Rabbinic ordination
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4answers
376 views
The Ability to Pasken
What gives someone the ability to Pasken? At what point do we say that he is knowledgeable enough to decide questions on a topic? Does this have to do with "Semicha"? Does it have to do with being a ...
8
votes
2answers
634 views
Smicha from R' Zalman Nechemia Goldberg?
One often sees that individuals' have smicha from R' Zalman Nechemia Goldberg. The smicha exams are typically considered more theoretical than that of the Israeli rabbinate, which requires more ...
7
votes
3answers
136 views
Semicha and Gneivas Daas
If today's semicha is only an "echo" of the true semicha which ceased with the loss of the sanhedrin then
Why do we still give it?
Why isn't it gneivas daas (the assumption is that people who have ...
7
votes
1answer
190 views
Can a convert serve as a dayan?
I believe that there are specific restrictions placed on a ger (convert) being a legal decisor on a beit din. What are these restrictions and do those, ipso facto, preclude that individual from ...
7
votes
2answers
171 views
Semicha (ordination) by Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky Zatzal
I have never met anyone or heard of anyone that has received Semicha (rabbinic ordination) from Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky Zatzal. Did Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky ever give anyone Semicha? If the answer is ...
7
votes
1answer
72 views
How did they establish in the USA, post-WW II, that a Rav had smicha prior to the Holocaust?
This is probably something that happened many times after World War II, when documentation was lost.
Here's the scenario:
A rabbi, who had led a kehila (congregation) in a small town in ...
7
votes
1answer
192 views
Was Rabbi Moshe Feinstein ever formally ordained? (Given semicha?)
Did Rabbi Moshe Feinstein ever formally receive semicha? From whom? I recall reading that he studied a great deal with his father, and that his first responsum was written "at his father's orders."
7
votes
1answer
265 views
Whose semicha (ordination) was the last one signed/granted by Rabbi Joseph Dov Soloveichik? By Rabbi Moshe Feinstein?
Whose semicha (ordination) was the last one signed/granted by Rabbi Joseph Dov Soloveichik? What about by Rabbi Moshe Feinstein?
(The answer may be "the yeshiva ABC class of 1981" or whatever.)
7
votes
0answers
126 views
What did a “don't-issue-rulings” semicha (ordination) look like?
Again from the biography of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein found in Igrot Moshe Volume 8 (emphasis added):
Many approached [him] for ordination, and he was not difficult on them. Some ordinations were ...
6
votes
1answer
80 views
Receiving Rabbinic smicha from a group
Is it possible for a man to receive his smicha simply from the fact that the Jews of his time all agree he should be a Rabbi? (I know this leaves out the ceremony part of it.) If a man so clearly ...
5
votes
3answers
433 views
Which seforim did you use when learning for Rabbinic Semicha
Which sforim and topics are commonly learned by students who are studying to receive Rabbinic ordination?
ie: Yoreh De'ah Melicha - Tur V'Shulchan Aruch
Different groups within Orthodox Judaism ...
5
votes
3answers
183 views
Does an Orthodox rabbi have to have semicha?
I have heard that in the Orthodox world rabbis that teach are referred to as "Rabbi" even though they might not have semicha. Even several roshei yeshivah might not have semicha. can this be true?
5
votes
1answer
99 views
What is the typical course for dayanut?
Related to this discussion on semicha (issur v'heter), what is the syllabus usually used for Dayanut? This used to be available on the Montefiore yeshiva website, but I can't find it any longer.
Any ...
4
votes
1answer
82 views
An improved Jewish calendar after this one expires?
Conventional wisdom has it that about 1600 years ago, the latter Hillel utilized his Sanhedrin to sanctify the Hebrew calendar as we know it today until the year 6000. (Presumably by that point we'll ...
2
votes
2answers
98 views
Can semicha be removed?
Can semicha (rabbinic ordination) be removed today? If so, what is the criteria for removal?
slightly related
2
votes
1answer
78 views
Why is semicha specifically to ordain a Rabbi to give psak?
Was the original process of semicha merely intended to provide reliable decisors of halacha only?
Nowadays can a Rav get semicha in Tanach or Talmud (for example)? Since, perhaps, these days the ...
2
votes
0answers
118 views
Who gave the “yadav rav lo” ordination a few decades ago?
According to Rabbi Hoenig's article, "The Orthodox Rabbi as Military Chaplain" (Tradition Fall 1976, emphasis in the original):
This situation brought up the question of
proper ordination, the ...
