Hebrew | Francais

Shabbat Parashat Pinchas 5771

Pinchas | 14 Tamuz 5771 | 16/07/2011

Parashat Hashavuah: The Authority of Leaders

The daughters of Tzlufchad introduced their request to inherit their father’s portion in the Land of Israel with an explanation of his death, stressing the negative: “He was not within the group that gathered against Hashem in the assemblage of Korach” (Bamidbar 27:3). Let us deal with the obvious question: what difference does the reason for Tzlufchad’s death make in regard to his daughters’ ability to inherit his portion?

Ask the Rabbi: Non-Jewish Worker Servicing Clients on Shabbat

I have a business in which my workers and I go to clients’ homes to provide a service. Sometimes a client wants the visit on Shabbat or Yom Tov. May I assign a non-Jewish employee to go? In general, our workers receive a set salary plus a commission per time they meet a client.

Ein Ayah: What To Do With Worldy Pleasures

The host breaks the bread so that he will cut generous pieces, and the guest blesses so that he can bless the host.

P'ninat Mishpat: The Status of the Director of an Organization

The person in charge of someone else’s funds sometimes has a special status. The Shulchan Aruch (Choshen Mishpat 37:9 and 290:12, respectively) says that a gizbar (person in charge of tzedaka funds) and an appotropus (legal guardian of orphans) can testify on behalf of the funds they handle. Similarly they are not personally sides to the dispute, as far as their responsibilities before the court are concerned. However, the status of a person or group of people who together start an NPO (non-profit organization) does not allow for these halachot. Rather, they have the status of owners or parties to the dispute. This is not to take away from their philanthropic intentions; it is just that their level of involvement is higher.

This edition of
Hemdat Yamim

is dedicated
to the memory of
R' Meir
ben Yechezkel Shraga Brachfeld

o.b.m

Hemdat Yamim

is endowed by

Les & Ethel Sutker

of Chicago, Illinois
in loving memory of
Max and Mary Sutker
and

Louis and Lillian Klein, z”l

This edition of
Hemdat Yamim
is dedicated to the memory of

Rabbi Shlomo Merzel o.b.m,
who passed away
on Iyar 10th, 5771

A weekly divrei Torah leaflet: A Glimpse at the Parasha, Ask the Rabbi, From the writings of Harav Avraham Yitzchak Hakohen Kook, zt”l, Pninat Mishpat (Jewish Monetary Law).