“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”
…the ability of an individual halakhist to bring about a change depends, to a...
Category Archives: Halakhic Books/Works/Writings
“The notion that the seven blood-free days are an undue stringency imposed by the Rabbis is a commonplace of contemporary halakhic discussion among liberal Orthodox and non-Orthodox feminist Jews who discuss the laws of nidah…”
The notion that the seven blood-free days are an undue stringency imposed by the...
“The family purity handbook shares the qualities of the other halakhic handbooks…, but it has a history of its own”
The family purity handbook shares the qualities of the other halakhic handbooks…, but it...
“…the needs of men and women informed by the values of our society are very different from those of the unlearned Ashkenazi masses of the past”
The technique of obscuring the difference between legislation and custom is well entrenched in...
“Short apodictic summaries of halakhah are necessarily monolithic”
Short apodictic summaries of halakhah are necessarily monolithic. By contrast, discussions citing and accurately...
“The firmness of R. lsserles finds its fullest expression in his commentary on the Shulchan Aruch”
The firmness of R. lsserles finds its fullest expression in his commentary on the...
“Many halachic authorities dating back to the Rishonim have suggested that the difficult winter weather played a role in the menorah’s being moved indoors”
Many halachic authorities dating back to the Rishonim have suggested that the difficult winter...
“…within Mishna Torah, there may be Talmudic laws which have been redefined or reformulated for anti-Qaraite reasons”
Professor Haym Soloveitchik has argued convincingly that the unique arrangement of Hilchos Shabbos in...
“The third element of the Tosafist enterprise, and the final stage chronologically, was the process of editing”
The third element of the Tosafist enterprise, and the final stage chronologically, was the...
“…when operating as an editor, a Tosafist seldom introduced new material into the text”
A great challenge facing those who sought to edit the integrated commentaries was the...