Wednesday 16 November 2011

Halachic Movement

In my post The Shelo Asani Ishah Issue, I mentioned that I wanted to present a more thorough discussion on this matter, not necessarily the particular topic of Shelo Asani Isha but the whole question of, what we may term, Halachic movement. I have recently completed this presentation and invite you to take a look at it. 

Halachic Movement

A new Commentary on the parameters of Halachic change within Orthodoxy
available on the Nishma website at
http://www.nishma.org/articles/commentary/movement.html


2 comments:

Avraham said...

shelo asani isha is the only blessing I say. Maybe i should add a few others but it is the one blessing that makes the most sense to me. If you don't know what i mean the you have not met a J.A.P.

Avraham said...

a more serious comment---to me i see law as being the intersection of the x axis Talmud law and the y axis natural law. the point where they intersect is the halacha. If they intercept along a curve that gives rise to argument as the halacha. Do we maximize the natural law part or be stricter Talmudic law part. And in the Talmudic part do we go by original intension or a wider interpretation? Also does it have to be consistent with the rest of Talmud. Also consistency is important from another aspect. What happens if Achronim introduce principles in halacha which make it not coherent with the Talmud itself? Should this not be considered a pesak for their city along but not be used as a general pesak. and also natural law is what to maximize social benefits for the community of a priori perceived values? And also the most important question who gets to be called a human being? A Baal Teshuva is in the charedi wolrd 2/5's a human being so she does not get the full protection of the community. They are thrown to the dogs if and when convient. A ger is 1/5 a human. A modern Orthodox is 4/5's human.
People can say that this is not true but then they live in a fantasy world. These are the facts on the ground.