Baltimore Bais Din

Reviewed by Rabbi Mordechai Shuchatowitz, Head of the Baltimore Bais Din

The tefillah of U’nesaneh Tokef is one of the highlights of the chazaras hashatz (repetition of the tefillah) that the chazan says in the Mussaf of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. We end this tefillah with the statement, “Teshuvah, tefillah, utzedakah maavirin es ro’a hagezeirah” – repentance, prayer, and tzedakah can take away an evil decree. This formula is based on a gemara in Rosh Hashanah (16B), and the fulfillment of these mitzvos is the cornerstone of our avodah (worship) during the period of Elul and Aseres Yemei Teshuva, the Ten Days of Repentance. In this article, we will discuss some fundamentals of tzedakah.

The mitzva of tzedakah is mentioned numerous times in the Torah.[1] It is mentioned as a mitzvas aseh, positive commandment, to support the poor, and is mentioned as a mitzvas lo sa’aseh, a negative commandment, to withhold from supporting the poor. As recorded in the Rambam,[2] this mitzva has different levels in terms of the amount of one’s money that should be given to fulfill this mitzva. One who gives 10 percent of his earnings is considered a benoni, of average generosity. One who gives up to 20 percent of his earnings has fulfilled a mitzva min hamuvchar, in the best way of fulfilling this mitzva. One who gives less than 10 percent of his earnings is considered ayin ra’ah, lacking in generosity.

Reviewed By Rabbi Mordechai Shuchatowitz, Head of the Baltimore Bais Din

In a previous article (February, 2025), we discussed the halachos of bal talin. Bal talin refers to the mitzva to pay workers on time. We will present a brief summary of the halachos previously discussed and will then discuss some new situations.

Bal talin means that if a worker was hired for the entire day, the worker must be paid that night. Conversely, if the worker was hired to work for the entire night, then the worker must be paid the next day. Let’s use an example of a babysitter hired by parents to watch their children.  If the babysitter watched children throughout the day Sunday until night, the parents must pay her some time Sunday night, before daybreak Monday morning. If she watched them for Sunday night until Monday morning, then she must be paid Monday, before nightfall.

This is also true if the babysitter watched the children for a few hours during the day; she must be paid by the end of the day before nightfall. Conversely, if the babysitter watched the children for a few hours during the night, she must be paid by the end of the night before daybreak.

The mitzva does not just apply to a worker. It also applies to a renter who rents an item to use for a day, such as rental of a car, tables and chairs, or any other utensils. The above parameters of what halacha considers to be a timely payment will also apply.[1]

It should be noted that for a rental of something that is halachically considered karka, part of the ground, there is a question whether the halachos of bal talin apply. For example, someone rents a room in a hotel that is owned by another Jew. There is a question in the poskim as to whether the halachos of bal talin will apply.[2] However, even if the mitzva of bal talin would not apply, there is still an obligation on the renter to pay in a timely fashion. This point will be explained more fully in this article.

Reviewed by Rabbi Mordechai Shuchatowitz, Head of the Baltimore Bais Din

It is well known that the Chofetz Chaim wrote sefarim about the prohibition of lashon hara for the sake of making his fellow Jews more aware and careful about speaking negatively about others. It is not as well known that the Chofetz Chaim wrote the sefer Ahavas Chesed to bring about awareness of other interpersonal halachos that pertain to relations between people. One such area of halacha that the Chofetz Chaim discusses pertains to paying workers on time. The term for this in Gemara is the prohibition of bal talin   – delaying the payment of wages. The purpose of this article is to discuss this mitzva and its practical applications. 

It should be noted that in his introductory remarks to this topic, the Chofetz Chaim mentions  that there are many religious Jews who are careful about other mitzvos but are lax about paying their workers. He continues that these people may justify their behavior by the fact that the amount owed is not that large, or they may have some other excuse. The Chofetz Chaim concludes that it is clear to him that this laxity comes from ignorance of these halachos, and that if these people were aware of the Torah imperative to pay in a timely fashion, they would certainly be much more careful.

Reviewed By Rabbi Mordechai Shuchatowitz, Head of The Baltimore Bais Din

In previous articles, we discussed the concept of ribbis, which is the paying of interest for a loan. We discussed that a loan is when either money or some other commodity, such as food, is given from a lender to a borrower in order to be spent or consumed by the borrower. If the principal of the loan amount is paid back, and the borrower adds something extra to the principal, that extra is prohibited because of ribbis.

In this article, I will discuss cases that are prohibited in halacha because of ribbis, even though there is no actual loan. These are cases in which a business transaction has taken place and some additional compensation is made for waiting to receive what was committed. This includes both prepayment for items purchased that won’t be received until some time later, as well as to post-payments for items bought on credit and paid for later on. Although such transactions are not an actual loan and do not therefore constitute ribbis d’Orayisah (from the Torah), they are nonetheless assur mid’rabbon (rabbinically prohibited) due to their similarity to ribbis. This is called “agar natar,” which means reward for waiting.

 Administrator, Baltimore Bais Din

Reviewed By Rabbi Mordechai Shuchatowitz, Head of the Baltimore Bais Din

In a previous article, we discussed some fundamentals of the prohibition of ribbis, interest. To summarize, ribbis is a prohibition that applies when someone takes a loan, and then returns the principal amount of the loan to the lender and adds on some extra as payment for the loan. We discussed that the most common case of ribbis is for a loan of money, where the borrower spends the money and then returns the principal amount with interest. However, the prohibition of ribbis applies to anything that is consumed. The most common example of this is lending food. For example, if the lender gave a loan of one pound of flour, and the borrower returned two pounds of flour, that would be a prohibition of ribbis. If the interest of the extra food was stipulated at the time of the loan, that would be prohibited by Torah law. This is called ribbis ketzutzah, stipulated ribbis. However, if the borrower returns more on his own because of the loan, this would be prohibited by rabbinic law, called ribbis me’ucheres, ribbis given by the borrower on his own, and is discussed in the Gemara Bava Metzia 75B.

Administrator, Baltimore Bais Din

Reviewed By Rabbi Mordechai Shuchatowitz, Head of the Baltimore Bais Din

As we approach Yom Kippur, we hope to spend our attention contemplating the theme of the day and how we can each better ourselves. One of the prominent aspects of the davening of Yom Kippur is the Viduy, when we admit to Hashem what we have done wrong throughout the year. Many of the wrongdoings mentioned in Viduy relate to different forms of improper speech.* While we often think of improper speech as being lashon hara or ona’as devarim (comments intended to hurt another), there is another, more subtle aspect to being careful with one’s speech: the obligation to keep one’s word and verbal commitment.

This subject is discussed in halacha, which gives direction as to when one must keep a verbal commitment.  Halacha views giving one’s word with seriousness. We will examine this topic through three situations that often come up in daily living.