Is this new resource a good idea?

[rosends]

I got an email this morning that listed this new website

Practical Halacha

and I don't know how I feel about it just yet. I spend some time on the Judaism stackexchange and one of the rules there is that no question should be asking for a psak online. The variables and context are so involved that one should CYLOR and not rely on a virtual system.

So I went on to the Practical Halacha site and looked up a fairly common question. What I read was an answer which was quite machmir, and then an exhortation to CYLOR.

So if I view this site as my rav, then I am bound by the answer even if it is more machmir than I might ordinarily be (at least that's how I understand the rules in a conventional case of asking a human for a psak). If I don't then I have to contact a rav anyway. So I'm trying to decide if I think this site is good for anything other than theoretical research.

I know, sites like kashrus.org and revach and others have halachic responsa and answers to questions on them, but this seems to be designed to replace asking a human.

Just thinking out loud.

 

[dantech]

I typically use this kind of website to quickly look up some halachot when I don't feel like opening a book or calling my Rabbi.

I don't think it should be used to completely replace a rabbi though.

These sites are especially useful for Jews who don't live in a Jewish community, or for those that are out of town and don't have access to easy answers on demand.

 

[rosends]

I typically use this kind of website to quickly look up some halachot when I don't feel like opening a book or calling my Rabbi.

I don't think it should be used to completely replace a rabbi though.

These sites are especially useful for Jews who don't live in a Jewish community, or for those that are out of town and don't have access to easy answers on demand.

I understand. I guess my quibbling would be on 2 levels:

1. if someone wants to worry about the minutiae of halacha, then it seems strange not to live within a phone call of a rabbi (aseh l'cha rav, IMHO, doesn;t mean a computer).
2. it still calls into question the utility of an "answer" where one cannot present ALL the salient facts nor have any give and take from the posek. How binding is a tshuva one reads which was written to someone else vs. the tshuva given in response to a specific question? [that's an angle I have to investigate]


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this short discussion brings some of the issues to the surface
World Wide Wabbi « Ask The Rabbi « Ohr Somayach

The difference is that a database of tshuvot has even less chance of the "give and take" that an "ask the rav" email correspondence would.

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I just posed my question... halacha - Binding answers for Halachic questions - Mi Yodeya

 

[dantech]

I understand. I guess my quibbling would be on 2 levels:

1. if someone wants to worry about the minutiae of halacha, then it seems strange not to live within a phone call of a rabbi (aseh l'cha rav, IMHO, doesn;t mean a computer).

I don't think that aseh l'cha rav means a computer. I agree. However, where you live is sometimes beyond your control. I think it was @Tarheeler who once said he wasn't able to move at this time, and that he lives about 3 hours away from the nearest synagogue. (I may be wrong, and I'm sure he'll clear it up if I am)

2. it still calls into question the utility of an "answer" where one cannot present ALL the salient facts nor have any give and take from the posek. How binding is a tshuva one reads which was written to someone else vs. the tshuva given in response to a specific question? [that's an angle I have to investigate]

Do people actually use these sites for very specific questions, or do they use them for general halacha?

 

[Tarheeler]

I don't think that aseh l'cha rav means a computer. I agree. However, where you live is sometimes beyond your control. I think it was @Tarheeler who once said he wasn't able to move at this time, and that he lives about 3 hours away from the nearest synagogue. (I may be wrong, and I'm sure he'll clear it up if I am)

I'm about two hours from the closest orthodox synagogue, but I attend my local one which is Conservative. It's about 30 minutes away.

As far as the resource, I think it's a decent idea in theory, but far too general to be a reliable source for a rabbinic opinion regarding a personal situation.

Like Dan; I'd use the site as more of a general information source, but I'd seek out my rabbi (or another I am familiar with) for an actual ruling.

 

[rosends]

This one site (now that I am thinking about it) is just one iteration. There are "ask the rabbi" sites, email resources, and other databases of answers. So ignoring the issue of a phone call to a human (where distance is no longer a problem since one needn't travel to meet with a rabbi), is a library of halachic responsa an acceptable replacement? (not that I edited my second vpost with some other info).

 

[rosends]

And a critique of the site just appeared in my LookJed feed
Re: New website: www.practicalhalacha.com

 

[Moishe3rd]

I visited the practical halacha website and, I read the critique.
To paraphrase the immortal words of Inigo Montoya: You all keep on using the idea "These halachot are not intended to replace a rabbi who knows you personally or who knows the details of your specific question; rather the website is intended for when you have no access to a rabbi, such as right before Shabbat or Yom Tov, when travelling, or when the local rabbi does not have the expertise of a posek. Additionally, the website is useful as a convenient study text when no halachic books are available."
I do not think that this idea means what you think it means....

It's a caveat people! It is the required Warning Label on any website that deals with such serious matters as this.
The reaction from many and from the "critique" is "Oh Really? When would a serious Jew NOT have access to a rabbi?!!"
Oy.
The author of the website is not aiming at "serious Jews," whatever that means. He is aiming at people who, for whatever reason, do not have a rabbi; or do not have various seforim on halachos on their bookshelves.
I think it's a great website which I will add to my two favorite Jewish websites which Torah.org and Aish.com

The critique is from the viewpoint of whether or not this fits in with "Modern Orthodoxy." As the author of the website is most decidedly NOT "Modern Orthodox," I suspect that the critique is valid from that point of view.
Personally, I find people "taking offense" regarding the Orthodox interpretation of Jewish Law, rather silly. But, each to his own.

 

[rosends]

I visited the practical halacha website and, I read the critique.
To paraphrase the immortal words of Inigo Montoya: You all keep on using the idea "These halachot are not intended to replace a rabbi who knows you personally or who knows the details of your specific question; rather the website is intended for when you have no access to a rabbi, such as right before Shabbat or Yom Tov, when travelling, or when the local rabbi does not have the expertise of a posek. Additionally, the website is useful as a convenient study text when no halachic books are available."
I do not think that this idea means what you think it means....

It's a caveat people! It is the required Warning Label on any website that deals with such serious matters as this.
The reaction from many and from the "critique" is "Oh Really? When would a serious Jew NOT have access to a rabbi?!!"
Oy.
The author of the website is not aiming at "serious Jews," whatever that means. He is aiming at people who, for whatever reason, do not have a rabbi; or do not have various seforim on halachos on their bookshelves.
I think it's a great website which I will add to my two favorite Jewish websites which Torah.org and Aish.com

The critique is from the viewpoint of whether or not this fits in with "Modern Orthodoxy." As the author of the website is most decidedly NOT "Modern Orthodox," I suspect that the critique is valid from that point of view.
Personally, I find people "taking offense" regarding the Orthodox interpretation of Jewish Law, rather silly. But, each to his own.

I wasn't worried about the hashkafic distinctions as much as the concern over relying on a website's database of answers to replace the live conversation. Are you saying that a resource like this is valuable in a practical sense because it would replace "not checking with anybody" because anyone who would check with a real person wouldn't use the site anyway?

 

[Moishe3rd]

I wasn't worried about the hashkafic distinctions as much as the concern over relying on a website's database of answers to replace the live conversation. Are you saying that a resource like this is valuable in a practical sense because it would replace "not checking with anybody" because anyone who would check with a real person wouldn't use the site anyway?

No. I would use this website if I questions without resources at hand, or to simply check on something that I might be unsure of.... . And, if I had doubts, I would ask my local competent Orthodox rabbi. Why not?
If it's useful, use it. If not, don't. I find the bona fides of the website as something I can rely upon. Offhand, I can't think of any times when I would use this website but - if I needed to, I would.

 

[rosends]

A blog which I was alerted to through LookJed about this general question.

Rabbi Google and I -by Yael Unterman and Yael Valier | Morethodoxy: Exploring the Breadth, Depth and Passion of Orthodox Judaism