The WebYeshiva Blog

Mazal Tov to Rabbi Saul Orbach who completed the WebYeshiva.org and more recently the WebYeshiva.org Semicha Program. WebYeshiva spoke with Rabbi Orbach about his learning experience.   Why did you choose the Halacha Mastery Program? What did you enjoy most about it? I had just finished learning regularly somewhere when I was offered the opportunity to join the Halacha Mastery Program, which seemed like not only great timing, but a great opportunity, which I embraced wholeheartedly. I very much enjoyed the program. The teachers are all excellent. The content was diverse yet covered the topics needed to ultimately study for Semicha. With the online format, regardless of where I might have happened to be, I could participate in the class. I recall more than one class I logged into while sitting in an airport awaiting my flight. And for the courses I missed, or simply wanted to review again, everything was recorded so that I could do that at my leisure, or on demand. How cool was that! Although I’d rather have a Chevrusa and learn together in person, I also enjoy learning on my own, so the self-study aspect of the program worked well for me.  But it really comes down to all the great teachers who teach in the program. Just excellent, all of them! What stood out for you about learning Halacha from the sources? Learning Halacha from the sources is a very exciting undertaking. There are a couple of things I find absolutely fascinating about it, which enhanced the learning so much for me. First, to see the development of the Halacha from the earlier sources, -from the Torah SheBichtav to the Mishna to the Gemara to the Rambam to the Shulchan Aruch, and down the chain of tradition. Then we get to the Poskim, the Rabbis who develop and refine the practical Halacha we live by today and understanding their methods, including how Halacha deals with new topics and how the Halacha develops around those new topics. For example, an issue that stands out that we covered was the development of electricity. As it turns out, originally, based on their initial understanding (or lack thereof) the Poskim of the day permitted the use of electricity. As the Rabbis’ understanding caught up with the technology, the Halacha changed to prohibit its use on the one hand, and adapt its usage on the other. Another was birth control and how the methods used in the time of the Gemara was adapted to modern day application. Lastly, to learn the Halachot k’Seder in the Rambam, the Shulchan Aruch, or even in Shmirat Shabbat which we had to study, is to witness the intellectual genius of the authors in codifying law. From one law to the next, systematically developing a code that covers the vast majority of cases, by adding layer after layer, exception after exception, -it’s beyond amazing to realize the monumental accomplishment they were able to achieve all from memory (without computers of course). Separate from the Halacha Mastery Program what do you like to learn most? I met Rabbi Brovender about 44 years ago and started learning at Yeshivat Hamivtar in 1979. We go back a long way and I’m proud to say that I continued to learn with him as well as many of the other great Rabbis/teachers at WebYeshiva from its inception. Rabbi Brovender and I have a weekly chevruta till this day. Separately, I have been learning Chasidut intensively for close to 15 years and have been teaching a weekly Chabura for the last 5 years. I particularly enjoy the insights into the Penimiut of the Torah that the Chassidic masters offer, that very often upends our typical understandings of standard Meforshim. Sometimes, these are difficult to understand, but like any Torah endeavor, once you do, there’s a sense of accomplishment that comes along with it. What do you do professionally? On a professional level, I’ve been involved in the tech startup/venture capital world for the past 33 years. I had periods where I built companies, a period of six years where I turned failing companies around, a 3 year period of social impact investing, and I’m in my 8th year of venture capital work. Additionally, I teach venture capital and entrepreneurship in the MBA programs at Hebrew University, Tel Aviv University, and the Technion. I also work as a high level advisor to companies and non-profits and continue to be active in the entrepreneurial scene on a global level. --

For more information about the Halacha Mastery Program please visit .

 

Rabbi Paul Terman is one of the WebYeshiva.org's first recipients of semicha. Born in California, he grew up in Florida and it was during his time at the University of Miami where he became increasingly interested in Jewish observance. "Jewishly I was only armed with a basic Sunday Hebrew School education, but while I was at university I found myself yearning for more knowledge. I found myself endlessly asking campus rabbis questions and growing in my observance. I found value in learning Torah as a means of connecting to God, as catching a glimmer of the Divine," Rabbi Terman explained. Although he found the campus rabbis knowledgeable he also found himself yearning for a greater understanding of the Torah and what it means to be a Jew.  "Naturally, this brought me to Rabbi Chaim Brovender's Yeshivat Hamivtar and where learning how to learn was essentially their motto," he said. "I found myself drawn especially to learning halacha, its foundations and the processes by which it is derived. The legal structure and the logical foundations of halacha fueled my ability and desire to study it." After moving back to the US in order to pursue a PhD in Physics from Texas A&M University he began learning at WebYeshiva.org which seemed a fitting extension of the kind of learning he had done at Hamivtar, as the WebYeshiva staff included several Hamivtar rabbis. Eventually, he joined the Halacha Mastery Program. "The Halacha Mastery Program seemed to be the culmination of much of my previous learning and desires for growth which included understanding many of the details of halacha and the processes by which we arrive at it, and furthering my foundation to allow for truly independent study," Rabbi Terman said. Rabbi Terman lives with his wife in New haven Connecticut. He has a BA in History and BS in Physics and Mathematics. A researcher of dark matter, he is currently working on an experiment looking for a specific type of dark matter called LUX.  

"The Halacha Mastery Program provided an online platform for learning practical halacha at an advanced level. It was an opportunity for me to engage in very meaningful halachic learning online in live and interactive classes with excellent and amazing teachers," Rabbi Goldenberg said.

Rabbi Jeffrey Green is one of the WebYeshiva.org first semicha recipients. Rabbi Green began his formal learning in the mid-1980's at the Pardes Institute for Jewish Studies in Jerusalem under the spiritual guidance of Rav Meir Schweiger. It was at that time he made a commitment to fully understanding both practical halacha and the fundamental principles of its development. In the ensuing decades he constantly pursued avenues to further his Torah learning – independently, with various chevrutot and in more formal classes. "Along the way," Rabbi Green explained, "I was guided by Avot 1:6 which says, "Asey L'cha Rav (make a rabbi for yourself)," which according to one interpretation means "Asey L'atzmecha Rav (make yourself a rabbi)." "In other words, anyone committed to fully observing halacha should take it upon him/herself to understand halacha and be able to reasonably respond to halachic questions and situations as they arise -which is exactly what the Halacha Mastery Program prepares you for." In 2013, just as Rabbi Green finished going through his first Daf Yomi cycle, WebYeshiva.org's Halacha Mastery Program was launched. "It offered a wonderful opportunity to expand the depth and breadth of my knowledge and understanding of halacha within a structured framework suited to someone with a full-time day job," he said. "The program helped me reach a new plateau of Torah learning from which to continue on to Semicha." For Rabbi Green, having all of the shiurim recorded and available on the WebYeshiva.org archive meant two important things. First, never missing a class and second, being able to review classes one attended to better absorb the material. "Of course, the technology would be irrelevant if there weren't excellent teachers and challenging content to make the experience so valuable," he added. Rabbi Green works at Ben Gurion University and lives in Be'er Sheba with his family.

Rabbi Dr. Bernie 'Baruch' Kastner is one of WebYeshiva.org's first semicha recipients. Rabbi Kastner is a graduate of Yeshiva University and Columbia University. He served as an administrator at the Mount Sinai Medical Center and later on as an associate director of the AVI CHAI Foundation. His family made Aliyah from New York in 1994 and he currently lives in Jerusalem with his wife and five children.  All five of his grandchildren also live in Israel.  Rabbi Kastner also holds a PhD in Counseling Psychology and is a certified Graphologist.  In addition to his private practice in psychotherapy, he is also the published author of five books. When asked why he decided to join the Halacha Mastery Program, Rabbi Kastner said, "Learning on a regular basis became a necessary ingredient for me for sustenance once I understood that I also have to feed my neshama.  The body and soul are a team and rely on each other to grow and develop both physically and spiritually." He went on to explain how the Halacha Mastery Program and the semicha track at WebYeshiva.org provided him with a wide range of understanding of halachic principles and its underpinnings, and as a result, now enables him to explain to others what may not otherwise have been obvious or properly understood. "The areas of leniency vs. being strict on various issues was especially important for me to understand," he said, "as many decisions arise on a daily basis that require an understanding of when and how to be either more lenient or strict, all within the framework of halacha.  Often, this defines one’s hashkafa as they go through life, toward finding that all important simchat chaim," he said. The semicha certificate is signed by Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Brovender and Rabbi Dovid Fink.