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Question: Does the prohibition of Bishul Akum apply to a housekeeper or another akum in a Jew’s home?

Short Answer: According to many poskim, the prohibition of Bishul Akum applies to a housekeeper in a Jew’s home. However, b’dieved, if the food was accidentally cooked by a hired housekeeper in a Jew’s home, some poskim allow the food to be eaten.

Question: Are you permitted to eat food cooked by an irreligious Jew?

Short Answer: Many poskim permit food cooked by an irreligious Jew. However, if the Jew has the status of “mumar” (heretic), there is reason to be strict.

Question: Is a woman obligated to return a lost object that she finds?

Short Answer: Unless it would be improper or inappropriate for a woman to pick up this specific lost item, a woman is obligated in hashavas aveidah like a man.

Question: May a homeowner keep a valuable object that he finds buried in his yard?

Short Answer: Unless the owner knows that the object was there from before he purchased the property, many Acharonim rule that he may not keep the object, as his property acquired the object before yiush and now the property owner must return it or hold onto the object until Eliyahu HaNavi comes.

Question: May an owner offer a reward to anyone who finds his lost object? May the finder keep the reward?

Short Answer: Yes, according to many contemporary poskim, a finder may accept a reward, but some add that it is preferable for the finder to donate the reward to tz’dakah.

Question: If a finder finds a lost object with an identifiable feature but then loses the item himself, must he pay the value of the lost object to the original owner?