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Dear Matzav Inbox, 

A Choshen Mishpat PSA: The Torah prohibition against delaying a person’s wages is far more serious—and far more common—than many people realize.

I work in the Choshen Mishpat world in the tristate area. I’m not formally a dayan, but as a Rabbi with Yadin Yadin, people do come to me with their shailos. Of course, I don’t pasken as a yachid, but I do help clarify the issues, present relevant views from the poskim, and guide people toward a clearer understanding of the situation.

I’ve been involved in this for a while, and I hate to say that there is one issue that is extremely serious and consistently keeps coming up. I feel the need to bring it to public attention as a PSA:

PAY YOUR WORKERS ON TIME.

This, more or less, includes anyone you hire to do work for you in any capacity—babysitters, doctors, dentists, architects, gardeners, tutors, cleaners, contractors, freelancers, and anyone else providing a service. If someone did a job for you, the halachic obligation to pay them properly and on time applies fully, regardless of the type of work or how “informal” the arrangement may feel.

There is an explicit prohibition in the Torah against delaying a worker’s wages. In fact, the Gemara counts five lavin and one asei that can be involved in this area, underscoring its seriousness. While not all of them apply in every single case, ביומו תתן שכרו is an asei, and לא תלין פעולת שכיר is a lav gamur, and these apply with almost every worker.

This is not a joke. The Torah itself explains the seriousness of the mitzvah with the words ואליו הוא נושא את נפשו—he is “carrying his life.” Chazal explain that when you withhold a worker’s wages, you are, in a sense, taking his life from him. Although the lav applies regardless of the worker’s bank account, this is especially real when a poor person is struggling to put food on the table—and you would be surprised how often that is unfortunately the case. I promise you, you have no idea how bad it can get. People who seem like regular workers are often really struggling because they are not being paid.

Of course, this is not an easy mitzvah. Bills are annoying. Life is expensive. Everyone is stretched, everyone is juggling, and most people are genuinely trying their best. It is not easy to keep up with everything, and financial pressure is real. But at the end of the day, none of that changes the basic responsibility: You hired a worker, he did the job, and you are obligated to pay him. Period.

Your worker never asked to be your lender to help you with your cash-flow issues.

To be mekayem the mitzvah, you need to pay right away. The exact details of “right away” vary depending on the type of worker and the terms of employment, but in ordinary contemporary arrangements, the practical rule is: Don’t wait.

There are other important details regarding the timing. For example, halacha takes customary billing and accounting arrangements into account, and בל תלין is triggered when the worker demands payment. But once the bill comes in and payment is due, it becomes an actual aveira. Things get very serious, very quickly.

Pay the worker on time. I can’t say it enough. Before you spend money on a beautiful, upgraded esrog, make sure the person who worked for you has been paid.

This is a very serious matter, and although it should be obvious anyway, I’m afraid it simply isn’t known well enough.

Hence this PSA.

The number of stories I hear is insane. People are literally struggling to put food on their tables, unable to pay their credit card bills, or unable to pay their own workers because they are waiting for money that they honestly earned from people they worked for. These are people who did a good job and helped their clients—their clients are thrilled with the work—but are now being left hanging for weeks or months.

Recently, someone came to me in an absolute mess. More than 50 people had failed to pay him. Some owed him close to $50,000, others closer to “just” $7,000, and altogether he was owed hundreds of thousands of dollars. They were all frum clients.

And now this person was taking tzedakah to pay for a chasunah, for Shabbos, and for Yom Tov—because he had to fight to collect money that was already rightfully his. If two or three more people had followed halacha, he wouldn’t have had to take out a loan to pay for the chasunah!

Of course, he has since become much more careful about things like retainers and payment arrangements. He could have protected himself better. But that does not excuse the people who simply did not pay him. If you hire someone, PAY HIM.

And I don’t mean eventually. I mean pay him on time—on the day his work is completed, when halacha requires it.

If there is a genuine dispute about part of the bill, don’t use the disputed amount as an excuse to hold up money that you clearly owe. Pay the undisputed amount and resolve the remaining issue promptly. Don’t use a dispute over $500 to hold up $5,000 that you know you owe.

I also must add that even if someone already missed the halachic deadline, that does not mean the money is now “okay to owe.” He is still obligated to pay immediately, and continued delay is itself prohibited. Missing the deadline is not a free pass to let the bill sit for another week or month.

None of this is some minor technical halacha buried in Choshen Mishpat. It is a pasuk in the Torah. (Which happens to be in this week’s parsha…)

The Yom HaDin is coming quickly. Having an unpaid worker’s money sitting on your head is not something anyone should want to take with them into Din.

If someone works for you, pay him. Pay him on time. It’s the halacha.

(Sources for those who want: Bava Metzia 110b–112a; Shulchan Aruch CM 339)

M.

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President Trump issued an urgent warning to Alaska voters Tuesday morning, urging them to make certain they cast their ballots for incumbent Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan amid an unusual primary featuring another candidate with nearly the identical name.

“ALASKA: Be careful, VOTE FOR THE REAL DAN SULLIVAN TODAY,” Trump posted on Truth Social, once again throwing his support behind Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, who is campaigning for a third term in Washington.

Trump alleged that Democrats were attempting to mislead voters by having another Dan Sullivan appear on the ballot. The second candidate, Dan J. Sullivan, is a retired fifth-grade teacher who describes himself as a pragmatic Republican.

“The Dumocrats know how good he is and have put up an imposter of the same name,” Trump wrote. “Vote for the ‘INCUMBENT SENATOR.’ Don’t let these Fraudsters get away with this HOAX.”

The president also praised Sen. Sullivan’s record representing Alaska, crediting him with helping bring “HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS OF DOLLARS” to the state.

Trump had delivered a similar message Friday, accusing Democrats of engaging in “trickery” and instructing his supporters to vote for “SULLIVAN, DAN S. — REGISTERED REPUBLICAN/INCUMBENT.”

The Alaska Democratic Party and the campaign of ex-Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola, who is viewed as Sen. Sullivan’s leading opponent in the race, have both denied having any involvement in Dan J. Sullivan’s decision to run.

Despite those denials, Republicans have continued raising questions about the circumstances surrounding Dan J. Sullivan’s campaign.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee has cited people associated with his campaign, including adviser Amber Lee and representative Alan Harris, in arguing that the candidacy has connections to Democrats.

Harris previously appeared in an advertisement produced by Majority Forward, a nonprofit organization affiliated with the Democratic-aligned Senate Majority PAC, that attacked Sen. Dan S. Sullivan.

Senate Majority PAC has denied having any communication with Dan J. Sullivan or encouraging him to enter the contest. Dan J. Sullivan has likewise denied coordinating his campaign with Peltola.

Alaska election authorities initially removed Dan J. Sullivan from the ballot after determining that he had not filed his candidacy in good faith and that his campaign was intended to cause confusion among voters.

Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews subsequently overturned that determination. Matthews ruled that state election officials did not have the authority to create an additional “good-faith” requirement for candidates and concluded that the state had failed to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that Dan J. Sullivan entered the race with the intention of confusing voters.

The Alaska Supreme Court upheld Matthews’ decision, clearing the way for Dan J. Sullivan’s name to appear on Tuesday’s primary ballot.

Alaska uses a nonpartisan primary system in which the four candidates receiving the most votes advance to the ranked-choice general election in November.

With 16 candidates competing for Alaska’s U.S. Senate seat in Tuesday’s primary, it remains possible for both candidates named Dan Sullivan to finish among the top four and advance to the November election.

{Matzav.com}

Summer travel congestion at Ben Gurion Airport has reached extraordinary levels, with fewer than one in 10 flights departing on time or within 15 minutes of their scheduled departure during the past week.

According to a report by Hofit Cohen Olai in Calcalist, Ben Gurion Airport recorded 31% more departures last week than the weekly average over the previous three months. At the same time, delays surged by 24%.

A total of 1,847 flights departed from Ben Gurion Airport during the week, but just 9.8% took off on schedule or no more than 15 minutes late. The average delay at Terminal 3 reached 69 minutes, while passengers departing from Terminal 1 faced an average delay of 66 minutes.

The congestion extended well beyond the runways. Travelers reported lengthy lines at check-in counters and security checkpoints, while some passengers on Friday said they waited as long as two and a half hours for their luggage.

Red Wings posted the worst average performance among the airlines examined. Although the carrier operated only 17 flights, its average delay was a staggering 207 minutes.

Blue Bird Airways followed with an average delay of 128 minutes across 189 departures, while TUS recorded an average delay of 114 minutes on its 69 flights.

At the other end of the rankings, Flydubai posted the shortest average delay at 22 minutes. Azerbaijan Airlines averaged 28 minutes, while Emirates recorded an average delay of 29 minutes.

Significant differences were also seen among Israel’s airlines. El Al operated 598 flights and recorded an average delay of 42 minutes. Israir’s 282 flights were delayed by an average of 59 minutes, while Arkia posted an average delay of 100 minutes across 284 departures.

Certain destinations proved particularly vulnerable to disruptions. Flights to Heraklion were delayed by an average of 104 minutes, while Mykonos-bound flights averaged 103 minutes late and Barcelona flights were delayed by an average of 101 minutes.

The Israel Airports Authority attributed some of the problems to heavy congestion in European airspace, particularly over Greece, as well as disruptions involving assigned takeoff and landing windows. Calcalist also reported that the activity of American refueling aircraft in the region has affected available flight slots.

Perhaps the most striking aspect of the current congestion is that Ben Gurion Airport is operating with dramatically fewer airlines than during a typical summer. Only 47 carriers are currently serving the airport, compared with approximately 100 during a normal summer season.

Despite that reduced number, the airport has struggled to handle the summer traffic. Infrastructure limitations, insufficient security-screening positions, shortages of aircraft parking spaces and staffing constraints have all contributed to the difficulties.

Israel’s Transportation Ministry told Calcalist that the delays reflect a combination of normal summer travel congestion, the complicated security situation and substantial pressure on European airspace.

The ministry said efforts are being made to maintain continuous operations at Ben Gurion Airport while minimizing flight cancellations as much as possible.

{Matzav.com}

Syria has acknowledged for the first time that it possesses nuclear material, with the country’s foreign minister declaring that the material will remain under Syrian control while being subject to international oversight.

The Syrian foreign minister addressed the status of the nuclear material held by Damascus, saying it would remain in the country under guarantees and supervision from the International Atomic Energy Agency. He said Syria would provide the necessary conditions for its safe storage while maintaining its right to pursue nuclear energy for civilian and peaceful purposes.

The announcement comes against the backdrop of an airstrike attributed to Israel at the Abu al-Duhur military airport in Syria’s Idlib province. The strike reportedly damaged a runway and abandoned storage facilities, with no casualties reported.

According to Syrian sources, the attack took place one day after a Turkish military delegation visited the facility to examine plans for rehabilitating the airport and potentially transforming it into a joint Syrian-Turkish military base.

Syria’s Foreign Ministry condemned the strike, describing it as “unjustified aggression and a blatant violation of Syrian sovereignty.”

U.S. Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack sharply criticized the attack, calling it an “unnecessary escalation.” Barrack said the government of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has demonstrated an interest in reducing tensions and urged the parties to pursue dialogue rather than further military action.

Israel, however, suggested that the strike was connected to highly sensitive intelligence. A senior Israeli official told Fox News that “highly sensitive intelligence was provided to the United States in advance.”

The Israeli official further indicated that al-Sharaa could not be permitted to operate through proxy forces in the manner of Syria’s previous regime, while raising the possibility that the Syrian leader himself may not have been aware of the activity that prompted the Israeli action.

Likud Minister Dudi Amsalem received an unexpected boost in the middle of the party’s primary election after radio host Menachem Toker informed him that he had finished first in a WhatsApp poll of the program’s followers regarding which Likud figure is most closely associated with supporting tradition, Judaism, Torah and the Chareidi community.

Toker spoke with Amsalem during his “Zman Avir” program on Kol Chai as Likud members were casting their ballots in the party primaries. The poll asked listeners and followers which Likud politician they believed showed the greatest concern for Jewish tradition, religious issues, Torah and Chareidim.

Toker broke the results to Amsalem on air, telling him that he had won by a wide margin.

“Our listeners and followers love you. We asked who cares about tradition, Judaism, religion, Torah, the Chareidim. On the values and social issues, they liked you. First place by a wide margin,” Toker said.

Amsalem welcomed the news, saying the result was particularly meaningful to him.

“First of all, I’m proud of it. It really gives me nachas. That’s the most important thing to me,” Amsalem replied.

Toker then asked the minister how he believed he would fare in the actual Likud primaries and whether he expected to secure a high position on the party’s Knesset slate.

Amsalem said he was not spending his time calculating his prospects or attempting to predict the final results.

“I have no idea, Menachem, and I don’t deal with it either, honestly. I do my part,” he said.

Amsalem then explained his approach in terms of emunah, saying that the ultimate result had already been determined long before primary day.

“On Rosh Hashanah, even before that, my position was already determined. I’m just doing the hishtadlus,” he said.

Toker reacted enthusiastically to the comment.

“What a man of faith. That’s a man of faith, a real one,” Toker said.

“Everything is for the good,” Amsalem responded.

Asked for his number on the Likud primary ballot, Amsalem said he was listed as candidate 103. Toker noted that Amsalem had finished fifth in the previous Likud primaries and said he hoped the minister would climb even higher this time.

Toward the end of the interview, Toker openly endorsed Amsalem and urged eligible Likud members listening to the program to cast their votes for him.

“I call on everyone who has [the right to vote] and can vote, choose 103, Dudi Amsalem. Such a man of faith, a person who really is like this, a public servant, should be advanced,” Toker said.

“Thank you very much, Menachem,” Amsalem replied.

After the conversation ended, Toker continued discussing the Likud primaries and mentioned several other party figures whom he admires. Among them was Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi.

“I very, very much appreciate what he’s doing here. For example, Kol Chai, the fact that we can be heard in the north, that’s him,” Toker said.

The program then shifted back to the regular musical atmosphere of “Zman Avir,” featuring songs reflecting themes of emunah and the month of Elul.

{Matzav.com}