A Great Halacha Sefer

Back in high school, I tried to institute a textual source-based Halacha class. Alas, my efforts failed. Now, I understand why, at the time, we were taught Halacha in a lecture-style class. The point was for us to learn Halacha l'maaseh in the most efficient way possible. Equipping students with as much usable Halachic guidance as possible requires cutting out the lengthy, multi-millennial discourse that produced the "end product."

Now, baruch Hashem, I have the opportunity to devote more time to learning Halacha-- both the practical information that I need to know in order to keep the Torah's precepts to their fullest and the history and actual process by which Halacha is decided. For me, learning the Halachic process has made Halacha more meaningful. Understanding the connection between Har Sinai (Torah Sheh'bichtav) and Halacha l'maaseh (arrived at via Torah Sheh'bi'al Peh) has allowed me to appreciate my own Halacha observance to a much greater degree.

So when I recently started reading Rabbi Getsel Ellinson's three volume work, Woman and the Mitzvot, I felt like I had been transported back to my favorite shiur. R' Ellinson presents the Rabbinic sources on Halachot that specifically regard women, including the relevant Mishnayos and Gemaras (in original Hebrew and/or Aramaic and in English translation) and Rishonim and Achronim's opinions (in English translation only). He also includes his own footnotes, which provide further explanation of the sources. Although I'm not learning Halacha l'maaseh from these seforim, R' Ellinson's inclusion of the differing Halachic opinions provides the reader with a unique experience: to learn the reasons for differing practices in the Orthodox community (and there are real reasons!) as well as to understand the hashkafic and Halachic reasons for one's own practices.

I highly recommend this set of seforim for anyone looking for an excellent resource on Halacha as it pertains to women.