World Of Responsa
Jews have long written letters to experts asking important halachic questions. Over the course of time these questions and answers were gathered and published in books of she’elot u-teshuvot (questions and answers, acronymed to shu”t, in English, responsa).
In this course, Rabbi Gidon Rothstein introduces some of the most well-known respondents of Jewish history, figures such as Rambam, Rashba, Radvaz, R. Yosef Karo, Noda Bi-Yehudah, Chatam Sofer, R. Moshe Feinstein, R. Ovadya Yosef, and more. We will cover the topics of conversion, the Ethiopians Jews, keeping two days of Yom Tov in Israel, when a woman’s affair must end a marriage, how bad a rabbi has to be to lose his job, how to keep Shabbat when under siege in Gush Etzion, and more.
Through our survey, we will learn about the great sages who were asked, the kinds of logic they found convincing, and their process of bringing halachah from the Beit Midrash to real life.
World Of Responsa: Lesson
World Of Responsa: Lesson
World Of Responsa: Lesson
World Of Responsa: Lesson
World Of Responsa: Lesson
World Of Responsa: Lesson
World Of Responsa: Lesson
World Of Responsa: Lesson
World Of Responsa: Lesson
World Of Responsa: Lesson
World Of Responsa: Lesson
World Of Responsa: Lesson
World Of Responsa: Lesson
World Of Responsa: Lesson
World Of Responsa: Lesson
Tonight, we’ll meet R. Yithak Isak HaLevi Herzog, first Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of the State of Israel
World Of Responsa: Lesson
We studied some responsa of R. Moshe Feinstein regarding medical issues– Can a Jewish doctor function as a doctor on Shabbat? May people will be quarantined take tefillin with them, if all items brought into quarantine will be burned? And, what are the rules of personal dignity that affect Torah scholars and visiting those who are ill?
World Of Responsa: Lesson
Getting to know the Tzitz Eliezer a bit, two of his responsa on circumstances when a doctor must violate medical confidentiality.
Rabbi Dr. Gidon Rothstein has semicha from YU (RIETS) and a PhD from Harvard. He has worked in shul rabbinate, high school and adult education. He is the author of both fiction and non-fiction, most recently "As If We Were There: Readings for a Transformative Passover Experience". He lives in Riverdale, NY.