Hear the Skinny on Ozempic in Halacha

2 important points, one basic and one extremely important that you missed.

1) a woman cannot be on glp1 medications if they are either pregnant or trying to become pregnant. Which means that a girl in shodduchim will inevitably have to be off for multiple years which will cause most likely huge weight gain. You also want to make sure that there is awareness about this requirement.

2) as far as Tanya’s claims about weight loss naturally. She may very well be able to coach people to lose but statistically speaking almost all will gain it back within two years since for most people self control is not a strategy that works long term. She also doesn’t take into account quality of life loss when your entire life revolves around what you can and cannot eat….

I don’t know if you had the opportunity to read Judaism Reclaimed by Shmuel Phillips, but I wanted to bring up a point regarding your position on Yashan. Regardless of the overall thesis of the book—where Phillips suggests even d’Oraisa laws can be somewhat historically malleable—I think there’s a powerful proof from history that supports a more lenient view of yoshon. If we follow the traditional rule, that a d’Oraisa is fixed and not subject to routine change by the Chachamim, then the fact that Klal Yisrael had to rely on the minority opinion of the rishonim as in the Bach’s heter for so many centuries that its self becomes a crucial proof. For nearly a thousand years, if Jews had no other way to survive without that heter, then it seems the Torah must have been given in a way that allowed for this, for all generations.

In fact, this is a much stronger proof than typical halachic mistakes. Think about the case of Shabbos zman—how for centuries, Rabbeinu Tam’s zman was followed, and people later discovered that it was a mistaken interpretation as the gra says hachush mocheiach that the sun does not go under the earth. In that case, yes, whole generations were doing it wrong, but that didn’t make it impossible to observe Shabbos; it was a miscalculation, and once corrected, people could adjust their practice. it was man interpretation of Gods commandment not acfault in the Torah. Similarly, for Shmitta, even though there were cycles when people couldn’t keep it, those were still isolated hardship cases—ones that did not undermine the fundamental principle.

In contrast, with Yashan, the situation is much starker. If the strict interpretation were correct, it would mean that for a millennium, entire communities could not have fulfilled what God commanded. This isn’t a small lapse; it’s not like a rare mistake. It’s a case where, if God’s commandment was that strict, it would have rendered Jewish life unsustainable for generations. By contrast, if we look at a da’as yachid, like the Bach or the Aruch HaShulchan, who says that Yashan only applies in certain places close to EY or under specific conditions, then that explains how Jews in those centuries could survive. God gave the Torah for all places, for all times. Hashen knew people would live in Prague in the 1700s, He would not give a command that they could never fulfill. Thus, this da’as yachid is not some marginal opinion; rather, it is the one that best fits the reality of our history. History itself proves he is correct like the gra we can prove that even the consensus of rabonem can be wrong. It is far more likely that we misunderstood the rule of yoshon being a deorita all along, rather than for a millennium, every generation being forced to break God’s command just to live. In short, if your interpretation leads you to conclude that for a thousand years no one could follow God’s will, then it is far more probable that we simply misread it all along.

Hi, I heared the past 2 chadash shiurim and this was the scareiest podcasts yet.

I mean I’m sold on keeping yoshon bli neder but it’s so hard. Like my whole life I’m used to just buying whatever has a hechsher now I need to start working off lists and bar codes. It’s all foreign to me. I’m wondering if this would be considered a shas hadchak that would allow to me continue eating chadash since it’s so hard for me to change.

Recently Flatbush girl tried raising awareness of the agunah issue by posting almost nude images on instagram of Jewish women to show rabbis should stop speaking about tsnius issues and start helping agunas.

I would love to hear this talked about on Halacha headlines!

I borrowed “49 Gates” from the Jewish library and like it so much that I bought it today, in Eichler’s in Boro Park. It’s beautifully written with outstanding stories and explanations for the Sefiros. Thank you.