Monthly Archives: January 2010
Halachic Wills & Estates Conference 2/3/10
The Bais HaVaad Institute of Talmudic Law announced that the fifth telephone/video conference in its Halachic Wills & Estates Series will be held on Wednesday, February 3, 2010, 8:30 PM EST. The topic of the conference is “How to Write a Halachic Will,” to be presented by Rav Ari Marburger, Dayan Bais Din Maysharim and […]
Court (again) declines to decide Satmar dispute
A New York court has again declined to get involved in the dispute between two factions of Satmar Chassidim. Briefly, and as I understand the dispute, two factions of Satmar Chassidim are competing for control of various assets belonging to the Satmar congregation. After years of legal battles, the New York State Court of Appeals […]
Of interest 1/25/10
- The tribe of Dan camped to the north of the Mishkan under a flag carrying the symbol of a snake. Rabbi Tzvi Price explains Dan’s seemingly unrelated associations with snakes, law and idolatry. – Rabbi Gil Student posted a link to a Jewish Family Law Conference to be held at Fordham University Law School […]
NY Cell Phone law
It was widely reported that the NYPD will be “cracking down” today on the use of cell phones by drivers without a hands-free device. According to NBC News “The 24-hour initiative will begin at midnight on Thursday, and will span across the five boroughs. Those caught using a hand-held device while driving will be fined […]
Meaning of the word "Yerushah"
To follow on yesterday’s post regarding Rav Yisrael Moshe Hazan’s explanation of the word “nahalah,” the following is from Dayan Dr. I. Grunfeld, The Jewish Law of Inheritance: As to the inner meaning of the other word used by the Torah in connection with inheritance, namely ירושה (yerushah), R. Hazan is not quite sure. He […]
Inheritance as a natural force in Halacha
In The Jewish Law of Inheritance, Dayan Dr. I Grunfeld discusses at great length the sefer Nahalah LeYisrael and its author, Rav Yisrael Moshe Hazan, the Chief Rabbi of Rome at around 1850. Dayan Grunfeld writes: R. Hazan’s work is one of the most brilliant expositions extant of the Jewish Law of Inheritance and its […]
Halachic Wills & Estates Series by the Bais HaVaad
The Bais HaVaad Institute of Talmudic Law is presenting a seven part internet lecture series on halachic wills and estates. There are four remaining lectures, which will cover the following topics: – How to Write a Halachic Will- Trusts and Foundations- Eldercare in Halacha- Developmental Disabilities and Guardianships The first two lectures — The Torah’s […]
Of particular interest
Michoel Lipman on the emancipated Jewish slaves’ entitlement to borrow (for keeps) wealth from their Egyptian neighbors. A very interesting story, but a very dubious claim, that an enormous loan made by Zechariah and Elazar Levy, two Iraqi Jews, to Queen Victoria, is now due to be repaid to their heirs, but evidence of the […]
Estate Planning, Halacha and the Jewish Law of Inheritance
The question of whether wills are recognized by Halacha involves some of the fundamental concepts of Halacha (Jewish law) under a secular legal system. Rabbinic responsa regarding specific conflicts between the Jewish Law of Inheritance and the law of the land date back at least 700 years to a famous responsum by the Rashba (Rabbi […]
First post: Getting started…
There will be an introduction. We haven’t put up a single post and we’ve already been asked about the scope of this blog. Short answer: we’ll figure it out as we go along. But we aren’t standing on ceremony, and we’ll talk without an introduction. Besides, right now it’s just the two of us, and […]
Will contests: surviving summary judgment
Surrogate Calvaruso of Monroe County issued a decision in Matter of Feller on January 4, 2010, worth reading for its summary of the burdens of proof and presumptions that objectants to a will must overcome to survive summary judgment. In Feller, the decedent’s will left her estate to 10 charities and 4 individuals in equal […]
