Halachipedia.com was such a good idea when it was conceived that the founder failed to recognize the machlokes they were creating. Driven by pure goodwill and no monetary gain they slaved over the site until it was complete and waited for fellow frum Jews to edit the site and make it into the best frum invention since the shabbos toothbrush. At first, fellow talmudists, friends of the founders and other ehrliche yidden trickled in, but then disaster struck, in the form of one fairly knowledgeable bochur from Yeshivas Choyvivei Toirah. This fellow decided to add a section about Hilchos Nashim that defied the founders wishes and created a machlokes too big for such a frum site as Halachipedia.com.
Who could argue with the fact that no posek had ever approached the subject of women being rabbis, no one had done so because it was simply so outlandish that even the Conservative movement hadn’t thought of it until recently, kal vachomer no Posek would even approach it and so no sources to debate the yeshiva bochur were offered and the edit wars began.
It didn’t stop there, suddenly those who held of The Tur over The Beis Yosef or those who followed the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch rather than the Mishna Brura and Chayei Adam. This goes without entering the Chassidim, Lubavitchers and Sephardim that entered in the mix to prove that a site like Halachapedia.com was either ahead of its time or could not function in a community that couldn’t agree on the interpretation and explanation of a book which everyone held was true. The mesorah may have existed in the founders minds, but no one could actually agree on what the mesorah was and it was giving the Atheists, Humanists, Off the Derechists and Reformers a lot of amo.
i have no idea what this is or what you are talking about.
The problem was that you clicked on the site when it was going to the wrong link… check it now it’s fixed.
This is an awesome website! It is just like wikipedia but only for halacha, I’m going to use it all the time now!
The link doesn’t work.
They fixed it now
The text and the link are different. This is the proper website: http://halachipedia.com/index.php?title=Main_Page
By the way the link goes to halachapedia instead of halachipedia… just letting you know
fixed
Talk about useless. I checked out the entry Writing_a_secular_date — and it tells me there’s a serious discussion about this with the following resolutions: 1. it’s an issur d’oraita, 2. it is something you should not do, 3. you should do it with a shinui, and4, no it’s OK, but you should be nice and avoid it.
OK people, I know that God is a reflection of what we imagine Him to be and halacha is a reflection of what we think His value system is. But WTF!
What are you talking about?
halachipedia.com
I looked at a couple of entries. Not sure why someone is wasting their time transcribing Rabbi Ribiat’s shabbos book. Or the shemiras shabbos k’hilchosoh.
Basically, all the topics have already been accumulated in modern seforim which are organized by topic, and easily accessible with indexes and everything. The point of an encyclopedia is to accumulate knowledge, not to transcribe it from where it was already accumulated.
I guess this makes it searchable, but it was already indexed. And I don’t see what the search function really adds.
Maybe the point is to get it online. I guess, then you don’t need to buy the books. Well, since much of the site is about shabbos, and even the other parts you may need to look up on shabbos, you may as well just buy the books.
Dan, Have you ever looked at Wikipedia? The written stuff is nothing new or original, but rather it’s just a compilation of different subjects to make it clear, concise, and easily searchable. This makes it easier for someone to follow the halacha properly without the need to go around searching for the right seforim. To me it looks like Halachipedia is great because it doesn’t just follow one source but many different sources, both Ashkenazi and Sefardi!
I guess my point was unclear.
The site doesn’t compile anything further than was already compiled. It is like if wikipedia just followed the format of Encyclopedia Britannica, and transcribed every entry verbatim.
The modern seforim are the compilers. Shmiras Shabbos K’hilchasa doesn’t need to be transcribed. It is already in compiled format, with an easily accessible index. A search feature adds nothing.
Yes I agree with you that many topics on Shabbos were taken from Shmiras Shabbos Khilchasa, but there are many other topics on the website. Since halachipedia.com sounds like a new website as I’m first starting to hear about it now, I’m sure there is a lot more to come. But these things don’t happen over night. I’m sure when wikipedia first started, there was not much to look. But look at wikipedia now= 6th most popular website!
This website is nothing compared to the sheer amazing scope of yeshiva.org.il/wiki.
Dan,
I think you are missing the entire point of the website. A written halachic text was invaluable 1000 years ago, extremely useful 100 years ago, had a lot of purpose 10 years ago….worth quite little now in days. Pretty similar to an atom with a half life. A written text is (1) only available to those who have access to it (2) uneditable and hence cannot be updated, redacted, adjusted or fixed (3) limited to the opinions of the author(s). On the other hand the website is available to anyone with internet access, gives potential for dynamicism, constant growth and improving, and finally has the potential to represent a wholistic pantheon of jewish thought and practice. The website has the potential to be this generations sulchan aruch. As the rambam wrote (when composing his generations sulchan aruch, the mishnah torah) this will be the only source any jewish scholar will ever need.
This is a ridiculous idea. How can you give anybody without any credentials the right to edit a site that is supposed to be listing halacha for the masses???
Some may be misguided at best, others can deliberately misinterpret things to suit their own view. All while the learned poskim that likely never spend any time online, will never be get around to see what some are likely misinterpreting in their names.
The Tannaim and amoraim went through great lengths and often changed halacha to avoid and circumvent the minim and apokorsim from twisting Judasim. This site has effectively re-opened the door for them to do so.
Just as not too many people would be likely to consult a medical advice “pedia” open to anyone for posting, so too, halacha should be left in the hands of those that study it everyday and are ordained to give valid opinions.
I like the analogy to a medicopedia.
The site has citations, but that really isn’t good enough. If you cite me something from the Shulchan Aruch, I need to know if the rema, or the shach, or the taz, or the aruch hashulchan etc. argue, and if we are noheig like them.
Dan, your concern about who are we noheig like is not really shayach here. It looks to me like Halchipedia.com is not a posek so therefore it is not going to tell you what to do. But rather it is going to outline the main shitos (Mishna Brura for ashkenazim and shulchan aruch and r’ ovadia yosef for sefardim) as a guideline to what the main issues are and what the different opinions are. Then, if one is concerned for himself who he should pasken like he should consult his local orthodox rabbi. But at least he’ll have a general idea of what the shitos are.
Crowin, At first glance I had the same concern as you but I then spoke to the editor at support@halachipedia.com and he says that although anybody is allowed to edit the page, he will be notified about the change and he will check the source to make sure that it is authentic. So it is not just a free for all with regards to editing the site.
Raise your hand if you think “Anonymous” is the editor.
Yep. He’s a troll from the site bashing the haters and being too much of a sissy to show himself.
Anon I realize that halachapedia has the disclaimer. But unless the editor is a posek and censors everything that isn’t 100% accurate, he’s taking quite a big responsibilty on his shoulders for allowing anyone to post anything.
A reader may not necessarily be in a position to contact a valid authority, therefore, they may very well rely on what is being written.
I definitely agree that the editor has a big responsibility but he assured me that not one halacha can slip by without him checking it. But if you have a serious halacha to add with a source try and adding it and see what happens.
Anon,
Maybe he’s got some system he believes is foolproof, but unless he’s got a posek reviewing each entry, he’s going to have room for error.
There are many trusted sites out there that list halachic opinions, if you want to limit yourself to finding those type of search results, I’d suggest 4Torah (Hesh’s advertiser). You’d have a much better chance at coming up with a variety of valid opinions.
The site 4torah is great but it is totally different. 4torah just refers you to other websites which discuss a certain halachic topic (shabbos etc,) whereas halachipedia.com lists many different opinions all on one searchable site. It definitely sounds like a great resource, especially for those that are just becoming Jewish or for those that are going back to their Jewish roots. But obviously I agree that those that have advanced in their learning should not use Halachipedia.com as an easy way out to avoid learning the halachos inside or asking a posek. It is like learning a gemara with artscroll. Is it advisable for those that are learning in yeshiva? Probably not. Is it great for people that are developing a connection to Judaism and want to develop a love for learning gemora? Absolutely.
Raise your hand if you like halachipedia.com!
Raise your hand if you like halachipedia.com.
I sent that twice accidentally sorry about that
hand raised