In this week’s episode #2, the topics discussed by Rabbi Braun include:

Changing place while eating

• Changing location in the middle of eating or drinking: when is a new bracha rishona required?​
• Does one’s intention during the original bracha rishona to go to another room in the middle (even without intending to eat there) prevent the need for a new beracha?​

Non‑Jews and mitzvos

• May a non‑Jew perform mitzvos (e.g., shaking lulav) to receive reward, and for which types of mitzvos is this discouraged or restricted?​
• Is the leniency of “not preventing him” limited to a ger toshav or someone accepting sheva mitzvos, rather than any non‑Jew?
• May we actively assist or facilitate a non‑Jew in doing mitzvos, or must we only refrain from stopping him?​

Prospective converts

• May a ger-in-process put on tefillin in order to learn how to do the mitzva?​
• To what extent do the restrictions on teaching Torah or allowing mitzva performance to non‑Jews apply to someone clearly on the path to conversion?
• Is there a concern that allowing a non‑Jew (or prospective ger) to put on tefillin or similar mitzvos may lead to confusion about his Jewish status (e.g., intermarriage concerns)?​

Shortcuts through shul

• Does the prohibition of using a shul as a shortcut apply when passing through one room of the shul only to reach an adjacent room of shul (when there’s an alternate, less direct route to the second room)?​
• What about walking across the bimah to get to the other side?​

Eating from broken dishes

• Is there any real halachic basis for avoiding eating from broken dishes because of forgetting one’s learning, and if so, what type of break is included?
• Would such a concern apply equally to women?​

Hearing krias haTorah

• To what extent must one hear all of krias haTorah to be yotzei their obligation?​
• When may someone who partially heard the leining join or count for a second minyan’s krias haTorah, and how many full listeners are required?​

Determining the time of passing

• In a case of cardiac arrest where attempts at resuscitation continue into the night, which calendar day is halachically considered the person’s time of passing?​

Hiddurim beyond one’s level

• Is there a source for the minhag of reading shema from a mezuza while wearing Rabbeinu Tam’s tefillin? And is it advisable to adopt such a minhag?

Episode #01:

• Is there a halachic problem when the lines of a mezuza (and by extension tefillin and sefer Torah) are not exactly parallel, gradually becoming wider or narrower, and how many such lines constitute an issue?
• May one rely on correcting such non-parallel lines (e.g., by stretching or shrinking letters) without creating a problem of shelo kesidran?
• How should one deal with the halacha of not giving food to someone who will not make a Bracha when this concerns non-frum siblings or guests, and what are acceptable solutions?
• Is it appropriate to use a large amount of water for Netilas Yadayim (washing “b’shefa”), or is this considered excess, gaavah, or bal tashchis in contemporary circumstances?
• When walking on Shabbos in the street, is there any prohibition in causing a car (even driven by a Jew) to stop or slow down because of your presence?
• If money was left in a coat pocket going into Shabbos, does the coat become a basis l’davar ha’asur and muktza, and does it depend on the type of pocket (shirt‑style vs. sewn-on pocket)?
• When a person makes a Bracha on a Mitzvah to be motzi others (e.g., kiddush, Chanukah candles, leishev baSukkah) and then speaks before doing the act, are the listeners still yotzei the Bracha?
• In Chutz La’aretz, if one forgot to separate challah before Shabbos and leaves over bread for hafrashas challah after Shabbos, what is the correct way to leave that portion, and what if one mistakenly designated an entire loaf as challah?
• When separating challah after Shabbos from bread that was eaten on Shabbos without prior hafrashas challah (in Chutz La’aretz), does one recite a bracha at that time?