about whether I can take the jobs."
In an office setting, therefore, the question of whether a worker may take food home depends on local common practice.
Accordingly, the obligation to give maaser kesafim may be fulfilled not only through money, but also through goods and services.
"How much is the whole horse worth?" Feivel asked. "Go sell it and I'll pay you the difference to buy a new horse."
A truly poor person can receive a large amount of charity at once, even beyond his needs, replied Rabbi Dayan.
The Gemara [Bava Metzia 76a] states that if someone instructed an employee to work in his neighbor's property, the employer is liable to pay the person’s salary.
I figured you were giving me a grace on the loan. Of course I will start paying you in monthly $1,000 installments starting from this month.
If Mr. Miller had admitted that he lent money only once, clearly one of the witnesses would be lying and his testimony would be worthless.
People are particular about whom they wish to live with, so the remaining partner can claim he agreed to live with the initial partner but not with this new person – whether due to the person’s status or character.
Furthermore, if the lender explicitly stipulated that the payment must be made with money, the stipulation is binding.
"Well, one of you owes me a new bat,” Avi said. “You, Aharon, broke it, but Eli had no right to lend it to you.”
A borrower generally would not have the audacity to falsely claim that he repaid a loan, especially since the creditor did him a favor by lending him money.
He may not charge for retrieving it since doing so is required as part of hashavas aveidah, but he may ask for partial compensation for any work he didn’t get to do as a result.
Chazal relied on the presumption that the true owner will more likely succeed; he will make a stronger effort to secure the item or demonstrate his ownership.
When the boys retrieved the knapsack an hour later, they saw that the bags of marbles had burst.
"Indeed, according to one opinion in the Gemara, if the agent did not have a choice not to obey, the sender is liable since the rationale does not apply," replied Rabbi Dayan.
But I've babysat on Shabbos before, said Rivki. After Shabbos, the family gave me money and you didn't stop me from accepting it.
Upon checking into the matter, he discovered that years ago a Jew had complained that the farmer had stolen the land from him.
I was busy and forgot about it, said Shmuel. In any case, the bike wasn't stolen. It was smashed due to circumstances beyond my control. I had no idea the branch was weak.
Once a person makes something hefker, he cannot take back his declaration, replied Rabbi Dayan.
On the way home, Chaim and two other friends were mugged and their wallets were stolen.
"Yes," Mr. Pincus said. "But since the loan document is invalid, I shouldn't have to pay the loan."
The following morning, after leining, the shul rabbi delivered an enthusiastic sermon, in which he praised the bar mitzvah boy based on insights from the parsha.
The default assumption is that the other children allow this expense. However, they can protest, and are entitled to prohibit him from dressing henceforth at their expense.
We're partners in the business, and we owed $1,000 to your uncle. If I paid your part, I'm entitled to reimbursement from you also!
"A saw belongs to a category of muktzah called kli shem'lachto l'issur, a utensil whose primary purpose is prohibited," replied Rabbi Dayan.
A person cannot rent out a property that is not his!
Later that evening, Mr. Klein thought he might want to give his old dining room set to someone and quickly called Mr. Gross. "Please don't ruin the set," he said. "I might give it to someone."
I'm ashamed to admit," Dov said when he finally found himself before the rabbi, "but I stole money from someone and would now like to return the amount without having to face him. Is that possible?"
"But I need it now," Mr. Schwartz replied. "It's my shovel. I'm happy to lend it, but not when I need it!"
"That's all?" asked Chaim. "A car service to the airport costs about $60. The cheapest a person can get is $40."
Yitzi, when entrusting his ball with Eli, took a known risk upon himself. Therefore, Eli is not liable...
"How do we resolve the apparent contradiction between these two rulings?" asked Mr. Schwartz.
"If we share the wall, that means half is mine and half is yours," said Mr. Hauser. "At most, you can prop the beams on your half of the wall, but not on my half!"
Chaim had no right to let you use my room. If you continue sleeping in it, you'll have to pay me $50 a night, like a hotel.
The caterer ran back to Boaz. "The cholent is permissible!" he exclaimed. "I already dumped it into the garbage," Boaz replied.
Mr. Siegel took an urn, three hotplates, and some boxes of vases and flowers from the garage. He took them to the shul and set them up in the room where they were eating.
"Still, at the time of the loan and the subsequent meeting, both were associated with the institution," objected Mr. Gold.
"We never promised you a position," replied Mr. Hauser. "Also, you gained knowledge from the course."
When the Millers returned home, they tried to locate their initial communication with the landlord. Finally, Mrs. Miller found a paper with various rental options and price quotes.
When the branch was almost completely cut, it broke off, twisting as it fell. It hit another branch, bounced off, and crashed to the ground 15 feet away. One end landed on a lawn chair and cracked it.
If a borrower dispossesses his assets to evade his creditors, his cunning plans are void, and they can collect the assets.
Mrs. Miller returned home and related to her husband what happened. "I'm in a dilemma," she said. "What should I do with the large size dress? Must I give it to Mrs. Schwartz or can I keep it for our daughter?"
"The lease was up two months ago, and we didn't renew it," argued Mr. Landman. "You don't need any notice! Say thank you that I let you stay until now!"
Heshy's head was swirling with the many new requests. Is it better to give more charity or loans? How much should I lend? To whom? What risks should I take?
If a time was set for the partnership – for example, until the end of August – you must stay until that time and then you may dissolve the partnership.
"What's the difference?" said the treasurer. "Let each person think he is a sponsor. No one knows who donated first!"
"A qualified expert can annul a vow on his own," replied Rabbi Dayan. "However, no one is an expert nowadays, so that we need a panel of three, like a beis din."
"You had the home for all of July," reasoned Mr. Wolf. "It's only fair that we should have it for the remainder of August."
"The videographer called and said he was in an accident," replied the Mr. Schott. "Thank G‑d nothing serious, but it delayed him two hours. He'll be here in 10 minutes."
"They ordered a serving for you," his wife pointed out. "If you don't go, you’re causing them a loss. At least send a gift to cover the serving."
Mr. Landau decided to consult with Rabbi Dayan. "Is the sale invalid because I meant all-leather?" he asked.
"We have a container of cream cheese, but we'd rather have butter," said Mrs. Miller. "They're worth about the same. If you give me butter, I'll give you cream cheese."
"The Rema writes that if there are two groups, each group is entitled to half, even though one group may have more members than the other," replied Rabbi Dayan.
"I think that you are considered the borrower," said his uncle. "You asked me for the money and I handed it to you."
Each of the witnesses, in turn, testified that they saw Mr. Lander lend Mr. Braun $2,000 on Chanukah. Mr. Braun's advocate cross-examined them, but their testimony stood intact.
That bottle was entrusted to you. You didn't fulfill your responsibility properly. You might be liable for the whiskey!
"I'm not sure whether a single Seder group can split," said Mr. Kadosh. "But look! I see Rabbi Dayan; maybe he has an idea."
"What about the Jewish clients?" asked Mr. Cohen. "That's a problem; they're keeping their chametz in our warehouse!"
Pinchas called Rabbi Dayan and asked: "If my brother takes a $30,000 loan from the bank intended for me, and I reimburse him for the monthly installments, do we need a heter iska?"
The following day, Mr. Metzger called Mr. Rubin. "I appreciate your honesty," he said. "However, I reviewed the records, and I'm certain there's no outstanding balance."
"Whoever came in contact with a corpse or was in a cemetery must also be sprinkled on twice beforehand with water that has ashes of the parah adumah, the red cow, mixed in."
"My son dressed up as a lion last year," exclaimed Mrs. Kahn. "We bought this great costume. It was so realistic!"
Yaakov looked at the will again. "Why do you say that?" he asked. "The will does not say to give $10,000 to each grandchild. It says that $10,000 is granted to the grandchildren as a group. Divide the sum among you!"
A week went by. Aryeh began finding the work lonely. "The work is lonely now that the other worker is not here," he told Mr. Farber. "I don't know if I can continue."
Usually the parties reach a settlement agreement in the end or the dayanim rule a compromise.
Mr. Berger called home to see if he left his wallet there by mistake. "I'll check right away," said his wife. She called back two minutes later that the wallet was on his desk.
"It won't be easy to buy another one," said Mrs. Lieber. "It was an odd sale item I found in an antique store. It's not right to give away what I got special for them."
Someone dialed the police. It was too late, though. The thief had already fled the hall and disappeared into the street.
When they finished talking, David said: I acknowledge that I was wrong, but Rabbi Bloch still had no right to break my phone. He owes me for the repair.
The three came before Rabbi Dayan. Avraham described the situation and asked: "How should we divide payment of the rent and various bills?"
"You're kidding!" exclaimed Mr. Meyer. "That's my missing coat! Someone exchanged coats with me last year in shul. Funny that it wound up in your hands!"
Mr. Weiss rushed into his study. To his dismay, Mr. Miller’s envelope with the money also was gone. He immediately notified the police.
While in Israel, Dov purchased two large portraits. With the frames, the total price came to 1,200 NIS.
Mr. Muller spoke with some of the senior employees, who traveled often. He heard from them different approaches regarding travel expenses.
You are only required to pay what she charged in the past, answered Rabbi Dayan. However, I would recommend reaching a compromise with her.
When Shraga was ready to go back, Ari looked in the closet, but the shirt was missing.
But I bought the gem from you and gave you the money, reasoned Mr. Silver. You owe me the money; you go deal with the seller!
October 2, 2026 
