Rav Yitzchak Berkovits, founder and director of The Jerusalem Kollel (www.thejerusalemkollel.com), is a widely respected authority on Halachah and well known for his telephone tapes on Shmiras Halashon. He is well known as a teacher and lecturer throughout Jerusalem and was ordained at the Mirrer Yeshiva, Jerusalem.
This lecture looks at the seminal works of Rashi, Tosfos, the Rif and Rambam. Hear the crux of where Ashkenazim and Sephardim diverge. And best of all, hear Rav Berkovits explain the function the rishonim played in developing Torah She’Baal Peh.
The Oral Law contains all the fundamental messages of our faith. So valuable in fact that people question why this vital information was not formalized in writing rather than trusting the oral transmission from teacher to pupil. This single session answers most questions asked about this highly misunderstood body of Jewish thought.
Rav Berkovits explains why the Oral Transmission, and why the sages use such far-fetched examples to argue their points. Also hear about the sudden shift after the first Temple that insured the survival of the Oral Torah.
After the period of the Gemara closed, the oral transmission continued being passed from teacher to student in a reliable way. Rav Berkovits looks at the period of the Geonim and Rishonim, and follows a few different threads of this chain in different countries. This analysis shows us how differences in law began to emerge, as well as the points when each transmission ended.
Rav Berkovits takes us to the point in time just before ours, the Achronim, and the disputes that arose in that era. His analysis of Chassidus and the opposition it faced leads into the enlightenment that swept Europe soon afterward. How did different communities deal with the mass defections that were taking place from traditional Judaism, and how did that affect certain key aspects of mesorah?
Rav Berkovits looks at the important subjects of how to choose a Rabbi. What is Kabbalah, and how does it affect Halacha? Often, newcomers to religious Judaism don't have customs to fall back on. How should one choose what to do? And no less important - when do we know we are ready to take on a more stringent approach? An excellent class on understanding individuality and how to fit ourselves into a comfortable niche.
Before speaking about the Sanhedrin, Rav Berkovits takes special care to define the principle of mishpatim. Deciding cases based on these laws was the task of 70 judges, who needed to be ordained by the wise men who preceeded them. How do our courts of law today derive their power from the Sanhedrin that existed back then?
Frum Jews frequently ask their personal questions to gedolim. Rav Berkovits adds that what we should be asking is: what are the principles involved, and what is the Ratzon HaShem? He emphasizes how ideally we should be making educated decisions on our own without needing to rely on others. Don’t miss this concise lecture and its surprising conclusions.
Why are we told to study Torah as an end in itself when the whole point of Torah seems to be for us to become bigger and better people? Rav Berkovits defines the concept of study, and the measuring rod for knowing how much we've understood of what we learned.
Every masmid complains how tough it is to recall the sugyos he learned last z'man. Rav Berkovits shlita explains how to hold onto your learning, and how to function on minimal sleep. This shiur is for all b'nei Torah striving for excellence in learning and in life.