A weekly halacha podcast from the Lemaan Yilmedu Institute, featuring Rabbi Yosef Y. Braun, Mara D’asra of Crown Heights, who shares fascinating, real-life halachic questions that reach his desk—together with the clear rulings he gave in each case.
Lemaan Yishmeu - Rabbi Braun
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Podcast Overview
A weekly halacha podcast from the Lemaan Yilmedu Institute, featuring Rabbi Yosef Y. Braun, Mara D’asra of Crown Heights, who shares fascinating, real-life halachic questions that reach his desk—together with the clear rulings he gave in each case.
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Publishing Since
1/29/2026
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Recent Episodes
July 12, 2026
Did Italy Exist in Moshe’s Time?
<p><strong>Spelling “Tverya” with an </strong><strong>alef</strong><strong> or </strong><strong>hei</strong></p><ul><li>In a kesubah or get, should the city name Tverya be spelled with an alef, as found throughout Shas, or with a hei, as in modern Hebrew?</li><li>If the city is named after the Roman emperor Tiberius, how could the Gemara say it is called Tverya because of “tovah re’iyasah” (its good vision) or because it sits at the “tabur” (belly) of Eretz Yisrael?</li><li>How does this compare to the term “Sanhedrin,” a Greek word, being commonly usedin Chazal instead of the Torah terms shoftim or dayanim?</li></ul><p><strong>Calabrian esrogim in Moshe Rabbeinu’s time</strong></p><ul><li>Why is there a Chabad tradition to use esrogim specifically from Calabria, Italy?</li><li>If the Gemara says Italy came into existence only when Shlomo HaMelech married the daughter of Pharaoh, how could shluchim have brought esrogim from Calabria in the times of Moshe Rabbeinu?</li><li>Which sources indicate that Italy existed already at Matan Torah, and how is the contradiction resolved?</li><li>What about the bracha of “oseh ma’aseh bereishis” on Italian mountains, or the date for reading the Megillah in a walled Italian city?</li></ul><p><strong>Makeup on Shabbos during shiva</strong></p><ul><li>May a woman sitting shiva put on makeup for Shabbos if she does so every single Shabbos, given that its absence would be noticeable aveilus b’farhesya (public mourning)?</li><li>Is refraining from a routine practice itself considered public mourning, comparable to not wearing shoes or not eating meat when Tisha B’Av falls on Shabbos?</li><li>Does it matter that the makeup would need to be applied before Shabbos, while the shiva restrictions are still fully in force?</li><li>What about cutting overgrown hair or shaving (a discussion onto itself) during shiva, when their absence would be noticeable on Shabbos?</li></ul><p><strong>Cochlear implants in halacha</strong></p><ul><li>Is one who hears only through a cochlear implant yotzei hearing shofar, Megillah, Kiddush, and Havdalah?</li><li>Why do most poskim consider hearing aids to produce a new artificial sound rather than halachic hearing?</li><li>Is a cochlear implant better than a hearing aid because it stimulates the hearing nerve directly, or is it a bigger problem because no actual sound is heard at all?</li><li>Why are glasses considered real seeing, while a camera wired directly to the nerve would not be?</li></ul><p><strong>Calling someone by his father’s nickname</strong></p><ul><li>May a bochur in camp call a friend by a nickname that is identical to his father’s unusual nickname (a shem peli)?</li><li>Does the prohibition against calling others by one’s father’s name apply only in the father’s presence, or even away from him?</li><li>Is this an actual issur or a matter of kavod?</li><li>How rare must the name be for the concern to apply, and does the likelihood that the father is mochel create room for leniency?</li></ul>
July 5, 2026
Sending a Shabbos Goy to prevent a Kashrus mishap
<p>In this week’s episode, the topics discussed by Rabbi Braun include:</p><p><b>Kiddushin ring alternatives: </b></p><p>• When the chassan’s ring is lost, is it preferable to use a borrowed ring or a coin?</p><p>• May a paper bill or contemporary coin, which have no intrinsic value, be used for kiddushin the way a valuable coin could?</p><p>• What are the halachic advantages of using a ring specifically?</p><p>• Is it an option to use both a coin and a borrowed ring together, or would that backfire?</p><p><b>Sending a Shabbos Goy to prevent a kashrus mishap</b></p><p>• May one ask a non-Jew to drive on Shabbos to warn people about milchig dessert at a sheva brachos?</p><p>• Can a non-Jew be asked to do a melacha d’oraisa for a mitzvah need?</p><p>• Does “michshol derabim” justify asking a non-Jew to do melacha?</p><p>• What is actually the true nature of the michshol in the case of an unknown milchig dessert or torn eruv?</p><p>• Does the possibility that one of the participants might be dangerously allergic to dairy create a pikuach nefesh justification?</p><p><b>Making up tachanun and v’hu rachum</b></p><p>• If tachanun and v’hu rachum were skipped by mistake, e.g., in the mistaken belief that a bris would follow, must they be made up later, such as at mincha?</p><p>• Does the Alter Rebbe’s ruling that one who was genuinely exempt (as in a mourner’s home) need not make them up apply equally when the omission was simply an error?</p><p>• Does the status of v’hu rachum being a direct continuation to Shemoneh Esrei depend on the nusach, whether v’hu rachum is recited before or after tachanun?</p><p>• If the chazzan mistakenly recited Kaddish instead of tachanun, should he go back and say tachanun?</p><p><b>Mezuza placement on a side door</b></p><p>• For a side door, as opposed to the front door, is the mezuza placed according to heker tzir (the way the door opens)?</p><p>• Was the Rebbe’s printed response on this a definitive ruling, or did the Rebbe in fact leave the matter as an open question, illustrating the broader concern that printed ma’anos can contain copying errors?</p><p><b>“HaMerachem” vs. “VeHaMerachem” in Modim</b></p><p>• Why does the Chabad nusach say HaMerachem on weekdays but veHaMerachem on Shabbos and Yom Tov?</p><p>• Does the veHaMerachem form extend to the mussaf of Rosh Chodesh and Chol HaMoed?</p><p>• What variances in this regard do we know from the practice of the Rebbeim?</p><p><b>Eating meat during shiva and on Shabbos</b></p><p>• Is the practice in some communities to refrain from meat throughout shiva (beyond the period of aninus) a legitimate minhag, and would someone who kept it need hataras nedarim to eat meat?</p><p>• What is the common minhag in our circles regarding this?</p><p>• What is the significance of eating meat on Shabbos as an expression of simcha, such that we do so even when Tisha B’Av falls on Shabbos?</p>
June 15, 2026
Can ChatGPT Pasken Halacha?
<p>In this week’s episode, the topics discussed by Rabbi Braun include:</p><p><strong>Challah knives</strong></p><ul><li>Is there a preference to use a smooth knife over a serrated one for cutting challah on Shabbos?</li><li>Does a serrated knife create a halachic concern because it has “pegimos”?</li><li>What are the reasons for sharpening knives before Shabbos? And does it apply to serrated knives?</li></ul><p><strong>AI and psak:</strong></p><ul><li>Is it halachically proper to rely on AI for halachic rulings? Does a posek need to be human?</li><li>Theoretically, if and when an AI were perfectly accurate, would that change the halachic status of using it for answering shailos?</li><li>What are the dangers involved in asking halachic questions to AI?</li></ul><p><strong>Bracha on tzitzis:</strong></p><ul><li>When is a bracha on tallis katan appropriate, and when should the tallis gadol cover it?</li><li>Is wearing “night tzitzis” a good idea or does it become a kesus lailah (a garment designated for sleeping)?</li><li>What is the best way to arrange the rotation of tzitzis to be able to make the bracha every morning?</li><li>Is the interruption of a night’s sleep sufficient to require a new bracha in the morning?</li></ul><p><strong>Birchas kohanim at a chuppah: </strong></p><ul><li>Is a kohen obligated to go up for birchas kohanim when called independent of davening (e.g. at a chuppah)?</li><li>Why do non-kohanim use the nusach of birchas kohanim when blessing children?</li></ul>
16 total episodes available
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