Ethics

I found inside my purse an expensive necklace that doesn’t belong to me. I don’t know how it got there, but I think it dropped there accidentally. And I have no idea where it came from and no way of locating the owner. The purse I found it in is one I take to nice occasions. I last cleaned it out before Passover, and since then, I’ve been with it to two weddings, four graduations, a bat mitzvah, an award ceremony, plays, concerts, restaurants, on the subway, and a lot more places. I have probably been around thousands of people with it, mostly strangers I paid no attention to were there. This could belong to literally anyone. I found out this necklace is mass produced and sold at a major jewelry chain for around $300. My Facebook post failed to find an owner, but yielded a link to buy one just like it. The one in my possession has no markings to hint at its owner. While going through my purse, I found an expensive necklace that doesn’t belong to me. I don’t know how it got there. And I have no way of locating the owner. I think it must have fallen in by accident and someone is missing it, but I have no idea who or from where. The purse I found it in is one I take to nice occasions. I last cleaned it out before Passover, and since then, I’ve been with it to two weddings, four graduations, a bat mitzvah, an award ceremony, plays, concerts, restaurants, on the subway, and a lot more. In all those places, I have probably been around thousands of people, mostly strangers I paid no attention to were there. This could belong to literally anyone. I found out this necklace is mass produced and sold at a major jewelry chain for around $300. My Facebook post failed to find an owner, but yielded a link to buy one just like it. The one in my possession has no markings to hint at its owner. It is actually a necklace I very much like and wish I could have. But I wouldn’t want to obtain it in a manner that is unethical or that violates the Torah. It would really mean a lot to me if I could return it to its rightful owner, but that seems like a long-shot. What should I do about this?

Dear Rabbi, I applied for a job and during the interview process mentioned that my salary expectation is $100k. Today they offered me the job and mentioned that the salary is $110k which they understood was what I had mentioned in the earlier interview. I never corrected them at the time, but am wondering whether ethically I should correct them if they think I am worth offering $110k? Thank you for your consideration. Shmuel

When the pandemic began, I lost my job as the head chef of a restaurant. I had a lot of free time, so I started experimenting with my own recipes. I found I liked it so much that I made more and more recipes. And I started to share my recipes on YouTube. I also had to find a new way to make a living because I was unemployed and had bills to pay. So I said at the end of each YouTube video recipe “if you like this recipe, you are encouraged to make a contribution to me in any amount you would like.” And I included a link. I found that lots of people did send me money. Most sent just a few bucks. Others sent hundreds. I even got a few payments over $1000. Most payments are small. But they all add up. I also make money from advertising. And I am now earning more than both my parents combined, and they are doctors. My parents are very unhappy about this. They say what I am doing is unethical and they want no part in it. They call it a scam. They say it is no better than panhandling in the street. They want me to get a real job. I have so much money now flowing in every day that I don’t need one. Even videos I made over a year ago are still raking in money. On most days, I do no work at all. I feel what I am doing is fine because people are voluntarily paying me only because they choose to do so. No one is forced to pay me. I think the real reason my parents are upset is because they have worked so tirelessly since the pandemic began with COVID patients and they get almost no rest. They are jealous I make so much more money than they do with great ease and without having spent so many years in school like they did. They wanted me to go to medical school just like them. Instead I dropped out of college in my first year. I have been at odds with them ever since. And now they say I am doing nothing useful for society. As a rabbi, what is your opinion of this? Is what I am doing really unethical like my parents think? Am I really being unfair to them by earning money so much more easily? I am not much into Judaism, but I thought a rabbi could answer this for me.

I do not own a car and there is no public transit where I live. I am poor. I am not a Jew either but I worry that I may offend God. So, I wanted to ask to make sure.   I own one bicycle that is quite expensive by most standards (the cheap ones disintegrate as you put miles on them). But I need to work on it as it is pushing a decade old (mind you it is built with parts that were made to last which is basically the only reason for the cost of it). I wanted to start building another slightly less expensive bike that will be of good quality, but will have more normal, readily available parts on it (my current bike has a Rohloff, for example… and these hubs are fairly rare). This would give me a chance to build up some less expensive wheels and test them to see how well I can build wheels, and this is important because one of the main things I need to do for the current bike is rebuild the wheels. It would also give me a bike that would be easy to repair in a pinch. So I figured building the new bike would give me a chance to practice building less expensive wheels, and would also allow me to have a second bike readily available while I have the current bike taken apart for repair. My question: Would building the second bike be considered “multiplying” and not relying on God?

Does a Jewish person have any responsibility (morally or Halchikally) to get a Covid vaccine based on the principles of communal responsibility? Why or why not?

Dear Rabbi, is it ever okay for a doctor to tell a patient or the family that the medical situation is “incurable” and hopeless? Is this an appropriate way to view sickness and health according to Judaism?

I am nominated for an excellence in teaching award and can possibly win 15,000 dollars that I can of course use and it would be great for the name of my school if I win. The problem with the award is that it can create possible feelings of jealousy among the teachers. According to Judaism is it my problem how other people allow themselves to feel and is it my responsibility not to create situations that may end up invoking bad feelings?