Last week was the 25th yarzheit of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein. I was in Israel at the time of his funeral, although I didn’t have much of an idea who he was, that only came a few years later. A number of interested posts were written about him. See this one by Adderabbi and this one [...]
The website Semicha la-Rabbanut has many resources for someone interested in the traditional areas of study required for semikhah, rabbinic ordination. There is a comprehensive bibliography with links and PDF’s of many articles on rabbinic ordination. A few that I would add to the list are: -Julius Newman, Semikhah (Ordination): A Study of Its Origin, [...]
Ynet has a post (Hebrew) that criticizes the dependency of many people on rabbis to make the simplest of decisions, whether they be of a halakhic nature or not. The author, Racheli Malek Buda, used a great term, מטרידים הלכתיים, halakhic harassers, people who can’t do anything without sending their rabbi an email or an [...]
For your weekend reading: Zev Farber, “Extra-Legal Punishments in Medieval Jewish Courts,” in Mishpetei Shalom – A Jubilee Volume in Honor of Rabbi Saul (Shalom) Berman, edited by Yamin Levy (Ktav Pub, 2010). Available here.
See this nice website, Learning Teshuvot.
The prohibition of a cohen marrying a divorcee is explicitly written in the Torah, see Lev. 21:7. The Conservative Movement has permitted this for a number of a years, and a number of orthodox rabbis have produced a number of lenient opinions on this issue. See e.g. the solution found in Igrot Moshe EH 4:11. [...]
The CJLS of the Conservative Movement has just published some responsa from their last meeting. The first one by Rabbis Mark Papovsky and Miriam Berkowitz is on contraception. (here) The second one is by Rabbi Barry Leff and is on naming a convert. (here) This last responsum had a number of concurring comments and a [...]
I’m not a big fan of SMS responsa, but Rabbi Shlomo Aviner’s latest Shu”t SMS has a few interesting ones. Nanny Q: We have a nanny for our baby. She is an Orthodox woman, but she puts on Talit and Tefillin. A: This does not invalidate her from being a nanny. The essence is that [...]
According to this entry at the JNUL, there is a new edition of Rabbi David Zvi Hoffman’s Melamed le-Hoil. This new edition is edited by his great-grandson, who also happens to have the name David Zvi Hoffman.
My friend Jason R. has called my attention to this blog that posts responsa. The responsa are written by a learned rabbi who wants to remain anonymous. Unlike most cyber-responsa, the responsa published on this blog are longer and quote sources.
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