I tasted some chicken soup - do I have to wait six hours before I have my coffee with milk?
I cut onions with a milky knife and fried them in a meaty pan - what do I do now?
I cooked a potato in my meaty microwave - can I eat it with cheese?
Numerous Kashrus questions are impossible to answer without a thorough knowledge of the laws. Questions involving Kashrus constantly arise, so if a person is not well-versed in its intricacies, then it is inevitable that either transgressions will take place or that he will be overly strict.
The many books of basic laws are wonderful, but to really understand the halachos and to apply them, it is essential to learn and remember hilchos Kashrus with the background discussion. What is the challenge we face? It takes several years for a full-time advanced Torah learner to cover the laws of Kashrus in depth.
Issur V’Heter for men offered a solution. World famous Rosh Yeshiva and Rosh Kollel, HaRav Hagaon Yitzchak Berkovits shlit"a used his vast knowledge to arrange all the important sources with the commentators on each area of hilchos Kashrus, and presented it in the form of source sheets that cover material from the original sources through practical halacha. This enables one to cover the main opinions in each topic and gain a deep understanding of the halacha without being overwhelmed with a lot of information.
Rabbi Dr. Yakov Pesah, a close talmid of Rav Berkovits who spent many years learning in Rav Berkovits’s famous Jerusalem Kollel, with the Rav’s endorsement, took on the monumental task of adapting the Hebrew sheets into English to make the program available for busy professionals.
After successfully running the Hilchos Shabbos program for several years, Rabbi Yehonasan Gefen, also a musmach of Rabbi Berkovits, joined forces with Rabbi Pesah, and together they cofounded www.KinyanHilchosIssurvHeter.com program for men and launched it online. It became an instant success worldwide.
During the launches of the Hilchos Kashrus course for men, it became crystal clear that an additional course especially tailored for Jewish women was necessary. The program received many emails asking for a women’s cohort of this important and highly relevant series. Therefore, Rabbi Gefen, in consultation with Rabbi Berkovits, helped Rabbi Pesah adapt the curriculum to be uniquely tailored to Torah-observant women as an online program in Hilchos Kashrus accessible to motivated women worldwide (www.HilchosIssurvHeterforWomen.com).
This is what participants in the other programs have said:
"I would love to sit in yeshiva half a day, but I have different hours." Says Dr. Eric Leibowitz, a dentist in Brooklyn. “Learning halacha in Rabbi Gefen's online chabura allowed for the flexibility I needed. I was looking for something with some structure and with an end goal. This program enabled me to not only learn, but to retain what I learned in a structured way, and the tests were very helpful. I felt like I accomplished something, I made a kinyan on something."
“Rabbi Gefen ran the halacha program for our kollel in Johannesburg. We achieved tremendous clarity both in sugyas and in psak, which is what you want when you learn halacha," says Rabbi Micha Kaplan, who is an avrech in the Maharsha Community Kollel in Johannesburg and the menahel of the Maharsha Boys High School.
“It’s been a real pleasure to be part of the program. I look forward to the source sheets and shiur every week. I have an increased appreciation of the halachos and how to apply them in daily life. The material has abundant sources, with varying opinions and a halacha l’maaseh section. I highly recommend this program!" says Basya Gutmann from Clifton, New Jersey.
Participants in each online program receive source sheets with explanations in English. In addition to his weekly online Zoom shiur, Rabbi Gefen is available for questions by email and phone. There are tests in each section, and the option of a signed certificate of completion from Rav Berkovits.
“Over two thousand past and present participants in our programs come from six continents and range in skill level from beginner to advanced," adds Rabbi Dr. Pesah, the co-founder and director of the program. “Our vision is to enable everyone to learn halacha in a structured way and make it doable for every motivated person."
The new cycle of Hilchos Issur V’Heter for men begins on February 25th.
The new cycle of women’s Hilchos Kashrus program begins on February 24th.
For more information, tuition, and to receive an application for the men’s program, visit: www.KinyanHilchosIssurvHeter.com
For more information, tuition, and to apply for the women’s program, visit: www.HilchosIssurvHeterforWomen.com