Dose of Halacha

Question: I recently bought an electric knife sharpener. Does it need to be tovelled ? Can I use it for my meaty and milky knives? Answer: The Rema (YD 92:8) writes that meaty and milky pots that touch each other do not contaminate each other. Thus, providing the lids are on, one can cook food in a milky pot next to that of a meaty pot. Thus, providing the knife and stone were clean when sharpening the knife, no taam , flavour, would be transferred from the sharpener to any future knives it is used for. The Beis Yosef (YD 122:9) quotes the Mordechai (Avoda Zara 833) who writes that one who left their knives with a non-Jewish person to sharpen them must kasher them as they may have been used for non-kosher food. If one saw them being sharpened, however, and then took them home, they do not need to be kashered. Based on this, R’ Shamai Gross (Shevet Hakehasi 4:192) writes that one may use the same knife sharpener for both meaty and milky knives. The Shulchan Aruch (YD 120:4...

Question: We recently bought a house and are moving in next week. Can we make a chanukas habayis during the sefira ? Answer: The Mishna (Berachos 9:2) writes that one recites the  beracha   shehecheyanu upon building a new house or buying new items. The Shulchan Aruch (OC 223:3) adds that this applies equally to buying an old house. The Mishna Berura (223:11) notes that when one is buying a family home that will benefit multiple people, one says hatov vehametiv instead. The Sheiltos (1:1) mentions that there is also an ancient minhag to invite others to a party when completing a house. The Magen Avraham (568:5) writes that it is only considered to be a seudas mitzva if one buys a home in Eretz Yisrael . He quotes the Maharshal (Yam Shel Shlomo, Bava Kama 7:37) who writes that for such a party in chutz la’aretz to be considered a seudas mitzva, one must ensure that they share divrei Torah there (See Kaf Hachaim OC 223:19; 568:25). R’ Malkiel Tannenbaum (Divrei...

Question: Am I allowed to advertise in the local weekend paper that gets printed on Shabbos? Answer: The Shulchan Aruch (OC 244:1; 247:1; 252:2) writes that one may give work to a non-Jewish person to do even though it entails a melacha that is prohibited on Shabbos, providing that the non-Jewish person can reasonably do the work at other times if they wish. Any such work must not be performed publicly on Shabbos, however. R’ Mordechai Yaakov Breisch ( Chelkas Yaakov 1:66) dismisses another Rabbi’s argument that one may, therefore, advertise in a newspaper over Shabbos as the printers could technically print it beforehand. Anyone reading this paper will know that it was, in-fact, printed on Shabbos. He quotes the Taz (244:5) who writes that one cannot hire a non-Jew to sew a garment or write a book and expect them to complete it by a particular deadline if they know that they can only realistically do so in time by working on Shabbos. The Pri Megadim (Mishbetzos Zahav 2...