Halakhah

Chair: Rabbi Joseph Blumenthal

[email protected]


Halakhah is education for Jewish living. The purpose of teaching Halakhah in our Yeshivah is to educate our students to be informed, capable and motivated observers of traditional Jewish lifestyles while engaging with a largely secular society.

We strive to...

1. Inculcate the desire to keep Halakhah.
2. Help the students identify with the reasons behind the Halakhot.
3. Teach the historical development of the halakhah from the Torah law until today.
4. Demonstrate the origins of halakhic disputes (stringenies and leniencies, Ashkenaz and Sephard).
5. Teach basic Halakhic concepts.
6. Teach the basic knowledge base in every topic.
7. Teach the need to ask a rabbi when necessary.
8. Demonstrate how Halakhah applies to all parts of our lives.
9. Train the student the skills necessary to tackle Halakhic texts.
10. Familiarize the student with key halakhic personalities from the rishonim and acharonim.

Curriculum Cycle:

Hilkhot Shabbat

The Hilkhot Shabbat curriculum includes the philosophical reasons for both respecting and keeping the shabbat, the explanations for different practices and rules that govern both the positive commandments (kiddush, respect, honor and havdala, meals) and basic rules and reasons for the prohibitions on Shabbat (39 Melakhot, muktzeh, choleh). In addition, our students will learn about the holidays both in depth and are responsible to review the basic laws of each holiday independently. The curriculum uses the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch HaSefaradi as well a booklet that contains many of the sources related to the topics above.

Hilkhot Tefillah

The Hilkhot Tefilah curriculum focuses on the philosophical aspects of Tefilah, specific laws that govern Tefilah, as well as the meaning of various Tefilot. The curriculum uses the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch HaSefaradi as well a booklet that contains many sources and pesakim from the modern day Poskim. The curriculum is designed to improve the students' appreciation for Tefilah while gaining knowledge of the laws.

Hilkhot Berachot

The Hilkhot Berachot curriculum begins with an in depth conversation about understanding hakarat hatov and the impact that properly expressing that hakarat hatov has on a human being. The curriculum primarily deals with specific halachot of the birchot hanehenin, with a focus on common, day to day berachot scenarios. The curriculum uses the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch HaSefaradi as well a booklet that contains many additional sources and pesakim from the modern day Poskim, such as Chacham Ovadia Yosef and the Mishnah Berura. The berachot curriculum is designed to improve the students' recitation of berachot, while gaining knowledge of the laws.

Junior Curriculum

Selected topics from Shulhan Aruh, Yoreh De’ah, and She'elot U'Teshuvot.
The curriculum for eleventh grade is an eclectic survey of topics from the Yoreh Deah section of Shulchan Aruch. Parental Relations, Tzedakkah, Lashon HaRa, Brit Milah, Mezuza, Tzniut, Business Law, and Mourning are some of the topics addressed.

Senior Curriculum

Kashrut and Marriage/ Life cycle issues.
The first semester deals with the philosophic reasons for kashrut and the rules that apply to keeping a kosher home.
The second semester deals with relationships between men and women and the reasons for the strict guidelines that the torah requires. Students are introduced to the concept of family purity, with females meeting well-known Kallah teachers and visiting a local Mikveh.

Halakhah after High School

We teach in a way that will provide our students with a strong backbone in Halakhah hoping that they will continue to lead their lives in accordance with Halakhah and to give them the understanding to know when to ask and hopefully where to look for answers.
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