Some time ago, I found this cool olive oil store that imported the oil in the original casks. You bought at much as you wanted and paid for that amount. They also sold bottles in which you could take your oil home. Two issues: (1) I had to double-check the reliability of the hechsher (the oils were infused). (2) Did I have to buy the bottles, tovel them, and then bring them back to get the oil? On the second issue, I spoke with R' Fuerst. We discussed a few options, but at the conclusion, the dayan decided that I didn't need to tovel the bottle at all. How does that work? They want to sell me olive oil, but they need to put it into a container for me to get it home. So I buy the oil and tell them which container I want them to put it in. As far as I am concerned, I am only buying oil. They charge me a fee for the bottle, but I am never really buying the bottle. The bottle is still owned by the goy when it is filled with oil, and the bottle is בטול/completely secondary to the oi...
On 18 Tammuz, 5785 (July 14, 2025 for us gringos), I was studying folio 98 in Masechta Shabbos about the קרשים/planks of the mishkan. I know the date because my rebbi, R' Dovid Siegel, shlita, told me that it is very easy to fool oneself into thinking you understand something when learning without a chavrusa. Therefore, my rebbi told me to write down any and all questions and/or impressions I have while learning to keep myself as honest as possible. (Ok, ok... writing down the date was my own OC idea.) In any case, the Gemara there discusses the precise shape of the קרשים/planks and how they were loaded on the two carts. The common translation of עצי שיטים is "Acacia wood." It was way more detail than I expected—but, hey, it's Chazal—so I spent quality time on it. It just happened (uh-huh) that they were replacing some old telephone poles in the neighborhood when I was learning that topic (thank you, HaShem), and I determined that each קרש/plank was abo...