Over 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