(OH 440:2)
Question:
Reuven shares an apartment, a kitchen and dishes with Shimon and Levi who keep Kosher during the year but will not be keeping the dietary laws of Pesah. What should Reuven do on Pesah?
Responsum:
We are assuming in our reply that Shimon and Levi cannot be persuaded to keep kosher for Pesah and that Reuven has no other place to live. There are two main problems to consider in this question:
a) The Torah says “no leaven shall be seen by you” (Exodus 13:7) and “no leaven shall be found in your house” (Exodus 12:19), but the hametz in question will indeed be seen and found in Reuven’s house.
b) After Pesah, what will be the halakhic status of the common dishes, which Shimon and Levi will continue to use during Pesah?
If the hametz does not belong to Reuven, it may remain in his house. But he has to keep his food out of the common kitchen so as not to forget and eat Shimon and Levi’s hametz by mistake. On the other hand, he is permitted to use the common dishes after Pesah. He may not, however, eat the hametz that Shimon and Levi kept during Pesah.
Rabbi David Golinkin
In favor: Rabbi Gilah Dror
Rabbi Michael Graetz
Rabbi David Lazar
Rabbi Simchah Roth
Rabbi Yisrael Warman
Opposed: Rabbi David Frankel
A Reaction to the Responsum on the Wearing of a Kippah by Men and Women
(OH 91:3-5)
I agree with Rabbi Frankel’s responsum, aside from the last section regarding women and girls. Inasmuch as wearing a kippah is a symbol of Fear of Heaven, of modesty, and of respect for tradition, which became a binding custom in times of sanctity, we have to require the wearing of the kippah not only of men and boys but also of women and girls. By so doing, we give women and girls the same opportunity to enrich their religious experience and to give the sacred moments in their lives the additional dimension that wearing a kippah adds.
Rabbi Gilah Dror
In favor: Rabbi Michael Graetz
Opposed: Rabbi David Frankel
Rabbi David Golinkin
Rabbi David Lazar
Rabbi Simchah Roth
Rabbi Yisrael Warman