Community Magazine December 2009

T RUE TO THE SPIRIT OF OUR S AGES ’ exhortation to study halacha each day, our community has been graced with The Daily Halacha by Rabbi Eli Mansour, which presents a brief halachic discussion for each day of the year. The Daily Halacha , which is dedicated in memory of Chief Rabbi Jacob S. Kassin and received warm approbations by Hacham Ovadia Yosef shlita and Rabbi Shemuel Pinhasi shlita , was a project seven years in the making. Its origins date back to 2002, when Rabbi Mansour began teaching an early-morning halacha class to a group of men. The sessions were relevant, instructive and captivating. Six months later, Morris Dweck, a class participant, asked the rabbi permission to record the classes so that others could benefit from the rabbi’s halachic guidance. The rabbi agreed, and Morris began emailing the daily lesson as an audio file to a group of friends. Later, the recipients expressed their preference to read the daily halacha , rather than listen to a recording, and Morris promptly assumed the taskof transcribing the rabbi’s discussion each morning. Eventually the small group of email recipients grew and the DailyHalacha.com site was born to serve the entire community. Teems of online material gradually accumulated, and the next natural step was for the material to be put into print. Today, it is a beautiful tome that sits front and center in your local Judaica store, containing a wealth of practical and enlightening halachic instruction. The rabbi hopes the book will serve as a practical, in-home reference guide for everyday halachic questions. With its clear and professional format, users can look up halachot via the user-friendly index or table of contents. The halachot are topically arranged to allow for easy and convenient searching for the desired subject. In his introduction to the volume, Rabbi Mansour writes that the transcribed laws are only his interpretation of halacha , but the book also serves as an informative guide to many present-day issues. Questions covered in the work include: “May one take a pebble from the Western Wall as a souvenir?” “What beracha is made on vegetable soup?” “What is the status of charity money that does not reach the intended recipient?” “Does a synagogue lose its sanctity if a serious transgression took place there?” The answers to these and to many other queries are written in a clear and accessible manner. Each section features a detailed explanation of the halacha , for those wishing to study the relevant sources and reasoning underlying the rabbi’s ruling, as well as a brief summary of the “bottom line,” practical conclusion. Beyond its role as a source of practical guidance, the book is also intended as a trusted sefer for daily study. The compilation follows the format of the Ben Ish Hai , featuring an insight from the weekly parasha followed by six halachot , such that one can use the book to study Jewish law each weekday and the weekly Torah portion on Shabbat. The parasha insights are all beautifully rendered and offer timeless, valuable lessons for us to live by. Looking ahead to the future, Rabbi Mansour anticipates the publication of four additional volumes, the next one focusing on the laws and customs of the Jewish holidays. Until then, purchase or borrow The Daily Halacha – it will enhance your understanding, deepen your knowledge, and enrich your life as a Gd fearing Jew. The Daily Halacha: A Compendium Of Practical Halachot and Illuminating Insights from the Weekly Parasha Book Review “Whoever studies halachot every day – he is assured life in the World to Come…” (Ketoret of Shaharit and Musaf). REVIEWED BY KELLY JEMAL MASSRY By: Rabbi Eli J. Mansour Publisher: Artscroll Sephardic Mesorah Series, 2009 Hardcover, 411 pages 48 Community magazine