Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (3/14/22), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we finished the Rambam's Hilchos Megilah v'Chanukah Chapter 2 (after getting a LITTLE bogged down in some other shitos about getting drunk on Purim), and we did most of the halachos of simchah in Hilchos Shevisas Yom Tov. I'm not sure whether we're having Rambam Bekius tomorrow, but either way, at least we finished going through the facts and paved the way for answering our questio...
Mar 15, 2022•59 min•Season 7Ep. 20
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (3/14/22), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we continued our review of Hilchos Purim with the objective of understanding the uniqueness of Simchas Purim. Today's exploration took us ALMOST through the end of Hilchos Megilah Chapter 2, which we will aim to finish tomorrow (בג"ה). ---------- מקורות: רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר זמנים, הלכות מגילה וחנוכה א:א; ב:יג-יד Megillat Esther Mesorat HaRav (Koren / OU Press), pp.115,118,121 אס...
Mar 14, 2022•57 min•Season 7Ep. 19
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (3/10/22), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we began this year's review of Hilchos Purim. I wasn't in the mood to just go over ALL the halachos again, so instead, we decided to take up a specific question: What makes the simchah of Purim unique among other joyous days? Today we began going over the basic halachos of Purim with this question in mind. ---------- מקורות: רמב"ם - משנה תורה: הקדמה, סיום מנין המצוות רמב"ם - משנה ת...
Mar 10, 2022•59 min•Season 7Ep. 18
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (3/9/22), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, in preparation for a Purim-related topic we'll be starting tomorrow, we reviewed two halachos in the Rambam about taamei ha'mitzvos (the reasons for the commandments). My understanding, based on these two halachos, is that the Rambam holds that there are two TYPES of taamei ha'mitzvos: objective and subjective. This distinction is important to bear in mind when analyzing the philoso...
Mar 09, 2022•35 min•Season 7Ep. 17
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (3/8/22), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we took up another side-topic chosen in part because of its Adar-appropriate "ve'nahafoch hu" theme, and in part just because I wanted to discuss it. As early as 1300 people have claimed that the Rambam recanted his philosophy and became a kabbalist at the very end of his life. The letter called "Megilat Setarim," allegedly written by the Rambam to his student R' Yosef ben Yehudah -...
Mar 08, 2022•57 min•Season 7Ep. 16
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (3/3/22), in our slightly-longer-than-usual Rambam Bekius chavurah, we concluded our side-topic investigation of the Rambam's shitah on the status of halachos derived from the hermeneutical principles. Led by Halbertal, we read through the Ramban's objections (which we were originally going to do inside, but skipped due to lack of time) and then read Halbertal's take on the Rambam's approach. Suffice it to say, it gave us ...
Mar 03, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Season 7Ep. 15
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (3/2/22), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we continued our side-topic, taking up the question: What is the nature of the halachos and limudim that are derived through the middos she'ha'Torah nidreshes ba'hen? We familiarized ourselves with the Rambam's shitah inside. Tomorrow (בג"ה) the plan is to let Halbertal guide us through his analysis of the Rambam and the contrary position voiced by the Ramban. ---------- מקורות: רמב...
Mar 02, 2022•58 min•Season 7Ep. 14
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (3/1/22), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we began a side-topic tangentially related to Purim, prompted by my Friday Women's shiur on the nature and scope of Rabbinic authority. Our goal today was to review the Rambam's position on why mitzvos de'rabbanan are not counting in Taryag (in contrast to the Behag's view), as presented by Moshe Halbertal in "Maimonides: Life and Thought" and in light of our own learning of the pri...
Mar 01, 2022•58 min•Season 7Ep. 13
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (2/23/22), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we continued in the halachos about non-chacham elders. After reviewing the Rambam and the basics of what we covered yesterday, we finished the Torah Temimah and then moved to the Aruch ha'Shulchan to see what the psak halacha was. What we encountered, in addition, was an elaborate, creative, cheshbone-filled endeavor on the Aruch ha'Shulchan's part to justify the common minhag (of ...
Feb 23, 2022•55 min•Season 7Ep. 12
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (2/22/22), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we continued in the halachos about honoring chachamim, beginning the sugya of honoring elders who are NOT chachamim. We started with the Rambam, but because the sugya is relatively localized, we ventured out into a LOT of different non-Rambam sources in an effort to familiarize ourselves with the area, and we will continue to do so tomorrow as well (בג"ה). ---------- מקורות: רמב"ם ...
Feb 22, 2022•58 min•Season 7Ep. 11
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (2/20/22), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we did a standalone topic as a follow-up to my Sunday shiur on "Midrashic Embellishment." I was asked a question based on the Rambam's halacha of "judge every person favorably," and I wanted to review it inside before answering. Right before shiur I realized that the other two clauses of the mishnah are actually related to the sugyos we've been doing in Rambam Bekius, so this ended...
Feb 21, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Season 7Ep. 10
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (2/16/22), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we continued learning the halachos about the kavod chachamim protocols during shiur. We answered a few of the question we raised yesterday and gained some clarity by learning the Rambam's sources in the Gemara. We ended with a halacha on which the Rambam seems to have taken a different stance than the other poskim, and which is difficult to understand - both intrinsically and in te...
Feb 16, 2022•55 min•Season 7Ep. 9
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (2/15/22), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we began by addressing two (out of three) of the tantalizing leftover questions from Thursday. We may not have succeeded in arriving at well-formulated, crystal clear abstract definitions, but we definitely improved our understanding. After that we moved on to the next couple of halachos about the hierarchies in honoring different levels of chachamim (i.e. Nasi, Av Beis Din, Chacha...
Feb 15, 2022•57 min•Season 7Ep. 8
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (2/10/22), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we had a day of fun conceptual questions. The first was about a machlokess on whether it's BAD or GOOD for a chacham to take a walking route which will cause more people to stand for him. The second was a hava amina and maskanah on whether a chacham who is riding should be treated as though he were walking or standing. The third had to do with the halachic expressions of the "hiddu...
Feb 10, 2022•1 hr•Season 7Ep. 7
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (2/9/22), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we began with a review of the two halachos we learned yesterday, followed by an attempt to resolve the two difficulties we encountered: one which involved squaring the Rambam's ruling with the Gemara's derivations, and the other which involved a seemingly inexplicable psak. We then moved on to the next two halachos, arriving at a couple of ideas and ending on a question which we'll ...
Feb 09, 2022•59 min•Season 7Ep. 6
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (2/8/22), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we began Perek 6 which is about the mitzvah of honoring talmidei chachamim. In truth we've been on this topic for a while, but only now does the Rambam formally present the mitzvah in the Mishneh Torah. Today we focused on trying to understand the basic nature of this "standing of glorification" and learning about its parameters. We'll continue tomorrow by tying up the loose ends on...
Feb 08, 2022•57 min•Season 7Ep. 5
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (2/7/22), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we tied up the loose ends from last week. We began by revisiting the machlokess in the Gemara about whether a rav can forego his honor. We learned R' Moshe Feinstein's beautiful (and halachically radical) explanation of that Gemara, and more. I have a feeling this will form the foundation for our whole understanding of Perek 6. In the remaining minutes of shiur we added a few more i...
Feb 07, 2022•59 min•Season 7Ep. 4
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (2/3/22), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we began with an additional point about why a rav has the right to forego his kavod, whereas (for example) a king does not. After that, we began analyzing the last two halachos in the perek, which are about the kavod that a rav should have for his talmidim, and we answered some of our questions, but the rest will have to wait until next week. ---------- מקורות: רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספ...
Feb 03, 2022•58 min•Season 7Ep. 3
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (2/2/22), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we took another swing at attempting to understand the Rambam's definition of "rav muvhak." We decided to read some excerpts from the Encyplopedia Talmudit entry on the subject in order to familiarize ourselves (in a bekiusy way) with ALL the shitos. We then reread the Rambam in light of that overview to see if we gained clarity on his view. Although we did gain clarity, there are st...
Feb 02, 2022•53 min•Season 7Ep. 2
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Welcome back! This afternoon (2/1/22), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we delved into the Rambam's qualification of ALL the preceding halachos in the perek as pertaining exclusively to one's "rav muvhak." The question is: What does that mean? The Rambam gave us very little to work with, so we had to engage in a little more non-Rambam Bekius than we typically do. We attained some clarity but still have unanswered questions. Also in this sh...
Feb 01, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Season 7Ep. 1
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (1/13/21), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we continued with more halachos of kavod ha'rav. The difficulty today wasn't in understanding the sense of the halachos, but in understanding the Rambam's categorization. We couldn't quite figure out why he grouped these clusters of halachos as he did. If you have any insights, let us know! Note: Our Rambam Bekius chavurah will be on hiatus until January 31st. ---------- מקורות: רמ...
Jan 13, 2022•58 min•Season 6Ep. 55
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (1/12/21), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we began by clearing up a point about the prohibitions against being in the bathhouse with various individuals. We then returned to Hilchos Talmud Torah where we discussed the prohibition to sit in your rav's place, to be "machria" his words, and to contradict his words. The difficult task was understanding what those last two cases refer to - a task which was made easier and more ...
Jan 12, 2022•54 min•Season 6Ep. 54
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (1/11/21), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we continued in Hilchos Talmud Torah with the laws pertaining to kavod ha'rav conduct. Today we covered the halachos about how one's rav (and parents) should and should not be addressed, as well as some other laws regarding what one does with one's body in the presence of his rav. Tomorrow (בג"ה) we'll continue with more on this subject. מקורות: רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר שופטים, הלכות...
Jan 11, 2022•59 min•Season 6Ep. 53
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (1/10/21), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we wrapped up our tangential exploration of the topic of Mosaic semichah. We began with the Rambam's idea for how to restore Mosaic semichah. Suffice it to say, we experienced more confusion than clarity - some of which stemmed from our lack of familiarity with earlier chapters in Hilchos Sanhedrin, and some of which stemmed from the text itself. I made the executive decision to tu...
Jan 10, 2022•58 min•Season 6Ep. 52
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (1/3/21), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we continued with the topics we took up last week. We began with an excerpt from the writings of Rabbi Maroof in which he differentiates between horaah and peskias din. We then read the Aruch ha'Shulchan's definition of contemporary semichah. We spent the rest of the time learning the Rambam's halachos of Mosaic semichah. We'll plan on finishing the topic tomorrow (בג"ה), beginning ...
Jan 03, 2022•56 min•Season 6Ep. 51
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (12/30/21), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we spent the majority of the time discussing questions that were raised on what we learned yesterday. We touched upon a number of fundamental issues, some of which might be considered "hot topics." At the very end we began a new but related topic: Mosaic semichah. That'll have to wait until next week (בג"ה). ---------- מקורות: ר' משה פיינשטיין - הקדמה לאגרות משה רמב"ם - הקדמה לפיר...
Dec 30, 2021•56 min•Season 6Ep. 51
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (12/29/21), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we completed R' Moshe's hakdamah to Iggros Moshe, in which he expanded upon the concepts he introduced yesterday, then used these concepts to explain why he felt qualified (and obligated) to answer the halachic questions posed to him, and why he chose to publish what he wrote. In my opinion, this was a worthwhile detour from Rambam. Tomorrow the plan is to take up two other side-t...
Dec 29, 2021•53 min•Season 6Ep. 50
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! The introduction to R' Moshe Feinstein's Iggros Moshe is something I firmly believe that every serious student of halacha must read at least once in their lives. Even if you don't typically listen to the Rambam Bekius shiurim, you can listen to this one as a standalone ... well, plus Part 2 tomorrow. This afternoon (12/28/21), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we reviewed the halachos about students who are not on the level to paskin and wh...
Dec 28, 2021•59 min•Season 6Ep. 49
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (12/27/21), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we began by reviewing the halachos of "choleik al rabo" (undermining your rav's authority) and answered the remaining questions we left off with last week. We then learned through the halachos pertaining to "higiah l'horaah" (being qualified to give psak), which we will continue to analyze tomorrow. ---------- מקורות: רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר המדע, הלכות תלמוד תורה ה:ב-ד רש"י - תלמו...
Dec 27, 2021•58 min•Season 6Ep. 48
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (12/23/21), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah (the second of the day!), we began by briefly recapping the conclusions of yesterdays shiur. We then explored Chazal equation of honoring and revering one's rav with honoring and revering the shechinah. This led us to delve into the question, "According to the Rambam, what do we mean by 'shechinah'?" - a question which I gave Tishah b'Av shiur on two summers ago. We concluded by re...
Dec 23, 2021•1 hr•Season 6Ep. 47
