I have had a fascination with Halacha [Jewish Law] for a long time. I know that in one previous essay I must have sounded like I was knocking it. But I really meant to knock the misuse of the concept of Halacha and the pretense of people that pretend to know and keep it.
But now I wanted to deal with this subject in the correct way. And this is not hard to present. In fact my very first year in yeshiva I was shown right away the correct approach towards halacah.
[Yeshiva has in general four years. The first year is for beginners.] The yeshiva [Shar Yashuv] was doing Chulin which deals with ritual slaughter and things like that. It was perfect to show how to learn Halacha. For every law was more or less a self contained unit. So we would learn the law in the Talmud itself--the source of the law. Then we would trace it down through the Tur, Beit Joseph (by Joseph Karo) and Shulchan Aruch. (The Shulchan Aruch was also written by Joseph Karo and meant to be a short version of the Beit Joseph so people could do fast review.)
But that is really just to provide an introduction to the subject. To get a general idea that takes in the big picture what I recommend is this: To get Reb Chaim Soloveitchik's book, Chidushai HaRambam, and the books of his two disciples, Baruch Ber and Shimon Shkop. But even more important I would run out immediately and buy the Avi Ezri of Rav Shach.
If you have just one Tractate at home and just one of the above mentioned books, now you are prepared to learn Halachah.
What to do is to take one essay from and of the above mentioned books and learn it with the subject matter in the Gemara. Do not worry of you do not understand it at first. Just keep going over the same essay every day until it sinks in.
This small blog entry is not supposed to be exhaustive. It is rather just an introduction. I should go into the fact of the Maharaha, and Maharshal, and the Gra and the Beit Joseph that all shouted and yelled about people that decide halachah from short versions of Halacha without knowing the actual Gemara.
But now I wanted to deal with this subject in the correct way. And this is not hard to present. In fact my very first year in yeshiva I was shown right away the correct approach towards halacah.
[Yeshiva has in general four years. The first year is for beginners.] The yeshiva [Shar Yashuv] was doing Chulin which deals with ritual slaughter and things like that. It was perfect to show how to learn Halacha. For every law was more or less a self contained unit. So we would learn the law in the Talmud itself--the source of the law. Then we would trace it down through the Tur, Beit Joseph (by Joseph Karo) and Shulchan Aruch. (The Shulchan Aruch was also written by Joseph Karo and meant to be a short version of the Beit Joseph so people could do fast review.)
But that is really just to provide an introduction to the subject. To get a general idea that takes in the big picture what I recommend is this: To get Reb Chaim Soloveitchik's book, Chidushai HaRambam, and the books of his two disciples, Baruch Ber and Shimon Shkop. But even more important I would run out immediately and buy the Avi Ezri of Rav Shach.
If you have just one Tractate at home and just one of the above mentioned books, now you are prepared to learn Halachah.
What to do is to take one essay from and of the above mentioned books and learn it with the subject matter in the Gemara. Do not worry of you do not understand it at first. Just keep going over the same essay every day until it sinks in.
This small blog entry is not supposed to be exhaustive. It is rather just an introduction. I should go into the fact of the Maharaha, and Maharshal, and the Gra and the Beit Joseph that all shouted and yelled about people that decide halachah from short versions of Halacha without knowing the actual Gemara.
Then to actually decide any particular Halacha what I do is to get to know the relevant sources. The first step is to know the subject in the Gemara itself with Tosphot. Then you need to see the Geonim. Often their opinions were not known, so this takes some digging. Then the Rishonim, Rambam, Rif Tur, Shulchan Aruch. After that there is usually no issue that does not become clear.
But if you need an immediate idea, then the best bet is to go directly to the Tur Beit Joseph.
If only more people would learn Halacah properly, a lot of issues would be resolved. Knowing what idolatry is or how to act in many situations would be clear.
If only more people would learn Halacah properly, a lot of issues would be resolved. Knowing what idolatry is or how to act in many situations would be clear.
