Am I allowed to make egg and onion on Shabbos? How to choose a shirt from a pile of clothing and not transgress borer on Shabbos? Can you put food in the oven on Shabbos? Numerous Shabbos questions are impossible to answer without thorough knowledge of its laws. Shabbos comes once a week, so if a person is not well-versed in its intricacies, then it is inevitable that transgressions will take place. 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 Shabbos 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 Shabbos in depth.  Kinyan Hilchos Shabbos 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 Gemaras with the commentators on each area of hilchos Shabbos and presented it in the form of source sheets that cover material from the Gemara until 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 Yehonasan Gefen, a close talmid of Rav Berkovits who spent eight years as a Rosh Chaburah in Rav Berkovits’s famous Jerusalem Kollel, with the Rav’s endorsement, took on the monumental task of adaptng the Hebrew sheets into English to make the program available for busy professionals. After successfully running the Hilchos Shabbos program for several years, Rabbi Gefen joined forces with Rabbi Dr. Yakov Pesah, also a musmach of Rabbi Berkovits, and together they co-founded ‘Kinyan Hilchos Shabbos’ program for men and launched it online. It became an instant success worldwide. During the launches of the Hilchos Shabbos course for men, it became crystal clear that a 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.  Women, just as much as men, require practical knowledge on how to keep the myriad halachos of Shabbos.  Indeed, they may even be faced with more scenarios than men.  Therefore, Rabbi Gefen, in consultation with Rabbi Berkovits has adapted the original curriculum to be uniquely tailored to Torah observant women, as an online program in Hilchos Shabbos (www.HilchosShabbosforWomen.com), accessible to motvated women worldwide. It empowers women to know the laws of Shabbos that are so relevant to their lives. Participants in each online chabura receive source sheets with explanations in English. In addition to the weekly online Zoom shiur with Rabbi Gefen, he is available for questions.  There are tests in each section, and the option of a signed certificate of completion from Rav Berkovits. While this is the first Hilchos Shabbos course for women, several months ago, Rabbi Gefen has also launched another online program for women in Hilchos Bein Adam L’Chaveiro. This program is based on a curriculum of Kollel Linas Hatzedek / Center for Jewish Values, a premier international Bein Adam L’Chaveiro resource, whom we thank for their permission. The Bein Adam L’Chaveiro online program for women taught by Rabbi Gefen became very successful already in its first launch. “As women, we are required to […]

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