Drivers Ed

evening hours only

Prepared for print by Faigy Peritzman

I’m a single girl working this summer in the Catskills, and I’m concerned about shidduchim. I don’t want to turn away all dating possibilities for two months, but people have told me it’s yichud to be driving with a bochur on the mountain roads.

This is a real concern, especially during nighttime hours. Yichud situations are not limited to closed rooms or buildings; they also include being together in open areas that are secluded or isolated, where the couple’s privacy is unlikely to be interrupted. Any dates you’re planning while in the Catskills (or in many other vacation areas) should be scheduled for daytime or early evening hours only, using roads that have steady traffic, and in settings that are neither secluded nor isolated. (Boating, for instance, would only be permitted if there are other boaters in the vicinity.)

I live in an exclusively Jewish neighborhood. The other day I parked in a tight spot and lightly scuffed the fender of the car behind me. I went to check it out, but it was an old car full of scratches and dents. I couldn’t even tell if I’d caused damage or not. What should I have done?

Unless you are reasonably sure that you caused some damage that will affect the value of the car, then you’re not required to do anything. In the case you described, the possible additional scuff or scratch will not negatively affect the value of the car, and therefore you’re not considered to have damaged another person’s property. If, however, you aren’t clear about how much damage you may have done, then you should leave a note with your contact information.