Ever wanted to know the answer to some deep and challenging questions in halakhah (Jewish law)? Join R. Avi Killip interviewing R. Ethan Tucker with questions sent in by Yeshivat Hadar alumni and others on all sorts of details of Jewish law. This is a joint project between the Center for Jewish Law and Values and Open Quorum.

Want to submit a question to be answered in a future episode? Email [email protected].

In this episode:

1. There is a custom of burying someone with earth from the land of Israel. How did this custom come about? How old is it? Why do we do it? And is it a law or a custom?
2. Can you use an umbrella on Yom Tov / festivals? There is no issue of carrying (unlike on Shabbat), but is there a concern of building, an act forbidden both on Shabbat and Yom Tov?
3. I'm fostering a non-Jewish child. There is no clear expectation that my foster-child will remain with me, because they might return to their natural parents, who are not Jewish. But I have a Jewish household. How much can / should I include them in my Jewish life as I would an adopted or biological child, and how much does their ambiguous long-term situation change these concerns?