Mezuzah in an Apartment
You may have seen the story about the new statute in Texas allowing tenants to put mezuzot on their exterior doorways. Apparently, this was in reaction to a situation where a resident was prohibited from putting up a mezuzah by the rules of his apartment community. I was curious what Jewish law would have said about this situation. If a Jew finds himself living in an apartment complex that prohibits hanging anything in doorways, what is he supposed to do? Defy the ban and hang a mezuzah anyway? Move and incur substantial inconvenience, costs, and possibly lease violation penalties? Or do the property rights of the apartment complex owner simply override the biblical commandment?
Monetary Compensation for Damages, Pt. 2
A passenger sitting in the back seat of my car, which I had just parked in the street to drop him off, opened his door into the street without looking into the path of an oncoming car. The door was knocked off and much damage was done to both cars. He claims I should have warned him, since I have a rear-view mirror and should have seen the oncoming car. I say I never told him to open the door and expected him to look first. Is my passenger obligated to pay the damages?
Learning Without Doing
I am confused. My question is, I am a woman whom has grown up Reformed my entire life and have begun Jewish learning over the past couple of years. Now that I am learning, I am feeling bad about some things I’m not observing. For example, I now know that the Torah forbids eating shrimp, although I’m not ready to give it up. This worries me, since now I know about it and am still doing it. I’m worried G-d is going to strike me down or something. If I would have just stayed at Temple and not gotten involved in Jewish learning I would have no worries because I wouldn’t know anything and therefore not feel bad about anything I’m doing wrong. If I’m not intending, at the moment, to become more observant, is it better that I don’t study so I won’t be more liable in heaven for what I know and don’t do? Or is it better to study anyway?
