There is No Bracha on an Eclipse By Rabbi Michael J. Broyde Rabbi Michael Broyde is a law professor at Emory University School of Law and the Projects Director in its Center for the Study of Law and Religion. His most recent Torah sefer is entitled “A Concise Code of Jewish Law For Converts”. This letter was written to someone after a shiur in 2017 on why there is no bracha on seeing a solar eclipse. 1. You are…
Reflecting on When the Arukh haShulhan on Orach Chaim was Actually Written: Citations of the Mishnah Berurah in the Arukh haShulhan Michael J. Broyde & Shlomo C. Pill Rabbi Michael Broyde is a Professor of Law at Emory University School of Law and the Projects Director at the Emory University Center for the Study of Law and Religion. Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Pill is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Jewish, Islamic, and American Law and Religion at Emory University’s Candler School…
There is No Bracha on an Eclipse By Rabbi Michael J. Broyde Rabbi Michael Broyde is a law professor at Emory University School of Law and the Projects Director in its Center for the Study of Law and Religion. His most recent Torah sefer is entitled “A Concise Code of Jewish Law For Converts”. This letter was written to someone after a shiur on why there is no bracha on seeing a solar eclipse. 1. You are correct that I…
A Note Regarding Dayan Simcha Zelig Rieger’s View of Opening a Refrigerator Door on Shabbat Rabbi Michael J. Broyde Introduction Thank you to Rabbi Yaacov Sasson for his comments on footnote 59 of the article “The Use of Electricity on Shabbat and Yom Tov” found in the Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society, 21:4-47 (Spring 1991) co-written by Rabbi Jachter and myself. It is always nice to have people commenting on articles written more than 25 years ago.[1] Before delving…
The Rav as a Mechadesh Halacha: One Small Example From Shabbat Rosh Chodesh Michael J. Broyde In the Koren Rav siddur, in the minhagim of the Rav, in the section dealing with the halachic rules of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, זצ”ל it is written: The Rav posited that if one forgot to recite Ya’aleh VeYavo on Rosh Hodesh during Shaharit, one should not repeat the Amida, but should rather rely upon the reference to the holiday that will be made…
What is Bothering the Aruch Hashulchan? Women Wearing Tefillin Michael J. Broyde mbroyde@emory.edu Please note that this piece isn’t meant to be construed one way or another as the view of the Seforim Blog. Introduction In our previous article,[1] we focused on the view of the Mishnah Berurah concerning women wearing tefillin. In this article, we focus on the Aruch Hashulchan, whose approach is also complex, reflecting the complexity of the area. The Aruch Hashulchan (OC 38:6) states: נשים ועבדים…
