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June 3, 1975

The Shaping of Halacha in Every Generation (1975)

Halachik Method
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A Philosophy of Halacha that Depends on One Letter (1979)

Nat L is pos. L. (=sovereign's common). *NL = absol, univ'l, timeless. Immanent, ontological. *Euripedis (50 yrs before Plato) – discoverable, no gromulgatis *chtz... Islam: rutabila (NL) vs Ashariga *Hal? some – yes; others – no. (Karaites – yes). 2. יומא – אלה המצות – שאללמלא (פתא דין הוא שיינתב) תודותי – שהשטן משיב עליהם. appar'ly – NL – but Fox: after the fact. Saadia – שכלית/שמעית = NL/PL... 3. Rambam. מהר"ל – כן, אבל מתנגד. פוקסופאור – לא. 4. I: yes: guide 3:17 –
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The Halakhic Person and the Halakhic Process: Excerpts of the Concluding Portion of the Sheur Klali (1997)

His Personality: Civility. It emerges from the responsum that is the subject of this sheur that the local Rav, who referred the problem to R. Isaac Elchanan, had made a mistake; had he given the elderly couple who turned to him for guidance the right advice, the problem that so distressed the wife after her husband’s demise would never have arisen. Yet note how civil, even respectful, R. Isaac Elchanan is of this anonymous Rav: First—he lets him remain anonymous; he has no interest in exposing him to the opprobrium of his colleagues. Second, he does not insult him—no calling him an am ha-aretz, and no blistering attack demanding that he should have consulted him as a higher authority; and third, a special effort to interpret his actions in a favorable light. This is how a true gadol be’Yisrael acts—and how we too should conduct ourselves. The Halakhic Process. An important lesson to be learned from analysis of this responsum of R. Isaac Elchanan concerns the nature of the whole halakhic method. To put it into somewhat extreme forms, abandoning subtlety for the sake of clarity, there are two competing points of view: a) the halakhic process is totally objective and univocal; our purpose is but to discover the single halakhic truth, and to approach the question at hand utterly without prejudice or bias. b) the Halakha is what we want it to be; it is the formal dressing for rabbinic policy, whether explicit or implicit, conscious or unconscious. The responsum we studied belies both of these conflicting theses—each in a different way. The second view, that the Rabbis can make of the Halakha whatever they wish, is not only inconsistent with the whole history of Halakha, but it is pernicious in that it contradicts the most basic assumptions of the Halakha. It assumes an almost infinite plasticity on the part of the Halakha, and bears within itself serious antinomian consequences. If indeed, as the early Reformers and later their Conservative followers maintained, and is …
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The Shaping of Halacha in Every Generation - Lecture Notes (1975)

1. My task – react to R's presentation. I take it as almost aromatic that if to him, I may well appear runcticinan. Gen'n: agree his formal'n problems, but slayt'l art in sol'n. 2. Unguest'y – stagnation – more, no time goes on. I'm not referring to historical omit comit'y but to organic, age-old way that then has always responded to new challenges. R Gave some examples. More can be added. Perhaps diagnosis to prescription. 3. Q J and Hla address self to: Why? Full q do not exhaust various motivation but instructive ponder at least these...
Halachik Method