How to choose a shirt from a pile of clothing and not transgress the prohibition of sorting on Shabbat?
What to do if there is a power outage on Shabbat?
Can you put food in the oven on Shabbat?
It’s Friday night. Your family is at the table. Your ten-year-old asks one of these questions. You pause. You think you know the answer, but you're not certain. Your wife glances over. Your children wait. And in that moment of hesitation - everyone sees it. This happens every Shabbat. Not because you don't care about Jewish law - you care deeply. But mastering the laws of Shabbat requires years of structured learning, and you're not in the study hall full-time. You work many hours a week. You have family obligations. The traditional path - years of full-time religious learning - isn't realistic. So you do your best. You ask your Rabbi. You read Shemiras Shabbat K'Hilchasa. But you never develop the confident, systematic mastery that lets you answer your family's questions without hesitation.
Until now. HaGaon Rabbi Yitzchak Berkovits solved this exact problem. World-renowned posek, Rosh Yeshiva and Rosh Kollel, Rabbi Berkovits recognized that traditional learning of the laws of Shabbat either just scratches the surface - basic Jewish law books without understanding the "why" - or is too overwhelming - years of unstructured learning. Therefore, he created a third path: a systematically organized curriculum that takes a motivated learner from issues in the Gemara through practical rulings, without requiring full time student-level time commitment. The result is an ordination-level curriculum that working men can actually complete.
"Learning laws of Shabbat from the traditional sources could be quite confusing or complicated," explains Rabbi Berkovits. "Studying them in a very organized way gives you the clarity - the clarity to understand them in the first place and the clarity to retain the information."
However, there was still a challenge: the original curriculum was in Hebrew and designed for full-time religious studies students. That's where Rabbi Yehonasan Gefen entered. A devoted student of Rabbi Berkovits who spent eight years as a study group leader in a Jerusalem study hall, Rabbi Gefen adapted the entire curriculum for English-speaking, working men. For the past several years, he's been teaching and refining this material for Torah learners throughout the world. The result is mastering the laws of Shabbat, a thirty-month online program that transforms working men into the address for Shabbat law questions in their homes. Participants receive source sheets with explanations in Hebrew and English, covering Gemara through practical Jewish law, organized by topic, building systematic understanding rather than scattered information.
There's a weekly live Zoom class where Rabbi Gefen walks through the material, answers questions, and shows how to think through practical cases. All sessions are recorded, so you never fall behind. The time commitment is thirty minutes per day, five days per week, doable even with a demanding job.
Dr. Eric Leibowitz, a dentist in Brooklyn, stated: "It allowed for the flexibility I needed. I was looking for something with structure and an end goal. This program enabled me to not only learn, but to retain what I learned." Shlomo Gross, a lawyer in Jerusalem, added "For people like me who are working full-time, this program was ideal. The laws of Shabbat Smicha course transported my learning to a completely different level."
Rabbi Micha Kaplan, a religious scholar in Johannesburg, said: "We achieved tremendous clarity on laws of Shabbat both in the passages of the Gemara and in practical rulings."
Over two thousand fathers from six continents have participated in the program - working professionals, full-time religious students, men building their Gemara skills, and experienced learners seeking systematic clarity. What they all share is the desire to become the laws of Shabbat address in their homes. And thirty months later, they are.
Here's what's at stake: your children are watching. When you hesitate before answering a Shabbat question, they notice - not because they're judging you, but because they're learning from you whether Torah mastery matters, whether it's worth years of serious learning. Your wife wants to see you as the Torah address and feel confident following your ruling. Every Shabbat you wait is another Shabbat where your family sees hesitation instead of confidence.
You might be thinking: thirty months sounds overwhelming. But fathers who succeed don't think about thirty months. Week one, you learn the Gemara's approach to sorting - that Shabbat, your son asks about taking a shirt from a pile, and you explain it clearly. Week twelve, the power goes out on Shabbat - you know exactly what to do, and your family isn't anxious because you're not anxious. Fathers who finish don't think "thirty-month program" - they think "this week I'm mastering this topic," and eventually they're different people.
Rabbi Berkovits explains why this matters beyond just knowing Jewish law: "There's a mitzva of sanctifying Shabbat by remembering it, to remember Shabbat all the time. There is nothing like being involved in laws of Shabbat the whole week - your whole week is different, and your Shabbat is different." The program includes the option to earn Rabbinical ordination from Rabbi Gefen upon completion. Your family will frame it, not because of the credential but because of what it represents - a father who mastered the laws of Shabbat as a personal priority. Your sons will see it every day.
The new program is starting on January fourth. For details, tuition, and to apply, visit https://kinyanlaws ofShabbat.com