Halakhah – Excerpted

“The ability of an individual halakhist to bring about a change depends…on one’s ability to foresee the opposition of one’s peers to one’s innovation”

1 November 2018 Drew KaplanHalakhah

…the ability of an individual halakhist to bring about a change depends, to a certain extent, on his ability to foresee the opposition of his peers to his innovation. From these conclusions, it is possible[…]

“In Spanish/Portuguese congregations, hagbah was entrusted only to a select group known as levantadores….”

7 March 20184 March 2018 Drew KaplanHalakhah

The Mishnah Berurah (147:7) cautions that a weak person should never be honored with hagbah. In Spanish/Portuguese congregations, hagbah was entrusted only to a select group known as levantadores (Spanish for “raise up,” it referred[…]

“Emotional input is the reason why mature people go to a human being for psaq halakhah and not a computer”

5 January 201731 December 2016 Drew KaplanHalakhah

There is a beautiful narrative in Ketubot 23a where Shmuel considered declaring a group of women captives tema’ot, and his father challenged his halakhic thinking by asking, “If they were your daughters, would you disgrace[…]

“…we can now better appreciate why certain rabbis have attempted to find solutions within Jewish law to the contemporary agunah problem”

15 August 201610 August 2016 Drew KaplanDivorce

I have been told that the Beth Din of America operates on the principle that if one of the parties wants a divorce, for whatever reason, and there is no chance for reconciliation, then the[…]

“…the question of whether halakhah excludes women from holding specific roles or offices”

3 May 201620 April 2016 Drew KaplanHalakhah

…the question of whether halakhah excludes women from holding specific roles or offices. From a feminist perspective, there is no question that any rule which restricts women in that way is immoral, especially if there[…]

“The halakhic inquiry…does not start out from the point of absolute zero as to sentimental attitudes and value judgments”

9 March 20167 March 2016 Drew KaplanHalakhah

The halakhic inquiry, like any other cognitive theoretical performance, does not start out from the point of absolute zero as to sentimental attitudes and value judgments. There always exists in the mind of the researcher[…]

“For Rabbi Gordimer, all poskim share the same ‘process’. Not only is this historically incorrect, it isn’t even ‘doctrine'”

17 February 201615 February 2016 Drew KaplanHalakhah

Rabbi Gordimer claims that there is no such thing as Modern Orthodox pesak, and that decisions by Modern Orthodox poskim “should look no different than if [they] were adjudicated by a chareidi posek; process (research)[…]

A couple of “considerations regarding the words of מר עוקבא” re: waiting between meat and milk

22 December 201521 December 2015 Drew KaplanHalakhah

Here are two additional considerations regarding the words of מר עוקבא: אמר מר עוקבא אנא להא מלתא חלא בר חמרא לגבי אבא דאילו אבא כי הוה אכיל בשרא האידנא לא הוה אכל גבינה עד למחר[…]

“While some earlier rishonim required waiting between eating beheima meat and eating dairy, Rambam was the first to state that one must wait after eating poultry, as well”

18 November 201517 November 2015 Drew KaplanHalakhah

While some earlier rishonim required waiting between eating beheima meat and eating dairy, Rambam was the first to state that one must wait after eating poultry, as well. (Beheima meat refers to meat from cows,[…]

“…within Mishna Torah, there may be Talmudic laws which have been redefined or reformulated for anti-Qaraite reasons”

9 November 20153 November 2015 Drew KaplanHalakhah

Professor Haym Soloveitchik has argued convincingly that the unique arrangement of Hilchos Shabbos in Rambam’s Mishna Torah was organized specifically with anti-Qaraite intent. Briefly, Rambam’s formulation of the Shabbos laws does not follow a chronological[…]

Excerpted

Excerpts of Interest

Category: Halakhah

“The ability of an individual halakhist to bring about a change depends…on one’s ability to foresee the opposition of one’s peers to one’s innovation”

“In Spanish/Portuguese congregations, hagbah was entrusted only to a select group known as levantadores….”

“Emotional input is the reason why mature people go to a human being for psaq halakhah and not a computer”

“…we can now better appreciate why certain rabbis have attempted to find solutions within Jewish law to the contemporary agunah problem”

“…the question of whether halakhah excludes women from holding specific roles or offices”

“The halakhic inquiry…does not start out from the point of absolute zero as to sentimental attitudes and value judgments”

“For Rabbi Gordimer, all poskim share the same ‘process’. Not only is this historically incorrect, it isn’t even ‘doctrine'”

A couple of “considerations regarding the words of מר עוקבא” re: waiting between meat and milk

“While some earlier rishonim required waiting between eating beheima meat and eating dairy, Rambam was the first to state that one must wait after eating poultry, as well”

“…within Mishna Torah, there may be Talmudic laws which have been redefined or reformulated for anti-Qaraite reasons”