12:35 PM
Gil Student
The Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society LVI (Succot 5769, Fall 2008):
- Birkat Hachamma by R. Alfred Cohen -- Covers the basics although avoids the calendrical problems.
- End of Life Therapies by David Shabtai -- Comprehensive review of the opinions of leadings rabbinic authorities on what you must do for a terminal patient and what you may not dom
- Praying With a Minyan on an Airplane by R. Jason Weiner -- Deemphasizes the importance of minyan (you don't hear that too often) and lists the halakhic problems of praying with a minyan on an airplane. I would have liked to have seen more development of issues like kevod ha-beriyos. What precisely is the problem and what precedents substantiate this claim?
- Wireless Networks and Halacha by R. David Etengoff -- Important research on Amercan law. Also discusses Dina De-Malkhusa Dina on unenforced laws, differentiates between personal and commercial use, and examines the ISP user contract.
- Coffee, Pizza, and Hard Cheese: Eating Meat After Dairy by R. Moshe Walter -- Discusses the difference between "soft" and "hard" cheese.
- Kol Sasson V'kol Simcha: Halachic Considerations of Loud Wedding Music by Jason DiPoce and R. Shalom Buchbinder -- Is the mitzvah of attending a wedding sufficient reason to go to a place where your hearing will be damaged?
- A Note on Talking During Davening by R. Dr. Aaron Levine -- A brief appeal to recognize what we are defiling by talking in shul.
- Letters (referencing this issue) -- Great exchange between R. Yaakov Blau and R. Aryeh Lebowitz about coeducation and some important points by R. Ari Zivotofsky about Heter Mekhirah
