Sending a Shabbos Goy to prevent a Kashrus mishap

In this week’s episode, the topics discussed by Rabbi Braun include: **Kiddushin ring alternatives:**  •         When the *chassan*’s ring is lost, is it preferable to use a borrowed ring or a coin? •         May a paper bill or contemporary coin, which have no intrinsic value, be used for *kiddushin* the way a valuable coin could? •         What are the halachic advantages of using a ring specifically? •         Is it an option to use both a coin and a borrowed ring together, or would that backfire? **Sending a Shabbos Goy to prevent a kashrus mishap** •         May one ask a non-Jew to drive on Shabbos to warn people about *milchig* dessert at a sheva brachos? •         Can a non-Jew be asked to do a *melacha d’oraisa* for a mitzvah need? •         Does “*michshol derabim*” justify asking a non-Jew to do *melacha*? •         What is actually the true nature of the *michshol* in the case of an unknown *milchig* dessert or torn *eruv*? •         Does the possibility that one of the participants might be dangerously allergic to dairy create a *pikuach nefesh* justification? **Making up *tachanun* and *v’hu rachum*** •         If *tachanun* and *v’hu rachum* were skipped by mistake, e.g., in the mistaken belief that a *bris* would follow, must they be made up later, such as at *mincha*? •         Does the Alter Rebbe’s ruling that one who was genuinely exempt (as in a mourner’s home) need not make them up apply equally when the omission was simply an error? •         Does the status of *v’hu rachum* being a direct continuation to Shemoneh Esrei depend on the *nusach*, whether *v’hu rachum* is recited before or after *tachanun*? •         If the *chazzan* mistakenly recited *Kaddish* instead of *tachanun*, should he go back and say *tachanun*? **Mezuza placement on a side door** •         For a side door, as opposed to the front door, is the *mezuza* placed according to *heker tzir* (the way the door opens)? •         Was the Rebbe’s printed response on this a definitive ruling, or did the Rebbe in fact leave the matter as an open question, illustrating the broader concern that printed *ma’anos* can contain copying errors? **“HaMerachem” vs. “VeHaMerachem” in Modim** •         Why does the Chabad *nusach* say *HaMerachem* on weekdays but *veHaMerachem* on Shabbos and Yom Tov? •         Does the *veHaMerachem* form extend to the *mussaf* of Rosh Chodesh and Chol HaMoed? •         What variances in this regard do we know from the practice of the Rebbeim? **Eating meat during *shiva* and on Shabbos** •         Is the practice in some communities to refrain from meat throughout *shiva* (beyond the period of *aninus*) a legitimate *minhag*, and would someone who kept it need *hataras nedarim* to eat meat? •         What is the common *minhag* in our circles regarding this? •         What is the significance of eating meat on Shabbos as an expression of *simcha*, such that we do so even when Tisha B’Av falls on Shabbos?