- Torah and Jewish Thought
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A book on Halakha
Question
Please advise best book on halakha
Answer
ב"ה
We have a saying in the Talmud (Avoda Zara 19a) that a person should always learn Torah where his heart desires. Which means, the best book in Halacha, has to be the best book for YOU. Therefore, I will make a few suggestions and you can decide what to choose.
A very popular and easy reading book in Hebrew, with some volumes translated to English is "Pninei Halacha". A book written by Rav Eliezer Melamed Shlit"a, the son of Rav Zalman Melamed shlit"a, the founder of this website. It is also available for free in the Google play store for use on a smartphone .
It is very important to know the laws of Shabbat, because desecration of Shabbat is a very serious transgression, therefore I also suggest "Semirat Shabbat Kehilchata" by Rabbi Yehoshua Neuwirth , which also has been translated into English.
For more intense learning, you have the Mishna Berura, with 6 volumes also translated into English. However, that only deals with "Orach Chaim", meaning daily Jewish life, like Tefilla and Berachot , Shabbat and holidays, but it does not deal for example with issues of keeping kosher, meat and milk, mikveh and other things. .
Then there is the Kitzur Shulcha Aruch, written by Rav Shlomi Ganzfried zt"l, which is a condensed version of the big Shulchan Aruch. This book, doesn’t just have the daily Jewish life, but laso about keeping kosher, Nidda and mikveh, and many other aspects of Jewish law. It is also, available in English.
So this is just for starters. Good luck.
all the best

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