Ep 13Fascinating Money Questions & Answers - Halacha Discussion (Feat. R' Yosef Kushner)
They're using Walmart as the world's greatest gemach
Rabbi Yosef Kushner
Fascinating Money Questions & Answers - Halacha Discussion (Feat. R' Yosef Kushner)
with Rabbi Yosef Kushner
If you're in business for years and years and never asked a [shailah] ... that is the ultimate red flag.
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Quotes
“Your kid asks you ... your business is not closed on Shabbos. You have to have a good answer for that.”
“Rabbonim ... they're not auditors. They don't sit and audit people's businesses.”
“Generally, I have never closed a business down. They need to be structured right ... People shouldn't be scared.”
“If you do not [put maaser in a separate account], 90% of the time you're not giving.”
“Never go into debt to give other money away.”
“There are people that are making tons and tons of money in cash advance and that is not kosher money.”
Takeaways
- 1 Business owners know every detail of their operations but often not the halacha. His book grew from a single eBay question that no one had thought to ask.
- 2 Community life catches mistakes at home and in shul, but no one asks about your business - so errors can go on for decades. The mini-bar owner who called about Shabbos turned out to be selling non-kosher wine.
- 3 New business models bring new questions: a Lakewood group renting cars on Turo was earning Shabbos income until someone asked.
- 4 Know your vulnerabilities: businesses that can't close on Shabbos (nursing homes, hospitality), rentals and automated services, selling non-kosher, and staff paid per session. Size is no excuse - large companies run properly.
- 5 Ramban: running your business on Shabbos like a weekday breaks the command to rest, even without melacha.
- 6 Selling a business to a non-Jew for Shabbos is often ineffective in his and R' Shlomo Miller's view, because Shabbos follows who directs the workers, not who holds the equity. Ask your own rav.
- 7 Maaser: keep it in its own account so the checks come easily. Calculate it on what clears the business after costs and taxes. Spread it among causes, and never borrow to give.
- 8 He believes giving brings income: "the money in your account when it goes to tzedakah makes the next money come."
- 9 Community-wide abuse of store policies (buying summer items to return) is a chillul Hashem. Predatory lending is "not kosher money."
- 10 A kitchen that never has a kashrus question usually means no one knows what one looks like. The same is true of a business: audit it and start asking.