Questions tagged [posek-psak-decisor-ruling]
Questions about halachic deciders and their rulings.
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Asking a shaila - not looking for a psak
How does one phrase a request for a Rabbi's opinion on a halachic matter so as not to receive a psak? Are there multiple acceptable expressions?
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What is the difference between these two phrases used by Poskim?
I have seen both Mekach U’Memchar and Masa U’Masan used by various Rabbis and Poskim to mean, what I think, is business or business dealings. Is there a difference between these two phrases in meaning?...
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What are the parameters of Meta Halachic principles?
In his book, The Narrow Halakhic Bridge Rabbi Ronen Neuwirth identifies a halachic category called meta-halacha (p. 249 and on) which he explains (I paraphrase) as principles a posek (decided of ...
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Questions on Psak Halacha [duplicate]
If one is learning Halacha and comes across a machlokes between recent Poskim (post Mishna Berura eg is one allowed to make a tea in a Kli Shelishi) can one decide by himself to be meikel if the logic ...
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Seforim/Books on Klalei Horo'oh
Can anyone recommend a good sefer explaining Klalei Horo'oh - how a Rov reaches a psak, being machria between different acharonim etc?
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When are exceptions to rulings warranted?
The Gemara says:
Rav Yehuda permitted applying blue eye shadow to the eye on Shabbat. Rav Shmuel bar Yehuda said: One who follows Yehuda desecrates Shabbat. Ultimately, Rav Shmuel bar Yehuda himself ...
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Discarding halachic rules on Ketubot 60b
In Masechet Ketubot, 60b there is a discussion of how long a nursing woman has to wait before being remarried. There are 2 opinions:
R. Meir says 24 months (or 21 months as the problem with the milk ...
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When can you disregard a Jewish court's ruling?
Tractate Horayot discusses cases where rabbis and Jewish courts issue wrong rulings about Jewish observance, and what they must do to remedy. In particular, it rules:
This is the principle: One who ...
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Origin of mesora for halachos covered in Seder Zeraim
Other than Berachos, there is no gemara in Seder Zer'aim. Where then does our mesora for the halachos discussed in that seder come from? The rishonim do discuss them, but were did they get it from? ...
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How do you decide who lives and who dies?
The Talmud [Bava Metzia 62a] teaches as follows. Two people are in a desert and only one of them has water. If both drink, both will die, but if only one drinks, he will survive and reach ...
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Epidemics and public torah study
In the current pandemic, there seem to be diverse opinions, both of medical/government officials and of religious leaders regarding communal gatherings for religious services. For example, some shuls ...
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When the Mishna Berurah quotes the Vilna Gaon, is he paskening like him?
The Shulchan Aruch in 47/1 says
One who thinks about words of Torah does not need to say the blessings
[of the Torah]. Similarly, one may pasken without giving the reason
The Mishna Berurah ...
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View of the Shu"t Min HaShamayim
The Shu"t Min Hashamayim was written by a Rishon who would receive answers in dreams from Heaven. Is there a difference in Torah views regarding how to weigh the halachic perspective of such a work? (...
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Asking Am Haaretz and doing opposite
There is a Sm"a (I think) somewhere which talks about what to do in a situation when a chacham is not available to answer one's question - namely, to get advice from an Am Haaretz, and then do the ...
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Do halachic authorities actually believe in eilu v'eilu?
This answer https://judaism.stackexchange.com/a/93714/13680 states the following viewpoint
[...] HKB"H does not care about the truth anymore, as long as they arrived at their conclusion sincerely ...
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Case Study: Kashrut of Tapioca Starch
I have heard different answers from representatives of the cRc and the Star-K regarding the kashrut of un-certified tapioca starch. While both agree that it requires a hechsher for Pessach, the Star-K ...
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Rabbi's liability for giving a wrong psak
Companion question to Questioner's liability for receiving a wrong psak.
Let's say that someone asks his Rav, for example, if a certain food is Kosher, and the Rav paskens that it is not, and ...
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Poskining like someone on their Yahrtzeit
I have heard in the name of Rav Yisroel Salanter that there is an inyan to poskin like a given posek on their Yahrtzeit, even if we would not poskin like them the rest of the year.
Two questions:
1) ...
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Asking a second rabbi for a ruling
Tosafot on Avodah Zarah 7a: [translation from here]
It is forbidden to ask [a second rabbi for permission] only if one does not inform him [that a first rabbi was consulted and he forbade it]... ...
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Is one obligated to listen to a Rav? [duplicate]
If I ask my rav for halachic advice, must I follow it or can I ask a different posek?
Seperately, if I ask my rav for personal advice, must I listen?
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Why Poskim don't work and write in groups?
At any given moment there are several leading (and hundreds of secondary) Rabbis and Poskim. Each one running his own Yeshivah, writing his books and issuing his own Psakim.
I understood that the ...
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Can an artificial intelligence serve as a judge and/or posek? [duplicate]
If the vast corpus of halachic material including information on how sources are weighed and how halacha has been decided through the ages was compiled and processed through an artificial intelligence ...
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Why doesn't "Yatir Bechorot Yatir" semicha exist nowadays? (ie besides "Yoreh Yoreh" & "Yadin Yadin")
The gemara in Sanhedrin 5a teaches us about 3 different levels of semicha:
“Yoreh Yoreh”- primarily in Yoreh Deah, but can also include Shabbos, Niddah etc- which allows the person to issue rulings ...
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What's the path to becoming a Posek
What's the path to becoming a Jewish Orthodox Posek (like R' Yechiel Michel Epstein, a.k.a the Aruch Hashulchan). What Sefarim does one have to learn? What learning method is the most effective?
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What gives a rav authority to grant his own semichah?
I have heard many stories about people receiving private semichah from rabbanim, even into the 20th century, under such figures as the Chofetz Chaim, R' Moshe Feinstein, and R' Isser Zalman Meltzer; a ...
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Are there unresolved ‘tekus’ in the Talmud later resolved in responsum?
Often in the Talmud questions are asked which do not yield a result. These non-answers are called ‘teku’ (תיקו).
Frequently, the questions which are left with teku are those which are far-fetched.
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When two opinions differ how the Halachah is made? [closed]
Lets supose that in talmud sage A say that something is permitted and sage B say that something is not permitted, what opinion should we follow?
Have seen some places that the difference is absurd, ...
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Retroactive psak and conversions
B"H
I constantly read about Orthodox conversions which are retroactively nullified by the Israeli Rabbanut, sometimes affecting multiple generations. I am not writing this question to express nor ...
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Where can a gentile seek guidance? [duplicate]
Jews have rabbanim to provide them with guidance. What about gentiles? Where can they go to seek guidance when they are unsure of how to conduct themselves?
While one could argue that the Noachide ...
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Earning semichah with just a test
What if someone does know a lot of halachah and wanted to earn semichah and become a posek? Are there any good semichah programs which will award semichah with just a test (as opposed to a additional ...
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Should an Ashkenazi learn Yalkut Yosef and Kaf HaChaim? [closed]
Should and Ashkenazi such as myself learn Yalkut Yosef and Kaf HaChaim, Sephardi halachic works, or should I not bother as the halacha wouldn't apply to me?
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Situations where your own opinions define Jewish law
I am asking this question to evoke a list of situations in which one's personal feelings, intuitions, beliefs, and/or tastes have a role in creating the halacha.
I can think of a few on my own. With ...
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Questioner's liability for receiving a wrong psak
If someone asked a competent Rav a shaila, and the Rav was wrong, is the "questioner" liable? For example, if someone asked a Rav if one is permitted to water his plants on Shabbat and the Rav ...
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How to get an urgent answer if your local rabbi isn't reachable
I think many frum people have been in the situation of needing time-sensitive help with a halachic question, but not having access to their/any rabbi. What resources such as hotlines are available to ...
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What is the Halachic protocol for assessing an alleged Apikores?
Today, people cavalierly throw around accusations of Apikorsut to identify practically anyone who doesn't think the identical way as them. Throughout Jewish history, claims of Apikorsut have been ...
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Precut fruit is kosher but not lemon?
I'm confused by what I'm reading here:
Fresh fruits and vegetables grown in chutz la’aretz are kosher whether bought whole or cut. Therefore, you may purchase a fresh fruit
salad in any ...
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Are there high level poskim who are easily accessible?
I often have Halachic questions that upon approaching local Orthodox rabbonim, I don't feel comfortable with their psak. I know enough to know that they don't have a complete grasp of halacha but I ...
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How authoritative is the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch?
The Kitzur Shulchan Aruch makes some clear statements that do not reflect the range of opinions. For example, Ch 53 #2, "...in the case of...vegetables, which are eaten after they are cooked, when the ...
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Is it lifnei iver if you enable someone to violate a strict interpretation?
Are there potential issues of m'sayea lidvar avera or lifnei iver if one enables, aids, or abets a violation of some machmirus? I don't mean a chumra or minhag, but a stricter position on some halacha ...
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If you get a psak, then hear that it is wrong, what must you do?
If I get a personal psak from "my" rabbi, then hear something--let's say from a dayan who is advising me on a different, but related matter--to indicate that "my" rabbi's psak was somehow flawed, what ...
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What teaches about the Tosefta תוספתא
What religious communities teach about the Tosefta תוספתא today?
I know that among some teachers it is considered legitimate to compare and contrast parallel teachings in the Mishnah, Tosefta, and ...
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Reason for the Conservative driving teshuva?
When it was enacted, was the Conservative Movement's driving teshuva (the one that allowed driving to and from shul on Shabbat) designed for people who had already moved to the suburbs, far from ...
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Guidelines for what constitutes a modest wig?
Has any reputable posek/rav published a list of guidelines for what would constitute a tzinius wig that is accepted as something one could follow today?
It would seem funny if almost everything in ...
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Is using the Internet OK?
What Poskim rule that the Internet is totally ok to use (without a filter)? What Poskim rule that's it's never ok to use? What Poskim say that you can use it, but with a filter?
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Is there a teshuva which speaks about whether Jean pants are Chok Akum? [duplicate]
I was told by someone that there is a Teshuva by the Seridei Eish where there is a discussion of weather wearing denim jeans falls under the category of Chok Akum.
My question:
1) Does this Teshuva ...
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Why do we follow the "basra'a" - later one?
We know in Shas that in various situations, when there is a machlokes as to how to pasken, we follow the opinion of he that was chronologically later. (Ex. see Tosafos to B'rachos 13b s.v. Amar Rava.) ...
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Asking a shaila with Loshon Hara
Can you say loshon hara for the purposes of asking a shaila (i.e., of a rav)? Must you meet the Chofetz Chaim's seven prerequisites for saying constructive loshon hara in order to do so in this case?
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Audio Recording on Shabbat/Yom Tov
Would there be a problem with leaving a recorder on from before Shabbat or Yom Tov, and thereby recording a lecture given on Shabbat itself? There is a wealth of literature on the subject of Melacha ...
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Prohibition of causing mitzta'er on Yom Tov
I have heard about a Biblical prohibition on causing oneself to suffer during Yom Tov. The example that always comes up for this mitzvah is the permission not to sleep in the sukkah if it causes one ...
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What's the procedure for seeking a psak?
I need a psak on a complicated (to me) halachic issue. I'm not currently affiliated with a shul, so I have no daily contact with rabbanim, and I've never needed a psak before. How does one do this? ...
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