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Posek (Hebrew
Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic languages of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Modern Hebrew is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Classical Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jews communities around the world....
 ????, , pl. Poskim, ??????) is the term in Jewish law
Halakha

Halakha ? also Hebrew transliteration Halocho and Halacha ? is the collective body of Judaism religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....
 for "decider"—a legal scholar who decides the Halakha
Halakha

Halakha ? also Hebrew transliteration Halocho and Halacha ? is the collective body of Judaism religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....
 in cases of law where previous authorities are inconclusive.

The decision of a posek is known as a psak din or psak halakha ("ruling of law"; pl. piskei din, piskei halakha) or simply a "psak". In Hebrew, ??? is the root
Root (linguistics)

The root is the primary lexicology unit of a word, which carries the most significant aspects of semantics content and cannot be reduced into smaller constituents....
 implying to "stop" or "cease"—the posek brings the process of legal debate to finality.






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Posek (Hebrew
Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic languages of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Modern Hebrew is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Classical Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jews communities around the world....
 ????, , pl. Poskim, ??????) is the term in Jewish law
Halakha

Halakha ? also Hebrew transliteration Halocho and Halacha ? is the collective body of Judaism religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....
 for "decider"—a legal scholar who decides the Halakha
Halakha

Halakha ? also Hebrew transliteration Halocho and Halacha ? is the collective body of Judaism religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....
 in cases of law where previous authorities are inconclusive.

The decision of a posek is known as a psak din or psak halakha ("ruling of law"; pl. piskei din, piskei halakha) or simply a "psak". In Hebrew, ??? is the root
Root (linguistics)

The root is the primary lexicology unit of a word, which carries the most significant aspects of semantics content and cannot be reduced into smaller constituents....
 implying to "stop" or "cease"—the posek brings the process of legal debate to finality. Piskei din are generally recorded in the responsa
Responsa

Responsa comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them....
 literature.

Formulating a ruling (psak din)

In formulating a ruling, a posek will base the psak din on a careful analysis of the relevant underlying legal principles
Legal doctrine

Legal doctrine is a framework, set of rules, procedural steps, or test, often established through precedent in the common law, through which judgments can be determined in a given legal case....
, as well as a careful study of the application of these principles. A Posek will therefore be thoroughly versed in rabbinic literature
Rabbinic literature

Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, can mean the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Judaism history. But the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writing, and thus corresponds with the Hebrew language term Sifrut Hazal ....
 and must be a master Talmudist
Talmud

The Talmud is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Halakha, Jewish ethics, customs, and history. It is a central text of mainstream Judaism....
.

The analysis of the legal principles will entail:
  1. an initial study of the relevant Talmud
    Talmud

    The Talmud is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Halakha, Jewish ethics, customs, and history. It is a central text of mainstream Judaism....
    ic Sugyas
    Gemara

    The Gemara is the part of the Talmud that contains rabbinical commentaries and analysis of the Mishnah. After the Mishnah was published by Judah haNasi , the work was studied exhaustively by generation after generation of rabbis in Babylonia and the Land of Israel....
     with commentaries;
  2. tracing the development of all related material in the Rishonim
    Rishonim

    "Rishon" redirects here. For the preon model in particle physics, see Harari Rishon Model. For the Israeli town, see Rishon LeZion.Rishonim were the leading Rabbis and Posek who lived approximately during the 11th to 15th centuries, in the era before the writing of the Shulkhan Arukh and following the Geonim....
     (early Middle age rabbinic authorities, such as Maimonides
    Maimonides

    Moses Maimonides, also known as Rabbi Moses ben Maimon , the Rambam, and Musa ibn Maymun , was born in C?rdoba, Spain, Spain on March 30, 1135, and died in Egypt on December 13, 1204.....
     or Rashi
    Rashi

    Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki, , better known by the acronym Rashi , , was a rabbi from France, famed as the author of the first comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, and Jewish commentaries on the Bible....
    ) through the Tur
    Arba'ah Turim

    Arba'ah Turim , often called simply the Tur, is an important Halakha Halakha#Codes_of_Jewish_law, composed by Jacob ben Asher . The four-part structure of the Tur and its division into chapters were adopted by the later code Shulchan Aruch....
     and Shulkhan Arukh (the "Code of Jewish Law");
  3. finally, a close analysis of the works of the Acharonim
    Acharonim

    Acharonim is a term used in Halakha and history, to signify the leading rabbis and Posek living from roughly the 16th century to the present....
     (rabbinic authorities from about the 1500s onwards) discussing the halakha as recorded in the Shulkhan Arukh.


The ruling itself—effectively an application of these principles—will also be consistent with all relevant legal precedents as recorded in the responsa
Responsa

Responsa comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them....
 literature, and with all relevant codified law
Halakha

Halakha ? also Hebrew transliteration Halocho and Halacha ? is the collective body of Judaism religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....
 with an emphasis on the Shulkhan Arukh.

The role of the Posek


Orthodox Judaism

In Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism is a Jewish denominations of Judaism that adheres to a relatively strict constructionist and application of the laws and ethics first canonized in the Talmudic texts and as subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and Acharonim....
 poskim will not overrule a specific law, unless based on an earlier authority: a posek will generally extend a law to new situations, but will not change the Halakhah; see further
Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism is a Jewish denominations of Judaism that adheres to a relatively strict constructionist and application of the laws and ethics first canonized in the Talmudic texts and as subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and Acharonim....
 under Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism is a Jewish denominations of Judaism that adheres to a relatively strict constructionist and application of the laws and ethics first canonized in the Talmudic texts and as subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and Acharonim....
. (Thus for example, some Halakhic rulings related to electricity when it was new, were derived from rulings concerning another form of human-managed energy, "fire", but that view was subsequently modified as the nature of electricity was clarified when used as an electrical circuit.)

Poskim play an integral role in Haredi Judaism
Haredi Judaism

Haredi or Chareidi Judaism is the most theologically conservative form of Orthodox Judaism. A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi ....
 and Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism is a Jewish denominations of Judaism that adheres to a relatively strict constructionist and application of the laws and ethics first canonized in the Talmudic texts and as subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and Acharonim....
. Particularly in the Haredi world, each community will regard one of its poskim as its Posek HaDor ("Posek of the present Generation"). For Lithuanian
Lithuanian Jews

Lithuanian Jews are Ashkenazi Jews with roots in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania .Lithuania was historically home to a large and influential Jewish community that was almost entirely eliminated during the Holocaust: see Holocaust in Lithuania....
-style Haredi
Haredi Judaism

Haredi or Chareidi Judaism is the most theologically conservative form of Orthodox Judaism. A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi ....
 world it is probably Rabbi Yosef Shalom Eliashiv. For the Sephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews

Sephardi Jews are a subgroup of Jews originating in the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa, usually defined in contrast to Ashkenazi or Mizrahi Jews....
 it is probably Rabbi Ovadia Yosef
Ovadia Yosef

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef is a Sephardi Jews Haredi Judaism rabbi, Talmudic scholar, and recognized halakha authority. He is the former Sephardi Jews Chief Rabbinate of Israel and the current spiritual leader of the Shas political party in the Israeli Knesset....
. Hasidic Jews
Hasidic Judaism

Hasidic Judaism is a type of Orthodox Judaism or Haredi Judaism Orthodox Judaism religious movement. Some refer to Hasidic Judaism as Hasidism, and the adjective chasidic / hasidic applies....
 rely on their own Rebbe
Rebbe

Rebbe which means master, teacher, or mentor is a Yiddish word derived from the identical Hebrew language word Rabbi. It mostly refers to the leader of a Hasidic Judaism Jewish movement....
s or leading posek recommended by their Rebbes. Modern Orthodox
Modern Orthodox Judaism

Modern Orthodox Judaism is a movement within Orthodox Judaism that attempts to synthesize halakha and Jewish principles of faith with the secular, modern world....
 Jews may select a posek on a more individual rather than a communal basis, although customs vary.

Conservative Judaism

Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism

Conservative Judaism is a modern Jewish denominations of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s....
 and Masorti
Masorti

The Masorti movement is the name given to Conservative Judaism in Israel and other countries outside Canada and United States. It is part of the Conservative movement....
 Judaism may re-interpret or even change a law through a formal argument. There are some poskim in the Conservative movement, e.g. Rabbis Louis Ginzberg
Louis Ginzberg

Rabbi Louis Ginzberg was one of the outstanding Talmudists of the twentieth century. He was born on November 28, 1873, in Kovno, Lithuania; he died on November 11, 1953, in New York City....
, David Golinkin
David Golinkin

David Golinkin is a rabbi, author and President and Rector of the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies, Israel. He is a major halachic authority in the Masorti Judaism movement in Israel....
, Joel Roth
Joel Roth

Joel Roth is a prominent United States rabbi in the Rabbinical Assembly, which is the rabbinical body of Conservative Judaism. He is a former member and chair of the assembly's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards which deals with questions of Halakha, and serves as the Louis Finkelstein Professor of Talmud and Jewish Law at the Jewish...
, and Elliot Dorff
Elliot N. Dorff

Elliot N. Dorff is a Conservative Judaism rabbi, a professor of Jewish theology at the American Jewish University in California , author, and a bio-ethicist....
. In addition, the Conservative movement's Rabbinical Assembly
Rabbinical Assembly

The Rabbinical Assembly is the international association of Conservative Judaism rabbis. The RA was founded in 1901 to shape the ideology, programs, and practices of the Conservative movement....
 maintains a Committee on Jewish Law and Standards
Committee on Jewish Law and Standards

The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards is the central authority on halakha within Conservative Judaism; it is one of the most active and widely known committees on the Conservative movement's Rabbinical Assembly....
, whose decisions are accepted as authoritative within the Conservative movement. The rulings of any one individual rabbi are considered less binding than a consensus ruling.

Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism

Poskim are not found in Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism

Reform Judaism refers to the spectrum of beliefs, practices and organizational infrastructure associated with Reform Judaism in Reform Judaism and in Reform Judaism ....
 and Reconstructionist Judaism
Reconstructionist Judaism

Reconstructionist Judaism is a modern American-based Judaism Jewish denominations based on the ideas of the late Mordecai Kaplan . The movement views Judaism as a progressively evolving civilization....
, as these movements stress individual autonomy for interpretation of biblical and oral law. Nevertheless, since these movements consider Jewish law for various decisions, responsa on halakhah have been written by some Reform Rabbis, including Solomon Freehof
Solomon Freehof

Solomon Bennett Freehof was a prominent Reform rabbi, posek, and scholar. Rabbi Freehof served as president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and the World Union for Progressive Judaism....
 and Walter Jacob. Full text collections of Reform responsa are available on the .

List of Orthodox poskim and major works


Poskim of past years

  • Yehezkel Abramsky
    Yehezkel Abramsky

    Dayan Yehezkel Abramsky, , known affectionately as Reb Chatzkel Abramsky, was one of the most eminent Orthodox Judaism rabbis of the 20th century who headed the London Beth Din for 17 years....
     (1886–1976)
  • Shlomo Zalman Auerbach
    Shlomo Zalman Auerbach

    Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach , was a renowned Rabbi, Posek and Rosh Yeshiva of the Kol Torah yeshiva in Israel....
     (1910–1995, Minchat Shlomo)
  • Yoseph Chaim of Bagdad
    Ben Ish Chai

    Yosef Chaim was a leading Hakham , posek on Jewish law and Master Kabbalah. He is best known as author of the work of Halakha Ben Ish Chai , by which title he is also known....
     (1832–1909, Ben Ish Chai, Rav Pealim)
  • Avraham Danzig
    Avraham Danzig

    Rabbi Avraham Danzig was a Posek and Halakha#Codes of Jewish law, best known as the author of the works of halakha Chayei Adam and Chochmas Adam; he is sometimes referred to as "the Chayei Adam"....
     (1748–1820, Chayei Adam)
  • Yechiel Michel Epstein
    Yechiel Michel Epstein

    Yechiel Michel Epstein , often called "the Aruch ha-Shulchan" , was a Rabbi and posek in Lithuania. His surname is often preceded by ha-Levi, as he descended from a family of Levites....
     (1829–1907, Aruch ha-Shulchan)
  • Moshe Feinstein
    Moshe Feinstein

    Moshe Feinstein was a Lithuanian Jews Orthodox Judaism rabbi, scholar and posek , who was world-renowned for his expertise in Halakha and was regarded by many as the de facto supreme rabbinic authority for Orthodox Jewry of North America....
     (1895–1985, Iggerot Moshe)
  • Shlomo Ganzfried
    Shlomo Ganzfried

    Rabbi Shlomo Ganzfried was an Orthodox Judaism rabbi and posek best known as author of the work of Halakha , the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch , by which title he is also known....
     (1804–1886, Kitzur Shulchan Aruch)
  • Avraham Gombiner
    Avraham Gombiner

    Abraham Abele Gombiner , known as the Magen Avraham, born in Gabin , Poland, was a rabbi, Talmudist and a leading religious authority in the Jewish community of Kalisz, Poland during the seventeenth century....
     (c.1633–c.1683, Magen Avraham)
  • Chaim Ozer Grodzinski
    Chaim Ozer Grodzinski

    Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzinski was a world renowned pre-war Dayan, Posek and Talmudic scholar in Vilnius....
     (1863–1940, Achiezer)
  • Yisrael Meir Kagan
    Yisrael Meir Kagan

    Yisrael Meir Kagan sobriquet as The Chofetz Chaim was an influential Eastern European rabbi, Halakha, and ethics whose works continue to be widely influential in Jewish life....
     (1838–1933, Mishnah Berurah, Chafetz Chaim)
  • Avraham Yeshayahu Karelitz
    Avraham Yeshayahu Karelitz

    Rabbi Avrohom Yeshaya Karelitz, , popularly known by the name of his magnum opus Chazon Ish, was a Belarusian born Orthodox Judaism rabbi who became leader of Haredi Judaism in Israel, where his final 20 years, from 1933 to 1953, were spent....
     (1878–1953, Chazon Ish)
  • Sabbatai ha-Kohen (1621–1662, Shach)
  • Chaim Kreiswirth
    Chaim Kreiswirth

    Rabbi Chaim Kreiswirth was an Orthodox Judaism rabbi who served as the longtime Chief Rabbi of Antwerp, Belgium. He was the founder and rosh yeshiva of the Mercaz HaTorah yeshiva in Jerusalem....
     (1918–2001)
  • Yechezkel Landau
    Yechezkel Landau

    Yechezkel ben Yehuda Landau was an influential posek in halakha . He is best known for the work Noda Bihuda , by which title he is also known....
     (1713–1793, Noda bi-Yehudah)
  • Shneur Zalman of Liadi
    Shneur Zalman of Liadi

    Shneur Zalman of Liadi , was an Orthodox Judaism Rabbi, and the founder and first Rebbe of Chabad Lubavitch, a branch of Hasidic Judaism, then based in Liadi, Imperial Russia....
     (1745–1812, Shulchan Aruch ha-Rav)
  • Ephraim Oshry
    Ephraim Oshry

    Ephraim Oshry , author of The Annihilation of Lithuanian Jewry, was one of the few European rabbis and poseks to survive the Holocaust....
     (1914–2003)
  • Chanoch Dov Padwa
    Chanoch Dov Padwa

    Rabbi Chanoch Dov Padwa was a world-renowned Orthodox Judaism posek, Talmudist and rabbinic leader....
     (1908–2000, Cheishev Ho'ephod)
  • Menachem Mendel Schneersohn
    Menachem Mendel Schneersohn

    Menachem Mendel Schneersohn also known as the Tzemach Tzedek was an Orthodox Judaism rabbi and the third Rebbe of the Chabad Lubavitch Hasidic Judaism movement....
     (1789–1866, Tzemach Tzedek)
  • David HaLevi Segal
    David HaLevi Segal

    David HaLevi Segal , also known as the Taz or the Turei Zahav, was a prominent Jews of Poland halakha authority and author of a significant commentary on the Shulchan Aruch....
     (1586–1667, Turei Zahav)
  • Yoel Sirkis
    Yoel Sirkis

    Yoel Sirkis, , also known as the Bach - an abbreviation of his magnum opus, Bayit Chadash - was a prominent Jewish posek and Halakha....
     (1561–1640, Bach)
  • Moses Sofer
    Moses Sofer

    Rabbi Moshe Sofer, , also known by his main work Chasam Sofer, , , was one of the leading Orthodox Judaism rabbis of European Judaism in the first half of the nineteenth century....
     (1762–1839, Chasam Sofer)
  • Yaakov Chaim Sofer
    Yaakov Chaim Sofer

    Yaakov Chaim Sofer was an Orthodox Judaism rabbi, Kabbalist, Talmudist and posek . Sofer is author of the work of halakha titled Kaf hachaim, by which title he is also known....
     (1870–1939, Kaf ha-Chaim)
  • Yonasan Steif
    Yonasan Steif

    Rabbi Yonasan Steif was a senior dayan of Budapest, Hungary, before the Second World War, a man whom Rabbi Moshe Feinstein referred to as the gadol hador ....
    , (1877–1958)
  • Yoel Teitelbaum (1887–1979, Vayoel Moshe
    Vayoel Moshe

    Vayoel Moshe is a Hebrew book written by Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum, leader of the Satmar Hasidism movement, in the year 1961. It made his case that Judaism is against Zionism....
    , Divrei Yoel)
  • Vilna Gaon
    Vilna Gaon

    Rabbi Elijah ben Shlomo Zalman, known as the Vilna Gaon or Elijah of Vilna and simply by his Hebrew language acronym Gra , , was an exceptional Talmud, Halakha, Kabbalah, and the foremost leader of non-hasidic world Jewry of the past few centuries....
     (1720–1797, Gra)
  • Eliezer Waldenberg
    Eliezer Waldenberg

    Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Waldenberg was known as the Tzitz Eliezer after his monumental Halakha treatise Tzitz Eliezer that covers a wide breadth of halacha, including Jewish medical ethics, as well as ritual halachic issues from Shabbat to kashrut....
     (1917–2006, Tzitz Eliezer)
  • Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg
    Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg

    Rabbi Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg was a noted European Orthodox Judaism rabbi, posek and rosh yeshiva. He is best known as author of the work of History of Responsa Seridei Eish....
     (1878–1966, Seridei Eish)
  • Yitzchok Yaakov Weiss
    Yitzchok Yaakov Weiss

    Dayan Yitzchok Yaakov Weiss , also known as the Minchas Yitzchak, was a prominent Beth din#Officers of a Beth/Beis Din, Halacha authority and Talmudic scholar....
     (1902–1989, Minchas Yitzchak)


Living Poskim

  • Meir Brandsdorfer
    Meir Brandsdorfer

    Rabbi Meir Brandsdorfer is a member of the Beth din of the Edah HaChareidis, the chareidi Ashkenazic community in Jerusalem.He is also the Dayan of the Shomer Emunim movement of Hasidic Judaism, based in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Meah Shearim....
     (Kaneh Bosem)
  • Dovid Cohen
  • Simcha Bunim Cohen
    Simcha Bunim Cohen

    Rabbi Simcha Bunim Cohen is an Orthodox Judaism rabbi and author who has written English-language halacha works that deal with the intricate laws of Shabbat....
    , prolific author and pulpit rabbi in Lakewood, New Jersey
  • Mordechai Eliyahu
    Mordechai Eliyahu

    Mordechai Eliyahu is a former Sephardi Jews Chief Rabbi of Israel....
  • Yosef Shalom Eliashiv (b. 1910)
  • Dovid Feinstein
    Dovid Feinstein

    Rabbi David Feinstein, son of the late Moshe Feinstein, is an acknowledged Torah scholar and halachic authority. He resides on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and serves as the rosh yeshiva of the Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem yeshiva elementary and high school and kollel, inheriting the position after the passing of his father in 1986....
    , rosh yeshiva at Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem
    Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem

    Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem, is one of the oldest existent yeshivot in New York City, and is renowned for being the institution led by Rabbi Moshe Feinstein....
  • Fishel Herskowitz
    Fishel Herskowitz

    Rabbi Fishel Herskowitz, the Holeiner Rav, is a leading posek in the Hasidic community. He is the Klausenburg Dayan in Williamsburg, Brooklyn....
  • Menashe Klein, (Menashe Hakoton, Ungvar Rebbe)
  • Avigdor Nebenzahl
  • Yehoshua Neuwirth
    Yehoshua Neuwirth

    Rabbi Yehoshua Yeshaya Neuwirth is an Orthodox Judaism rabbi in Jerusalem. He is one of the top students of Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach....
     (Shemiras Shabbos Kehelichasah)
  • Yechezkel Roth
  • Moshe Sacks
    Moshe Sacks

    Rabbi Moshe Sacks, also known as the Matnas Moshe, is a prominent rabbi belonging to the Satmar Hasidic movement. He is a dayan and posek affiliated with the Edah HaChareidis rabbinical council of Jerusalem, and spiritual leader of the Bnos Rochel girl's schools in Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh....
     (Matnas Moshe)
  • Hershel Schachter
    Hershel Schachter

    Hershel Schachter is a rabbi and rosh yeshiva at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary , Yeshiva University, in New York City, and the son of the late Rabbi Melech Schachter, who was also a rosh yeshiva at Yeshiva....
    , rosh yeshiva
    Rosh yeshiva

    Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the Dean of a Yeshiva . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh ? meaning head, and yeshiva ? a school of religious Jewish education....
     at RIETS
    Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary

    Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary , or Yeshivat Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan, is the most important yeshiva component of Yeshiva University and a preeminent seminary for the training of Orthodox Judaism rabbis....
  • Chaim Pinchas Sheinberg
  • Osher Weiss
    Osher Weiss

    Dayan Osher Weiss is the current Rosh Kollel of Machon Minchas Osher L?Torah V?Horaah. He grew up in a Klausenburg er family.He is the author of the Minchas Osher, an Av Beis Din, Rosh Kollel, posek, and is well known in Haredi Judaism circles for having traveled to the United States with Rabbi Aharon Leib Shteinman and Rabbi...
     (Minchas Osher)
  • Moshe Lando (Rabbi of Bnei Brak)
  • Mordechai Willig
    Mordechai Willig

    'Mordechai Willig' is an Orthodox Judaism Jewish rabbi and rosh yeshiva at Yeshiva University in Washington Heights, Manhattan. His formal title is the Rabbi Dr....
    , rosh yeshiva
    Rosh yeshiva

    Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the Dean of a Yeshiva . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh ? meaning head, and yeshiva ? a school of religious Jewish education....
     at RIETS
    Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary

    Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary , or Yeshivat Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan, is the most important yeshiva component of Yeshiva University and a preeminent seminary for the training of Orthodox Judaism rabbis....
  • Shmuel Wosner
    Shmuel Wosner

    Rabbi Shmuel Wosner is a prominent Haredi Judaism rabbi and posek living in Bnei Brak, Israel.Rabbi Wosner was born in 1913 in Vienna, Austria and he learned at the famous Chachmei Lublin Yeshiva led by Rabbi Meir Shapiro and he was also a student of Rabbi Shimon of Zelicov who was the official supervisor and caretaker at the Yeshiva....
     (Shevet HaLevi)
  • Ovadia Yosef
    Ovadia Yosef

    Rabbi Ovadia Yosef is a Sephardi Jews Haredi Judaism rabbi, Talmudic scholar, and recognized halakha authority. He is the former Sephardi Jews Chief Rabbinate of Israel and the current spiritual leader of the Shas political party in the Israeli Knesset....
     (b. 1920, Yabbia Omer)


For a listing of major works of responsa by author, see the Bar Ilan University Responsa project website .

See also

  • Halakha
    Halakha

    Halakha ? also Hebrew transliteration Halocho and Halacha ? is the collective body of Judaism religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....
  • Talmud
    Talmud

    The Talmud is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Halakha, Jewish ethics, customs, and history. It is a central text of mainstream Judaism....
  • Oral Torah
    Oral Torah

    A term used to denote the legal and interpretative traditions which were transmitted Speech, and which were not written in the Torah. According to Rabbinic Judaism, the oral Torah, oral Law, or oral tradition was given by God orally to Moses in conjunction with the written Torah ....
  • Gemara
    Gemara

    The Gemara is the part of the Talmud that contains rabbinical commentaries and analysis of the Mishnah. After the Mishnah was published by Judah haNasi , the work was studied exhaustively by generation after generation of rabbis in Babylonia and the Land of Israel....
  • Rabbeinu Tam
    Rabbeinu Tam

    Jacob ben Meir Tam, universally known as Rabbenu Tam was one of the Tosafist whose commentary appears in every edition of Talmud opposite the commentary of Rashi....
  • Dayan
  • Rishonim
    Rishonim

    "Rishon" redirects here. For the preon model in particle physics, see Harari Rishon Model. For the Israeli town, see Rishon LeZion.Rishonim were the leading Rabbis and Posek who lived approximately during the 11th to 15th centuries, in the era before the writing of the Shulkhan Arukh and following the Geonim....
  • Acharonim
    Acharonim

    Acharonim is a term used in Halakha and history, to signify the leading rabbis and Posek living from roughly the 16th century to the present....
  • Responsa
    Responsa

    Responsa comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them....
  • History of Responsa
    History of Responsa

    History of responsa in Judaism spans a period of 1,700 years. Responsa#In Judaism constitute a special class of rabbinic literature, differing in form, but not necessarily in content, from Rabbinic commentaries devoted to the exegesis of the Tanakh, the Mishnah, the Talmud, and halakha ....
  • Jurist
    Jurist

    A jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth of Nations countries it has only historical and specialist usage....