The Halakhic Process – Complete Class / Podcast Series

YUTOPIA's 10 Year Anniversary SpecialOver the past year and a half I have had fortuitous opportunity to dedicate my Sunday class towards explaining the halakhic process, or to put it more bluntly, how Jewish law works. My intent was to explain not only my own system but to critically analyze the logic, assumptions, and presumptions often made in halakhic arguments. While these classes may be listened to individually, as a unit they explore in great detail the various narratives of authority and their respective justifications.

It is with great thanks to The Stanton Street Shul and all those who attended in person and for whom it is I primarily teach, that I now present links to all previous audio and sources in one convenient post. Note that some classes were previously given as part of another series. I included links to those lectures as opposed to rerecording a repeated class.

Enjoy!


  1. The Halakhic Process – An Introduction
  2. Contracts with God
  3. Basis for Rabbinic Authority
  4. What is a Rabbi? Qualifications and Procedures
  5. Varieties of Rabbinic Fallibility
  6. Bal Tosif and Rabbinic Innovation
  7. Rabbinic Legislation
  8. Legislation and Dissent
  9. Halakhah V’Ein Morin Kein
  10. General Principles of Stringencies
  11. Rabbinic Attitudes Towards Stringencies
  12. Lifnim Mishurat Hadin / Above and Beyond the Law
  13. Assuming Additional Responsibilities
  14. Marit Ha’ayin / How Not To Be Seen
  15. Popular Practice and the Process of Psak / The Role of Custom in Jewish Law
  16. Rambam’s / Maimonides’ Approach To Jewish Law Part 1
  17. Rambam’s / Maimonides’ Approach To Jewish Law Part 2
  18. Emergency Rulings / Hora’at Sha’ah
  19. Rambam and Rabbinic Authority / Mamrim 1
  20. Rambam Mamrim 2
  21. Rambam Mamrim 3 (Zakein Mamre / Rebellious Elder)
  22. Early Ashkenaz Law vs. Custom
  23. Masorah / Tradition and Historical Revisionism Part 1
  24. Masorah / Tradition Part 2
  25. Consensus
  26. “Gadolatry” and Daas Torah
  27. Conservative Judaism
  28. Open Orthodoxy
  29. R. David Hartman and Religious Individualism
  30. Summary and Conclusions

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