Archive for June, 2008

In general, the Mitvot can be divided into two categories – those Mitvot which have a set time and

those Mitvot which do not have a set time. This distinction has Halachic significance in particular for women who are obligated in the non-time bound Mitvot and are exempt from the time bound ones.

The question arises how to apply this principle to Tefillah. Tefillah, it seems, is a time bound Mitvah and, as such, women should be exempt from the obligation to daven. And yet, we find that the Shulchan Aruch specifically states that women do have an obligation to daven. Why the exception to the general rule about women’s obligation and the Mitvot? In today’s Halacha Yomit Rabbi Brovender addresses that question from the perspective of the Rambam.

Source Sheet for Women’s Obligation to Daven (Part 1)

Children should be given a good start in life, but there is no need to provide for them forever.

Question: I think it’s important to leave a legacy to my children. How much should I save towards this end?

Answer: The sages of the Talmud had a nuanced view of bequests. On the one hand, they strongly encouraged a person to leave the bulk of his or her assets to their family, and not give it all away to strangers or charity. But saving specifically for a legacy is also not encouraged. Children need to be given a good start in life; afterwards we should be most concerned about our spiritual legacy. continue

We all know that Chazal established a direct connection between davening and the Korbanot.

The shaachrit prayer parallels the morning sacrifice and mincha parallels the afternoon prayer. What is not so clear is where Maariv fits into this structure. After all, there are no sacrifices which are brought during the night time. What, then, is the Temple source for the Maariv prayer.

Furthermore, as we shall shortly learn in today’s Halacha Yomit, Chazal only established the Maariv prayer as an optional prayer. Today, though, Maariv is (almost) as obligatory as Shaachrit and Mincha. How did this come to be? Upon whose authority did we become so stringent with the evening time prayer?

Source Sheet: Rambam Hilchot Tefillah, Perek 1, Halachot 6

Three times a day we daven – Shaacrhit, Mincha and Maariv. Have you ever wondered why three

times a day? Have you ever wondered why specifically in the morning, the afternoon and evening? And why do we some days add the Musaf prayer? Rabbi Brovender begins to address those issues in today’s Halacha Yomit.

In particular, Rabbi Brovender explains what inspired Ezra and his court to establish the Shaacrhit and Mincha prayers. He also relates to another issue – how do these times relate to the famous Machloket between the Rambam and the Ramban about whether or not Tefillah (in its essence) is a Biblical or Rabbinic Mitvah. According to the Rambam, on a biblical level we are only obligated to pray once a day at any time that we so choose. What are his (the Rambam’s) thoughts about the Rabbinic obligation to daven?

Source Sheet: Rambam Hilchot Tefillah, Perek 1, Halachot 5

Transmitting suspicion and hearsay has little value.

Question: A job applicant reported a college degree, but we couldn’t verify it with the college and the applicant gave some lame excuse. I know she is now applying for a job with a colleague. Should I tell him she’s a liar?

Answer: Publicizing the misdeeds of others is a trying ethical decision because it upholds one important ethical responsibility while possibly violating another. You would like to protect your colleague from a bad experience with this candidate, yet also protect the privacy and good name of the candidate herself. This tension is expressed in the two sides of a single verse from the Torah: “Don’t go about as a talebearer among your people; don’t stand idly by the blood of your fellow” (Leviticus 19:16). The first half warns us against malicious gossip, which can harm someone’s reputation or invade their privacy. Yet the second half warns us not to stand idly by when our fellow man faces loss or danger; we are bidden to take action to protect him. continue

Continuing yesterday’s conversation about the historical development of the Shemoneh Esrei,

Rabbi Brovender further delves into the inspiration that led Ezra and his Beit Din to establish the Shemoneh Esrei. Not only does Rabbi Brovender address the historical circumstances that led to this monumental decision, but he also relates to the particular response of Ezra and his court.

Language, it seems, was a problem that particularly bothered Ezra and the Rabbis of his day. More particularly, Ezra was concerned about the ability (or lack there of) of the Jewish people to properly articulate themselves when petitioning G-d. And in particular, Ezra wanted to make sure that people could make this petition in Hebrew. In today’s Halacha Yomit Rabbi Brovender delves into these issues and explains to us their importance.

Source Sheet: Rambam Hilchot Tefillah, Perek 1, Halachot 4

Today we are used to thinking of Davening as intricately connected to the Siddur and the Shemoneh

Esrei. This was not always the case. In fact, from the time of Moshe Rabbeinu until the days of Ezra HaSofer davening took on a very different form than what we are used to. Not only were there no siddurim, but there wasn’t even a Shemoneh Esrei. That was an invention of Ezra HaSofer and the Anshei Kennesit HaGedolah.

What happened that spurred Ezra and the other great Rabbis of his day to so radically change the face of davening as the Jews had known it up until that time? Drawing upon the Rambam in Hilchot Teshuva (Chapter 1, Halachot 2 and 3), Rabbi Brovender addresses that very questions in today’s Halacha Yomit.

Source Sheet: Rambam Hilchot Tefillah, Perek 1, Halachot 2 and 3

Note: You can download this shiur by right-clicking on the ‘Download’ link and saving the file to your computer.

Halacha Yomit: Hilchot Tefillah

Halacha Yomit: Hilchot Tefillah