Hello Everyone,
Today is our final session on the subject of “Why We Do What We Do.” The title of this series of sessions already indicates that there is a “we” whose practices are distinctive. The Poskim who teach us how the Halacha needs to be applied to various circumstances debate to what degree must “we” be distinctive. Some Poskim held that “we” must be distinctive to the extent that “we? must dress differently from other groups of people. Other Poskim held that this is not necessarily so ( and this was the subject of our class on December 11). Today we will see a debate between two of the great Poskim of the 20th century, Rav Ovadia Yosef zt”l and Rav Eliezer Waldenberg zt”l. They debated the object of adopting/adapting the liturgical music of other religions for use in the synagogue.