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Poskim
In Jewish law, a ''posek'' ( , pl. ''poskim'', ) is a legal scholar who determines the application of ''halakha'', the Jewish religious laws derived from the written and Oral Torah, in cases of Jewish law where previous authorities are inconclusive, or in those situations where no clear ''halakhic'' precedent exists. The decision of a posek is known as a ''psak halakha'' ("ruling of law"; pl. ''piskei halakha'') or simply a "psak". ''Piskei halakha'' are generally recorded in the responsa literature. Orthodox Judaism Poskim play an integral role in Orthodox Judaism. * Generally, each community will regard one of its ''poskim'' as its ''Posek HaDor'' ("posek of the present generation"). * Most rely on the rav in their community (in Hasidic communities, sometimes the rebbe) or the leading posek. Poskim will generally not overrule a specific law unless based on an earlier authority: a posek will generally extend a law to new situations but will not change the Halakhah. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Halakha
''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Judaism, Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Torah, Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is based on biblical commandments (''Mitzvah, mitzvot''), subsequent Talmudic and Mitzvah#Rabbinic mitzvot, rabbinic laws, and the customs and traditions which were compiled in the many books such as the ''Shulchan Aruch'' or ''Mishneh Torah''. ''Halakha'' is often translated as "Jewish law", although a more literal translation might be "the way to behave" or "the way of walking". The word is derived from the Semitic root, root, which means "to behave" (also "to go" or "to walk"). ''Halakha'' not only guides religious practices and beliefs; it also guides numerous aspects of day-to-day life. Historically, widespread observance of the laws of the Torah is first in evidence beginning in the second century BCE, and some say that the first evide ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Responsa
''Responsa'' (plural of Latin , 'answer') comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them. In the modern era, the term is used to describe decisions and rulings made by scholars in historic religious law. In the Roman Empire Roman law recognised , i.e., the responses and thoughts of jurists, as one of the sources of (written law), along with laws originating from magistrates, from the Senate, or from the emperor. A particularly well-known and highly influential example of such ''responsa'' was the ''Digesta'' (or ''Digests''), in 90 books, the principal work of the prominent second century jurist Salvius Julianus. This was a systematic treatise on civil and praetorian law, consisting of responsa on real and hypothetical cases, cited by many later Roman legal writers. In the Catholic Church In the Catholic Church, ''responsa'' are answers of the competent executive authority to specific questions (in Latin, '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Solomon Freehof
Solomon Bennett Freehof (August 8, 1892 – June 12, 1990) was a prominent Reform rabbi, posek, and scholar. He served as president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and the World Union for Progressive Judaism. Beginning in 1955, he led the CCAR's work on Jewish law through its responsa committee. He also spearheaded changes to Reform liturgy with revisions to the '' Union Prayer Book'' (siddur). For many years, he served as the pulpit rabbi at Rodef Shalom in Pittsburgh, PA.Rodef Shalom Congregation, Pittsburgh, PA - More information Personal life Freehof was born in London, moved to the U.S. in 1903, received a degree from the |
Avraham Gombiner
Abraham Abele Gombiner () ( – 5 October 1682), known as the Magen Avraham, born in Gąbin (Gombin), Poland, was a rabbi, Talmudist and a leading religious authority in the Jewish community of Kalisz, Poland, during the seventeenth century. His full name was Avraham Abele ben Chaim HaLevi. There are texts that list his family name as Kalisz, after the city of his residence. After his parents were killed in 1655 during the aftermath of the Chmielnicki massacres of 1648, he moved to live and study with his relative in Leszno, Jacob Isaac Gombiner. From there, he moved to Kalisz, where he was appointed as rosh yeshiva and judge in the tribunal of Rabbi Israel Spira (who was a son of Rabbi Nathan Nata Spira). He is known to scholars of Judaism for his ''Magen Avraham'' commentary on the ''Orach Chayim'' section of Rabbi Joseph Karo's ''Shulchan Aruch'', which he began writing in 1665 and finished in 1671. His brother Yehudah traveled in 1673 to Amsterdam to print the work but ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Louis Ginzberg
Louis Ginzberg (, ''Levy Gintzburg''; , ''Levy Ginzberg''; November 28, 1873 – November 11, 1953) was a Russian-born American rabbi and Talmudic scholar of Lithuanian-Jewish descent, contributing editor to numerous articles of '' The Jewish Encyclopedia'' (1906), and leading figure in the Conservative movement of Judaism during the early 20th century. Early life Ginzberg was born in Kaunas, Vilna Governorate (then called Kovno). His religious Lithuanian-Jewish family's piety and erudition were renowned, seeing that they traced their lineage back to the Gaon of Vilna's brother. Ginzberg received a traditional Jewish education, and later studied in German universities.(November 28, 1943Leaders to Honor Louis Ginzberg, 70: On Eve of Birthday He Says Future of Jew Is Largely Up to America" ''The New York Times''. Retrieved December 7, 2023. Career Ginzberg first arrived in the United States in 1899. He began teaching the Talmud at the Jewish Theological Seminary of Amer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Mara D'atra
A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as '' semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of the rabbi developed in the Pharisaic (167 BCE–73 CE) and Talmudic (70–640 CE) eras, when learned teachers assembled to codify Judaism's written and oral laws. The title "rabbi" was first used in the first century CE. In more recent centuries, the duties of a rabbi became increasingly influenced by the duties of the Protestant Christian minister, hence the title "pulpit rabbis." Further, in 19th-century Germany and the United States, rabbinic activities such as sermons, pastoral counseling, and representing the community to the outside all increased in importance. Within the various Jewish denominations, there are different requirements for rabbinic ordination and differences in opinion regarding who is recognized as a rabbi. Non-Ort ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Hasidic Judaism
Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a Spirituality, spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most of those affiliated with the movement, known as ''hassidim'', reside in Israel and in the United States (mostly Brooklyn and the Hudson Valley). Israel Ben Eliezer, the "Baal Shem Tov", is regarded as its founding father, and his disciples developed and disseminated it. Present-day Hasidism is a sub-group within Haredi Judaism and is noted for its religious conservatism and social seclusion. Its members aim to adhere closely both to Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish practice – with the movement's own unique emphases – and the prewar lifestyle of Eastern European Jews. Many elements of the latter, including various special styles of dress and the use of the Yiddish language, are nowadays associated almost exclusively with Hasidism. Has ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Reconstructionist Judaism
Reconstructionist Judaism () is a Jewish religious movements, Jewish movement based on the concepts developed by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (1881–1983)—namely, that Judaism as a Civilization, Judaism is a progressively evolving civilization rather than just a religion. The movement originated as a semi-organized stream within Conservative Judaism, developed between the late 1920s and the 1940s before seceding in 1955, and established a Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, rabbinical college in 1967. Reconstructionist Judaism is recognized by many scholars as one of the five major streams of Judaism in America alongside Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox, Conservative Judaism, Conservative, Reform Judaism, Reform, and Humanistic Judaism, Humanistic. There is substantial theological diversity within the movement. ''Halakha'' (Jewish law) is not considered normative and binding but is instead seen as the basis for the ongoing evolution of meaningful Jewish practice. In contrast with the Refo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
David Einhorn (rabbi)
David Einhorn (November 10, 1809November 2, 1879) was a German rabbi and leader of Reform Judaism in the United States. In 1855, he became the first rabbi of the Har Sinai Congregation in Baltimore, the oldest Jewish-American congregation affiliated with the Reform movement since its inception. While there, he created an early American prayer book for the congregation that became one of the progenitors of the 1894 '' Union Prayer Book''. Writing and preaching in German, rabbi Einhorn denounced slavery as a moral evil, rebutting the pro-slavery theology of rabbi Morris Jacob Raphall. In April 1861, after preaching a sermon against slavery, Einhorn was driven out of Baltimore by a pro-slavery mob. He fled to Philadelphia and became rabbi of Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel. In 1866 he moved to New York City, where he became rabbi of Congregation Adath Israel. Early years He was born in Diespeck, Kingdom of Bavaria, on November 10, 1809. He studied at the yeshiva in Fürth w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Toledot Ha-Poskim
Toledot, Toldot, Toldos, or Toldoth (—Hebrew language, Hebrew for "generations" or "descendants," the second word and the Incipit, first distinctive word in the ''parashah'') is the sixth weekly Torah portion (, ''parashah'') in the annual Judaism, Jewish cycle of Torah reading. The parashah tells of the conflict between Jacob and Esau, Isaac's Wife-sister narratives in Genesis, passing off his wife Rebecca, Rebekah as his sister, and Isaac's blessing of his sons. It constitutes Book of Genesis, Genesis 25:19–28:9. The parashah is made up of 5,426 Hebrew letters, 1,432 Hebrew words, 106 Chapters and verses of the Bible, verses, and 173 lines in a Torah Scroll (, ''Sefer Torah''). Jews read it the sixth Shabbat, Sabbath after Simchat Torah, generally in November, or rarely in early December. Readings In traditional Sabbath Torah reading, the parashah is divided into seven readings (, ''Aliyah (Torah), aliyot''). In the Masoretic Text of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), Parashat Tole ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Walter Jacob
Walter Jacob (March 13, 1930 – October 20, 2024) was an American Reform rabbi. He was rabbi at the Rodef Shalom Congregation in Pittsburgh from 1955 to 1997. He served as chairman of organizations such as the Central Conference of American Rabbis and World Union for Progressive Judaism. Jacob wrote a book, ''Christianity Through Jewish Eyes'' in 1974, leading to interfaith dialogue. He founded the Solomon B. Freehof Institute for Progressive Halakhah in 1991, an international forum for Jewish law. In Germany, he co-founded the Abraham Geiger College, the first rabbinic seminary in Central Europe since the Holocaust, in 1999. Biography Jacob was born in Augsburg, Germany, on March 13, 1930, into a family with rabbinic tradition for 17 generations. His father was Ernest Israel Jacob, district rabbi in Augsburg, and his grandfather was Benno Jacob, who was regarded as a great liberal Jewish bible commentator. His mother was Annette Loewenberg Jacob, and he grew up with a broth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
