Be Aware

Dear Sephardic community member don't be fooled by Ashkenazifed Sephardic Rabbis (Rabbis that studied in Ashkenazi Yeshivot) to believe that they teach you Sephardic customs. Keep the customs of your parents and keep the Sephardic tradition alive.



March 20, 2011

Sephardic approach to Halakha with leniency

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef adopts the Talmudic dictum that "the power of leniency is greater." Therefore, one of his fundamental principles of halakhic (Jewish Law) ruling is that lenient rulings should be preferred over chumra (strictly).
Rabbi Yosef sees this as one of the distinguishing characteristics of the Sephardic approach to Halakha compared to the Ashkenazi approach. In one of his rulings, he quotes Rabbi Chaim Joseph David Azulai as saying: "The Sephardim are seized by a measure of piety and therefore are lenient in the Halakha, and the Ashkenazim are seized by a measure of bravery and therefore they rule strictly."

Rabbi Yosef considers this principle an ideal, so that if he is asked [a question] on a ritual-halakhic matter and succeeds in proving that a lenient position is a correct one from a halakhic standpoint, he sees this as a positive achievement."
Rabbi Yosef regards ruling with chumra as especially harmful in the current generation "the generation of freedom and liberty", since strict ruling might lead individuals not to comply with the Halakha. Writing in Yabia Omer, he says: "And truly the growth of chumrot leads to leniency in the body of the Torah."

No comments:

Post a Comment