About Practical Halacha

I have been privileged to have Rabbi Moshe Heinemann (“RMH”) as a posek and have found his approach to halacha to be very reasonable and rational. RMH is willing to take a stand and make decisions on laws for which other rabbis just say “it is better not to do _____…” (For instance, there is a lot of frustration with being told that many foods, e.g., vegetables, cannot be eaten, while RMH has given good justifications for why many of the same foods may be eaten.)

I created Practical Halacha because I have found that many Jews follow practices contrary to what I have learned and, in many cases, it is simply due to ignorance of conventional practice.

Many halachot listed here in Practical Halacha I learned from RMH, and even the ones I learned from other sources have been reviewed and approved by him for this website. Practical Halacha lists clearly written halachot that are simple to understand and follow, both by the Jewishly learned and also by beginners in Jewish observance. Jews everywhere can rely on these halachot as having been approved by RMH.

Note If your community follows a more restrictive practice than what you read here, you may still be obligated to follow that practice, especially if there is one dominant (and learned) rabbi who has set a different standard for his community.

Humor incorporated into Practical Halacha helps illustrate some of the laws and makes learning enjoyable and even fun. Some say that people don’t want to learn halacha because it is a boring set of rules, but my experience has been that many people DO want to know what is permissible or forbidden according to a major authority and I personally find it interesting to learn the thought processes behind how basic principles are applied to everyday situations.

What’s Included?

Since halacha covers all aspects of life, we’ll include a wide variety of situations from everyday to rare – such as:
Must you keep Shabbat again when flying on motzaei Shabbat from Hong Kong to California and crossing the International Date line back into Shabbat?

When should you light summer Shabbat candles near the Arctic Circle when the sun won’t set for 3 more weeks?

Just Ask

Anyone can ask a halachic question with far-reaching consequences. My sister Diane once asked if quinoa was kitniyot. RMH soaked the grains, saw they didn’t ferment and, due to Diane’s asking a simple question, Jews all over the world can now eat quinoa for Passover!

So one purpose of this website is to encourage questions. If you do not have access to a rabbi who knows halacha well (or who simply does not have expert knowledge of the area that concerns you), or if you want to ask a major posek please ask them on our contact form, and we will forward them to RMH.